Is your kitchen so small that while you serve tapas, folks assume it is a full meal? Is it so tiny that while you give of us the tour, you may have them stand in place and spin round? Is it so miniature that you simply would not even be capable to match this intro inside your paltry cupboards? Then this information’s for you. As tempting as it’s to declare all hope misplaced and rationalize consuming out night time and day, you and I each know it is quite a bit more healthy and cheaper to cook dinner for your self.

As somebody who lives in New York City, I do know a factor or two about small kitchens. Over the years, we have examined varied items of furnishings and different kitchen gear to assist make cooking in a small area simpler (and saner). Don’t overlook to take a look at our different buying guides, together with the Best Cookbooks and Best Pots and Pans.

Updated February 2023: We’ve added new objects, together with espresso makers, cast-iron cookware, and storage options.

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Maximize Storage Space

There are magnets hidden beneath the wooden, wall-mounted bar that maintain the knives, so it will not chip or uninteresting your knife blades like an all-metal bar. Skip the countertop knife block—not solely does it take up counter area, however it additionally dulls the knife blades extra shortly.

Getting these pots and pans onto the wall will liberate treasured drawer and cupboard area. This bamboo and aluminum rack holds as much as 30 kilos, however even with a full set of stainless-steel cookware and cast-iron skillets, mine has been rock-solid and durable. If you are mounting into drywall and never studs, decide up some E-Z Anchors. If you do not have room for a shelf, a hanging bar will nonetheless get skillets, saucepans, and woks out of your means.

If you are low on drawer area, retailer your cooking utensils in a ceramic container. This has sufficient room to carry all of your spoons, spatulas, and tongs and is offered in a number of colours. You also can get the 1-quart version for $35. 

Wall-mounted spice racks additionally liberate a whole lot of cupboard area. You can inventory it up along with your spices and different fine details. This one is fabricated from ash wooden and is available in a set of two (although you may go for a single one if you would like). 

WIRED opinions editor Julian Chokkattu has been utilizing the StoveShelf for a few month and loves it. It’s a sensible means to avoid wasting counter area, and it is easy to wash. This is only a sheet of metallic with magnets on the base, and it sticks to the highest of a range, making it tremendous simple to put in. You’ll want to verify this a part of your range is metallic and never plastic, and that there are not any buttons or switches that is likely to be blocked (like an oven mild). The rear guard ensures that nothing falls into that hole between your range and the wall. I’d ensure that to keep away from placing any cooking oil there. 

You need not use treasured counter area to retailer recent fruit and greens. Leave your tomatoes, potatoes, and stone fruit out of the fridge and regain some prep area for knife dealing with and mixing bowls.

Here’s one other one which WIRED opinions editor Julian Chokkattu purchased final 12 months. This pantry storage system clearly will take up some ground area, however in case you can swing it, it can save you a lot counter area, and it is particularly nice for anybody with restricted cupboards. It’s daunting at first as a result of it is available in what looks like 1,000,000 items; it took Julian round 4 hours to finish with no points. But within the greater than 5 months he is had it, it is labored completely and has been a boon to retaining his kitchen much less chaotic. The doorways shut magnetically. Just ensure that to measure the peak of the cabinets to verify your spices and different pantry objects will match. 

Rather than use a wall-mounted spice rack, WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe sticks magnetic spice jars to her fridge. She likes Gneiss Spice, which is available in a number of ready-made kits. You also can specify the spices you want.

Consolidate (and Downsize) Your Cookware

A Dutch oven can exchange a number of single-use pots or machines. I’ve used mine to steam oysters, slow-cook stews, and make barbecue, and the sturdy, nonstick enameled floor requires much less care and a focus than naked forged iron, though I choose a non-enamel one for baking bread.

Forget the Keurig or Mr. Coffee that hogs up counter area even when it is idle. An AeroPress makes better-tasting espresso, and it may be rinsed and stowed away in a drawer afterwards. We additionally just like the Hario Pour-Over Coffee Dripper for $25 and the Frieling 23-fluid ounce Stainless Steel French Press for $120. I’ve used each for years. They’ll by no means put on out, and so they make great coffee.

How usually do you actually use that quesadilla maker or steaming basket? One multicooker can exchange a number of specialised machines. Aside from being a stress cooker, steamer, sauté pan, rice cooker, yogurt maker, meals hotter, and gradual cooker, it has 13 customizable settings for pressure-cooking all the pieces from beans to soup to poultry. Read our Best Multicookers information for extra suggestions.

We get it. A KitchenAssist Stand Mixer on the countertop is the mark of refinement and envy. But it takes up a whole lot of precious area. Consider a hand mixer you may stash inside a cupboard or drawer as an alternative. I’ve had no bother powering by means of thick dough with this KitchenAssist hand mixer, and it spins quick sufficient to make whipped cream.

Ditch the pancake griddle for this multipurpose stovetop griddle. You need to take care when cleansing it to not strip the end off, and you need to season it after every wash with food-grade oil, however forged iron makes for a beautiful cooking floor that heats evenly. Beyond pancakes, you may cook dinner burgers, pork chops, steaks, eggs, bacon, and extra—after which stash it in a cupboard while you’re performed.

You do not want that many knives. Ditch the 10-inch knife set: An 8- or 9-inch chef’s knife, a smaller paring knife, a bread knife, and perhaps a few specialty blades will suffice. This general-purpose chef’s knife is beneficial as our best choice for most individuals in our chef’s knife buying guide, because of its means to carry an edge and its near-nonstick floor. You might additionally exchange the chef’s knife with a general-purpose cleaver, like this one for $85.

WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe makes most of her meals on this cross between a skillet, a frying pan, and a sautée pan. “It doesn’t shine in one area over any other,” she says, “but it’s sturdy, it heats up evenly, and the stainless-steel surface cleans up easily in the dishwasher.”

If you do not have sufficient prep area to deal with a knife safely, a meals processor can slice and cube as much as three cups of components at a time. WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano loves utilizing hers to make recent pasta sauce.

Add Prep Surfaces

Cutting boards take up a ton of room throughout meal preparation. Buy one which’s made to suit over your sink, like this stable maple reducing board. Hardwood is simpler in your knife blades than bamboo, too.

Mounting a drop-leaf desk to a close-by wall can liberate area in the course of your kitchen and make it simpler to stroll round. Aside from providing a spot to eat, it is 20 by 36 inches of extra counter area that swings down and away when not in use.

Burner covers add area to your cooktop by making a spot to set down an additional reducing board or utensils. This bamboo workstation can cowl half your stovetop. Get two for a steady flat floor over all 4 burners.

For a tiny kitchen, persist with a rolling kitchen cart that measures 36 inches (91 cm) vast or much less, similar to this one which measures just below 30 inches (76 cm). It has a stable butcher-block prime, three hooks for oven mitts and hanging utensils, and locking wheels. You can tuck it right into a nook of your kitchen and wheel it out while you want extra counter area.

How to Move within the Kitchen

Here are some ideas from WIRED senior author Scott Gilbertson, who labored within the restaurant trade for six years and is aware of his means round tight cooking areas: