I like my 3-foot picker upper tool I got at Harbor Freight. Really saves my back.
I bought a can and bottle chiller for a few bucks at Big Lots about fifteen years ago. It’s a plastic trough with a motor that runs on two AA cells. The motor hooks onto the can or bottle with a suction cup and spins it in the ice-filled trough. Works great.
I have a 12 V impact wrench I bought at a truck stop over ten years ago. It still works great.
Dude, none of that stuff is cooked!
:dubious:
I replaced my traditional sharp-metal-wheel-with-a-handle pizza cutter with one of those pieces of wood shaped like a rocking chair foot. Makes cutting pizza, dough, bread and other things fast and fun.
Also, one of my few single purpose tools is my pineapple slicer but it is so fun to use that I actually buy and eat more pineapples because of it.
Not a tool, but zip ties! What did I ever do without them!
Hey, I’ve got some leftover maple out in the shop; maybe I’ll make one.
I’m hoping someone will comment if this is any good: Watermelon Slicer. I saw it for sale at my local grocery but the price makes me think it’s for people who are worried about chopping off their fingers.
Paint pad edging tool:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Shur-Line-Paint-Edger-00100c/100070177
My wife picked one up for a bathroom remodel we just finished. $3 and I got very nice results in an amazingly short time. I couldn’t stop talking about the thing (I hate cutting in).
I honestly thought it would be a piece of crap “As Seen On TV!” but it works like a charm.
I wanted something to mix my power-based breakfast shakes and ordered a battery operated vortex deal. It didn’t work for crap. So with some trepidation I next bought a BlenderBottle. And it’s magical. Less than 30 seconds of shaking and it’s perfectly blended every time.
So, curious question. Sorry if this is a hijack. I basically want to have an easy way to chop a lot of veggies finely. I am going to be having a lot of dental work done and will not be able to chew for a while. Cheap is good but pricey but worth it may be acceptable.
Do i want a mandoline slicer or a food processor?
Food processor. Blender will work in a pinch. Mandolines are for making consistent slices, and they do a great job of it, but it’s not what you want.
Two things that I use all the time in the kitchen.
One, this thing. We love sticky rice and this cooks it to perfection and you can stick a foil parcel of fish or veg in the top to cook at the same time. Slow-cooking, steaming, porridge…it’s all good.
Two, this thing. Pricey, but again it gets used all the time. It creates its own little micro-climate and it makes roasting predictable and forgiving, no hot-spots and scorching (my wife makes a cherry-butter focaccia in it that will stop traffic)
I want some of this now, please.
Yeah, we have a mini-processor that is great for mincing a quarter onion at a time.
The Leatherman Micra is an excellent pocket tool. Lots of useful tools well made with a solid feel. The only downside is that I usually forget to leave it at home when I travel and I have to find a hiding place for it at the airport so I don’t have to give it up at security. Father’s Day is coming up–it’d make a great gift.
The Magic Bullet is great for stuff like that and way easier to clean than a food processor.
Thank you. This is the kind of thing I was looking for in this thread, not loads of food preparation gadgets. 
I have an earlier iteration of this Skil rechargeable screwdriver. I like that it can just sit in its cradle until I need it. The size is perfect for getting into tight places. I took out the air filter from my motorcycle, which is under the propped-up tank and has many invisible screws, in minutes. It would have been a long frustrating task with a regular screwdriver.
Actually, I would go with a box grater. Very cheap, and it gives you the choice of four different ‘finenesses’ in the results.
I always carry a Leatherman Juice in my backpack when hiking. It’s surprisingly sturdy for its size. Even the pliers are functional.
One of the more useful tools for woodworking is one I made myself, using an old plane blade. Basically I just filed the beveled edge over into a fairly aggressive “hook” and use it for tough scraping jobs like dried glue on the workbench after a glue-up.