When it comes to food prep, anything that saves time is a winner. But when it comes to adding another utensil or appliance to your already full kitchen counters and drawers, you want to know that it will work hard for you. We’ve rounded up some nifty gadgets that will make food prep a breeze and multitask in the process.

Must have Multi-purpose utensils

Utensils that serve dual purposes are ideal additions to your prep rotation as it means less clean-up afterwards and a quicker smoother cooking process for you. We’ve rounded up some essential multi-purpose tools that you need in your kitchen

1. Chopula

Dreamfarms’ range of Chopula utensils is a cook’s dream come true. Basically, a spatula that also chops, the Chopula saves you time when cooking as it can lift, flip, chop and slice. It’s even designed to sit up with its head elevated when placed down between tasks for a mess-free surface.

Available in a variety of sizes, materials and purposes to suit your needs you can choose between:

• Original Chopula – made from thin and flexible non-stick nylon, perfect for flipping from the front, but also incredibly strong for chopping on its side. Great for separating minced meat or eggs in a pan, flipping pancakes and serving.
• BBQ Chopula – made from stainless steel with a ridged cutting edge that’s perfect for flipping meat on the braai and then cutting it afterwards
• Mini Chopula – made from the same materials as the original but a smaller size that’s ideal for baking, cooking eggs, cutting brownies and more.

2. Supoon

Another ingenious creation from Dreamfarm comes in the form of the Supoon. Once you have one of these multipurpose items you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. Available in original and mini, the Supoon has a flat squeegee tip and flexible sides to scrape your pan or bowl clean, a deep scooping head, and can be used to measure teaspoons and tablespoons. The best part of all has to be its clever handle design that is like having a built-in spoon rest so your Supoon’s head sits up off your bench making measuring and pouring a breeze and keeping your surfaces cleaner.

• Original Supoon – can measure teaspoons and tablespoons as well as all the other handy functions like scooping and scraping
• Mini Supoon – measures teaspoons only and can do smaller scooping and scraping jobs.

Discover more useful and thoughtfully designed kitchen tools from Dreamfarm

Bread bin & board combos

Both beautifully designed and practical, these two-in-one bread bins have a wooden slide-in lid that also doubles as a breadboard. No more will your wooden breadboard have onions or other ingredients chopped on it when it has a dedicated and necessary place on top of your storage container like the Carter Breadbin

The S&P Hudson Bread Bin & Board even includes a stainless steel bread knife and a special slot that keeps your bread-cutting essentials together.

Cooking chop-chop

Cutting prep is a big part of the cooking process. Any help on making slicing and chopping a little easier gets an A+ in our books. Other than a good quality knife sometimes you just need to call in the big guns to get it done faster

We love the Moulinex Chopper as a compact and easy-to-use multi-tool that can chop, grind and emulsify. Sure food processors can do that too, but the smaller size bowl that can take up to 300g or 500ml makes it ideal for prepping smaller portions and it’s easier to clean. Think chopping onions and garlic as your base in one go to save time at the start of your meal

The Nutribullet is also a winner in the food prep games. Compact, powerful and easy to clean, this small yet mighty kitchen assistant helps you create everything from blended smoothies and sauces to chopped ingredients and ground coffee or spices.

If you’re looking for something that works ‘offline’ the Baccarat Prep Food Chopper is a more affordable alternative and load-shedding friendly with its manual operation.

Less mess tools

Tools that minimise clean-up are always a welcome addition to your collection. Here are three we love:

Box Grater – this handy grater keeps curls of cheese off the counter and floor by containing it all in a neat box that the grater sheets fit onto. Transfer your perfectly grated cheese straight into your dish with less mess and fuss.

Pot Lid Lifters – say goodbye to messy stovetops with these cute and quirky silicone figurine pot lid lifters that hold your pot lids open just enough for good air circulation to prevent messy overboiling.

Microwave Multi Mat – not only can this multipurpose mat can be used as a nifty cover to avoid splatters in the microwave, but it can also be used as a trivet, placemat, pot gripper, drying mat and jar opener

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Time spent in the kitchen should be relaxing and fun. Discover tools and appliances that are carefully selected to enhance your cooking experience in our @home kitchen selection.