There are many kitchen utensils available for use in your kitchen, and they are tools that will ultimately make the cooking process that much quicker and easier for you. First of all, you need to ensure you can measure out the correct quantities of ingredients when wanting to prepare a dish. To do this you will need to buy some weighing/ kitchen scales and a measuring jug. Most weighing scales will come with a bowl, in which you will place the dry ingredient you want weigh. Make sure that you adjust the scale to 0 (or turn on an electronic set) when this bowl is atop the scales, but still empty. This will mean you get an accurate measurement once you add your ingredient. Measuring jugs will simply have a gauge printed on the side so you can pour in the desired amount of liquid for your recipe.

Make sure you have a good set of basic tools, such as a spatula, ladle, potato masher and tongs. Some of these may be able to be bought as a set with each other, and basically make the handling of food safer and easier. The spatula will help you scrape saucepans and mixing bowls out, to make sure you get everything you cooked; the ladle will help you serve soups and liquids (make sure you get a version with holes too, which can be used for serving food cooked in water, thus meaning you can drain off the excess; a potato masher will allow you to mash any soft vegetables or fruit if you desire; and tongs can be used for turning over food when cooking, or serving it at the end. A pasta server is similar to tongs, but often plastic, and is another useful addition to allow you to better handle slippery cooked pasta. A colander is also a great essential to allow you to drain large quantities of food in one go.

Chopping board - Can be made of wood, plastic, glass and granite. Wooden boards tend to be best as they are better for your knives. Glass tend to be better for hygiene as they resist stains and odours. Chopping boards protect your work surfaces.

A peeler is good for peeling fruit and vegetables, as it means you can take off the right amount of skin and avoid excess waste. Also get a grater to help with this other common kitchen task. A box grater is the most practical, as each edge tends to have its own different cutting edge, thus meaning you can grate in a variety of ways. If you only need a small grater, invest in a handheld one with attached cup for catching the grated ingredient, so all you need to do is then tip this into the rest of your food.