Sometimes you want to take your time in the kitchen. Creating a big meal and spending a few hours in the kitchen can be a great way to decompress after a long day. Other times, you just want to get in and out without breaking down and ordering Thai food. These cool kitchen gadgets are the solution to those days, and can help keep you sane when you just want to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible, without any major catastrophes.

1. Olive Oil Mister – If you’ve ever gone to pour a little olive oil in a pan before frying or sauteing something, you know that a tiny drop can quickly turn into a giant glob if you end up holding the bottle over the skillet for a second longer than you wanted.

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That’s why an olive oil mister is such a great kitchen gadget. It helps you waste less olive oil (which is good, since it can be pretty pricey!) and it can help you create healthier and better dishes, since drowning them in oil rarely turns out the best food. They usually range in price from $10 – $20, and this one from Misto is a pretty good deal.

2. Adjustable Vegetable Slicer – You can switch between paring knives like a pro, or you can choose an option that’s will save you a little time and a little more counter space. It’s a mandoline that has adjustable blades that you can switch to for chopping different types of vegetables. It has a julienne blades for thin slices – perfect for garnishing – and for slices of vegetables for things like stir fry and cutting potatoes into slices for fries. Plus, it fits nicely over a bowl, making it a perfect tool kitchen prep.

3. Silicone Pinch Grips – Need to move something off a burner quickly, and don’t have a towel or an oven mitt handy? These handy little silicone tabs latch on to the sides of a pot or casserole dish to provide a simple solution. Plus, they’re cheap, so you can stock up on these, throw out your oven mitts, and save some coveted kitchen drawer space.

4. Herb Stripper – An herb stripper, like this one from Sur la Table, is great for picking herbs off of their stems quickly and easily (it’s a pain to do it by hand). It’s especially great for herbs like rosemary and thyme. This one lets you push a stem through the appropriately sized hole, and the leaves fall conveniently into the attached bowl. No more hassle. No more mess.

Did we include your favorite time-saving kitchen gadget? If not, let us know what you can’t live without in the comments!