If you love to cook, you know how important it is to have the right tools for the job. Cooking gadgets help us chop, blend, mix, and serve all the foods we love to make. They can even help make a difficult or messy job a lot easier and save us time and money in the process. After all, just because your dinner tastes like you spent all day slaving in a kitchen doesn't mean you actually have to.

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Cooking Gadget Must Haves: Wine Aerator

If you love wine or have friends who are wine aficionados, you know that price does not always dictate taste, but there's nothing wrong with making your wine taste better (or more expensive). Wine aerators are ingenious little devices that quickly and easily enhance the flavor of any wine.

Incredibly easy to use, you just hold your wine aerator over a wine glass and pour the wine through it or choose a model that attaches directly to your wine bottle. Voila! You have a perfectly breathed glass of wine without the wait time or having to rely on a decanter. You'll be amazed at the difference in taste and you can even improve the flavor of a less expensive wine, which can save you a lot of money!

Wine aerators are easy and instant, making them a must-have gadget for any dinner party or just a relaxing night at home after a long day. Wine aerators are sold at many wine stores along with major home accessory chains like Bed Bath & Beyond or Crate & Barrel. The best part? You can buy one of these money-saving flavor enhancers for less than $60.
Kitchen Gadget Must Haves: Vacuum Sealers

Vacuum sealers are one of the best money-saving kitchen gadgets available. Fairly easy to use, you simply put your food in the bag, attach your bag to the sealer and turn it on. The vacuum sealer then sucks out all of the air, leaving the bag snug tight around the food.

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By simply squeezing out that extra air with your handy-dandy vacuum sealer, you've just extended the shelf life of your food. The vacuum sealed bags you put in your freezer won't get freezer burn, and you can save leftovers or repackage foods you buy in bulk into individual bags for easy use.

Vacuum sealers are also terrific to use for marinating meats. You will need less marinade overall for your meal and you can create a meal that tastes like it has been marinated for hours in a fraction of the time.

Kitchen Gadget Must Haves: Slow Cooker

Slow cookers are a must-have kitchen gadget because they are easy, convenient, and work perfectly for a variety for households and lifestyles. Do you work full time? Put your favorite meat, veggies, and sauce in your slow cooker and when you get home from work you have a hot meal waiting for you! Having friends or family members over for dinner? Get away from the stove and actually spend time with your guests by letting your slow cooker do all the work for you.
Other reasons why slow cookers belong in every kitchen is that they allow for better flavor distribution (i.e. - your food tastes better) because of the extended cooking time, they are great at cooking some foods that burn easily on the stovetop or in the oven, and best of all, they are super easy to use.

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Tossing in a few ingredients and setting a timer is one fantastically simple way to prepare a great meal. With more and more slow cooker cookbooks coming out every year, you may never run out of fun and easy recipes to try.

Kitchen Gadgets Must Haves: Juicers

If you want to have a fresh cup of orange juice in the morning, you can always squeeze your juice directly from the orange. However, many people's juice requirements and tastes go beyond the simple. If you are interested in combining a number of different fruits and vegetables to make into juice to fit your nutritional needs, you need a good juicer.

Juicers typically fall into one of three categories, masticating, twin gear or centrifugal. Masticating juicers chomp on fruits and vegetables. This results in juice with lots of fiber and vitamins.

Twin gear, or triturating, juicers, smash the fruits and vegetables first before extracting the juice. This process can take longer than other types of juicers. Triturating juicers work well vegetables such as spinach, carrots and wheatgrass.

Kitchen Gadgets Must Haves: Hand Blenders

Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to pull out your food processing equipment if you are making something quick and easy like a smoothie or whipping cream. You can use hand blenders to puree soups in their pots. Hand blenders, which are also referred to as stick blenders or immersion blenders, can also be used to whisk or blend. These versatile gadgets are easy to clean and are available either with a cord or cordless.

Must-have kitchen gadgets don't have to be expensive to make your life easier. In fact, a real must-have gadget should save you money and time in the long run, even when it does require an initial investment.

The difference between a must-have kitchen gadget and piece of junk is really how often you use it. Buying some crazy device from an infomercial isn't necessarily bad if you really end up using it on a regular basis. It is important to remember that chances are that flashy new device will only find itself in your hands once or twice before being banished to the back of some closet. Before you make that purchase, really think if that gadget is more likely to rock your kitchen or simply collect dust.

Whether you're looking to cook a little faster, make your meals taste a little better, or have leftovers last a little longer, our must-have kitchen gadgets are sure to make your time in the kitchen a lot easier and a lot more fun. Bon appétit!