Essential kit for the kitchen?
Here’s a brief list of the minimal equipment for cooking the recipes we have on this site.
- A good knife — This is the single most important piece of kit to make cooking enjoyable, I’d recommend a good quality chef’s knife with a blade between 15 and 22 cm. Mine’s a 22cm Victorinox, which cost me £15. Keep it sharp too, a knife sharpner makes that easier. See our knife sharpening guide for advice on that
- Wooden chopping board — Get a reasonably heavy one as it’ll be more stable
- 2 Thick-bottomed pots — Cast iron or stainless steel are good. A heavy base will spread the heat more evenly and your food won’t stick as easily. Avoid non-stick surfaces as they wear out in a year or so. Get one smaller one (~2 litres) and another larger one (~5 litres)
- Good frying pan — You can go for either cast iron or non-stick but expect to replace non-stick pans pretty often, 2 years is about as long as they last me. Don’t go for cheap non-stick pans as their thin bases warp badly.
- Oven tray or Roasting tray — Just get a cheap one to begin with, they tend to warp but it doesn’t matter all that much. To minimise the warping don’t pour cold water over them when they’re hot.
- Wooden spatula and/or spoon
Those are the absolute essentials and will be enough to do most of the things on this site. You can get other stuff later as and when you get round to it and can afford it.
