Add Charm Back To Your Countertop With This Trendy Retro Kitchen Gadget

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This will likely come as no surprise, but you're probably using your smartphone too much. We get it, these pocket computers are marvels of modern technology. Many of us use them not only for communication, but for information, navigation, entertainment, and even nourishment via restaurant delivery apps. And all of those use cases actually come with a lesser discussed peril. Not only are you likely relying on that enchanted rectangle more than you might like, but odds are you're also whipping it out in some less than sanitary locations. So keeping it out of the kitchen in lieu of a throwback tool might be wise.

Rather than rely on your phone's clock app, an actual, dedicated kitchen timer (which, like the analog clock radio, still exists!) is a better way to keep track of how long to cook your foolproof whole roasted chicken, your Julia Child-caliber chocolate cakes, and even your everyday scrambled eggs. Not only can you nab any old model, it'll always be where you need it with the added benefit of keeping a better distance between those phone-friendly locales like public transportation, grocery stores, and, yes, even the bathroom — a more comfortable distance away from your food. A kitchen timer is also, let's be honest, just a lot cuter than your phone's everyday display.

But wait, you may say, "my kitchen already has timers on its oven and microwave." And that's all well and good until you find yourself scrambling to set yet another countdown when you've already set the clock for, say, stovetop steamed rice and a sautéed vegetable before you've even gotten started on your protein. A kitchen timer takes up so little space to solve this recurring dilemma that, once you've picked your perfect "tick, tick, tick" tool, you'll wonder how you ever managed without its soothing sounds and superior meal planning properties.

A kitchen timer is also one more little way to bring some style to your cooking space, however large or small it may be. There are kitchen timer designs seemingly created for even the most niche decor choices on Amazon alone, from Nuoswek's timer designed like a fox reading a book to Jayron's tomato-shaped timer. For a low-lift throwback look that will coalesce with many aesthetics, Jayron's stainless steel egg timer is a sleek introduction to the genre for under 10 bucks.