If you want to whip up great meals in your kitchen, you need to
make sure you have a few basic necessities. A good selection of
quality pots and pans and some useful kitchen gadgets and tools
will have you whipping up gourmet meals with ease!
First off, you need to get a good set of pots and pans. At the
minimum you will need a large frying pan, a small frying pan, a
two-quart saucepan with cover, a one-quart saucepan with cover,
and a stock pot for cooking soups and stews. It's also a good
idea to get a cover for at least one of the frying pans and if
your budget allows.
When selecting your pots and pans remember that a better quality
set will help you be a better cook. Cheap pans wear out and tend
to burn the food so you really aren't saving money if you go the
cheap route. Good quality pots and pans, on the other hand,
spread the heat evenly so that your food does not burn in some
places but remain undercooked in others.
So how do you know if a pan is a good pan? Well, typically you
do get what you pay for but make sure that your pans are sturdy
and the bottoms are flat. Steer clear of aluminum pans and
instead go for stainless steel with a porcelain coating.
If you select pans with a nonstick coating you need to take care
when cooking on them. The fumes can be harmful to some pets and
fatal to pet birds so never overheat them. Heat them up only as
much as is necessary, and be sure to use plastic or wooden tools
on them so you do not scratch the coating. If you need to scrub
the pan for cleaning us a plastic or nylon net scrubber and
avoid using steel wool pads.
Some other useful cooking devices for your kitchen include a
wok, a crock pot, a toaster and of course a microwave. To
process the food, you might want to pick up a food processor and
blender as well as an electric mixer, and to cut roasts, an
electric knife.
When you are cooking, you will need a good selection of wooden
spoons to stir your creations with. Be sure to get a good
variety of sizes and handle lengths. Wooden spoons are great
because they are inexpensive, don't get too hot to handle and
won't hurt your non stick cookware.
You also need a variety of spatulas in different shapes and
sizes. A heavy spatula may be needed to flip your colossal
gourmet burger, but you'll want a lighter one to flip eggs.
You'll want narrow spatulas as well as wide ones so that you
have a size for every job.
Whisks are another staple that no kitchen should be without and
they come in a variety of sizes. They are great for mixing
lightweight ingredients, and are easier to work with and clean
than a mixer or blender.
A good set of knives is a must! It just does not pay to buy
cheap ones as they wear out fast and make cutting almost
impossible. With cheap dull knives you will be struggling to
squash and rip your food instead of slicing through it with
ease. Along with that, of course, you need a good cutting board
to give you a flat work surface and protect your counters.
Actually, it is a good idea to have more than one cutting board
- keep one for cutting vegetables and another for meat that way
you won't have to worry about getting bacteria from the meat
onto any veggies you plan to eat raw. Plastic cutting boards are
a bit less porous and can be cleaned easier than the wood ones.
You also need to stock your kitchen with a set of measuring
tools. You need measuring cups and spoons for dry ingredients.
Additionally, you will need a measuring cup to measure liquids.
For liquids, a two cup measure is most convenient. If you want
to be accurate in your measurements for dietary reasons, buy a
food scale to measure your portions.
You should also have a can opener for opening those cans that
don't have a pop top. They have electric ones, but I find that
if you buy a good quality hand opener they are much easier to
use and clean.
With kitchenware, you will find that it doesn't pay to buy the
cheapest item. The money you spend will more than make up for
itself with longer lasting tools which are easier to use. Good
quality kitchen tools can actually make the task of cooking
easier!
About the author:
Lee Dobbins writes for
Online Gourmet Foods
.com where you can learn more about cooking and gourmet
food.
