10 Kitchen Must-Haves From Two People Who Take Their Kitchens Way Too Seriously

Everybody thinks they have a well-stocked kitchen until they’re trying to zest a lemon with a cheese grater or browning ground meat with a wooden spoon like it’s 1997. On That’s the Point, Jon Volk and Kristin Johns go through every kitchen gadget they swear by, a few they’d happily never see again, and some hot takes that might start arguments. Here’s what actually earned a permanent spot in their kitchens.

☐ A meat masher

Johns is unreasonably passionate about this one. “I’m browning ground meat so often and like sausage,” she explains. “Doing that with a wooden spoon is just so slow and laborious. The meat masher, everything is mashed so quickly and evenly in like 10 seconds.” Volk’s mom also recently put one on her birthday list, so apparently this is a thing people are collectively waking up to.

☐ A good lemon squeezer (emphasis on good)

“There’s so many bad lemon squeezers out there,” Volks points out. “When you have a good one, it makes a world of difference. Making drinks, adding citrus to any type of soup or salad dressing. It comes in clutch for me multiple times a week.” 

☐ A quality Dutch oven

Johns uses hers almost every single time she cooks. “There’s so many different uses for it,” she explains. “You can do bread in it. You can cook big soups, anything big.” Volks actually got Johns her “dream one from Le Creuset” for her 30th birthday. 

☐ An immersion blender

Volks reaches for his constantly. “Things that you would blend in a blender, you don’t have to get out all of that and make a mess,” he points out. “You can just do immersion blender.” He uses it for pesto, Caesar dressing, salsas, thickening soups. Both of them agree the Vitamix sounds great in theory but is too heavy and bulky to justify pulling out. “It either has to live on your counter or just don’t even have it,” Johns admits, “because to pull it out and set it up is so annoying.”

☐ A big wooden cutting board

Johns got one as a Christmas present and the upgrade from those little plastic ones was immediate. She adds that she still uses the small plastic ones for garlic and onions because the smell seeps into wood, but according to her, “a big wooden cutting board is a necessity.”

☐ Whatever your coffee method is, get a good version of it

Both agree this is their number one kitchen essential. “You do not need to have a million-dollar espresso machine,” Volk clarifies. “French press, Moka pot…pour over, whatever it is. Having the perfect type of coffee maker that you love, getting a good version of it is the best thing you could do.” Better than spending eight bucks a day at a coffee shop and you know it.

☐ A microplane

Johns calls this one controversial but stands by it. “I didn’t have one for the longest time, and I would always use just my grater to do zest from lemons and oranges,” she admits. “A microplane changes your life.” If you’ve been making do without one, just trust her on this.

☐ A Japanese pairing knife

“It’s not a normal knife, but it’s like small, and you can just whip through veggies, pairing things, even like chicken,” Volk explains. Not a replacement for your chef’s knife but more like the utility player that handles everything your big knife is too clunky for.

☐ A waffle maker (but specifically the flat kind)

Both immediately smash on this one. But they’re team thin and crispy, not team thick and fluffy. Johns talks about her sister’s heart-shaped ones that are “very Swiss vibes” and Volk is loyal to the flat square ones his mom used to make. Belgian waffles didn’t make the cut.

☐ Quality measuring cups

Johns recently leveled up hers from a specialty website after doing what she describes as “a ton of research.” Volk noticed immediately. “Remember you came over and you were like, whoa, you got new measuring cups,” she laughs. If yours are warped, stained, or from a dollar store in 2014, it might be time.

Bonus: their hottest passes

Johns passes on the salad spinner because “I just buy pre-washed lettuce.” Volk informs her “that’s a luxury and not everyone does that.” Both want a Ninja Creami but neither has room. “When I have a massive large kitchen, it’s going to be a smash,” Volk concedes. And neither of them uses a vacuum sealer, though Volk’s parents just got a sous vide and apparently now make the best steaks of their lives with it.

Listen to the full episode on That’s the Point with Jon Volk and Kristin Johns, available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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