Tools that slice vegetables parchment-thin.

A funky grater that more resembles a woodworking tool than a kitchen accessory. And a digital meat thermometer that signals to the chef through a paging system that the roast has attained a perfect medium rare.

For many home cooks, kitchen gadgets and devices such as these are as important as the ingredients they use to create those delicious desserts or enticing entrees.

Whether a person is just learning or a longtime home chef, tools and gizmos make cooking easier and fun, say home cooks such as Marie Wenman.

“They’re like toys for cooks,” Wenman said as she browsed the shelves of a kitchen supply store in Gig Harbor, Wash. “I like to look at all of the new things out there.”

Ron and Catherine Ruud, co-owners of Gourmet Essentials in Gig Harbor, credit celebrity chefs, talk shows and television networks dedicated to food for the consumer interest in culinary gadgets.

“As soon as it’s on the Food Channel or Oprah, customers will come in looking for the same tool,” Catherine Ruud said.

Ron Ruud said a sagging economy also may be a reason Gourmet Essentials has seen an increase in business. In 2002 it had one of its best years and one of its most profitable Christmas seasons. Some people are saving money by cooking those epicurean delights at home, instead of spending dozens of dollars at restaurants, he said.

“We’ve noticed that business is good when the economy is a bit down,” Ruud said.

Thin wire tines on this slicer neatly divide an avocado into sections.

Bed Bath & Beyond, a national kitchen and housewares retailer, has a renowned gadget wall to display culinary tools from floor to ceiling, said Bari Fagin, a Bed Bath & Beyond spokeswoman.

“The gadget wall for cooks is what a candy store is for a child,” Fagin said.

The more popular — and marketable — gadgets usually are inexpensive, streamline the cooking process and make cooking fun, Ron Rudd said. Items that are easy to use and cost less than $10, such as garlic peelers, garlic presses and the tomato slicer, have been favorites among Gourmet Essentials’ customers, he said.

“What turns out to be a person’s favorite gadget is usually the one that you didn’t think you needed until you saw it,” Fagin said.

Jack Azizeh, of Gig Harbor, who considers himself to be an amateur chef, said the garlic press is probably the most vital tool in his kitchen.

A long-handled olive spoon can fish them out of the jar and leave the liquid behind.

Wenman, on the other hand, thinks highly of her high-end KitchenAid stand mixer. Wenman, who cooks for her family, said she uses the electric mixer for baking.

Joy McDonald of Gig Harbor named a good set of high-quality pans as the most essential of cooking tools.

Catherine Ruud said she would need at least four tools: an instant-read thermometer, OXO potato peeler, microplane graters and a tomato corer.

Kathy Claiborne, who says she’s not much of a cook, said she believed home cooks could accomplish most of their culinary tasks with the simple tools.

Coffee lovers and commuters will enjoy the simplicity of a french press engineered to to fit a traveling mug.

“I don’t like the clutter,” said Claiborne, who came to Gourmet Essentials in search of fancy pre-mixed soup and sauce mixes. “A knife, a spoon and a pan are all I need.”

Azizeh said he always was on the lookout for the latest and most popular kitchen tool. He reads the food magazines. He watches the cooking shows. He frequently scans the shelves of the cooking supply stores to see what’s out there.

Azizeh’s next kitchen must-have, he said, is a ceramic pizza stone.

“If (a tool) makes it easier or makes cooking more fun, then I like it,” he said.