The kitchen drawer you can't close is full of these

These get sold to you at the checkout aisle, on the endcap beside the good pans, on the wedding registry, and in the video that shows somebody doing a two-minute job in a flashy way. They're cheap enough that nobody thinks twice, which is the whole business model. One test saves you the money: if a knife, a pan, or a fork you already own can do the job in under a minute, the gadget loses.

The avocado multi-tool

It promises to split, pit and slice in one move. In practice you get a plastic blade that crushes a ripe avocado and a pit remover that works on the ones that were easy anyway.

The tool exists because people do get hurt stabbing at the pit with a knife while holding the fruit in their palm. That's a real danger. But the fix is where you hold it, not what you buy.

Do this instead: Put the avocado on a cutting board, cut around the pit, twist the halves apart, and lift the pit out with a spoon. Score the flesh with a paring knife while it's still in the skin, then scoop.

Worth it when: Arthritis or a weak grip makes a knife unsafe for you. Then it earns its place.

The garlic press

It promises minced garlic with no chopping. What you get is a mess in the little holes, a thin layer of garlic left behind in the cup, and a cleanup job that takes longer than the mincing would have.

Many cooks also find pressed garlic tastes sharper and harsher than knife-cut. That's a matter of taste, but it's worth knowing before you blame your own cooking.

Do this instead: Lay a clove under the flat of a chef's knife and lean on it until it cracks. The skin slides off. Slice, then rock the knife through it a few times. Thirty seconds, and the knife was already on the board.

Worth it when: You mince a lot of garlic every week and a good press with a built-in way to clear the holes saves your hands. Check the maker's cleaning instructions before you buy.

The spiralizer

It promises vegetable noodles and a healthier dinner. It delivers a bulky plastic frame, several loose blades, and a vegetable that has to be a particular size and shape or it won't turn. Then the blades need washing, carefully, because they're sharp.

It also tends to live in the cabinet nobody wants to open.

Do this instead: A regular vegetable peeler makes zucchini ribbons. A sharp knife makes matchsticks. A box grater does carrots and beets in the time it takes to unbox the spiralizer.

Worth it when: You're making vegetable noodles every week and you've already done it by hand long enough to know you'll keep going. Use it for a month by hand first.

Multi-blade herb scissors

Five blades in a row. Cut parsley in one snip. And the herbs then pack into the gaps between the blades, where you'll be picking them out with a toothpick afterward.

Do this instead: Pinch the leaves into a tight bunch and run a sharp knife through them. For chives and green onions, ordinary kitchen shears do it, and you'll use those for a hundred other jobs, from trimming fat to cutting open packaging.

Worth it when: Almost never. If you grow a pot of chives, plain scissors still win.

The pull-through knife sharpener

Two slots, a couple of pulls, and your dull knife is "sharp" again. It's tempting because a dull knife is the most dangerous one in the drawer. It slips, and then it finds your thumb.

The problem is that most pull-through designs scrape the edge against fixed abrasives. They can remove more metal than a careful sharpening would, and they don't give you control over the angle. A good knife can come out worse than it went in.

Do this instead: Learn a whetstone, which takes an evening of practice, or have your knives sharpened by a person who does it for a living. Many hardware and kitchen shops offer it, and there are mail-in services too. Ask what angle they use and whether they hand-finish. A honing steel between sharpenings keeps the edge straight.

Worth it when: You have a beat-up knife you don't care about and just want it to cut tomatoes. Don't run your best knife through one.

The same logic runs through ten tools that cover ninety percent of household repairs. Buy the thing that does the job well, learn it, and keep it sharp.

Meat claws

They promise shredded pork in seconds, and they look like something a bear would carry. In reality they're two plastic hooks that do what two forks do.

Do this instead: Two forks. Pull the meat apart while it's warm. Done.

Worth it when: You're shredding a whole pork shoulder or two for a crowd and the meat's too hot to handle. Then the claws save your fingers, and the extra tool earns its drawer space once or twice a year.

The single-job countertop appliance

Egg cooker. Quesadilla press. Hot dog roller. Donut maker. Each promises that a simple thing becomes effortless. What it really becomes is something else to store, plug in and wash.

Counter space is the cost nobody counts. Plenty of these end up in the garage, which is part of why your garage filled up and how to get it back.

Do this instead: A pot, water, a timer for the eggs. A skillet and a spatula for the quesadilla. An oven for almost everything else.

Worth it when: You'd use it at least weekly and you've done it by hand long enough to be sure. Before you buy, read the one-year-later owner reviews and look for complaints about the heating element and the nonstick coating. Read the actual warranty document too: how long it runs, who pays shipping, and whether you have to register it.

How to say no at the counter

You don't need a speech. A few lines will do.

• "I'll pass. I've got a knife that does that."
• "Let me think about it. If I still want it in a month, I'll come back."
• "Does it have a return policy if I never use it?" Ask this before the clerk rings it up, and get the answer in writing on the receipt.

If it's a gift, say thank you, use it once, and then decide honestly. Don't buy the same thing for somebody else because it was easy.

A drawer that closes is the real upgrade.