I couldn't live without ...

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, author of the River Cottage Year

I picked up an Edwardian steel potato ricer about 10 years ago. It is like a giant garlic press. You pile in your spuds, boiled and drained, and squeeze the handle, expelling long, thin wiggly worms of lump-free mash. Whisk it up with hot milk and butter and you have the most luxurious creamy mash known to humanity. It is also brilliant for squeezing water out of wilted spinach. You can still buy potato ricers, though I suspect they are not as good as mine. Alternatively, I would recommend Bourgeat non-stick frying pans. There is an oval fish-shaped one which I like. You can do an excellent chef's flip with it. They last two years and then the non-stick goes and you throw them away. I've been giving them as presents.

· Bourgeat non-stick frying pan: from £14.38 plus VAT. Stockists: Pager 020-7565 5959

Heston Blumenthal, chef-owner of The Fat Duck, Bray

My two pieces of equipment are an oven thermometer and a probe. If I have to choose one for you, I will assume that you have an accurate oven and plump for a probe. These fantastic little things are inexpensive and will boost confidence in the kitchen. It will help you to get perfectly roast chickens or joints of meat and whole baked fish will become stress-free. Ours are from Hansen's.

· Hansen's ETI probe: from £10. Stockists: 020-7351 6933

Raymond Blanc, chef patron of Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons

Cutting julienne strips and slicing can be a daunting and dangerous task. For all this work, I use a Japanese mandolin which creates the finest slices with the option for different thicknesses. The investment is small and the result magnificent. We buy Benriner from the Chefshop in Oxford.

· Benriner Japanese mandolin: £24.66 (£20.99 excl vat). Chefshop: Tel: 01993 899 155 or 07860 636084 (mail order available).

Ruth Rogers, co-chef-owner of the River Cafe

I have a black, cast-iron, ridged grill pan which we use to sear things at a very, very high heat. It is the way I grill my fish and meat. The only thing better than that is having a char-grill.

· Chasseur cast iron grill pan: £45. Stockists: 01730 811811

Nigella Lawson

I cannot cope without my mezzaluna: I use it for chopping herbs, dried fruit, vegetables, anything. I am far too clumsy and ham-fisted to be able to cut with any safety or accuracy with a knife, but this two-handled, half-moon-shaped blade gives me the illusion of graceful competence. And more important: job done; washing up minimal.

· Mezzaluna: approximately £20. Stockists: kitchen shops throughout the UK

Delia Smith

I'm creating "how to cheat" recipes for days when we need to cheat. I have recently discovered the Kenwood Mini Chopper - a new "friend" which short-circuits chopping and knife sharpening. It is an ingenious mini food processor.

· Kenwood Mini Chopper: £18.99. Stockists: 02392 392 333

Jamie Oliver

It's got to be my nice, big pestle and mortar. You shouldn't be paying any more than £25 for a large one. I use mine for crushing spices and herbs and making flavoured oils. They are good for smashing up anything from cocoa beans to pine nuts or making pesto. Basically, even if you just carry on buying the food you already do but use a pestle and mortar to smash up some of the ingredients with some oil, your food is going to be 10 times better without you doing anything.

· Large pestle and mortar: approximately £25. Stockists: kitchen shops throughout the UK

Nigel Slater, food writer

I have a neat, wooden lemon squeezer that I would hate to be without. Totally practical, you just push it into the halved fruit and twist and the juice comes gushing out. It is also a thing of beauty, with exquisite grain in the wood. It is made in Italy but you can buy them at David Mellor.

· Wooden lemon squeezer (with blue yellow or natural handle): £9.50. Stockists: Mail order 01433 650 220 or davidmellordesign.co.uk

Clarissa Dixon-Wright, food writer

The only really useful modern piece of equipment I have is a Magimix food processor. I use it for soups, purées and particularly my horseradish sauce - in fact, I couldn't do a good horseradish without it. It is great for chopping onions in bulk and for making a mousseline and ptés - anything that you want blended together finely.

· Magimix: from £99.95 (for Le Mini). Stockists: 01252 727 755

Antonio Carluccio, chef-owner of Carluccio's

My favourite gadget would have to be a mezzaluna. I use it to chop all my herbs quickly. John Lewis does an excellent version for £19.95, with board included.

· Mezzaluna: £19.95, John Lewis: 08456 049 049 www.johnlewis.com

Gary Rhodes

One of my favourite things is a small coffee grinder. I use it to crush dried spices which are perfect for making a very tasty homemade curry powder ready to blend with all of the other flavours. I use Krups.

· Krups coffee grinder: from £19.95. Stockists: 0845 602 1454

Mark Sargeant, head chef, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's

The Multivac vacuum packing machine is one of the most indispensable pieces of equipment in the restaurant kitchen. It allows food to be kept in a complete vacuum, keeping it extremely fresh.

· Multivac vacuum packing machine: from £1,500. Stockists: 01793 42 58 00

Shaun Hill, chef-owner of Merchant House, Ludlow

It has to be the Moulinex liquidiser I make all my sauces in. I use the cheapest model they do but it means that, instead of a lot of heavy-duty whisking, I can just shove all the ingredients in and press a button. A lot of people confuse a liquidiser, which has centrifuging, with a food processor, but it is not the same. Rather than chopping everything up, a liquidiser helps incorporate all the ingredients and thicken them together. Suffering has always been a low priority for me, and a lot of chefs do painstaking things to make sauces, such as push ingredients through sieves. But life's too short, isn't it?

· Moulinex liquidiser: from £24. Stockists: 0845 602 1454

Matthew Fort, food critic, the Guardian

For lifting, turning, gripping, grabbing and picking up food I have dropped on the floor, there is nothing else better than a pair of Oxo kitchen tongs. It is like having an extra limb that works rather better than any of the others. I saw Shaun Hill [at Merchant House restaurant] use a pair once, and I was sold.

· Oxo tongs: £6.65 (9in) and £7.75 (12in). Stockists: 01282 613 644 www.oxo.com

Giorgio Locatelli, chef-owner of Locanda Locatelli

My Euromatic coffee machine is my favourite kitchen item. I have one in my kitchen at home and served with Illy coffee it simply makes the most perfect cup.

· Quaha Euromatic coffee machine: £129 plus VAT. Stockists: 01604 821234

Ken Hom

To Chinese cooks, the cleaver is an all-purpose cutting instrument that makes all other knives unnecessary. I wouldn't go into any kitchen without mine. Once you gain facility with a cleaver, you will see how it can be used on all types of food to slice, dice, chop, fillet, shred, crush or whatever. In practice, most Chinese chefs rely upon three different sizes of cleaver - light, medium and heavy - to be used appropriately. Mine are from the Culinar range, made by Wusthof, from Solingen, Germany.

· Culinar 17cm oriental cook's knife: £79. Stockists: 01782 207755