Get back to basics with these low-fi and long-lived kitchen tools

Fed up with the perennial pairing and needy notifications from too many smart devices? Discard digital and go all-analogue with our essential selection of battery-free kitchen tools and accessories

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Big the Corkscrew by Campagnolo
Big the Corkscrew by Campagnolo (Image credit: Campagnolo)
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If you favour craft and quality over endless firmware updates, you’re not alone. For our first foray into the realm of longstanding designs that have survived the test of time thanks to their innate simplicity, we’ve scoured suppliers of the most enduring kitchen tools you can buy.

Big the Corkscrew

First up, an evergreen mechanical device with a difference. Campagnolo’s ‘Big the Corkscrew’ is a bit of a departure for a Vicenza-based company that’s best known for its high-performance bicycle gear. Uncorking wine isn’t really associated with (modern-day) bike racing, but this oversized winged corkscrew ensures you can do it in style, with a refined and updated version of a mechanism that’s been in use for nearly 150 years.

Kinu M47 Classic coffee grinder

Kinu M47 Classic coffee grinder

Kinu M47 Classic coffee grinder

(Image credit: Assembly)

The Kinu M47 Classic is a manual coffee grinder sold by specialist bean provider Assembly. The hefty stainless steel-barrelled device, which comes with its own carry case, can take up to 60g of beans (an espresso needs about 7-10g of beans, depending on strength). With an oversized handle and the ability to adjust the burr for precision grinding, it’s the manual machine of choice for the cognoscenti.

NECCST Series 1 coffee grinder

NECCST Series 1 manual coffee grinder

NECCST Series 1 manual coffee grinder

(Image credit: NECCST)

The NECCST Series 1 is a bit more of a wild card, like every crowdfunded piece of hardware. It's a manual coffee grinder that can’t resist squeezing in a bit of additional tech. This comes in the shape of a detachable touchscreen scale that slides into the base of the hefty device, which was designed by Munich-based studio Eckstein Design. Made from aluminium, stainless steel and titanium, the NECCST Series 1 is created to make a countertop statement.

NECCST Series 1 manual coffee grinder, €549, Get.NECCST.com

Chantry Classic knife sharpener

A longstanding kitchen staple, the Chantry Classic knife sharpener was originally created for the commercial food industry. Designed by the silversmith and industrial designer Robert Welch, who also worked with David Mellor, the compact metal device was first made back in the 1970s and earned a spot in MoMA’s permanent collection.

Ernst pestle and mortar

One of the oldest and earliest of all tools, this version of the timeless pestle and mortar is made by Swedish interiors brand Ernst. Made from black granite, it’s designed as a sculptural object that looks good even when not in use.

Zassenhaus bread slicer

German manufacturer Zassenhaus dates back to 1867. As part of its 150th anniversary, the company revived its classic mechanical bread slicer, with a blade made in the centuries-old heart of the country’s steel and cutting industry, Solingen. Produced from die cast and stainless steel, this hefty sideboard tool dates back to 1904.

Ernest Wright Kutrite scissors

In the UK, the heart of the steel industry has always been Sheffield. Local firm Ernest Wright (founded 1902) has recently revived its classic Kutrite kitchen scissors, a sleek design that debuted in the 1960s, designed by fourth-generation owner Philip Wright. After the company fell on hard times, the Wright and Kutrite names have now been revived, as has its Sheffield manufacturing base.

Ernest Wright Kutrite kitchen scissors

Ernest Wright Kutrite kitchen scissor

(Image credit: Ernest Wright)

Peugeot Boreal salt and pepper mills

Jean-Pierre and Jean Frédéric Peugeot set up a company making saws in 1810 before branching out into bicycles in around 1880 and thence on to automobiles – Peugeot is the oldest car brand in the world. In 1874, a profitable sideline was established with the invention of the tabletop pepper grinder. Since 2014, Peugeot Saveurs has been divorced from its parent company, maintaining the same factory in Franche-Comté and turning out hand-operated and electric mills for sale around the world. The latest variant is the beech-bodied Boreal.

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Jonathan Bell

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.