“Japanese Butter Cube Cutter”: 50 Cool And Unusual Tools That Might Make Life Simpler And More Fun

If you've ever wondered down the aisles of a hardware store, paged through a kitchen gadget catalogue or gotten lost down a rabbit hole of online shopping, you might have noticed that there's a tool for almost everything.

For example, why use a simple knife to slice up an avocado pear when you can do it with a 3-in-1 fancy-shaped gadget? These kitchen tools are designed to split the fruit, remove the pit and evenly slice the flesh in one perfect motion. Your grandma might think it's completely unnecessary but then again, she'd possibly say the same about a rice or egg boiler (because a pot serves the same purpose, right?)

Many foodies and experts argue that modern kitchen gadgets are a must if you want to save time and effort.

"Chopping, peeling, and pressing ingredients by hand can be tedious, slow, and sometimes even frustrating. Gadgets like a handheld food chopper, ergonomic peelers, or a citrus press turn these repetitive tasks into quick, effortless motions that free you up to focus on cooking, plating, or simply enjoying the process," explains the Zulay Kitchen site.

Even better if you have multi-use tools like 5-in-1 kitchen scissors, which can slice herbs, trim meats, crack nuts, and even open bottles.

It's not only people reaping the benefits of snazzy and unique tools. Stroll through your local pet store and you might notice that Fido and Mr. Whiskers have a lot more choice nowadays than they once did.

For example, no more grubby paw-prints thanks to a thing that looks like a cup lined with soft bristles, otherwise known as a dog paw cleaner. After a dirty play session or a walk through the mud, simply put your pup's paw inside the cup, gently twist it and let the bristles do the rest.

While some tools are seriously cool, others are simply a useless waste of money, time and space - or so certain people would argue.

Richard Ingraham is a personal chef to Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union and author of Love: My Love Expressed Through Food. There are a few kitchen tools the expert thinks you should toss, or not bother buying at all. Among them: pizza scissors.

"A pizza cutter or knife works better and faster," the chef told CNET recently. "These scissors are gimmicky, awkward to clean and take up more space than they're worth."

He'd also not advise wasting money on an electric potato peeler, which to be honest, I'd never even heard of until now. According to Ingraham, this gadget takes up "a surprising amount of space" and here's the kicker: he says it peels slower than a regular peeler. So, really... what's the point?

Other things that get a downvote from the chef include a butter cutter/dispenser, herb scissors, a pasta measurer, an egg separator, a garlic tube peeler and the good, old avo slicer we mentioned earlier.

For Kellogg's Diner Executive Chef, Jackie Carnesi, oven mitts are the most useless item in a home kitchen.

"A sturdy kitchen towel does the same job, and odds are, it's more likely to be washed regularly," she says. "I don't know many people who wash their oven mitts frequently enough... it seems many have deemed it an item that doesn't warrant regular cleaning. It does."

At the end of the day, it's really a case of "to each their own" when it comes to what gadgets tickle your fancy. While some may think an avo slicer is a waste of time, others can't live without one. As long as your tools bring you joy, spark creativity, simplify your life, or do all three, by all means make space for them. The key is to not overdo it and to focus on quality rather than quality.

"It’s tempting to buy every gadget you see, but a few well-chosen, reliable tools outperform a kitchen full of cheap, single-use items," advises the Zulay Kitchen team. "High-quality gadgets work as intended, don’t break easily, and provide consistent results. By focusing on quality, you reduce clutter and make cooking a more enjoyable experience."