Cooking Utensils

I’ve been asked by younger ladies who have just moved in with their boyfriends, about a guide of what cooking utensils they need to buy for their kitchen. All of them mentioned the cook books, but then they realized that there must be an inventory which makes cooking possible. This is my view of what to buy in a new kitchen:

Slow Cookers or Crockpots

Slow cookers and crockpots are mainly the same thing. A crockpot is a deep cooking recipient which can be filled with water and various food ingredients, then put on the fire or in the oven for a certain period of time, without needing anything else. This is the easiest way of cooking and almost everybody can learn how to cook crock pot recipes. Advanced cooks will know when in the cooking process to add each meal ingredient, according to their cooking time, but a beginner cook can put everything together and still obtain a delicious dish for their family or friends.

As some foods are very hard to get boiled, the steam cooker crockpots appeared. They have a sealed lid which gets pressurized when the food boils, thus lowering the boiling point and dramatically decreasing the cooking time. Beans are such difficult foods: if using a normal slow cooker, you may need between one and two hours to boil those beans. The same food, prepared in a steam cooker, will be ready in as little as 30 minutes. Boiled food is healthier than fried one, so more and more mothers and housewives are starting to consider either normal or electric crockpots as a must have in every kitchen. There are many brands of crockpots available on the market. The first one that comes to my mind now are the Rival crockpots, but I can’t tell if they are better than others or just more advertised.

If you are usually cooking for only two persons, you’ll need two slow cookers: one smaller, for preparing main dishes and one bigger, for making soups. The soup is very good even after one day, so this is why you could use a big crockpot, to cook for two days, in case you also have to go to work and take care of your house.

Cutlery

Cutlery sets are a must have in every kitchen. You obviously need them both for cooking and for eating what you’ve cooked. In past times, people used to save money to buy silvery cutlery. Nowadays, we can live very well with stainless steel knives, forks and spoons, which cost less and in my view are better because they are easier to clean. When you buy your kitchen furniture, you’d better make sure it has a drawer which you’ll dedicate to cutlery storage and which you’ll need to provide with a cutlery tray. Being organized in the kitchen means that you’ll spend less time cooking and setting up the table for eating. If you have small children, you can buy special kids cutlery, which actually doesn’t cut that well, so it can’t be harmful in case of inappropriate use.
Among the most known cutlery brands there are: Solingen, well-known for the quality of their knives, Henckels, Wusthof, Sheffield, Stellar, Sabatier or Rada. Modern cutlery sets can have colored handles, red or black being two of the most fashionable trends over the past two years.

Pay special attention to kitchen knives: you need one for peeling veggies, one for cutting meat, another one for bread. The best way to sort out this issue is to buy a knives set which contains knives for all various purposes in a kitchen.

Frying Pan

While boiled food is known to be healthier than fried food, there’s no doubt that we all enjoy fried meat or vegetables, at least once in a while, if our health doesn’t allow it more often. Frying pans are needed for preparing the eggs for breakfast, for making steaks, for cooking schnitzel, or for fried potatoes. The modern frying pans are made of aluminum and they have the interior surface covered with a layer of non-adherent material, such as Teflon from Tefal. Other materials frying pans can be made of are stainless steel or cast iron. Electric frying pans are also an option, but if you can cook with gas, I see no reason why to fill your kitchen with wires and plugs. Pancakes are another delicious meal you can’t prepare without a frying pan, so you’d better buy one for your kitchen arsenal.

Food Grater

Grated cheese is delicious on top of so many meals, that you really need to buy a grater. You can find universal graters, with special parts for grating cheese, cucumbers, apples, onions, horse radish and other vegetables. I’ve got a manual rotary grater with four blades, which is very easy to use and to wash and which comes with a bowl for not spreading the grated foods all over the kitchen.

Dinner Plates

I can’t imagine that there are ladies who didn’t think of buying dinner plates for their home. Most of the times, you’ll get such plates sets as new home gifts from your friends. Such sets usually include soup plates, second dish plates, dessert plates and a couple of bowls for salads. Colors and designs of ceramic plates are countless, so you’ll probably find something that matches your furniture. A fruit plate can also be useful, as well as a cake plate. If you like to cook pizza at home, you can buy a set of pizza plates, which are usually a bit bigger than normal ones.

Can Openers

Not all cans come with that special key which allows easy opening without a can opener. You can always use a sharp tip knife to open the tin cans, but in time it will get broken. Besides, you risk to have your fingers hurt, as the knife can slide and cut your hands. There are many types of can openers, from the electric, one touch, automatic ones, to those classic, manual ones which you have to twist around the can, in order to have it cut all around. I’m left handed, and although I’ve heard about can openers for lefty people, I wasn’t able to find one in stores, so I use a normal one. I don’t know if brands are important here, but some of the most known ones are Kitchenaid, Cuisinart, Hamilton or Edlund.

Hand And Smoothie Blenders

If you like mash potatoes, you could surely use a hand blender. It is also good for a big variety of foods, such as mayonnaise or blended beans, or any type of puree you may want to prepare from vegetables. Food blenders are relatively cheap and they can do a lot of work for you. Most known brands of kitchen blenders are Braun, Oster, Kitchenaid, Breville. Smoothie blenders are those big jars with cutting blades at the bottom, which can turn any fruits into fruit smoothies is seconds. They are electric. Smoothies make great breakfasts, so you may want to buy such a blender for your new home.

This is a brief inventory for you to start with. Of course, over time, you’ll realize that the more you learn how to cook, the more accessories you’ll want to have in your kitchen. Pyrex trays and bowls are among those recipients that can be exposed to flames and they can help you cook delicious meals like chicken casserole, or other casserole recipes. You’ll see. Start with the basics and don’t forget to get some cooking recipes to help you start.

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