Las week I made a few stories on Instagram where I showed you how I buy my kitchen utensils from Amazon even if I don’t live in the US. You guys asked me a lot to give you my top favourite Amazon kitchen finds for and so here they are.
How to buy from abroad
OK, so just in case you live outside the US or any country with a local Amazon shop, here’s how to buy it. If you’re not interested, go ahead and skip to the list of my favs ;).
Many people are scared that if they order things from outside the US they’re be charged millions for delivery. The truth is that sometimes it will be very expensive but most of the times it won’t. It depends who sells it (it’s not always Amazon directly) and the size and weight of the package. The good thing is that you don’t need to guess how much they will charge because on the item they say it explicitly.
First you need to create your account and / or add your current address. You want to set it as your main address, too. Then whenever you go to make a search you should see your name, city and Zipcode on the top left of the page right under Amazon’s logo. Then when you search for an article you will only be able to buy the ones that say “Eligible for Shipping to ____”, in my case Chile. Once you select and item to see more info it will show you the items with the price of delivery added like this:
For example this price shows that before it was $13.99, it has a discount of $5.62 and to that I need to add $8.91 of Shipping and Import Feees to Chile. So in total I need to pay $8.37 + $8.91 = $17.28. My personal experience has been that I have never had to pay any more than what this shows and you even get back money if the import fees where cheaper than expected. At the right on the item’s page and above the “Add to cart” button you’ll see the range of dates of arrival if you pay that amount and then when you go to start the paying process you’ll see them again plus sooner dates if you wish to pay more:
So if I order this today 25th February it will arrive between the 8th and 15th of March. This time varies again depending on who’s the seller. This time is the same as we saw before and costs what we saw before as well. However, if I want it to arrive on the 6th of March or 1st of March I need to pay more. This is of course optional and depends on the urgency you have in receiving this item. If you have more specific doubts you can always head to Amazon’s help page for international shipping.
When I order through Amazon it’s because 1 or 2 reasons. The first is it it’s an item I cannot find in Chile. The other reason is if the cost of the item plus the shipping is still cheaper than buying the item here. Believe it or not that happens to me really often and it becomes even more notorious if you weigh in also the cost of going to the store, parking, etc.
OK, let’s go into the good stuff ;).
Kitchen Basics
These are the things that I love to use and I thing you will like as well. I own several of these or similar versions of these. And if I don’t it’s because it’s in my wishlist.
- 100% silicone spatulas: The reason why I love to use these spatulas both for savoury and sweet preparations is because they will never burn you even if you lay the handle against the pot. Also those spatulas that have a different material for the handle and tip always end up separating and bacterias can live in those crevices.
- Garlic press: This garlic press is GREAT because you can put more than one clove of garlic in it, talk about efficiency! Also this brand is one of my favourites, it lasts long and is really sturdy.
- Microplane Zester: You must have heard me talk about this zester / grater about 050 times by now. The nice thing about it is that it grates really fine. It’s PERFECT for zesting citrus fruits because it doesn’t grate the white bitter pith. I also use it for grating cheese for a lovely golden baked pasta dish or to finish a dish. Recommended 100%, I have it with a yellow handle haha.
- Set of plastic cutters: I have these in colours and also in white. I hate metal cutters because they rust on the first use and then you have to throw them away because they’re clearly no longer hygienic. These plastic ones are great and cut perfectly.
- Spatulas to decorate in mini and large: These spatulas are perfect if you like pastry work. The mini I use all the time even to turn chicken filets around and the large one for cakes. Mi mini one is exactly this one.
- Mini whisks: You cannot imagine how much I use my mini whisk. A large one is useful but not when you’re making salad dressing for one or if you want to mix 1 or 2 eggs, or if whatever you’r mixxing is just a tiny amount.
- Scale: You know that I love precision, specially for pastry recipes where a few grams make a big difference. That’s why for me it’s BASIC to have a scale at home. Mine is this same brand and I’ve had it for 3 years and counting.
- Silicone pastry brush: Pastry brushes are extremely useful. I use it to paint oil onto baguette slices before taking them to the oven or to spread around the butter to fill cinnamon rolls. I prefer them made of silicone over a regular bruch because it doesn’t burn (sometimes we need to paint on hot items) and it’s much more hygenic as well. Again, this brand is really good.
- Baking paper: I know that it sounds stupid but I HATE the baking paper that they sell here in Chile. Everything always sticks and you have to grease on top of it. This pack is great because you get 2 rolls of paper and they are HUGE. I got them July of last year and it’s February now and I haven’t even used half of one roll and I bake all the time. They really do last and you don’t have to worry about things sticking to it.
- Silpat: This is the silicone mat that we use to bake. It’s extremely easy to use and it lasts for ages, you only need to change it if you forget that you cannot cut on top of it and you go all the way through (so don’t haha). I have these same ones (it’s a pack of 2).
Gadgets
These are gadgets that may not be exactly essential but do help if you like a particular type of preparations. Now it just depends on what you like to make at home or where you like to save some time.
- Mandoline: A mandoline for me is basic in a kitchen. It makes many processes faster like slicing thinly and evenly. Assembling potato gratin or even a salad becomes much more manageable. You can slice, make sticks and adjust the thickness of it all which is great. I hate mandolins that don’t allow you to adjust the size.
- Cast iron pans: In this case you have the small 20cm / 8″ in diameter or the large 25cm / 20″. The nice thing about cast iron pans is that they are really good at absorbing heat and distribute it in an even manner. Also you can use them over open fire (like on a grill or campfire) and even take into the oven. They really to last a lifetime. If you’re going to buy one of these I also recommend that you buy a Silicone Hot Handle Cover because the handle on them also go red hot.
- Popsicle Maker: I always receive questions about my popsicle makers and I they are exactly these. I love their shape with the classic vertical lines that go down the front and back and they are also pretty sturdy.
- Bench scraper: It’s a metal rectangle that is often used in bread making to divide and give shape to loaves. Besides from bread making I also use it to scrape out things that are stuck to my kitchen surface, to lift chopped veggies (much more efficient than a knife) and even to gather the filling at the tip of a pastry bag. The one that I have is extremely similar to this one.
- Dough Docker: This tool is used to poke holes at pastry when needed. You use it for tart shells and crackers and the one I own is really similar to this one. It’s better than the metal one because it’s a bit less aggressive on the dough.
- Cake leveler: This is a cake cutter and is perfect if you like to make cakes or maybe you have a business around it. You set the height at which you want it to cut to make the different layers. I have exactly this one and I’m always amazed at how expensive Wilton materials are here. Be aware that this one cuts cakes up to 25cm / 10″ in diameter. Having said that you can still use it in larger cakes to mark it all around and then finish the center off with a bread knife.
- Cheesecloth: This cloth is used to make cheeses such as the Ricotta from this blog and also to make vegetable milk. It’s washed and reused as many times as you like and it’s pretty cheap.
- Meat and candy thermometer: This is perfect if you are always afraid to under or over cook your proteins (beef, chicken, turkey, fish, etc). I always note down in my recipes the temperature that you need to read at the center for the perfect cooking degree. It also helps for anything that requires a syrup at a certain temperature (like Italian meringue, for example). It’s also good if you’re cooking a liquid that cannot be heated over a certain temperature and finally also for controlling oil temperature for frying.
- Cookie scoop: It’s like an ice cream scoop but at the perfect size for scooping cookies. It’s great to have equal size cookies but also for shaping meatballs, making sure that every layer of the cake has the same amount of filling and why not, for ice cream.
- Knife sharpener: It’s no good to have a good knife if you don’t sharpen it often. It starts to lose its perfect edge and it’s harder to give it back its initial sharpness. I use these type of sharpeners where you start with a coarse sharpening followed by two finer steps. This is even better because it comes with an anti-cut glove in case your knife slips while sharpening (happens more often than you might think).
- Cake lifter: This is basically a giant spatula that’s extremely useful if you like to make cakes. After slicing the layers it’s always difficult to take them apart without breaking them and this helps a lot. I have this one as well.
- Kitchen Blowtorch: This blowtorch is perfect for crème brûlées, meringues and even to turn on coal for barbecue. I love that it’s just the head and then you pop it on a camping butane can. This is much easier than charging the base of other blowtorches.
- Pastry tips: These sets look SO good and have really good evaluations. I bought one a while back that’s now out of stock and if I could I would return them and buy these. There’s one that has 36 decorating tips for all kinds of embellishments and another one that looks fun with 25 Russian tips to make flowers.
Tableware
Here are a few things that I use in a daily basis at home to serve, bake or simply things that go on my table and love to use.
- Metal straws: Given that we all know that plastic straws contaminate and are unnecessary unless we have certain medical conditions, we have the option to use metal straws. This pack has 8 of them plus cleaning rods. I have them in my drawer and I take them out whenever we want to have a drink with loooots of ice.
- Ramekins: These are the classic containers for soufflés, lava cakes, crème brûlées, etc. They’re really versatile and these are the same I own.
- Enamel baking dish: I get asked a lot about this baking dish and it’s this one! It’s really pretty and there are many colours to choose from. Mine is the white one with a black border.
- Moscow Mule copper mugs: I was looking for 100% copper mugs (not steel with a copper wash) and in this set you get 4 plus straws and a jigger.
- Butter dish: I had this one and LOVED IT! A few days ago I dropped it and it broke so now I’m going to have to order another one.
Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.