The best keto kitchen tools are not a drawer full of gadgets; they are the few that earn the counter space by doing the swaps low-carb cooking runs on. Five cover almost everything: a food processor, a spiralizer, a thermometer, an air fryer, and a slow cooker. Below is what each one does, and the recipe on this site that puts it to work, so you can see the tool actually cook before you buy it.
Today on Gadget Girl Wednesday I am showing off one of my most used gadgets. As you have probably noticed I couldn't make half the recipes that I have posted without my Cuisinart Food Processor. When I got married a year ago this was one of those items on my registry that I wished so dearly to get. I had a smaller food processor before this one, but after years of torture (including going through a stint of making home-made dog food) it had started to slow down. I needed one with a bigger engine and a more compact style. I decided that theCuisinart FP-14DC Elite Collection 14-Cup Food Processor was the one for me. I know what you are probably thinking "14 cups! That isn't small," but this model is great because it comes with three different sized bowls that stack within each other. My old food processor came with two different bowls, but they didn't stack within each other. Therefore I had to find a home for the food processor and the bowls in my tiny little kitchen. With this unit all the pieces live within each other. The Cuisinart Elite Collection 14 Cup Food Processor is also great when you are making meal that involves many steps in chopping and pureeing. Since the bowls all interlock you can use the small bowl then remove it and use the medium and then use the large bowl. If you are shopping for your first or in my case next food processor I highly recommend this one! It is the make-it-yourself workhorse in my store-bought low carb foods guide.
The five tools that earn their counter space
Each of these does a job that low-carb cooking asks for over and over, and each one links to a recipe here that uses it.
| Tool | What it does on low carb | See it work in |
|---|
| Food processor | Cauliflower rice and mash, pesto, nut flours, crushed pork rinds for breading | cauliflower mash, pesto |
| Spiralizer | Zucchini noodles to stand in for pasta | zucchini spaghetti |
| Digital thermometer | Safe meat temperatures, the one safety tool | carnitas, turkey meatloaf |
| Air fryer / ActiFry | Crisp wings, proteins, and vegetables on a tablespoon of oil | cauliflower popcorn, buffalo wings, green bean fries |
| Slow cooker | Hands-off braises and bone broth | carnitas, turkey broth |
Gadget Girl: the indoor griddle
One more gadget earns a mention because of how often it gets used: the Cuisinart Gourmet Griddler. It grills meat in about five minutes flat, indoors, which matters when the weather or the clock kills the idea of firing up the barbecue. It comes with removable flat and grilling plates, so I run a grill plate on one side for sausage and bacon and a flat plate on the other to fry eggs, a whole low-carb breakfast on one machine. The real case for it is travel: with the Griddler you can cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner right in a hotel room, which is the hardest place to stay low carb. The plates pop off and go in the dishwasher.
The one tool that is not optional: a thermometer
Most of these tools are about convenience. A digital meat thermometer is about safety, and on a meat-heavy way of eating that makes it the one to buy first. Low-carb cooking leans on poultry, pork, and ground meat, and each has a safe minimum: 165 degrees F for poultry, 145 for whole cuts of pork with a rest, and 160 for ground meat. Color and time lie; a thermometer does not. It is what tells you the carnitas are safe and the turkey meatloaf hit 165 in the center, and it is the cheapest tool on this list.
Sources
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, safe minimum internal temperatures for poultry, pork, and ground meat.
Sugarfreechic, low-carb kitchen notes.
