I've been spending a ton of time in my kitchen lately. Here are the 15 appliances, gadgets, and tools I'm using the most.

I set our kitchen Sonos to turn to our local news radio station when I wake up, so I don't even have to remember to turn it on.

What I use it for: listening to music, podcasts, and the radio

Lugging cans of seltzer home from the grocery store is never fun. A soda maker provides you with a limitless supply of bubbly water, which is great to add to cocktails or drink on its own.

What I use it for: making seltzer

If you're looking to take your mixed drink game to the next level, a cocktail shaker is a must.

What I use it for: margaritas, Bloody Marys

If you're doing a lot of cooking, you're going to want a good chef's knife. It makes what is arguably the most arduous step of cooking (chopping) a whole lot easier.

What I use it for: chopping vegetables, crushing garlic, slicing meat

I just replaced my old scratched baking sheet with new ones, and I couldn't be happier.

What I use them for: cookies, chicken, roasted vegetables, sheet pan pizza

Virtually every meal I make starts out on the cutting board.

I love to keep a big, beautiful butcher-block-style cutting board on my counter at all times. It just makes the kitchen seem more accessible and easy to use.

What I use it for: chopping everything

I went way too long without a salad spinner and wasted way too much time and too many paper towels trying to dry lettuce and herbs the hard way.

I like to rinse my salad first, then let it soak for 10 or so minutes in cold water before draining, rinsing again, and then spinning to dry.

What I use it for: salad, herbs

I was an Instant Pot skeptic until The New York Times' Melissa Clark persuaded me to give it a try.

An Instant Pot is an electric multicooker that allows you to pressure cook and slow cook, in addition to a number of other functions.

What I use it for: slow-braised meats (like carnitas), soups, yogurt, rice

A microplane is one of those things you don't know you need until you get one. And then it quickly becomes one of your most essential tools.

What I use it for: zesting lemons and limes, grating hard cheese

Samin Nosrat's "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" taught me that acid is a critical cooking element for balancing flavors. When I taste a dish that's near completion, the thing it's most often missing is acid. Usually, I'll add a splash of vinegar or a squeeze of citrus, and it always makes the dish taste more complete. A citrus squeezer makes the latter oh so easy!

What I use it for: squeezing lemons and limes for guacamole, salad dressings, and cocktails

Mixing bowls are for more than just mixing.

When you're cooking more ambitious recipes, it's always a good idea to get your ingredients properly prepped (mise en place, if you're being fancy). This step ensures that you're not frantically mincing garlic when your sautéed onions begin to burn.

A good set of mixing bowls will make it easy to get all your ingredients chopped and ready to go when you need them.

What I use them for: tuna and chicken salads, side sauces (like soy), proofing bread, mise en place

Using a meat thermometer is the most precise way to tell if your food is cooked through.

If you're also doing a lot of bread baking or making yogurt from scratch, you're going to want a food thermometer to measure the temperature of your water and milk, respectively.

What I use it for: chicken, milk to make yogurt, water to activate yeast

If you're cooking every meal, you're going to accumulate leftovers quickly. I highly recommend investing in a good set of glass food-storage containers that you can microwave and stick in the dishwasher.

What I use it for: homemade yogurt, leftovers

Immersion blenders provide you with a supereasy and non-messy way to blend anything from soup to smoothies. They don't take up the counter space that a normal blender would, and they're very easy to clean!

What I use it for: salad dressing

All right, this one's obvious. But I'm including a Dutch oven here because it's a staple for any home chef.

Dutch ovens are clutch because of their versatility. They get really hot and also distribute heat evenly. Their enamel coating makes them incredibly easy to clean. They're also pretty to look at. Mine lives on my stovetop, so this last point is important.

What I use it for: bread, sauce, soup, stew, casserole