Equipment- Where to Start?
Alright so you wan’t to get serious about cooking, but where do you start? What equipment do you need? You see kits on Amazon or at Target for $50 and think “let me just get that!” But is that really the best?
For me, I think if you focus on six key items, you will be able to cook 75% of the meals on my website with ease! Then you can build out from there.
1- a high quality, sharp chef knife. Ideally something at least 8”. Why high quality and why sharp? A dull knife is a dangerous knife. That might seem counterintuitive, but have you ever tried slicing a tomato with a dull knife and it keeps slipping around? Or cut into a piece of chicken and instead of slicing, you’re having to saw back and forth? Terrible experience! The sharper the knife, the easier it will be to slice your food and in turn you will be safer.
2- bread knife. Having a bread knife will make it so much easier when it comes time to slice your fresh baked bread.
3- stainless steel saute pan. A 3-5qt saute pan is one of the most versatile items you can have. You can shallow fry food, you can saute vegetables, make pasta sauce, reduce liquids, etc, etc etc. I could go on and on about all the things you can make using a saute pan. If you could only have one pan in your kitchen, this should be it.
4- non-stick frying pan. Having a 12” nonstick frying pan will add to the versatility combined with the stainless saute pan. This will make frying bacon, cooking eggs, creating sauces easier. There are just some things you don’t want to leave a fond on the bottom of the pan and thats where a nonstick can come in handy.
5- large cutting board. I know there are sets of cutting boards you can find at your local stores, but get yourself a large wood cutting board. The larger the surface, the easier it will be to slice and dice your ingredients and leaves you will less of a mess on your counters. Plus, you can leverage this for a serving platter once done cooking!
6- half sheet pan. The sheet pan is underrated at times. You can bake cookies, bake bread, roast vegetables, potatoes, list goes on.
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