We're all about setting up home on Apartment Therapy this month, and that includes kitchens and what goes in 'em. A few weeks ago we shared our essentials for a first kitchen, but what about when you're a little past that stage?
I'm a pretty serious foodie, and have a well-loved collection of cooking equipment to back up the claim. In fact, I'm pretty sure my mum sent me off to university with as much kitchen stuff as some people have in their first home (and I was living in a catered dorm). So I consider myself qualified to offer up a follow-up, of ten must-have items for a dedicated cook's kitchen:
1. Dutch oven
This enameled, cast-iron kitchen workhorse is great for making soups, stews and braises — even for baking bread.
2. Big, deep pot
You might think you'll never use one, but it's amazing how versatile a large stock pot can be. Great for making stock and soup, cooking spaghetti, and sterilizing jars for preserving. A 10 quart size works well for most households.
3. Electronic scales
Many North American cooks think baking by weight is a bizarre European convention, and snub the poor scale. But using a scale makes things quicker, easier and cleaner, not to mention opens up a whole new world of European recipes!
4. Immersion blender
Sure, blenders and food processors are great, but I'll take my handy (and easier to store) immersion blender any day. I use it for soups, smoothies, pestos, and even hummus.
5. Microplane
This king of graters makes quick work of citrus peel, garlic, ginger, nutmeg and parmesan cheese.
6. Silicone tools
Particularly, a great spatula (I like the double-ended ones) and a great pair of tongs. The former is for all manner of stirring, flipping and tasting, while the latter is great for carefully turning things in the frying pan, or tossing pasta with sauce. Silicone means that both clean up easily.
7. Coffee/Spice grinder
Ideally, you'll have two of these: one for your morning beans and one for spices, to avoid tastebud contamination. If you don't grind your own coffee or use spices often, one will do fine.
8. Large glass measuring jug
My 8-cup Pyrex jug gets used often, as a vessel for my immersion blender to make sauces in, a baking tool, and even as a mixing bowl. Particularly useful if you make a lot of soup.
9. Salad spinner
If you eat a lot of leaves, this is a must-have. I like to use mine for herbs, which are so much easier to cut cleanly when they're dry. The two lower pieces can also double as a colander and a casual serving bowl.
10. Dough Whisk
File this one under things you never thought you'd read here. It might look bizarre, but this item is perfect for stiff doughs and batters which you don't want to overmix- pizza, pancakes and muffins will never be the same.
What do you think of this list? Anything you firmly agree (or ardently disagree) with? Let us know in the comments below!
Pictured above:
1. Le Cruset
2. All-Clad
3. Salter
4. Sur La Table
5. Microplane
6. Bed Bath & Beyond
7. Bodum
8. Pyrex
9. Sur La Table
10. King Arthur Flour
LOTS MORE INFO ON SETTING UP YOUR KITCHEN FROM OUR SISTER SITE, THE KITCHN:
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Prep Tools & Utensils
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Cooking Tools & Utensils
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Cookware
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Baking Pans
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Small Electric Appliances
• The Kitchn's "Setting Up a Kitchen" Archive
(Lead image: Leela Cyd Ross for The Kitchn, all others as linked above)
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I'd replace the dough whisk with a hand mixer. The hand mixer is cheap, easy to store, and you can use it for anything you bake because it always involves stirring.
Love your picks...I have set up kitchens for forty years and I agree with everyone of your picks...good job!
i agree with pretty much everything here, too! i've never used a dough whisk though, i'd trade that out for a top-notch cutting board or santoku knife, i think
also, i don't use silicon tools - bamboo is my choice. but other than that, agree agree agree. i recently inherited a nice enambled dutch oven from a roommate who forgot to pack it up. opened up a world of cooking!
Anyone have experience with the coffeegrinder pictured as a spice grinder? I have been thinking about buying a spice grinder but there seem not to be many electric ones marketed as spice grinders.
A simple coffee grinder works fine as a spice grinder. We actually even still use ours for coffee -- because I only grind my own spices a couple times a year.
If you want your grinder to do double duty, carefully wipe out all the coffee with a dry paper towel or thin rag (can also use a small brush), then wipe with a slightly damp rag & dry. Grind your spices and repeat the cleaning. If it still smells spicy, put a couple whole coffee beans in the grinder and discard them before you next grind coffee.
I need a California print for my kitchen!
Angeline, I'd grind some rice to get rid of any lingering spices. (Then wipe all the rice powder away) I do that anyway when the coffee bean oils gum up my grinder. Grinds as good as new afterwards.
Great tip Yonella. Makes perfect sense once you shared it... Should do this between spices too....
Funny, being French, I'd say a set if measuring cup is a must. Using a scale makes things slower, more complicated and dirtier, but it opens up a whole new world of American recipes, and that alone is well worth the investment. I actually had my sister import a set for me from Los Angeles, where she currently lives, and can now cook American favorites. It's so hard to come by measuring cups here...
Cast iron frying pan.
Well, I've been known for my cooking for most of my life, and all I have that's on this list is a big deep pot and a scale. To each her own I suppose.
I don't have the scale or the weird whisk, but that's only because I'm not big on baking. Otherwise, I have everything! I'd also add food processor and heavy duty blender to that list. I love my Cuisinart and Vitamix. And I recently got a really, really high quality knife. It honestly changed my life and made me want to cook three meals a day!
Yeah all I have is the big deep pot and I've been cooking for years. I'd put at least one high quality sharp knife on the list.
Love that California print - did you make that yourself?
I have everything but the whisk and the scale. A scale has been on my list for pizza dough recipes, but now I really want that whisk. We will see.
Great list and I agree with all your picks.
Someone over at Food52 was asking what they needed for their kitchen, and I said a Dutch Oven was essential. Then a restaurant chef complained that since restaurants don't use them, they are not necessary. I was sad. But seeing that lovely enamel cast iron pot on your list, I feel validated! Hahaha!
@laasmith - I think that's weird. Restaurant chefs also have industrial kitchens, should none of us have kitchens because restaurant chefs don't use tiny, miniscule ones to make their food?
Hmm..."can't live without"? Of the list above, I only own a stockpot and I've managed quite well for half a century, thank you very much. Much more important than all of the above is a cast iron skillet. Now THAT I could not live without.
I just bought (about 2 months ago) the large KA dough whisk. I loved it so much, less than a month later, I bought the smaller one. They're perfect for doughs/batters you don't want to overmix (quick breads, biscuits, scones, pancakes, etc.). They're much easier to store than a hand electric mixer, and not as much of a pain to haul out as the big KitchenAid I have. Also, with both electric devices, you run the risk of overmixing, and toughening the dough/batter. I was skeptical, but now I'm a true believer. They're also much easier on the hands/wrists than mixing with a big spoon, which is critical to me since I have pretty bad RA.
I've got a manual scale instead of an electronic one (mechanism like your old bathroom scale) because I hate being dependent on batteries, and a mortar and estle instead of the spice grinder (don't drink coffee). And the dough whisk is new for me, but I've managed fine without it.
Agree that a cast iron frying pan should have made the list.
You forgot the knives!!! You need three essential knives.
1. A sharp Chef's Knife
2. A Serated Bread Knife
3. A small Pearing Knife
These items are a MUST in my kitchen...along with a good set of tongs and a good wine bottle opener!
One thing that I can't live without is a rice cooker. I have made -so- many dishes in it and it's just so convenient. The one I got comes with a noodle basket and a veggie steamer so I can do all sorts of things at the same time. It is a seriously good investment!