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15 Useless Kitchen Gadgets That are a Complete Waste of Money

Since when are forks and knives just not enough for you?

friends preparing a meal in kitchen
Updated May 28, 2024
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Some kitchen tools and gadgets are indispensable, like meat thermometers, a good spatula, and of course, the trusty knife you use for everything. However, there are a plethora of useless kitchen gadgets you just don’t need.

Some of them are marketed to do a unique task, but one that you can probably do with a fork or knife. Others basically suck the joy out of the cooking process. Following are 15 gadgets to skip if you hope to avoid wasting money.

Microwave s'mores maker

Andy Dean/Adobe woman eating smore

What’s your happiest s’mores memory? Were you by a campfire under a starry sky, with the smell of smoke in the air and the delicious taste of s’mores on your tongue?

If so, we hope you understand why a microwave s’mores maker just misses the point entirely. Now, go outside and use the firepit.

Cookie dipper

AntonioDiaz/Adobe cute little girl loves milk and cookies

Another silly way to needlessly kill childhood nostalgia is by using a cookie dipper. Sure, you’ll get that tasty cookies-and-milk flavor, with all of the right textures and flavors.

But what about the raw joy of just dunking the cookie in milk with your fingers, carefree and joyfully? A cookie dipper simply reminds you to be less messy — which kind of ruins the moment anyway.

Pickle picker

Mahbub/Adobe pickled cucumber with fork on glass jar

Speaking of dipping tools, you can purchase a pickle picker, which will spare you from having to dunk your fingers in the pickle jar, hopefully preventing the spread of germs in the process.

While you don’t have to admit if you use your fingers, there’s one surefire way we guarantee you can get the pickle out hygienically: Use a fork.

Cupcake maker

Syda Productions/Adobe woman putting batter in baking dish for cupcakes

Cupcakes are delicious, fun-sized desserts that bring delight to those of us with a sweet tooth. But what we can’t understand is why anyone would need a cupcake maker to bake them.

Cupcake pans do their job just fine in the oven, and once cooled are easy to clean and convenient to store. This poor device just seems redundant.

Omelet maker

Guys Who Shoot/Adobe chef preparing a french omelette on a frying pan

Making an omelet can be tougher than it looks, given you must make sure the egg is cooked to the right texture before flipping it adeptly.

That doesn’t mean you need to turn to an omelet maker to do it, though. Practice makes perfect, so don’t write off the pan and spatula just yet.

Quesadilla maker

Marcos/Adobe Quesadilla typical mexican dish with various ingredients

While omelets can present some challenges, making a quesadilla is easy. This is why you don’t need a dedicated quesadilla maker. How many makers do you even have room for?

Again, all you need to do is flip, and this is even easier than with an omelet.

The pan and spatula are your friends. Use them.

Corn kernel stripper

irinagrigorii/Adobe cut corn from the corn cob

Biting into a hot cob of corn that’s dripping with butter evokes memories of late-summer cookouts and autumn family dinners.

Sometimes you have to take the kernels off the cob, though.

This is something that really can be done quite easily with a knife, so there’s no need to bring a corn cob stripper into the equation. Really.

Butter dispenser

dream79/Adobe  dairy butter

We get it, sometimes it’s difficult to spread the butter on your toast just right. But how is a butter dispenser going to help you with that? Can’t you simply let the stick soften a bit at room temperature?

Plus, how does jamming a stick into a giant syringe help? Finally, we don’t even want to imagine the cleanup with this gadget.

Egg cooker

New Africa/Adobe woman putting freshly fried eggs and vegetables onto plate

It’s not tough to cook an egg: You literally just boil water, put in an egg, and use an egg timer. Or you can scramble it. Heck, you can even use the microwave.

That’s why we can’t imagine anyone needing a dedicated egg cooker.

Microwave bacon cooker

peopleimages.com/Adobe woman frying bacon on the stove

There is so much wrong with this gadget. For one, why would you ever make bacon in the microwave?

Instead, bake it in the oven or cook it on the stove, and voila, you’re done.

Countertop pizza oven

AnnaStills/Adobe man with beard on face and tattoo on arms cooking pizza

If anyone from Italy is reading, avert your eyes: Someone really made a countertop pizza oven that rotates as it cooks.

Even if you don’t have an oven, you probably have a toaster oven. There’s just no need for something so specialized.

Pro tip: If you really must buy any of the devices on this list, check out the deals at Amazon. The website is often a great place to find items at the best prices.

Pizza scissors

Viacheslav Yakobchuk/Adobe male hand cutting pepperoni pizza on wooden board

Looking for another unnecessary pizza gadget that will make Italians mad at food? It’s pizza scissors, which are exactly what they sound like.

Perhaps this product is great if you aren’t adept with a pizza roller. But can’t you just use regular scissors? Or even (gasp) a knife?

Banana slicer

peopleimages.com/Adobe woman making healthy smoothie

OK, it’s cute, we’ll give you that. And it might be fun for kids to use and safer than a knife.

But otherwise, a banana slicer is just doing what a knife has done for centuries.

Avocado masher

Drobot Dean/Adobe woman smiling while preparing sandwich with avocado

If there’s one thing avocados are famous for, it’s the difficulty of getting them when they are perfectly ripe. They’re either too green or instantly too soft.

But it’s not exactly rocket science when it’s time to make your guac. You simply slice with a knife, scrape out with a spoon, and mash with a fork. A specialized masher is not necessary.

Egg separator

Татьяна Креминская/Adobe woman hands breaking an egg to separate egg white and yolks

The last unnecessary egg gadget on this list is an egg separator. It’s straight up a waste of money.

Just crack the egg, and hold the yolk in the shell as the white comes out and be done with it. You got this!

Bottom line

Irina Schmidt/Adobe girl helping in the kitchen with dish washing machine

There are plenty of items that are helpful in the kitchen, like a good chef’s knife or a cast-iron skillet. But there also are many kitchen gadgets that just aren’t worth the money.

Plus, who has room for all of the specialized unitaskers out there in their kitchen? So, do yourself a favor and let your forks, knives, and spoons be the powerful multitaskers they already are.

Avoiding the siren song of these devices is a great way to save more money.

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Author Details

Cat Lafuente

Cat Lafuente is a Florida-based writer and editor with extensive experience in digital and print content spaces. Her own personal finance journey — particularly consolidating debt and paying it off, in turn boosting her credit score and becoming a homeowner — inspired her to join the FinanceBuzz team; she hopes she can help others do the same.