Updating the Kitchen Essentials

[slkinsey]

I don't know whether to be proud or embarrased by the fact that I could probably make everything I know with just a chef's knife, a wooden spoon and my 12" Lodge cast iron pan.

Interesting. I could never do that, because I make too much pasta (need to have a pasta pot for that) and I cook too many things with an acidic component. That said, I could probably get by (albeit with constraints on what I could do) if I removed everything from my list but the chef's knife, a wooden spoon, a saute pan and a stock/pasta pot.

[tryska]

hmm....i think my personal collection of pots (for the single, rarely cooking, always out and about female) is a good starter set:

1 medium saucepan

1 small saucepan

1 small non-stick skillet

1 large non-stick skillet

1 cast-iron skillet

1 stock/pasta pot

1 super large sautteeing pan thing. (don't know how to describe it, but it's big and it's handy)

15 pc anchor hocking glass baking set

1 set of whisks

1 set of knives and knife block.

wooden spoons, teflon flippers, a strainer and a colander

i still can't get out of the habit of prepping vegetables with a steak knife tho.

Edited December 8, 2003 by tryska (log)

[Chad]

I don't know whether to be proud or embarrased by the fact that I could probably make everything I know with just a chef's knife, a wooden spoon and my 12" Lodge cast iron pan.

Interesting. I could never do that, because I make too much pasta (need to have a pasta pot for that) and I cook too many things with an acidic component. That said, I could probably get by (albeit with constraints on what I could do) if I removed everything from my list but the chef's knife, a wooden spoon, a saute pan and a stock/pasta pot.

I've got a hefty cure on my cast iron, so I don't worry overmuch about acidic foods.

I mentioned the Lodge because I like it better, but I'd probably be just as well off with my 5-qt saute pan. I do almost everything in one of those two pans. I'm just pissed off at the saute pan -- I had to pound it flat (again) last night just to keep all the butter from pooling at one end.

Oh, and a stockpot. Gotta have a stockpot.

So my essentials list:

- 12" cast iron pan or 5-qt saute

- wooden spoon

- chef's knife

- pizza stone

- stockpot

I have many kitchen toys and gadgets, lots o' sauce pans and other types of cookware and way too many knives, but I couldn't live without those five things.

Chad

[Squeat Mungry]

I don't know if this qualifies, because it is so simple and basic, but my board scraper is like an extension of my hand. I seem to use it for at least three different things every time I cook.

I'd also be lost without my mortar and pestle and my mezzaluna. Oh, and my set of Bauer batter bowls!

Cheers,

Squeat

[slkinsey]

I'm just pissed off at the saute pan -- I had to pound it flat (again) last night just to keep all the butter from pooling at one end.

Anodized aluminum, by any chance?

[Carolyn Tillie]

This one may seem odd...

I was recently cooking something in my sister's kitchen only to learn that she doesn't buy/use dishtowels - only paper towels. A meal later, I had found myself going through an entire roll of papertowels (a waste, in my opinion).

I use my dishtowels as hotmits, heat-protectors when something comes out of the oven, AND to dry my hands.

Am I nuts?

[Chad]

I'm just pissed off at the saute pan -- I had to pound it flat (again) last night just to keep all the butter from pooling at one end.

Anodized aluminum, by any chance?

Nope, Calpholon Tri-Ply. I'm on my third one, and I'm tired of taking them back. The 5-qt saute is a big pan, much bigger than the burners on my stove. I believe the uneven heating is why the center regularly buckles and becomes convex on the bottom. So now every couple of months I turn the pan upsidedown on the countertop (with the handle hanging off the side), drape a side towel over it and whack the crap out of the bottom with a big mallet until its flat again.

Chad

[Chad]

I use my dishtowels as hotmits, heat-protectors when something comes out of the oven, AND to dry my hands.

Am I nuts?

Nope, you're not nuts, I use side towels for everything. I usually have one draped over my shoulder whenever I'm in the kitchen. Much easier to just use a towel than go digging for potholders.

Chad

[Anna N]

Beside the usual pots, pans, knives and cleavers...

A huge, round-bottomed, plastic bowl in which I mix everything from dough to salads.

Kitchen scales

Locking surgical forceps (nothing better for skinning poultry, removing silverskin etc.!)

What I have just turned down as a Christmas gift - a stand mixer! Am I nuts? Just couldn't justify the space needed to store it versus the times I might use it.

[tryska]

oh yeah - plastic mixing bowls. good call.

[Big Bunny]

Whatever you have to cook in, mise en place

is very important - especially if you are

as absent-minded as I am.

I would be lost without about two dozen small-

to-medium sized, inexpensive stainless bowls

and saucers ... an odd assortment of useful shapes.

I got this habit from Chinese cooking - it is just

the way I work now.

BB

[slkinsey]

I'm just pissed off at the saute pan -- I had to pound it flat (again) last night just to keep all the butter from pooling at one end.

Anodized aluminum, by any chance?

Nope, Calpholon Tri-Ply. I'm on my third one, and I'm tired of taking them back. The 5-qt saute is a big pan, much bigger than the burners on my stove. I believe the uneven heating is why the center regularly buckles and becomes convex on the bottom.

That's interesting. How wide is the pan? (I don't understand why some manufacturers size their saute pans by volume, which really isn't very meaningful.) Also, do you have any way of measuring how thick the pan is? I've been curious about Calphalon Tri-Ply's specs.

You know... for less money than one of the Tri-Ply pans, you could have had one of these or one of these.

[phaelon56]

Having been relegated to a small kitchen for several years witha minimum of counter space, I developed a similar practice (probably after seeing it on the TV cooking shows where the practice is so ubiquitous. I now tend to prepare and cut ingredients all in advance (I cover and refrigerate some if the time that will elapse before cooking is protracted). It's just so helpful to have all those little and medium bowls full of stuff ready to throw in the pan or pot as cooking begins.

Apart from that I think everyone else has covered it nicely. Unless I missed it, no one has mentioned a sharpening stone and a bottle of mineral oil. I use the oil on the stone and also to keep my wooden cutting board moisture resistant. I have yet to spring for the fancy high carbon knives - I just use some Dexter Russel stainless with the white plastic handles - they're the sort of generic house knives that you'll find in many restaurant prep kitchens (vs the knife sets that belong to individual chefs or cooks). The work fine for me but one has to kep up with the sharpening and the little sharpening wheels just don't do the job - a stone is essential.

[Chad]

I'm just pissed off at the saute pan -- I had to pound it flat (again) last night just to keep all the butter from pooling at one end.

Anodized aluminum, by any chance?

Nope, Calpholon Tri-Ply. I'm on my third one, and I'm tired of taking them back. The 5-qt saute is a big pan, much bigger than the burners on my stove. I believe the uneven heating is why the center regularly buckles and becomes convex on the bottom.

That's interesting. How wide is the pan? (I don't understand why some manufacturers size their saute pans by volume, which really isn't very meaningful.) Also, do you have any way of measuring how thick the pan is? I've been curious about Calphalon Tri-Ply's specs.

You know... for less money than one of the Tri-Ply pans, you could have had one of these or one of these.

Ooooh, I like the Sitram catering saute pan. Nice.

The Calphalon is 12" across the bottom and 2.25 to 2.5 inches deep depending on whether you count the rolled lip or not. I bought it a Bed, Bath & Beyond a couple of years ago when I discovered that (with dinner guests on the way) I desperately needed a bigger saute pan. I've had a love/hate relationship with it (and its replacements) ever since. I love the size, it heats up quickly and evenly and isn't too heavy to flip. On the downside, as I said, this is number three. The other two were returned for the warping problem. This one I just beat with a mallet.

Hmm, I wonder if we're hijacking Soba's thread? Could we get one of the "Cooking" hosts to split this discussion off into a new "Calphalon Tri-Ply" thread?

Chad

[sammy]

I am stunned that neither cork screws or bottle openers were mentioned yet. What fun would cooking be without a glass of wine or bottle of beer?

[Al_Dente]

I notice a lot of folks have listed "wooden spoon".

Is it spoon shaped, or is it one of those narrow wooden spatula-type things? I prefer the latter-- just seems to have better feel, has more uses, and is great for scraping up all the little brown bits in a deglaze. It's probably the cooking utensil I use most.

[Cusina]

Hmmm... essential...

Well the obvious appliances (can you imagine only having an ice box??) a mixer, sauce pan, 10" iron skillet, pasta pan, baking sheets, pie plate, stoneware deep dish baker, rubber scrapers (heat proof), spatchula, extra sharp kives of at least 2 sizes (6 and 8 inch, maybe a paring knife), wooden cutting boards, dish towels, cork screw/bottle opener, kitchen scissors, whisk AND

LEATHER POT HOLDERS

They rock, they go in the washer. I'll never be without them again.

I probably missed some.

[GG Mora]

A digital scale that swings both ways (metric or foot-pound). It's so much easier to cook by weight (mostly baking) that I've started calculating the weights for any recipe with ingredients not given in weight & scribbling the weights in pencil.

Also, my Braun Multi-Mix. The hand-mixer part is defunct, but the stick blender is essential, as is the little mini-food processor attachment.

And any kitchen should have the type of vegetable parer with the handle perpendicular to the blade. Much easier to use.

[rlibkind]

If you don't have an aebleskiver pan, you're missing the most essential kitchen implement there is.

[tryska]

I notice a lot of folks have listed "wooden spoon".

Is it spoon shaped, or is it one of those narrow wooden spatula-type things? I prefer the latter-- just seems to have better feel, has more uses, and is great for scraping up all the little brown bits in a deglaze. It's probably the cooking utensil I use most.

both are ideally good

but the spoon has a well for checking consistency and seasoning. howeve rit doesn'thave the spatula's sharp edge. so i think one needs both.

oh yeah a cutting board - preferably two - one wooden for veggies and bread, one plastic for meats.

Edited December 8, 2003 by tryska (log)

[badthings]

I was thinking about this the other day: aside from a knife, a pan, and a corkscrew, I think the salad spinner may be the most useful item in my kitchen. I literally cannot remember how we made salad without it. Plus, it doubles as a colander.

[Betts]

I could not cook without --

AllClad 3 qt evassee

pasta pot and insert

12" saute pan

small saute pan for a couple of eggs

heat safe spatulas

fixed blade vegetable parer

set of 8 nesting stainless bowls

parchment paper

big rolling pin

pepper mill

microplane grater

good quality stainless measuring spoons

[bloviatrix]

Things I use the most and can't live without:

Chef's Knife

Microplane grater/zester

peeler

juicer

silicone spatulas

wooden spoons and spatulas

locking tongs

cutting boards

measuring cups (wet & dry) and spoons

12" saute pan

Le Creuset dutch oven (7 qt)

3 qt sauce pan

The peeler and juicer get used with such great frequency that they have a permanent home on the counter-top

[marie-louise]

This thread is for anyone who's starting to get their feet wet, and who, when going to stock his or her equipment in a kitchen supply store such as W-S or Lechter's, might feel a bit intimidated by the availability and diversity of selections.

I have general advice-go slow and buy the best that you can afford. Myself, I like All-Clad, and my favorites are those curved bottom saucier pans. I also love Le Creuset. Others swear by Calphalon, or copper, or cast iron. Rather than buy several of any of these, buy one and try it out.

So while cooking styles and needs may vary from person to person, there must be somewhere, somehow, a list of must-haves that any person worth their cooking salt should have at a bare minimum.

Most general cookbooks have such a list in the introductory section. I used just such a list myself (mine was from New Basics) when stocking my kitchen many years ago. I customized the list to what I thought I needed that I didn't have, and bought things one at a time over the course of many years. It was fun to bring home something and then keep making dishes that required my new purchase.

[slkinsey]

When it comes to figuring out how to pick the best cookware for your needs and budget, I'd like to toot my horn and suggest ny eGCI class as a resource.