We get this question a lot: what kinds of pots, tools, and gadgets are essential in the kitchen? This seems like an overwhelming topic, especially if you're a newbie cook just setting up your first real post-college kitchen. Thankfully, The Kitchn has a few guides to help you on your way. (Also helpful to pro cooks who want to pare down!) If you missed 'em, here are the five guides we've offered so far... with more to come!
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Prep Tools and Utensils
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Cooking Tools and Utensils
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Cookware
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Baking Pans
• The Kitchn's Guide to Essential Small Electric Appliances
Related: Essential Kitchen Footware: Dansko Clogs
It's Reader Request Week at The Kitchn! This post was requested by CRFOSTER17.
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so, here's a useful tidbit about those OXO mixing bowls:
I have a set, I love them, the silicone bottoms keep the bowl in place while I mix, and I'm sure this saved more than a few spills. I've had them for years and they have served me well and nest neatly inside each other for storage. They'd make a great gift for someone who mixes batters or needs to pour their popcorn into something big and their Mike & Ikes into something medium and their M&Ms into something small (look, the Star Wars trilogy traps you on the couch for a while, right?). The bowls are delighful.
That's not the useful tidbit, this is:
DONT, for the love of god, use them as the top part of a double boiler. I did that this weekend to melt some chocolate, and ended up melting off the plastic coating (yep, that white part is plastic, not enamel). The bowl is still usable, but now it is naked and can spin around on the kitchen counter willy nilly. So, in conclusion: hot stuff INSIDE the bowl is fine and dandy, but hot stuff OUTSIDE the bowl is a stinky, sad mess.
Although now that I have melted off the coating, it has become my go-to double boiler bowl. But the set, alas, is ruined :(
I don't have a blender or a mixer and get along fine. I just got a food processor... before I typically chopped things by hand. I have even made some "rustic" pestos:)
I'd take several things off this list, personally, and add one: a glass mixing bowl. All my mixing bowls are glass, but you really only need one for mixing reactive ingredients and for the top of a double boiler.
Also, a big YES to the measuring spoons and cups that have extra measurements like 2/3 and 3/4 of a cup and 1/2 of a Tablespoon. Sometimes, when you are making a curry or something and there is so much measuring, it is just nice not to have to worry about how many scoops. Most everything is 1 scoop. Then it won't matter what the dog or kids or UPS man just did while you were in the middle of a masterpiece.
Moke076 may be able to get along fine without a blender or a mixer, but those of us with any sort of arthritis or other hand/wrist problems find them invaluable. Also, blenders and mixers do different jobs so you may need a version of each. I'm much more likely to use my immersion blender than my "stand alone" blender. Easier to clean, and better control of texture. There are dozens of recipes that I could no longer make if I didn't have my KitchenAid.