Novice chefs and seasoned pros; gather around. Is your child dreaming of becoming a chef? Or simply wanting to try out a recipe for the first time? Whatever their reason is, knowing the gadgets and tools needed in the kitchen is always a good idea. This may serve as an essential step in learning how to prepare food and eventually becoming a great cook!
If they have a recipe they’re trying to master, look at our list of utensils in the kitchen and kitchen gadgets that’ll make their cooking experience process easier and faster. We’ll help them set up an essential kit with 25 tools in the kitchen and gadgets. Read on to know more about it!
Must-Have Kitchen Utensils
These are the essentials in their kitchen, those they’ll reach for more often than they think. For example, did they know that an egg ring exists? It can make their egg cooking process more manageable. Always remember, whether they’re cooking a simple egg or baking a cake, make sure they have these tools on hand before getting started.
With these items, they can cook just about anything!
KITCHEN UTENSILS
Slotted Spoon
A slotted spoon can be a miniature strainer, which removes solids from liquids, like pulling small pasta noodles from boiling water.
Metal Spatula
A metal spatula is vital for flipping, tossing, and serving all kinds of food such as eggs, pancakes, and sauteed meat.
Tongs
They can buy a cheap pair of metal tongs that twist and turn their food in the pan. This comes in different sizes, and it’s also great for serving dinner.
Ladle
Unless they’re someone who exclusively eats solid food (if they exist, please contact us), they will need a ladle to transport any liquid from the pot to their bowl. Other than that, there are different types of ladles, one of which can act as a strainer for their future pasta recipes.
Mitts
Do they use a towel to wrap their hand when they’re transferring hot food? There’s an alternative for that called oven mitts! These are used to protect their hands from being burned when transferring hot food.
Meat Thermometer
Do they constantly guess if their meat is well-cooked already? Why guess when they can accurately know? Take a peek at this thermometer! It’s a meat thermometer that’ll give them an accurate temperature reading of their food within seconds.
PREPARATION TOOLS
Mixing bowls
Buy mixing bowls to whip up a meal when they need to marinate meat, beat some eggs, or set aside some prepped vegetables.
Chef’s knife
Want to save their fingers? Buy a decent chef’s knife. Dull knives are prone to sliding around, and it requires a greater applied force to effectively cut. Thus, there’s a greater chance to cut their fingers. Every time they cook, they will reach for this essential, so go with a high-quality blade for cutting.
Bread knife
Using a chef’s knife might smash their bread and tomatoes if they cut them. A bread knife is ideal for slicing bread since it won’t crush nor tear it into messy pieces.
Cutting board
If they have knives, they should also have cutting boards. Do not make a habit of cutting things on a plate or the counter. They could damage both their knife and their counter. Other than that, cross-contamination might occur.
Colander
If they don’t have a colander, where will they drain all that pasta? Do they really want to use their sink to drain their pasta? No, that would be gross, which is why colanders exist.
Whisk
Nothing whisks quite like a whisk. When making gravy, mixing batter, or whipping their own cream, they need to purchase a whisk.
Can Opener
It would be convenient if every can had a pull tab, but fantasies are better than reality. Most cans don’t have a pull tab in the real world, and attempting to open a can without a can opener is frustrating. Make their life easier and purchase a can opener.
Peeler
They got their potatoes, their carrots, their cucumbers, their beets; all things that might need a good peeling. Of course, some people like to leave the skin on their vegetables, but if they want to make apple pie, or cube some thick-skinned squash, a peeler is a godsend. They are small and cheap anyway, so they might as well get one.
Grater
Their cheese won’t grate itself. Maybe some people prefer to eat their cheese solid, but if they want to mix their cheese with their pasta, a grater is what they need.
Measuring cups and spoons
Suppose they eyeball their ingredients based on how much they think a tablespoon and a cup are. In that case, they’re signing themselves up for an inaccurate and non-replicable recipe. If they want to make decent cooking or a balanced salad dressing, purchase measuring cups and spoons to make their life easier.
Salt and Pepper Grinder
Using pre-ground pepper may make the volatile oils and flavor compounds inside the peppercorn begin to dull. Freshly ground pepper is more potent and better in flavor. Thus, it is more favorable. To make it easier for them to hone their pepper or salt, buy their own salt and pepper grinder.
COOKWARE & BAKEWARE
Nonstick Pan
The first thing they’ll need in their kitchen is a nonstick pan. They can use this to cook eggs, but it tends to stick to stainless steel and cast iron. Luckily, these pans are low-maintenance to clean, perfect for a beginner cook.
Soup Pot
A standard soup pot can function as the one-pot in a one-pot meal. They can do a lot of things here, such as boil pasta or make soups and stews.
Saucepan
If they’re boiling frozen produce or preparing a stock from dashi, reach for a saucepan. They can even make instant ramen using this product.
Sheet Pans
Sheet pans are essential for baking cookies or roasting vegetables. It’s also the thing they put their recipe on when they want to turn it back to an edible state.
Egg ring
An egg ring is used to make eggs be cooked into a perfectly round shape. Other than that, it also keeps the egg from spreading around the pan.
APPLIANCES
Blender
If they’re a fan of making fruit shakes, smoothies or dips, they’ll need a powerful blender instead of using a food processor every time. This is a multi-purpose purchase, make the most out of it.
Microwave
Most likely, their home already has a microwave, but it’s usually worth an upgrade if it’s an old model, and it’s definitely a must-buy if there isn’t one. It’s a must-have for reheating food.
Air fryer
An air fryer uses minimal oil and hot air to cook or bake food. There is a lot of food that they can air-fry, such as frozen chicken wings, homemade french fries, and even fresh-baked cookies.
Fully stocking an efficient kitchen doesn’t have to be frustrating nor expensive. By purchasing high-quality products that have a strong value proposition, their fully stocked kitchen can last a lifetime, without costing them a kidney.
Were they able to take note of all of that? Fret not! To help them know exactly what tools to start out with, we created a Kitchen Utensils Checklist for them. All of the essential utensils, kitchen gadgets, and tools in the kitchen are there. Even the egg ring! Check what they have and what they don’t, and there’s even an extra page for them to write their own list of essentials!
