We Asked 3 Professional Chefs What the Most Underrated Kitchen Tool Is — They All Chose the Same Item

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Walk into any kitchen store, and you’ll find entire aisles devoted to gadgets promising to make cooking easier. There are watermelon slicers, herb strippers, strawberry hullers, and countless other specialty tools, each designed to tackle a single task.

Professional kitchens tend to take a very different approach.

Rather than filling drawers with one-use gadgets, chefs rely on a small collection of hardworking tools that can handle dozens of jobs throughout a busy service. Every inch of prep space matters, so versatility often wins over novelty. The tools that earn a permanent spot on the station aren’t necessarily the newest or most expensive—they’re the ones that save time, reduce waste, and keep cooks moving efficiently from one task to the next.

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It’s a philosophy that many home cooks overlook. While it’s easy to be tempted by the latest viral kitchen gadget, experienced chefs often reach for simple tools that have been around for decades. They may not look flashy, but they’re the kind of kitchen workhorses professionals use every single day.

Curious which overlooked tool deserves a spot in every kitchen, we asked three professional chefs to name the most underrated item they own. Despite coming from different culinary backgrounds, they all landed on the same answer — and once you see how often they use it, you may wonder why it isn’t already hanging next to your favorite spatula.

Our Panel of Experts

• Isaac Bernal Carbajo is the decorated executive chef of the Representation of Spain to the United Nations. A native of Spain, chef Bernal Carbajo has built his career in both traditional and high-end gastronomy, bringing classical European culinary techniques to one of the world’s most distinguished diplomatic kitchens.
• Vincent DelGiudice is a chef, recipe developer and founder of Always From Scratch, where he shares his Italian and Italian-American recipes. He has published more than 250 recipes and has built an audience of more than 170,000 followers on Instagram.
• Alison Cates is a former executive pastry chef for MML Hospitality in Austin, Texas, and the 2017 recipient of the Jean Banchet Award for Rising Pastry Chef of the Year. She is known for creating thoughtful desserts that blend classic techniques with modern flavors.

The Unanimous Winner: Why Chefs Can’t Live Without a Spider Stainer

After more than 26 years in professional kitchens, executive chef Isaac Bernal Carbajo says he’s learned that the tools chefs reach for most often usually aren’t the expensive or flashy ones. They’re the simple ones that quietly solve problems all day long. Bernal Carbajo believes that “one of the most underrated tools in any kitchen is the spider strainer.”

A spider strainer may not be the first tool most home cooks think of when stocking a kitchen, but chefs say that’s exactly why it’s so underrated.

While many home cooks associate a spider strainer only with deep frying, Bernal Carbajo says that’s only scratching the surface. “Most people think of a spider strainer as something used when frying, but in a professional kitchen it’s constantly in your hand,” he says. “It’s inexpensive, takes up almost no space and replaces several different tools. That’s why I think it’s one of the smartest things you can have in a kitchen.”

Unlike a traditional slotted spoon, a spider strainer features a wide, shallow wire basket attached to a long handle. The open design allows water or oil to drain almost instantly while securely holding everything from pasta and vegetables to fried chicken and soup bones

Vincent DelGiudice, chef, recipe developer and founder of Always From Scratch, says it’s one of the hardest-working tools in his kitchen. “I use a spider strainer almost every day for scooping pasta out of boiling water, straining meat out of a pan with oil, rinsing beans, and transferring used oil into a can without spilling the meat.”

One reason DelGiudice reaches for it so often is its versatility. He says it’s just as valuable during cleanup as it is while cooking, using it to separate ingredients, strain particles from oil he plans to reuse, and even cover a bowl when cooking outdoors to keep insects away.

Perhaps his favorite advantage is one many home cooks overlook: “It scoops pasta out of the water, leaving the pasta water behind, which I always end up needing to use in sauce.”

He also believes the spider strainer outperforms more common alternatives like slotted spoons and basket strainers because it holds more food, drains quickly, and handles a wider variety of kitchen tasks.

Pastry chef Alison Cates admits choosing just one underrated kitchen tool isn’t easy. While she says a bench scraper is indispensable in a professional pastry kitchen, at home she named both a Microplane and a spider strainer among the tools she reaches for most. But when it comes to versatility, she says the spider strainer deserves far more attention.
“A spider strainer is great for draining and rinsing canned beans before dumping them into a salad or mashing them for frijoles. Its Asian roots are designed for frying and removing dumplings and vegetables from boiling water and steam baskets, so they’re durable without being a bulky, hefty tool. I’ve even used a spider strainer and rubber spatula to make spaetzle at home.”

Cartes and DelGiudice aren’t alone. Even Martha Stewart has called a spider strainer one of her favorite kitchen tools, praising its versatility for everything from transferring pasta and blanching vegetables to skimming stocks and retrieving fried foods.

Food publications including Serious Eats, Delish, and Food Network have also praised the humble tool for its ability to replace multiple kitchen gadgets while making everyday cooking more efficient.

Genius Ways to Use a Spider Strainer

Lisa McManus from America’s Test Kitchen is also a big fan of how much the spider strainer can do. In a recent Instagram post, McManus demonstrates some of the tools’ uses and why it beat out slotted spoons or colanders for certain applications.

Transfer Pasta Without Losing the Pasta Water

One of the biggest advantages of a spider strainer is that it allows you to lift cooked pasta directly into a pan of sauce while leaving the starchy cooking water behind.

That reserved pasta water can then be added a splash at a time to help emulsify sauces, create a silkier finished dish and add some noodle-sticking starch into the sauce. It’s a technique professional chefs have relied on for years, and the strainer gives chefs more control than dumping everything into a colander.

Bernal Carbajo says that’s exactly how he uses it in his own kitchen. “I use it to lift fresh pasta straight from the pot into the sauce instead of draining it completely. It allows for a bit of pasta water to transfer, which helps bring the sauce together and gives it a much creamier texture.”

Retrieve Fried Foods Safely

The long handle helps keep your hands farther from hot oil while the wire basket drains almost instantly, making it ideal for lifting fried chicken, tempura, vegetables, doughnuts, or fries without trapping excess grease.

Easily Blanch Vegetables

Need to blanch green beans, asparagus, broccoli, or cabbage before shocking them in ice water? A spider strainer makes it easy to lift an entire batch out at once without chasing individual pieces around the pot.

According to Cates, the spider strainer will remove delicate vegetables from the simmer water without damaging them. “Tongs or slotted spoons can bruise or break soft veggies when removing them [from the water].”

Skim Stocks and Broths

The wide wire basket also works well for skimming meat scraps, bones, cartilage and other impurities from homemade stocks and soups, helping create a cleaner finished broth.

Bernal Carbajo says he also uses it to fish out whole herbs and spices from sauces before serving and to safely lift hard-boiled eggs or dumplings from simmering water without damaging them.

Make Cleanup Easier

DelGiudice says that one of his favorite uses comes after the cooking is finished. The spider strainer lets him separate meat or vegetables from cooking oil before disposing of it, and strain particles from oil he’d like to reuse.

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Why Home Cooks Overlook It

Part of the answer is simple familiarity. Many people only encounter spider strainers in restaurant kitchens or Asian grocery stores, so they never think to add one to their own cooking arsenal. Others assume a colander or slotted spoon already does the job.

While those tools certainly have their place, chefs say the spider strainer offers the best of both. Its larger basket holds more food than a slotted spoon, while its open-wire construction drains almost instantly. Because it lifts individual portions instead of requiring an entire pot to be dumped into a colander, it also gives cooks much more flexibility. For professionals like chef and cookbook author Sara Moulton, that versatility makes all the difference.

Bernal Carbajo also believes most people simply don’t realize everything it can do.
“People see it in a store and assume it’s only for deep frying, so they buy tongs, a colander or another gadget instead,” he says. “The funny thing is that a spider strainer can do part of the job of all three. It’s one of those tools that becomes indispensable once you start cooking with it.”

Single-Use Gadgets vs. Multi-Tasking Tools

Professional chefs don’t just evaluate kitchen tools by how well they perform one task—they also consider how often they’ll actually use them.

For DelGiudice, that’s the difference between a worthwhile investment and another gadget collecting dust. “I am picky about single-use gadgets because if I’m storing something in my kitchen. It needs to be used about once a week for me to see the real [value] for it,” he adds. “Multitasking tools like a spider strainer can be used for their primary purpose but also for other needs in the kitchen.”

That mindset is common in professional kitchens, where storage space is limited and efficiency matters. Instead of filling drawers with specialty tools that solve a single problem, chefs often gravitate toward versatile equipment that earns its place over and over again.
A spider strainer is a perfect example. In addition to scooping pasta, it can retrieve fried foods, blanch vegetables, skim stocks, rinse beans, separate ingredients from cooking oil, and tackle countless other kitchen tasks—all while taking up very little space.

That’s the reason chefs consistently recommend versatile tools like a spider strainer over trendy gadgets. The more often something earns a place in your hand, the more valuable it becomes.

Related: We Asked 3 Chefs the Best Thing To Make With Canned Tuna, and They All Said the Same Thing

Where to Buy the Best Spider Strainer

If you’re ready to add a spider strainer to your kitchen, chefs recommend choosing a sturdy stainless steel model that feels comfortable to hold and is built to withstand years of cooking.

DelGiudice recommends buying from trusted cookware brands including Made In, Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table, rather than the cheapest available option, noting that quality construction matters when the tool regularly comes into contact with boiling water, hot oil, and food.

While premium models cost a bit more than bargain versions, most spider strainers remain surprisingly affordable—especially considering how many different jobs they can perform.

Professional chefs don’t keep tools around because they’re trendy. They keep them because they work. Whether you’re scooping pasta, frying vegetables, or simply making cleanup easier, a spider strainer is truly one inexpensive tool that can replace several others.

Open Kitchen Spider Strainer, $24.97 at Williams Sonoma

Spider Skimmer, $29.95 at Sur La Table

Spider Strainer, $29 at Made In

OXO Stainless Steel Scoop and Strain Skimmer, $17.99 at Target

Whether you choose one of those or another reputable brand, the chefs agree that a quality spider strainer is one of the best values in the kitchen because it can replace several specialty tools while taking up very little storage space.

As Bernal Carbajo puts it: “The older I get, the fewer kitchen gadgets I want. I’d much rather own one tool that I use ten times a day than ten tools that each do only one job.” He adds, “An efficient kitchen isn’t the one with the most equipment. It’s the one with the right equipment.”

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