From The Straits Times    |

Photography Winston Chuang Art Direction & Styling Ann Neo

Pictured clockwise from bottom left

Paderno Divisible
Kitchen Scissors 20cm $77.80, from www.pantrypursuits.com
Versatile and ergonomic, this handsome pair of pointy blades makes it easy to get into every nook of a whole chicken to cut it up. The smallish, stainless steel handles were surprisingly comfortable, and the scissors’ just-right weight and size made this tool easy to control.

Endo Black Titanium
5-in-1 Scissors $25.90, from major department stores
These competent shears with tapered blades cut up whole chicken and food packaging in a cinch, are easy to wield and are also designed to open bottles, crack nuts, scale fish, and lift lids off tins.

Ikea 365+ Vardefull
Potato Peeler $5.90, from Ikea
Sturdy and comfortably heavy with slim blades, it got the peel off smooth potatoes as well as the rough bumps of sweet potatoes and ginger effortlessly. The control is excellent, thanks to its rubberised handle, which is contoured just right to fit the thumb and finger.

Zyliss Peeler
$30.90 (for a set that includes a soft skin peeler), from Tott
Simply effective, this lightweight tool has no fancy features, but takes the peel off all large and small ingredients easily.

Oxo Good Grips
Swivel Peeler $9.90, from major department stores
The large handle with a textured rubberised grip lets you peel without tiring easily. With a slightly wider blade than the others tested, it’s a bit clumsier when peeling small ingredients like ginger, but is great for potatoes, cucumber and carrots.

Microplane Box Grater
$67.10, from Tott
This champion box grater wins hands down for how well it cuts up different ingredients. It’s well worth its price. The fine grater minced ingredients without turning them into soggy mush. The ribbon grater churned out thin-as-bonito flakes – a clear sign of how sharp the blades are. The ultra-coarse blades grated carrots and potatoes easily. And cucumber slices simply glided off the slicing blade. Even better, one of the sides is detachable, so it’s easy to scrape down grated bits and rinse them out.

Kai Rotary Can Opener RC-021
$13.90, from major department stores
A broad crank and handles make this the most ergonomic and user-friendly can opener of the lot tested. It cut through lids smoothly, and best of all, latched onto cans and turned with minimal effort.

Ikea 365+ Vardefull Can Opener
$9.90, from Ikea
A good can opener should be intuitive to use, latch onto the can easily, and be effortless to turn. This one fits the bill on all counts.

This article was originally published in Simply Her December 2014.