21 Essential Kitchen Utensils Every Cook Should Have
After all, you can’t make it on Chopped if you don’t have the proper tools to train with! Stainless steel cookware is durable, conducts heat incredibly well and will give you that perfect sear every time. When it comes to stainless steel, All-Clad is the top-performing brand and worth the splurge. This 10-inch skillet is the perfect size for searing a large ribeye or roasting a whole chicken – the oven-proof handle helps it go from stovetop, to oven, to table top. Washing fruits and vegetables become much easier and more hygienic with a colander at your disposal.
The dishes prepared in clay pots come to be particularly juicy and soft – this is due to the clay’s porous surface. Due to this porous nature of the surface the clay utensils inhale aroma and grease. The coffee made in clay coffee boilers is very aromatic, but such pots need special care.
We also love Le Creuset's Dutch ovens, which have a smooth, white interior and tend to be better for beginner cooks who need to see their fond. As far as a more budget-friendly pick, we recommend the $120 one from Milo. There is no tool more essential than a good chef's knife and it's worth your money to invest in a good one. We've written about this insanely sharp Japanese-style knife from Shun a few times, but that is because it is Just. We use this knife in our home kitchens and in our Test Kitchen and it holds up to rigorous use.
A large oval serving plate is essential for large meats and heaps of roasted vegetables, while specialized ones like cake serving platters are more specific. They also work as makeshift mixing bowls if sticking to small portions like salad dressings or scrambled eggs for one. No, we’re not talking about the stinky prank your brother used to pull on you. Dutch ovens are actually a great tool for making one-pot, slow-cooked meals like stews, pot roasts, and soups.
This will likely be your go-to knife and allow you to accomplish most of your cutting and chopping in the kitchen without any problems. These have a very sturdy and wide blade that is durable enough to handle cutting through any food that you have. They are perfect for slicing, chopping, mincing, julienning, and dicing. Choose a blade that is between eight and nine inches long and allows you to perform a gentle rocking motion so that you will be New Gadgets 2022 able to easily cut and prep for meals. Wooden spoons are not abrasive on your cooking surfaces and they’ll last forever. Choose a set that has a variety of wooden spoons, like this 6-piece set, so that you can use it for different kinds of cooking.
We love it, too, because it has a wide opening for loading the peppercorns, a ceramic grinding mechanism, an easy-to-turn crank, and a catcher for measuring and storing. It's incredibly efficient and the grinding mechanism has yet to let us down. We love our LaCroix, but there's no doubt that it's cheaper to make your own seltzer. This SodaStream plugs into an outlet and fizzes water with just one touch of a button (it's not just a clever name!). You can even pick from three levels of how bubbly you want your water.