personal finance

Money-saving kitchen gadgets


We’ve pulled together a list of simple kitchen gadgets that will enhance your quality of life in some small way, whether that’s money saving, time saving or helping to save the environment – and often, all of the above!

The Remoska

This one-pot electric cooker has a devoted following. It takes up very little space on a kitchen worktop and is positively miserly with electricity. 

Perfect for cooking jacket potatoes or warming up a ready meal when you don’t want to heat up the whole oven, the Remoska is also hugely versatile. It can be used to cook a wide range of dishes from roast chicken, shepherd’s pie or risotto to scones and puddings, and the Remoska recipe book (£9.99) can help you make the most of it. 

The easily-portable Remoska can be used anywhere there’s a 240v electricity supply and is hugely popular with caravan and motor-home owners who appreciate the budget-friendly option of rustling up their own food on holiday rather than eating out every night.

Buy the Remoska on Amazon from £149.99

Avocado hugger and food huggers

Whether it’s half an avocado or a portion of leftover cucumber, lemon or onion, this range of re-usable flexible silicone food preservers slip over the cut surface and help keep fruit and vegetables fresher for longer. 

They come in a range of different sizes and can also be used to cover jars and opened cans, cutting down on cling film as well as food waste.

Buy an avocado hugger on Amazon from £5.83

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Colour changing egg timer

Pop this into a pan of cold water along with your eggs. As it heats up it changes colour and shows when the eggs are soft, medium or hard boiled. When they’re done to your taste, you simply take them out, leaving the rest in the pot to carry on cooking. 

It’s ideal for making sure that every family member gets their eggs just the way they like them – whether it’s soft-boiled with soldiers or hard-boiled for a snack – and means you won’t be caught off guard by runny eggs destined for a salad, and have to start over!

Buy a colour changing egg timer on Amazon from £4.85

5 kitchen gadgets you won’t regret buying

Ice lolly moulds

Making your own iced lollies is much cheaper than buying them from a shop, and if you use natural orange juice, or chopped fruit and coconut water, they can be healthier too. These ice lolly moulds have drip guards to limit mess (saving on laundry) and re-usable sticks, so you’ll have nothing to throw away once the lolly has served its purpose!

This ice lollies (£9.99) recipe book gives family-friendly ideas whilst The Poptail Manual (£9.99) provides over 90 recipes for ‘a frozen cocktail on a stick’.

Buy ice lolly moulds on Amazon from £14

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Spaghetti measure

Accurately predicting how much spaghetti to add to the saucepan is a covetable skill – all too often, to avoid short-changing your guests on pasta, you’ll throw in far more than is actually needed, leaving a cold clump of spaghetti strands at the end that have only the food composting bin as their final destination.

This spaghetti measure has holes to calculate portions for one or more people and cuts down on waste by ensuring you that you don’t cook more than you need.

The fork on the end comes in handy to separate out the pasta strands when cooking, too.

Buy a spaghetti measure on Amazon from £4

Silpat silicone baking sheet

Save on baking parchment by investing in these professional quality silicone baking sheets, which can be used over and over again.

Feedback from happy customers includes the observation that macarons form much better using a silicone baking sheet rather than a paper sheet, and they’re very handy for rolling out pastry or bread dough.

Buy Silpat silicone baking sheets on Amazon from £16.73

Cut herb keeper

It’s wonderful to cook with fresh herbs, as any keen gardener/chef will be able to tell you. But if your fingers are a shade other than green, are you resigned to using dried herbs, or spending a fortune in fresh herbs from the supermarket? If so, you’re probably more than aware that cut herbs can be expensive and also go off quickly.

This cut herb keeper will help extend their life by up to ten days. It fits into fridge doors and has a water reservoir in the base as well as dividers so that three different types of herb can be stored. 

And even if you do manage to grow herbs successfully in the garden, you’ll never kick yourself for chopping more than you need!

Buy a cut herb keeper on Amazon from £15

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Potato storage bag

There are few things more frustrating in the kitchen than reaching into a bag of potatoes to find a tangle of stumpy roots trying to find a new home. 

Rather than having to drop everything and nip out to the shops for a new bag (half of which will inevitably go the same way), you could prevent it happening at all, by keeping potatoes in a blackout lined cotton potato storage bag. 

The dark environment delays sprouting and keeps them fresher for longer, and the bag also has a zip at the bottom so you can use the older potatoes first.

Buy a potato storage bag on Amazon from £3.63

Smoothie maker

Smoothies are a great way of getting your 5 a day, but shop-bought smoothies are expensive and often packed with extra sugar you don’t need.

As with ice lollies, homemade smoothies can cut down on price, but some smoothie-makers can be fairly costly too.

This budget model will suit anyone wanting to try out smoothie-making without splashing out too much cash upfront.

You can also use it to create milkshakes and crushed-ice or breakfast drinks. 

Buy a smoothie maker on Amazon from £19.50

Discover our tasty juice and smoothie recipes



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