I'm the owner and executive chef of 11 restaurants, I've written 9 cookbooks, and I've hosted six shows on the Food Network, where I'm also an Iron Chef. I'm always around food. Even at home, I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for my wife, Stephanie, at least three times a week. A lot of the food that I work with for my Southwestern cuisine isn't exactly "chef friendly" either, so I'm pretty picky when it comes to my kitchen utensils.

There are so many different gadgets these days that it's sometimes difficult to know which ones are genuinely helpful and which ones aren't worth buying. In order to enter the drawers where I keep my menagerie of equipment, a gadget must prove itself to be a hyperfunctional tool that makes my life easier. One way it can do that is by transforming a difficult task into something much more manageable. Take my mango splitter, for example. Mangoes pair incredibly well with habanero peppers in salsa because their flesh offsets the peppers' intense heat, but peeling a mango with a knife is excruciatingly difficult because of its oblong pit and slippery flesh. Using as many mangoes as I do—the Mesa Grill in Manhattan goes through as many as 100 an evening—simply wouldn't be possible if it weren't for my mango splitter.

Another way a tool can prove itself is by providing unthinkable versatility, like my tongs. They let me push, pull, hold, turn, flip, and stir food as I create meals. No other instrument accomplishes as much as they do, which is why I hang them from my stove so that they're always nearby. Here are the kitchen tools and ingredients I use every day that you can adopt to make yourself a better cook.

1. Coffee Grinder
"I use two: one to grind coffee and one to grind spices for rubs. You get a much stronger, fresher flavor if you grind your own black pepper, coriander, cumin, mustard, nutmeg, and cinnamon. There's no need to splurge—just spend $14." amazon.com.

2. Limes
"Lime juice makes things taste fresher. I use it for drinks, salsas, relishes, soups, and sauces. You want some give to your limes—firmness means the inside is dry—and they'll stay softer longer if you don't refrigerate them. To get the most juice out of a lime, roll it on your cutting board before you cut it."

3. Molcajete
"A molcajete is a stone mortar and pestle from Mexico. They're great for grinding spices and making salsa and guacamole because they give everything a nice coarse and rustic feel. I've never collected anything, but I think I might start collecting these because each one is decorated differently, from Aztec carvings to impressive paint jobs." surlatable.com

4. Blue Cornmeal
"This adds a sweet, nutty, rich flavor that you really can't get from yellow or white cornmeal. I crust fish with it, and I make blue corn bread, blue pancakes, and blue corn muffins." arrowheadmills.com

5. Mango Splitter
"A mango's flesh is incredibly slippery and gooey, and its pit is oblong and clumsy to work with—neither of which complement working with a sharp knife. This device has an oval blade that fits around the pit, and it slices the mango in half in one fell swoop." oxo.com

6. Squeeze Bottles
"At my restaurants, we use these for plating, but they're great to use at home for storing sauces, vinaigrettes, and oils. They keep everything neat and they're only about a dollar apiece." amazon.com

7. Chef's Knife
"I probably use my chef's knives more than any other tool in the kitchen. I'm not married to a particular brand, because they all work, they all have sharp blades. My Shun cost about $100. You don't need to spend a lot of money unless you're making a lot of sushi." kershawknives.com

8. Serrated Knife
"I use serrated knives for cutting bread as well as tomatoes. Even with a sharp knife, if you have a really ripe tomato, you can crush it."

9. Cleaver
"There is no better instrument to chop bones for stock or to butcher a bone-in pork loin than a cleaver. I also use the flat side of the blade to pound chicken breasts."

10. Habanero Peppers
"Habaneros have a great fruity flavor, but the challenge is that you have to deflect the heat in order to taste the flavor. If you don't, you're dead. They should really have a warning sign on them. Deflect the habanero's heat by pairing it with sweet food—honey, molasses, maple syrup, peaches, mangoes, or papayas. Add habaneros to mango salsa and you'll get a little sting, but you should be fine." kitchenmarket.com

11. Plantain Peeler
"The skin of green, unripe plantains—which is great for frying—doesn't come off very easily. If you use a knife, you remove too much flesh with the skin. This makes peeling them so much easier." lococonlosplatanos.com

12. Tongs
"I use metal kitchen tongs for everything: sautéing, turning chicken breasts, pushing things around in the pan. I hang mine from the handle of my Viking oven so it's always nearby." oxo.com

13. Microplane
"This was originally developed as a wood-working tool in 1990. It caught on in the food world a few years later because it's an amazing zester. Just rub the rinds of citrus fruits or ginger against the tool's tiny blades and it immediately creates a fine zest. You can use it to grate hard cheeses too." microplane.com