Kitchen design trends are torn between simple efficiency and experimental gadgetry, according to the array of kitchen advice gracing the web.On his Wired.com blog, Charlie Sorrel echoes much of the recent cry for simplicity by complaining that many food preparation gadgets are simply useless knick-knacks that will end up being binned. He advocates a return to five key items which are indispensable and low-risk, listing knives, pots, a cheese grater, a thermometer and a chopping board as time-honoured essentials. Going back to basics, the blog advises cookers to stick to the simple charms of thermometers, which are indispensable in order to check the internal temperature of meat as it is cooked.Meanwhile, technology news and review site CNET.com has profiled a series of hi-tech kitchen gadgets being unleashed on the market at present, starting with a micro-microwave that takes up less than a cubic square foot of space.Claiming that tiny and green are the new buzzwords in kitchen design, the site also profiled the Boiling Minder, a battery-operated device that blows air across the water within a boiling pot to head off the steam that leads to spillover while a chef is elsewhere.