stories : The Ten
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Buy These NowKitchen equipment worth paying for |
Kitchen gadgets, especially as Christmas approaches, start to get silly. (Shrimp butler, anyone?) Here are ten kitchen items worth shelling out for.
1. Chef’s knife: A high-quality chef’s knife, whether it has a light Japanese steel blade or a hefty German one, is a must-have. It slices carrots, dices onions, minces herbs, smashes garlic cloves, portions and trims meat, and carves turkeys and roasts. Inexpensive knives are simply inferior. A badly weighted knife is clumsy and inefficient; a dull blade will bludgeon your food rather than slice it. Be sure to get the right size—not larger than you feel comfortable with—and keep it razor sharp. A good knife is expensive, but if properly cared for, it will last a lifetime.
2. Vegetable peeler: A good vegetable peeler won’t cost much; this one is only a few dollars more than a conventional peeler. The Y-shaped peeler is easier to maneuver (especially around misshapen potatoes and carrots), and it stays sharper much longer than the cheap version.
3. Big frying pan: A high-quality, heavy-bottomed, stainless steel frying pan with a copper core is worth the price tag. It conducts heat evenly and dependably, never warps, and goes from the stovetop right into the oven. We recommend a big one—12 inches or more. If the food is crammed in, moisture won’t escape and the food will steam. With this pan, you can cook six chicken breasts or four pancakes at once.
4. Cutting board: A heavy, high-quality, hard maple cutting board like this one from John Boos is stable, long-lasting, and even approved by the FDA! (Wooden boards can harbor bacteria; look for boards that won’t warp or separate between the pieces of wood.) Some people prefer plastic or ceramic boards because of the contamination issue, but wooden is best for your knife, and with regular cleaning and sealing , it is just as safe. With proper care, this board can last a lifetime.
5. Blender: This magnificent Waring Bar Blender quickly pulverizes just about anything into a smooth purée. It has only two speeds, but what’s the point of all those buttons on other blenders, anyway? The sturdy metal base (no crackable plastic) and hefty motor make this one a powerhouse. It also has a narrow jar top for making smaller quantities of purées.
6. Chinois: Any heavy-duty medium-mesh sieve will do for heavy straining, but for a delicate soup or sauce, use a fine-mesh chinois, once seen only in professional kitchens, now available at almost any kitchen-supply store. The conical shape makes it easy to filter sauces into different-sized pans, and the hook on the side helps it keep a grip on the pan and allows easy storage.
7. Burr coffee grinder: This may seem like the most excessive item on the list, but it is more than simply a bean grinder (though if you use it only to grind beans, it’s still worth the price). A burr grinder doesn’t heat up, so you won’t get burnt-tasting grindings. You can choose from coarse to super-fine grinds. And as long as you wash it between uses, you can use it to pulverize nuts and spices as well as coffee.
8. Roasting pan: You can roast in anything from a glass baking dish to a pie plate, but heavy-duty stainless steel roasting pans conduct heat well, stand up to a beating, and look good enough to spend time on the dinner table. Most roasting pans come with a roasting rack, which is essential for true roasting (cooking with dry heat), as opposed to cooking the meat in its own juices.
9. Stand mixer: Yes, it’s the ubiquitous wedding-gift-cum-dusty-counter-space-hog, but a stand mixer is truly useful. It’s an obvious boon for baking—whipping cream, making meringue, creaming butter for cakes and cookies, and kneading dough. (And unlike a cheaper hand mixer, a stand mixer allows you to walk away while it works.) Some of the additional attachments are super, too. We especially love the grinder and the freezable ice cream bowl. (Not all the accessories are necessary: We can live without the pasta attachment.)
10. Stockpot: Another big piece of equipment worth the storage space. A well-made stockpot conducts heat well and has enough room to handle anything from a few lobsters to massive amounts of pasta or even chicken soup for an army. Its sheer mass is impressive; it gives the impression that big culinary creations are afoot.
I realise there are different brards in the USA to what we have here in Australia, but I would have had to add my Magimix to the top 10, especially now that they have a smaller bowl you can do herbs, etc in. Maybe I'd substite the blender for the Magimix? Cheers Balzac
maybe worth having but not the best 10 list of things u need, more a poser list i think
1. Chef's knife - ok good pick, size should 8", that's enough, model and brand depend on how it feels in your hand, make sure to try fist
2. I disagree with Y-shaped peeler, straight is much better
3. Bigger is better but if you are on a budget go for the 12" saute pan, it is deeper and therefore more versatile
4. Cutting board - Should be #2, first the knife then the board, logical
5. Useful but definitely not #5, I would rather buy a food processor first
6. Same, not as high a priority as wooden spoons for example
7. What does it have to do with cooking? Plus if you buy a bur grinder that means you want to make espressos so where is the machine? Doesn't make sense...
8. Definitely good to have, the rack is useless, if you don't want the meat to cook in its juice, place it on top of vegetables that will roast and will help make great pan sauce at the end
9. Food processor is more useful, stand mixer is useful if you are baking a lot, buy mixing bowls (stainless steel) and a good whip (silicon) first
10. Should be in the top 5, stocks are the foundation of good cooking.
Hmm... I agree with most of those with a couple of dissentions:
#4- bamboo is best, I've had mine for years now and it's yet to split or crack
And, no food processor??!! The ultimate kitchen appliance...
I heart my garlic press.
Perhaps this belongs as a top-ten list on the Food Network?
Bobby Rivers could read it right off this page.
A pretty silly (if not arbitrary) list.
I think a lot of people here are missing the point...While it could have been more explicit in the introduction, this is not a straight top-ten list of kitchen equipment, but a list of equipment that is worth spending extra money on. That said, it still has its issues: my cheap-ass side-peeler has been perfectly serviceable for years.
There is a crucial item missing from this list: a sharpening stone. Every cook should own and know how to use it.
I use a 800 grit Japanese stone to keep my twenty dollar Sysco 10 inch chef's knife razor sharp. ;)
I would also say a good wand blender should be a part of every cook's kitchen. So much easier than trying to puree hot soup in food processor or blender.
I agree with the last post, except that I don't use a sharpening stone: I use a Chef's Choice knife sharpener with my current favorite knive, a Tramontina 10". I would believe the stone does a better job, but this is the easy way out if you own (or are responsible for) a dozen or more knives.
No one has mentioned another essential item: a mortar and pestle: find a good one, and you won't be grinding your spices in a coffe grinder again.
The coffee grinder recommendation seemed off to me too. I have a mortar and pestle and a suribachi but even when I used to use a coffee grinder for spices I just had an second basic krupps grinder that I used for exclusively for spices so my coffee wouldn't taste like curry.
C'mon, man!
*#6 & #7 --- Luxury items. love my coffee grinders (one for coffee, one for spices) and my mortar/pestle. A little cheese cloth in a regular metal strainer will do the trick at home (not dropping that kind of cash on a chinois, sorry.)
*Most importantly, I don't agree with anyone sharpening their knives at home, regardless of how much you spend. I send mine out -- found a company through a restaurant supply shop -- for about $5 a pop. Sure, I have a piece of Alabama soapstone and honing oil, but I'd rather treat my good knives (MAC, Henkle, Chicago Cutlery) to the "spa" treatment a few times a year.
*And yeah, where's the wand blender and -- I'm serious -- where's the quality non-stick? You know you love it.
- A stand mixer in the top 10? We love ours but we bake a lot. If you don't a food processor is far more practical and can be used for a variety of tasks, including baking.
- As to the high zoot pans...We've got high-end copper and stainless and we find ourselves using our 10" and 12" cast iron pans 9 out of 10 times. The only things they aren't great for are red wine or tomato sauces or eggs. I think the two pans together may have cost $30. But to be fair, if you are going to buy them you can't skimp.
- Don't pay up for non-stick. You can find heavy non stick pans at Target or Wal-Mart for $20-$30. Why people would drop $100+ on All Clad non stick is beyond me.
- Send your knives out. You actually have to know what you're doing to use a stone and you run the risk of marring your knives if you don't.
- Paying up for a stockpot? Are you kidding? Look at the crappy, flimsy stockpots in most high-end restaurants. They need to boil water...and not leak. That's it.
I see knowing how to care for and maintain your tools as part of knowing how to cook. If you don't know how to use a stone, find someone to show you, order a video, or check out a book and practice on a cheap knife.
Or, just ignore me and pay someone else to sharpen your knives. I prefer to save the money and always have sharp knives.
For a non-stick I would go to a restaurant supply store instead of Wal-Mart or Target. The same money will get you a much more industrial pan. Try the Atlas or Volrath brands.
Seems like a comprehensive list but probably geared towards a amateur / pro & are not really cheap. Especially #6...a good chinois is about $125 bucks & used a lot for making stocks.
I think a good Le Creuset pot or saute pan is really useful for day-to-day cooking.
A good trip to a restaurant supply store might be worthwhile too. Working in a professional kitchen will amaze with how basic the tools are that they use.
was having fun about the high-end non-stick. my restaurant supply store pots and pans have outlived my new wife's calphalons. nearly indestructible, as are the tongs, paring knives and other assorted goodies. I find myself saving on the all-clads and williams & sonoma $30 FREAKING BREADIING STATION TRAYS and spending it on expensive ingredients instead.
OK, I have a couple of Le Crusets, but I got them on sale and you can't beat them. They're to be inherited, like my Lodge cast irons.
a pepper mill
I would add to the list a Good Can Opener.
Why is it so hard to find one that works consistently?
Serge
Biz:
http://www.njconcierges.com
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Tongs. Tongs. Tongs.
Cast Iron fry pans. Mine is 27 years old and a thing of beauty.
swing a away can openers rock! and what about those silicone bowl scrapers?
i think the stand mixer IS an essential if you do a lot of baking (which i do)...but i think a food processor should be listed there. i use my food processor a lot.
Gee, no one's jumped on this dogpile in five months.
Why on earth does a roasting pan need to "conduct heat"?
Especially if there's a rack in it? It's in the frigging oven. Heat
is coming from all directions. That's what ovens do.
OK, maybe a $75 pan will give you a couple of seconds more
to be inattentive when deglazing, but that's about it. Absolutely
not worth the 10x price difference.
A Le Creuset Cast Iron Pot (5.5 quarts is a good size) and a Cast Iron Fry pan, (10 inches will do). Would be my #3 and #4 items. They are worth the splurge! Will last a lifetime, cooks very well, and looks GREAT! I love mine!
I don't really care for the Chinois, never needed to use one and never seen any one use it in real life.
When you're using a roasting pan on the stove top (making gravy, for instance) a heavier pan reduces the warp factor.
That said, I have a cheap roasting pan because, like Chuckles the Clone, I have better things to spend my money on.