Cooking without proper kitchen tools will make the process harder. Whether you’re getting them for yourself or for your loved ones, the right kitchen tools will make the cooking experience much better. Here are some kitchen tools that both home cooks and pros need.
Regardless if you’re a pro or a home cook, kitchen tools are necessary for proper cooking those delicious recipes you want to try. Here are some of the most essential tools that you need to have for cooking.
Pots
Pots are mainly used for making stock or broth. Stock is essential for bringing out flavor in your food. That’s why you want to use the best pots to have the best quality of food possible.
What Pots to Use?
The material of the pot is the first thing you have to consider when choosing one. What will you mainly use it on? Most people love to use dishwasher-safe pots so they don’t have to spend time cleaning them.
Multiclad Pots
You may want to consider getting a multi-clad pot. You can use it for cooking stocks, soups, tomato sauce, boiling seafood, and braising meats.
Multi-clad pots have a stainless exterior and aluminum core that are great for faster cooking and cleaning. It distributes heat evenly so your food will always cook at the same time.
You’d also want them to work on both gas and electric stoves, so you can use them no matter where. Make sure to also check if it’s free from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). They can be harmful if mixed with your food.
Skillet
Skillets have always been used for cooking because of their durability and effectiveness. It has always been the cooking tool used for traditional cooking methods.
What Skillet to Use?
A skillet needs to also have excellent heat retention and a handle with a comfortable grip so you can move it with ease.
If the skillet has excellent heat retention, you will have an easier time with frying food. It will help fry the food evenly and make the cooking process faster.
Cast-Iron Pan
For that matter, cast-iron skillets are ideal to have. They can hold and distribute heat so well that they’re used on many types of cooking like:
- Slow-cooking
- Roasting
- Searing
- Stir-frying
- Baking
Hence, why cast-iron pans are regarded as the most versatile cooking tools. It’s also the reason why so many famous chefs recommend using it.
You also want to use non-stick cast-iron pans so the food doesn’t stick to the pan. Even Gordon Ramsay spends thousands of dollars for premium quality non-stick pans to produce the best quality of food.
Mixing Bowls
Mixing bowls is where you add the ingredients and mix them together. A lot of cooking recipes mix ingredients a lot so you will always need to have mixing bowls ready to use.
Mixing bowls can be used for mixing ingredients in cakes, pastries, salads, marinate, and even washing vegetables.
What Mixing Bowls to Use?
There’s not much to say about mixing bowls. You want them sturdy and durable so they don’t easily break if they accidentally fall down.
Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
For that alone, stainless steel mixing bowls are an excellent choice. They’re extremely durable yet lightweight. They are also easy to clean. You can easily wipe them with a clean cloth after washing.
Kitchen Knives
This wouldn’t be a good important kitchen tools list if we don’t include kitchen knives. There are different types of kitchen knives that you use in the kitchen. Kitchen knives are mainly used for cutting ingredients for flavoring or portioning.
What Kitchen Knives to Use?
There are two knives that you mostly need to have and they are paring knives and 8 to 10-inch chef’s knives.
Paring knives are meant for cutting small ingredients and for peeling fruits and vegetables. 8 to 10-inch chef’s knives are used for slicing meat and even for mincing and chopping ingredients.
Knives made in Japan are typically good so you might want to go for those. You may also want to consider using colored knives for food hygiene.
Paring Knives
For paring knives you want them to use stainless steel blades. You also want a comfortable handle design so you don’t feel any discomfort when cutting.
8 to 10-inch Chef’s Knives
Just like with paring knives, you want a comfortable handle to grip on along with a high carbon stainless steel blade. You want the blade to easily cut into ingredients so it doesn’t squeeze out the flavor.
Spatula
The Spatula is an essential kitchen tool that you use for mixing or flipping the food and ingredients. If you don’t mix while cooking, the ingredients might stick or get hard.
What Spatula to Use?
For cooking fish and meat, you want to use metal spatulas. For food like omelets and vegetables, you want a rubber spatula for better flexibility.
Rubber and Metal Spatulas
For metal spatulas, all you really need is a heatproof, sturdy, and non-toxic one. While rubber spatulas need a good amount of heat resistance aside from being sturdy and flexible.
Conclusion
A good foundation of a kitchen is having the best kitchen tools around. You want the best kitchen tools around to bring out the best food quality whether you’re a pro or home cook. It’s more about the quality of your kitchen tools and not the quantity.