Kitchen Tips

13. Gas Stove or Cooktop
    
    Cost: Varies widely depending on type and brand.
    
    I think you can control the heat better with gas. This is important when making lower-fat sauces, which are a lot less forgiving than their high-fat counterparts.

14. Convection Oven
    
    Cost: Varies widely, depending on type and brand.
    
    A convection oven uses a fan to distribute heat evenly as your food bakes, and it comes in especially handy for low-fat bakery recipes. You want to slightly undercook lower-fat renditions of brownies and cookies so you'll get the desired chewy texture. In my experience, you're less likely to overcook these items when using a convection oven. I put a convection oven/microwave in my test kitchen. My gas oven also has a feature that lets you use convection heat by flipping a switch.

15. Indoor Grill
    
    Cost: Varies widely depending on type; up to $100 for a regular plug-in grill.
    
    Indoor grills produce a grilled look and taste for meats without the potential higher cancer risk from the charring and flame flare-ups you get with an outdoor grill. These come in several different types: the top-and-bottom plug-in grills like the George Foreman; indoor/outdoor grills; fancier stovetop attachments; and the kind that comes with a new stove. When I invested in my Dynamic Cooking System stove/oven five years ago, I had a lapse in judgment and chose the griddle feature instead of the grill. How many times have I fired up this big ole' griddle over the past five years? Zero. How many times have I wished I'd opted for the grill in the center of my stove? I've stopped counting.

16. A Good Mixer
    
    Cost: Around $260.
    
    I totally rely on my hard-core, "I can’t believe how much it cost" standup mixer. If you're trying to cook most of your meals at home, you need a good mixer so you can make your own baked goods, mashed potatoes etc. Don’t get me wrong, a less-expensive hand mixer will do the job for some of your recipes. But it’s nice to have a mixer with a whisk or beater attachment, and that is strong enough to take on bread dough or extra-thick cookie dough without missing a beat. Some of the weaker hand mixers would go out with a whimper.