22 Big-Ticket Kitchen Items That Are Actually Worth the Expense

Protect the investment you made on high-quality knives with a wooden cutting board, which is much gentler on blades than plastic and glass models. (Seriously, don't even think of using a glass cutting board.) For everyday use (and especially for prepping meat and seafood), we're partial to Epicurean's wood composite boards ($50) as they're dishwasher safe. If you can muster hand-washing, an end-grain cutting board ($150) should last a lifetime, is even gentler on knives, and is attractive enough to serve food atop.