Behind every great recipe is a beloved kitchen tool—prized for making the preparation faster, easier, and more fun. Here, six top cooks share their favorite tool and the signature recipe they create with it.

Meet our experts and their favorite cooking essentials.

COOK: Maya Kaimal
Maya Kaimal has written cookbooks on Indian food and is the founder of Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Foods, which makes all-natural simmer sauces, chutneys, and more. Find her products at igourmet.com, Williams-Sonoma stores, and other specialty food stores.
TOOL: Chef’s Pan
Maya likes the All-Clad Copper Core Chef’s Pan. Its five layers of bonded metals make it a great heat conductor, and it looks gorgeous as well. The 4-quart pan comes with a lid. $345; surlatable.com. She also uses the Calphalon Indian Wok for her Indian stir-fries. $125; williams-sonoma.com.

COOKS: Michele and Charles Scicolone
Wife-and-husband team Michele and Charles Scicolone are authors of numerous cookbooks, including Pizza: Easy Recipes for Great Homemade Pizzas, Focaccia, and Calzones ($10; 2007, Gramercy).
TOOL: Pizza Stone
The Scicolones recommend the HearthKit, which has a base and two side pieces and creates a cooking chamber in your oven that is much like that of a wood-burning pizza oven. $199; hearthkitchen.com.

COOK: Bill Telepan
Bill Telepan is the chef/owner of the award-winning Telepan restaurant in New York City. 72 W. 69th St.; 212/580-4300; telepan-ny.com.
TOOL: Slow Cooker
Chef Telepan uses a Crock-Pot Versaware Pro 6-quart Programmable Stoneware Slow Cooker. This model has an attractive removable stoneware crock that can be used on the stovetop and in the oven, microwave, and refrigerator. $80; jardenstore.com.

COOK: JEE LEVIN
Jee Levin lives in New York City and artfully prepares and styles food for photography. She loves to cook for friends and family, including her toddler son.
TOOL: Mandoline Slicer
The mandoline Jee used to create her Asian vegetable platter is the LaMandoline, made in France by de Buyer. It comes with five interchangeable blades for slicing ingredients into a variety of shapes and thicknesses. $160; williams-sonoma.com.

COOK: Lorna Sass
Lorna Sass has three food-related passions—pressure cooking, whole grains, and vegan vegetarian cooking—and has cookbooks on all these topics, including Pressure Perfect: Two Hour Taste in Twenty Minutes Using Your Pressure Cooker ($25; 2004, William Morrow).
TOOL: Pressure Cooker
Lorna Sass and her cookbooks are a big reason pressure cookers are back in style. The Kuhn Rikon Duromatic 6.3-Quart Stockpot is one of her favorite pressure cookers. It’s ideal for whole chickens, roasts, soups, and her risotto, and is safe and easy to use. $189; amazon.com. She also suggests the 6.5-quart WMF Perfect Plus Pressure Cooker. $220; cooking.com.