When it comes to the kitchen, there are myriad tools I want, but only a handful I need, and near the top of my list is a bench scraper. The flat rectangular tool (you can find some made of flexible plastic, others of sturdy metal) is sort of a cross between a chef's knife and a spatula, and it will become your kitchen superhero in no time.
And before you say but I’m not a big baker, I don’t need this!, know that while you can certainly use a bench scraper for trimming laminated pastry and frosting layer cakes, I still think one of the best reasons to keep such a tool around is to seamlessly transfer chopped vegetables from the cutting board to a sizzling skillet (more on that later). Plus, I bet you’ve made a tray of brownies lately that would have benefited from evenly sliced squares? Or wanted to scrape up stubborn bits of food stuck to your kitchen counter? A bench scraper, specifically a metal one, can help.