After college, I inhered my mom’s million-year-old Farberware and a toaster oven the same age as me. Since then, I’ve accumulated enough kitchenware that my kid’s bedroom closet acts as a storage space. Some of the items I’ve bought, clearly, are not the most necessary. Below, though, are the ones I can’t live without.
Equipment
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Skoy Cloths
Buy itGreat, eco-friendly towels you can use to wipe up spills, clean your counters, and whatever else. They are easy to clean and last a long time.
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Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
Buy ItNon-reactive bowls are great for mixing all sorts of things. For the record, I also have the plastic set and they are so great for baking/batters because of the pour spout.
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Wooden Utensil Set
Buy itThese things are the best. Break up ground beef, use the turner to help you scrape up all the browned bits from meat when making a pan sauce, and just use for regular ol’ stirring. Buy some mineral oil (and handwash) to help them last longer.
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In-Drawer Knife Block
Buy ItI have a drawer that I keep this knife block and a stack of cutting boards in, and it works well for me. It also helps keep the knives from dulling, which can sometimes happen when you pull them from a traditional counter block.
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Wusthof Bread Knife
Buy itIf you get the three knives posted here, you’re set as far as I’m concerned. I’ve had my bread knife for over a decade now and it’s held up well. If I’m honest, you’d probably be find getting by with the less expensive but still highly reviewed version. Just remember serrated knives can’t be sharpened so you definitely want to get a good one from the start.
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Wusthof Paring Knife
Buy itI use this for…paring, of course. But also for things like cutting pockets into chicken, cutting fruit or cheese, and the occasional small chop job.
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Wusthof Chef’s Knife
Buy itIf I can giv eyou one piece of advice it’;s to not buy a knife block. They can be both lower quality knives and knives you never use (like…a boning knife). I recommend buying open stock. I use my chef’s knife or a santoku for practically all my chopping. I actually have 3 because I am too lazy to wash them if I prep meat before vegetables or what have you. Personally, I use a 6″ chef’s knife because it fits best in my hands. If you aren’t sure what size to get, I highly recommend going to a store to test a few knives out (both for length and weight).
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Mesh Strainers
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Pizza Wheel
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Garlic Press
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Microplane Grater/Zester
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Locking Tongs
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The Spice House
VisitThis is my favorite place to buy dried herbs and spices (and almond extract, vanilla beans, mushrooms, and a million other things). Imagine a world where spices are both better tasting and less expensive than their grocery store counterparts and you have this place. I cannot say enough good things about this store, from the selection to the people who run it and work there. They frequently have free shipping deals so be sure to check their social media. (I swear I do not work for them, I am merely obsessed with them.)
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Bunn Coffee Maker
Buy itI realize this isn’t technically cooking related, but I need to share my love of this coffee pot with you. I tried drip maker after drip maker and they were all horrible. This is the only coffee maker that makes coffee taste gread. Like, actually really great, not just I’ll-settle-for-home-brewed-coffee-since-I-don’t-want-to-buy-some-at-the-coffee-shop great.
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KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker
Buy itFreeze this bowl, hook it up to your KA mixer, and enjoy the best kind of ice cream – homemade ice cream that is!
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Citrus Juicer
Buy itMy life changed when I was able to stop juicing large amounts of citrus in one of those over-the-cup plastic things. A must have for the Greek lemon-lovers and the Greeks who eat a lot of lime juice in Mexican foods, of which I am both.
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Mini-Prep 4 Cup Food Processor
Buy itOkay, so yes, technically the 9 cup processor I use has a mini prep bowl. That bowl works just fine but I tend to only use it when I’ve already gotten the food processor out for something else. This little guy, though, makes his way out of the cabinet a whole lot. It’s much more common for me to be making a sauce or marinade that fits here, at least for our regular purposes/the size of my family.
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Immersion Blender
Buy itI use this almost exclusively for soups and don’t know how I survived without it. What can I say? I make a lot of soup.
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9 Cup Food Processor
Buy itMaker of salsas and pesto, master of pie crust, granola bar-producer. And lots more. I use this food processor a lot and can honestly say it’s been very, very rare for me to ever think I need a bigger one. 9 cups seems to be perfect for me.
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KitchenAid Stand Mixer
Buy itEven as a person who doesn’t bake often, I love my KA. And I love it even more during the holidays when I am doing a boatload of baking.
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Lasagna/Roasting Pan
Buy itSure, this is great for lasagna as its name indicates, but it’s also my go-to roasting pan. It’s good for whole chickens or cut up ones, large amounts of vegetables or potatoes, and everything in between. It can be used on the stove top, too, to make pan sauces and gravies post-roasting. Lucky you, this pan has gotten a facelift since I got it (over 10 years ago!) and now comes with a lid. Sweet.
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12″ Frying Pan/Skillet
Buy itThis is definitely nice to have and I use mine quite a bit, specifically for searing/cooking smaller pieces of meat. Beyond 2-3 largeish pieces, you will need to sear in batches. It doesn’t do anything the saute pan won’t do, but it’s convenient if you are cooking multiple items on the stovetop (as I often find myself doing). This is used for a lot of side dishes (sauteed vegetables, beans, etc.).
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3 Qt. Covered Casserole
Buy itI use this for making grains, blanching smaller amounts of vegetables, making small casseroles and smaller batches of mashed potatoes. When it was just the two of us, it was my main vehicle for boiling pasta, too.
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2 Qt. Saucepan
Buy ItThis can also be used for making smaller batches of rice and grains but most frequently I use it to make sauces and glazes, bechamel, custards and creams.
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Lodge Cast Iron Skillet
Buy ItA search for “cast iron” on this blog will give you some insight into how often I use this pan. Clue: it’s a LOT. The workhorse of my kitchen, this thing is good for everything from making steaks to perfectly crisped fritters and casseroles to cornbread. It’s cheap and will last you a lifetime.
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Williams-Sonoma Gold Touch Bakeware
Buy itI currently only have rimmed baking sheets and cookie sheets but words cannot express my love for this line. It makes potatoes crispier, cookies slide right off, and everything in between.
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3 Qt. Stainless Saute Pan with Lid
Buy itThis is my most used pan, by far. It’s perfect for searing large pieces of meat (and making a pan sauce after), making one pot dishes, and even serves as my dipping station for melomakarona. If you buy one stainless steel pan, make this it.