Cooking Techniques 15 Essential Kitchen Items That Will Help Get You Through the Holidays With your busy cooking schedule (and sanity) in mind, we've pulled our kitchen essentials that come in handy year-round, but are especially useful during the heavy cooking that comes with the holidays. By Julia Heffelfinger Julia Heffelfinger Instagram Website Julia Heffelfinger is a cook, recipe developer, writer, editor, and food stylist. A native of Minnesota, Julia will talk your ear off about her love of her home state and buttered corn on the cob.Expertise: cooking, travel.Experience: After graduating from Wesleyan University, Julia Heffelfinger worked in production for several food-focused television shows, including Cake Boss and Next Great Baker. She attended the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City while working on the line at Daniel Boulud's fine dining Mediterranean restaurant, Boulud Sud. Julia assisted food columnist Melissa Clark at The New York Times before spending four years in the food department at Food & Wine. You can find her work in Food & Wine, Better Homes & Gardens, Condé Nast Traveler, Artful Living, Eater, My Fitness Pal, and Furthermore from Equinox. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on December 8, 2017 Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: haveseen/Getty Images 'Tis the season to stuff your face with Christmas cookies, sip bubbly and cook like there's no tomorrow. It's the busiest cooking time of the year and in order to pull off a show-stopping holiday meal (and keep your wits about you), having the right tools and an organized kitchen is key. Even a sharp knife or plenty of storage containers can shave precious minutes off of your holiday baking and meal prep (leaving you more time to quietly sip eggnog in your bedroom while you hideout from your relatives). With your busy cooking schedule (and sanity) in mind, we've pulled our kitchen essentials that come in handy year-round, but are especially useful during the heavy cooking that comes with the holidays. Be it cookie baking, feeding an influx of house guests or pulling off a Norman Rockwell-level perfect dinner, these 15 must-will keep your kitchen operating smoothly. 1. Rimmed Baking Sheets Courtesy A rimmed baking sheet has got to be the most used, versatile and essential item in the home kitchen over the holidays. If you have the space, having at least two half-sheet pans (18-by-13 inches) on hand for baking cookies or roasting vegetables is clutch. I also like to have a few quarter-sheet pans around for arranging mise-en-place or if you need to salt a chicken and let it sit in your fridge overnight. The quarter-sheets are big enough to be useful and small enough to easily fit in your fridge. If you are especially short on storage space, you can also roast your turkey or prime rib on a baking rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. No bulky roasting pan necessary. Lastly, skip the non-stick coated baking sheet—they're rumored to suck the moisture out of your food, can affect cooking time and won't give you as good of a sear on your roasted vegetables as an aluminum baking sheet. $36 for 2 half-sheets, surlatable.com 2. Pre-cut Parchment Sheets These pre-cut sheets fit snuggly in a rimmed half-sheet pan and are an absolute lifesaver when you're in the middle of a cookie baking marathon. $12.49, amazon.com 3. Big Cutting Board Courtesy Amazon While prepping for your holiday meals, a large cutting board with lots of surface area is a lifesaver. This inexpensive OXO one has grips that hold it in place, the plastic surface makes it easier to sanitize after using it for raw meat and it requires less care than a wood cutting board. Just make sure that the dimensions are smaller than your kitchen sink! $24.95, amazon.com 4. Large Cooling Rack A cooling rack that fits inside your rimmed baking sheets can be used as a roasting rack for a large piece of meat or placed on the counter for cooling all of those holiday cookies. $12.50, amazon.com 5. 8-inch Chef's Knife Courtesy The Sora chef's knife from Japanese knife makers, Shun, is the perfect utility knife. The san mai technique used to make this super-sharp blade is the same process Shun uses to make their more high-end knives (we're talking $400), plus the plastic handle is lightweight and makes for easy care. $79.95, amazon.com 6. Offset Bread Knife Courtesy Amazon This serrated knife has an L-shaped blade that is easier on your wrist and makes slicing through bread a breeze. $15.99, amazon.com 7. All the Storage Containers Nothing feels like more of a waste of time when you're busy cooking than rifling through your cupboards for something to store your food in and then trying to find a lid to match. Our advice: go overboard on your storage containers. Get something giant to store all of those cookies in and stock up on plenty of reusable quart, pint and half-pint containers for your prepped ingredients, to freeze soup or tomato sauce in and to pack up those leftover odds-and-ends. Plus, isn't there something so deliciously satisfying about opening your cupboard and seeing neat stacks of matching containers ready to be used? Makes you feel like you have your act together (even if you don't). $20.95 for 36 containers, amazon.com 8. Enameled Cast-Iron Casserole Williams-Sonoma A large Dutch oven like this 7 1/4-quart Le Creuset is a must-have when you're feeding big crowds and guests are popping in an out. Leading up to the big holidays, put this enameled casserole to work and plan a week of hearty one-pot meals and simple soups. $370, Williams-sonoma.com 9. 9-by-13 inch Baking Dish Williams-Sonoma This handsome Revol baking dish is super durable, doesn't scratch and looks beautiful on the table. The all-purpose size is great for lasagnas, stratas, stuffing, you name it. It's also big enough for a roast chicken or pork shoulder. $74.96, Williams-sonoma.com 10. Salad Spinner Crate & Barrel This big salad spinner from OXO has a grippy bottom that keeps it steady while you're drying your greens. Also, its large size makes it ideal for storing crisp lettuces and herbs until you're ready to use them. $49.99, crateandbarrel.com 11. Food Processor Crate & Barrel This 11-cup Cuisinart food processor is a good middle-of-the-road size for doing just about everything: making pie dough, quick party dips, chopping your mirepoix or slicing your potatoes and Brussels sprouts. $149, crateandbarrel.com 12. Kitchen Shears Kitchen shears might get just as much use in my kitchen as my chef's knife. Aside from your obvious scissor tasks, use them to cut through flatbreads or pizza, to snip herbs, to cut out the back of your poultry for spatchcocking, to open bottles or to tighten a loose screw. $19.95, amazon.com 13. Immersion Blender Courtesy Puree soups and sauces right in the pot without the fuss and mess of transferring to a blender. This compact little tool also breaks down for easy cleaning and storage. $34.95, surlatable.com 14. Meat Thermometer A good instant read thermometer is crucial when you need to know if your roast is finished. The Thermoworks ThermoPop is smaller and less expensive than other true instant read thermometers and it will accurately read the internal temp of your food in under four seconds. $29, thermoworks.com 15. Wine Bottle Opener Set This no-fuss bottle opener will have your wine bottle open in one quick movement, and it costs a quarter of the price of similar models. Bonus: this set also includes a bottle stopper, spout and an extra corkscrew for the opener. $27, surlatable.com Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit