Food Essential kitchen tools....

I hope I've made it obvious that I'm getting back "into" cooking as I've posted more into Food more than I ever did in 4.0.... For me, it was either Electrician or cook... and fortunately or unfortunately, Electrician won.... but I want to still be more passionate with my cooking... and I absolutely had no clue what knives I should have, what sort of appliances or other utensils I would need.... I would prefer quality.... any suggestions?

 

What kinds of food are you going to be cooking? There's a shitload of stuff out there and that's putting it mildly.

 

I've got a 7 inch Henckels Professional S Santuko that is my must have knife.

appliances:
Kitchen Aid stand mixer
Kitchen Aid hand mixer
pressure cooker; I've got an old Presto that serves me well.

 

Get good knives. It doesn't mean spend a shit load of cash. Get one that fits your hand and one that has a full tang (there are a tonne of resources for this on line, Cooks Illustrated did a great review not too long ago).

Good pots and pans. Don't scrimp on this. Cheap isn't good and will just burn more food.

Wooden spoons and rubber spatulas. I have a couple of wooden spoons that are like an extension of my hand. I also have a good supply of silicone spatula/scrapers. I use them all the time.

Meat thermometer. A simple probe thermometer will suffice, but go with what you like. Your roasts will thank you.
Oven thermometer. It's very handy to know that your oven is at the right temperature.

Two good cutting boards. One for veg and one for meat.

Mixing bowls. Various sizes. You can never have too many of these and you will never run out of uses for them.

You can go for all sorts of other gadgets, but these items, in my opinion, are essential.

If you like to bake, then you should also get yourself:

Some proper measuring spoons and cups (for dry and wet measures).
A good scale.
Some good bakeware... pie plates, cookie trays, cake tins, muffin tins, etc.

 

North American cuisine?

Does that clarify?

 

That's one hell of a post, Charlatan. I'll add cheese and spice graters, zesters, a few mortar and pestle sets, salt & pepper mills and a meat tenderizer to the list. Ditch the supermarket ground spices, get a good garlic peeler and a few air-tight jars to store fresh herbs and such.

Hardly a day goes by when I'm not cooking in something cast iron. Good and cheap, incredible flavor and so damned near indestructible it really could outlast you. You haven't stated a budget but cast iron is so cheap you'll be able to explore and reap plenty of value for your money. I can't post links yet but Lodge Cast Iron has a great selection.

And if the sky is the limit then stainless steel lined copper cookware is THE way to go.

 

If you get a cast iron, make sure to season it well. I think I still have the link for an excellent guide to seasoning you cast iron.

I would add in a good crock pot. Winter time soups and stews are easy, cheap, and simple to make. Dump everything in with water/stock and let it cook all day while you are at work. Otherwise, I'd pretty much go down Charlantan's list in the order he listed it.

Good cookbooks are a must. Hell, for a good starter cookbook, The Joy of Cooking will show you how to make most things.

Cooking is about learning the basics, then building on that.

 

I hear good things about pre-seasoned cast iron.

Manic, I was just going for the basics, but would also have included a microplane, grater and a mortar and pestle. I am always putting lemon and lime zest into things and my microplane is very handy. I also have a mortar and pestle but I didn't use one all that much until I started cooking in Singapore.

I'd also recommend a cook immersion blender or a food processor, but I don't see them as essential. If I had to choose, I'd get the immersion blender as it's great for soup.

 

We have a couple of enamelled dutch ovens like these:
http://www.chasseur-cookware.com/
We use these all the time. As Eden said, something like this can go into the oven and slow cook something all day. Really good results.

My wife uses a mortar and pestle all the time, and the recently purchased microplane gets a bucket load of use.

 

My lodge chicken fryer is my go to frying/saute pan for most things i cook lately came nicely pre-seasoned and with free shipping from amazon.

for some people a rice cooker isn't necessary but I can't cook it worth a damn on the stovetop. i got this one and love it
Aroma ARC-1000 Professional Series 10-Cup Sensor Logic Rice Cooker

 

I love rice, I use to cook it everyday for myself back in the day.... I'll have to get back onto that wagon.... some good ideas that I never thought of before....

 

My favourite knife is my santuko - i picked it up inexpensively from a discount store (homesense to those in Canada) for like $40 a few years ago and its held up well. I just have to take the honing steel to it quite often. I love the weight and feel of it in my hand.

I also picked up some dutch ovens from the same store - I can't remember the brand name but they are fantastic. I tend to pick up pieces here and there when I can find them on sale or at a great price.

One of my favourite gadgets is my mandolin - saves me so much time when I use that.

I do want to get a pressure cooker though - never played with one of those.

Also I have a decent rice cooker. Use that for rice and quinoa - totally foolproof and you can easily make great tasting rice with it by cooking with coconut milk, various stocks, etc. I usuallly sautee some onions, mushrooms or peppers to add to the rice when its almost done too.

 

North American cuisine can cover a lot since it is basically a melting pot of everything. I am a food/cooking nut, I love it. Charlatan hit it right on the head.

Knives - try not to skimp, but, buy the one that fits best in your hand, if a $20 knife feels better than a $100 knife, then buy the $20 one. The $100 dollar one won't do you any good if it sits in a drawer because you don't like the feel of it. Look for knives with a good balance, not too light, not too heavy. The nice thing about knife sets is that they come with the block, the bad thing is that you usually get knives you may never use. Knife blocks are available without the knives in them at Bed Bath, and Beyond or other kitchen stores. Try to go open stock and buy the knives you'll use, unless you find a great deal on a set.

Pots and Pans - The battles about surfaces will wage on until the end of time. I personally like stainless steel, with aluminum core because you can use any tool on it, plastic, silicone, metal, wood, etc... doesn't matter. With other surfaces you need to use specific tools only. This is ok if that is all you have in your house, but I have a plethora of tools I like to use. Also, stainless is easier to clean, IMO, you can use steel wool if you like, doesn't matter. Also, they are dishwasher safe. You'll want an omelet pan, saute pan, chicken fryer, and various sauce pots. I also have a lobster pot, yes, I cook lobster in it, but also it is great for soups and chowders because of the size. I can boil two whole chickens in it for soup, great for crowds. I have Cuisinart Stainless, it's got the All-Clad look, without the All-Clad price. Check it out, you'll see what I mean, All-Clad is beautiful, but expensive.

Thermometers - See Charlatan's post... the only thing I would say is the meat thermometer, get a digital one that has the line that comes out of the oven to a terminal which will alert you when you have reached the desired temp. These can be a little tricky to use in the beginning as you don't want the metal of the probe to touch a bone in the meat as this will throw off the temp. However, with a little practice, you'll be a pro in no time.

Spatulas/Spoons- A good blend of silicone, metal (unless you go with pans which are non-stainless) and wood.

Bakeware - If you plan on baking, glass and double ply metal, also, spring-form pan, trust me, you'll want one.

Cast Iron - Love them for frying/deep frying or pancakes, love the dutch oven one as well. They are heavy, be very careful with the around glass top stoves, but they hold the heat very well and clean up easily.

The most important part of cooking, the ingredients, buy the best and freshest you can and cook to the correct temperature and you can't go wrong. Poor ingredients will yield poor food. Use the best, without going overboard on price. Farmers markets are wonderful, as well as finding local butchers for meat, you'll pay a little more, but the results will be so worth it.

 

people talk a lot of nonesense in my opinion

In terms of knives, you need a sharp-ish one. The food you cook will not taste 0.01% better because you have an expensive knife to chop things up with.

In my opinion you need:

- a measuring jug
- one of this things on a ring with each spoon size
- a wok
- max 3 saucepans (with lids ideally)
- a wooden spatula
- a tin opener
- a grater
- a strong serated knife
- a sharp knife

_

I have read above it descrived as "essential" spatula and a stirring spoon.

Some people have different idea's of what is essential. For myself, I find it possible to stir something with a spatula (for example. You have to apply the same logic to everything quoted)

And for a $100 you could buy a gun, let alone a knife...

 

albeit a very very SHITTY gun.

 

Maybe a BB gun.

 

Strange Famous... I think

I think you will see that I did not suggest you need to buy an expensive knife. Rather I suggested that you need one that fits your hand.

When I first set up my kitchen here, I bought the three knives everyone needs - Chef's Knife, Paring Knife, and Bread Knife. I bought them from Carrefour (it's like Wal*Mart). They did the job just fine until about a year later when the blade on each of them just fell off the handle (the bread knife was the last to go as it was the one I used the least). To my mind, it's better to spend a little more on a knife that will last, than one that will fall apart in a year's time.

I also feel that there is no need to spend a fortune on a knife as there are many great ones out there that can do the job and be long lasting, for a fraction of the price. Again, look at the Cook's Illustrated reviews, they are very good in their comparison shopping and explain why they like one knife over another.

Finally, of the chefs I know, many get their work knives from a restaurant supply shop. They buy their knives for under $50. Some of them even use a knife service that delivers a sharp knife each week and takes the old ones away.

Which reminds me... the one item that has not hit anyone's list: a sharpening steel. Despite the name, it is not for sharpening your knife but rather for honing it. Everyone who has a knife should have one of these as it will fine tune the edge of your knife keeping the edge true between sharpening it. One should use this every time you go to use the knife. There is nothing worse than using a dull knife (as my permanently damaged finger tip can attest).

 

I spent less than $150 on the few knifes I have. A 10' chef knife, a Santuko, a bread knife, a boning knife, and a paring knife. The chef knife I have fits into my hand like it was made for me and has a nice wood handle with a full tang. I won't have to buy another knife again for the rest of my life (barring anything happening to it). I paid $65 for it from the back of the knife guy's truck (the guy who came to restaurants to sharpen the house knifes) and I have gotten every cent worth from the purchase. I go to friends places' and use their cheap blades and they feel like I'm trying to cut down a tree with a pocket knife.

I second going to bed bath and beyond, they will let you handle most of the knifes in there. Most people only need the three knifes that Charlatan mentioned; Chef knife, paring knife, and a bread knife. Once you have those, you can use them to cut, peel, slice, almost anything you find. My chef always told me, only buy knifes for what you need, otherwise you are just wasting your money.

How heavy you want your knife is a big option in knife buying, I prefer a lighter knife. My chef always preferred his Wustoffs and Hinkle knifes; heavy, german forged steel. These things felt like bricks in my hand.

Seconded on Charlatan's suggestion for a knife steel, nothing more dangerous than a dull knife.

 

It's probably because I'm an amateur cook, but I prefer using my serrated 4in-blade knife from Walmart to all the other knives I bought in my knife block set.
Other than chopping through bones, it does just about all I ask of it.
Chef knives feel too unwieldy to me.

I've been wanting to buy some aluminum sheet pans to fit in my smallish oven, but the price hasn't been right yet.
I just use cheap nonstick sheet pans that start flaking after a few uses. ugh!