Tools

Essential Kitchen Equipment (in no particular order):

I have been cooking for 46 years. This has given me lots of time to accumulate equipment. You don’t need it all to be a good cook. These are some of the things I consider essential equipment (I’m sure there are many more, but I can’t think of them right now)

Tools:

Bowls: at least 3, small, medium and large. If you can only afford one, get a large. Metal is best because it can be used as a baking pan or a pot if necessary. Take good care of it and it will last a lifetime.

Spoons and Spatulas: I prefer wooden spoons (do not put in the dishwasher) and spatulas.  They now make silicon spatula that will take up to 400F heat. You need at least 1 of each.

Whisks: You can use a fork if you don’t have one, but these awesome for emulsifying and combining liquids. Just don’t use a metal whisk (or fork) on your non-stick pans. You will destroy the inside of the pan. Use your wooden spoon or silicon spatula.

Knife: A 3-5” paring knife, a serrated bread knife (A regular edge will squish your bread. Serrated is also best for slicing soft tomatoes.) and a 9-10 chef’s knife. These 3 will handle all your cutting issues. Learn how to sharpen and hone your own blades. (youtube: How to sharpen a knife). A dull blade is more likely to cut you than a sharp one.

Scissors: I use scissors every day. From cutting sheets of parchment to cutting up a chicken good sharp kitchen scissors will save you hours of time. Get one that can cut through bone. (Also useful for cutting up pizza).

Thermometers: An insta-read is fairly inexpensive (Although you can go all out and get an infrared one-truly cool!). You will use it to check the “doneness” of food. You will also need an oven thermometer. Very few ovens are accurate. A thermometer will let you know your oven’s true temperature.

Hand Mixer: I have a stand mixer, a Cuisinart and a hand mixer. Of the three, I am most likely to reach for the hand mixer. If you don’t have the counter space or the money, get only this one.

Immersion Blender: Much more practical than a regular blender. It takes up less space and does all the same things.( Except it won’t crush ice -use a mallet, a plastic bag and a kitchen or bath towel. I don’t need to explain how this works, do I?)

Frying Pan: You will need 2.  A heavy duty, 3-ply frying pan (plan on spending a minimum of $50.00 (Target sells a good one) and  a heavy duty non-stick. Get one  that has a handle that will withstand up to 400F heat.  (Kitchen-Aid makes a good inexpensive one).  Get pans with a handle long enough that your hand isn’t in danger of touching the pan itself. Both pans should be oven proof. Don’t go cheap on these. If you can get a lid that will fit the pan, do so. (Also, don’t stack anything inside the non-stick without separating the lining from the bottom of another pan. You will destroy the non-stick coating and will have wasted your money.)

Cooking Pots: You should have 2. A medium and a large. Both should have lids.

Bread Pan: You can use a bread pan for bread or meat loaf or breading your meat and vegetables…use your  imagination (putting it under the leak in your sink, as an extra bowl…)

Cake Pan: For baking cakes, nothing beats a cake pan. It is just the right size, no guessing on how much time to set the timer to.

Pie pan: While you can use a cake pan to make a pie, a pie pan works better.

Cooling Rack: Saves your counter. Allows bread, cookies and cakes to cool top and bottom.  Solves the wet, steamed bottom effect of just putting your baked good on a solid surface.  Also works as a trivet for your hot pans.

Can Opener: Get one of the ones that doesn’t leave a sharp edge.

Corkscrew:  Pretty self-explanatory, but the good ones also come with a bottle opener for your beer

Mallet: Excellent for pounding meat thin, breaking up ice, and crushing nuts…

Knife Sharpening Equipment: Again, self-explanatory. However, a honing steel and a sharpening stone don’t do the same things. You need to learn how to use both to keep your knives sharp.

Towels-Cloth and Paper: Cloth towels are the workhorses in your kitchen. You can use them as pot holder, loose lids, strainers, liners and they even dry your dishes. Paper towels help keep your surfaces bacteria free and can in a pinch be used as coffee filters.

Parchment Paper: By lining your bakeware with these, you seriously cut down on your dishwashing. I use it under pizza. Bread, cakes… Using them with cookies means you only need one cookie sheet, because you can spoon your dough on one sheet while the other is in the oven.  Lining the bottom of a cake pan, means that your cake won’t lose its bottom when you try to remove it from the pan…

Aluminum Foil: Just essential. Cooking, storing, keeping things hot…

Colander: Get a big one. A small one just won’t do.

Wire Mesh Strainer: Used when you need small holes. You never think you need one, until, suddenly you do.

A Level: What?! Yes, you need one of these. Your stove won’t be level and all your liquids will slide to one part of your pan and your cakes won’t rise evenly.  Stoves come with little adjustable feet. A 2-3 foot level will help you get your stove level, side to side and front to back.

Recommended Cookbooks:

Again, as anyone who has been in my kitchen knows, I have many cookbooks. I’ve read them all. That is what I do. I read recipes for fun. But I use very few of them for anything but ideas and inspiration. I usually don’t use a recipe when I cook. Most of what I do comes out of my head. However, having said that, there are 2 books that I always go back to. One is for recipes that I will use and the other to explain why something went wrong. The first is The Joy of Cooking.  This is the one that will always have a broken back (I’m on my 3rd one so far and yes the back is broken) and stained pages. It explains in plain language how to make just about anything.  And how to alter it.  It is an excellent instruction manual. The other is On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee .  This is a science book. It explains everything and anything you want to know about food.  And why.  Why is the most important thing a good cook can know.  Because if you know why something happens, you will know how to fix it when it all goes wrong.