Sunday, November 27, 2005

Good Kitchen Equipment

In the spirit of fair play, it seems proper to follow up a rant and rave on bad kitchen equipment with one on good kitchen equipment.

As a general rule of thumb, good kitchen equipment is solid and durable, usually plain and free of excess ornamentation. I find it interesting the range of things that people I know have in their kitchen, and certainly the equipment you value most will depend heavily on the type of cooking you do. Here's my list of the things I use the most and can't do without.

The Essentials: Things that are used all the time (at least once a week, if not every meal)


  • Frying pan, cast iron skillet, large and small saucepans, stockpot
  • Wooden spoons
  • Chef's knife and boning knife
  • Cutting board (wood or plastic please--for God's sakes no glass)
  • Sieve
  • Vegetable peeler
  • Cheese grater
  • Spatula
  • Tongs
  • Ramekins and au gratin dishes


The nice-to-haves: usually used for more specialty purposes, but still good to have


  • Lemon zester
  • Rolling pin
  • Jelly roll/sheet pans
  • Cooling rack (for baking)

Bacon Clock

My favorite part from a short article about the resurgence of pork:

Matty Sallin, a graduate student at New York University, has engineered an alarm clock that cooks a slice of bacon in lieu of ringing a buzzer.

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