I'm a Food Editor and I Swear by This Kitchen Tool (In Fact, I Have 3)

My husband couldn't help but chuckle when another pandemic delivery arrived, and he saw it was kitchen tongs. "Don't we already have two of these?" he correctly asked. Yes, we did, but the number of times both were in the dishwasher and I needed tongs again was far too high for two to suffice. Like so many of you, the number of meals a week we cooked at home rose during 2020 and is continuing to remain high in 2021. With all this extra cooking, I came to realize the kitchen tools I'm most dependent upon. My meat thermometer, a good nonslip cutting board, my chef's knife, and right up there in my top 5 most-used tools, my OXO 9-inch locking tongs with nylon heads. No joke.

Available at Amazon, Oxo, Walmart

Sure, these tongs are perfect for tossing and serving salads, which admittedly we eat a ton of in our house, but I use them for so much more. They're great for turning foods part way through cooking—every skillet meal or sheet pan dinner I make requires the use of these tongs. I use them to pick up roasted asparagus spears from a baking sheet, scoop out a serving of spaghetti or fettuccine, and to serve slices of meat loaf.

I never worry about damaging my cookware because thanks to the nylon heads, they won't scratch. I love the locking mechanism for storage. They fold up compactly to fit in my utensil jar when locked (could you imagine trying to fit three of these in a jar while expanded?!). Cleaning the tongs is a cinch because I just toss them in my dishwasher. And after years of use and cycles through the dishwasher, all my tongs are holding up great.

Clearly, I'm not the only one who feels this way. Just take a look at the 4,000+ 5-star ratings on Amazon. No matter where you buy them—they're available at most major stores—they're a best-loved tool. And a tool I encourage you to purchase in duplicate or triplicate because you'll use them for everything.