The Must-Have Kitchen Essentials for Every Cook

Kitchen Essentials for Cook

Do you love to cook?  Do you have a kitchen full of gadgets?  What are some of the essentials that every chef should have in their kitchen knives? Kitchen essentials are the items that every cook needs to prepare delicious meals, dishes, and snacks. They include appliances, utensils, cookware, kitchen tools, and supplies that make cooking easier and more enjoyable. Some of the most common kitchen essentials are:

Kitchen Knives

There is probably no more useful tool in the kitchen than a top-quality knife or knife set.  Investing in a high-quality chef’s knife is the first step to really mastering your cooking and prep skills.

The best knives are made from stainless steel or ceramics.  Many alloys of steel will make your knife stronger, tougher, and more durable.  Vamolcruim steel is a proprietary steel blend of steel with carbon, molybdenum, and vanadium.  It is considered one of the best materials for high-quality kitchen knives.

These knives may be difficult to find in stores, but you can find kitchen knives online to suit any master or aspiring chef.

Cast Iron Skillet

The best-cast iron skillets are almost indestructible. It is one of the most reliable and versatile cooking vessels ever made. It will likely become your most used pan.  Because it’s heavy, it captures and retains heat and can put a sear and crust on everything from steak to pie. 

A cast iron skillet goes from the stove top straight into the oven, and best of all they are easy to clean.  What’s not to love about a cast iron skillet?  From the highest-rated Michelin restaurant to a campfire cookout, you are going to find cast iron skillets.

Dutch Oven

The Dutch Oven is another kitchen workhorse.  Heavy-bottomed with a tight-fitting lid, Dutch ovens help to retain heat and moisture for cooking flavourful meals like soups and stews. Similar to the cast iron skillet, you can cook just about anything in a Dutch oven.  You can use a Dutch oven for stewing, braising, frying, and even baking.  One-pot meals are another specialty of Dutch ovens.

A five-and-one-half quart Dutch oven can make a casserole to feed 6-8 people.  If you’re cooking rice or grains, then enough food for 10.  So figure out how many people you feed on regularly, and size your oven accordingly.   Ceramic-covered cast iron is the most popular material.  It is more versatile and somewhat easier to clean and maintain than regular cast iron.

Pots & Pans

Saucepans come in a range of sizes and materials.  They are different from pots, in that they have long handles and are not as deep as pots. They are generally used to cook liquids.

Pots are deeper and cook larger quantities of food.  Pots are great for meals that you want to simmer over some time.

Pans are used in many cooking methods including, poaching, boiling, blanching, simmering, stewing, and warming already-cooked foods.  

Stainless steel is the most common material used in the manufacture of high-quality pots and pans. It is very durable and lasts a long time.  A good stainless steel set of pots and pans can last you a lifetime.

Since stainless steel on its own, is not a great conductor of heat, you will often see it combined with other materials like copper or aluminium.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *