What are your favourite and/or most used kitchen items?
For me, it would probably have to be my Bialetti moka pot and Dualit toaster. I make a pot of coffee and toast almost every morning. I also hope to replace my old pans with a cast iron one soon, and I look forward to using that a lot.
My 10" cast iron Lodge skillet. It's great! And don't believe all the people who claim that you have to devote most of your life to taking care of your cast iron. They're cast iron for God's sake! Pioneers took them all the way across America in their Conestoga wagons. Just don't leave them wet or stick them in a dishwashing machine, and you're fine!
Iron lodge is great. I have a 12" stargazer that weighs almost 7 lbs. I developed crazy forearms just handling that beast.
I can't imagine how a smaller person could cook with one of those things. It's all I can do to lift it to dump out whatever I've been cooking.
I saw a much bigger Lodge skillet in a department store; maybe it was 15 in, maybe more. Anyway, I couldn't even shift it with one hand. It took two hands just to move it, and it wasn't easy!
Agreed. Cast iron is very easy to take care of. I replaced all nonstick with cast iron years ago and haven't looked back.
Yes! I use mine almost daily. Love that I can go straight from the stove top to the oven without using another dish
Probably just my chef knife. But that's an obvious and boring answer.
My choice would be my hand blender. I use it for making any dips, many sauces (it is made out of metal) and it also got a blender attachment for shredding vegetables. One of the best investments I made for my kitchen.
Yeah, I love my chef's knife too. I recently received a hand blender secondhand but I am yet to use it!
I second the hand blender. It's just so versatile. I'll add soups and mayo to your list too.
Chef's knife is definitely not boring and may not be as obvious as you think. I come from a family that has only ever used cheap paring knives for everything that have never even been in the same room as a sharpener. Meanwhile, I haven't made a single dish without my Henckels since I bought it 5 years ago. My GIR silicone turner is a close second
Anyone here that hasn't said silicone spatula better get online shopping right freaking now. SILICONE SPATULA SUPREMACY 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Good call! Most grocery stores carry them too, that's where I got mine. I picked up two, one with a scoopy end and another with a regular spatula end. They're so nice!
Wasn't my first thought but I'm with you on that! I'm personally a huge fan of dioro
Appliance: Electric kettle. (they are uncommon in the US) It's well worth the counter space and easier to get boiling water than a pot on the stove, or to pre-heat water I add to a pan.
Non-appliance: Cheapo but sharp chef's knife, spatula, and kitchen tongs (great for grabbing hot lids too!).
As a Briton, the lack of electric kettles in US kitchens astonishes me - I can't imagine getting by without one. But I remember hearing somewhere that it was related to the lower mains voltage in the US, meaning that they take longer to boil in the US?
US electrical is weird.
We have 240v mains in basically every house (a very small percentage have 480v, which is normally reserved only for industrial buildings).
However, that 240v gets split at our local transformers into two 120v phases, separated by 180° phase. This allows either 120 or 240v (120+120) in our homes.
So yeah, most plugs including those in our kitchens are 120v.
However! A 120v electric kettle still blows out any other heating method, especially gas, gas is soooo slow. Some high-power induction stoves can keep up, because they can dump boatloads of power into a kettle and are really efficient, and honestly even small induction hobs like mine aren't much slower (5 mins instead of 3). But an electric kettle is like $25 and uses less power. They're so useful!
Only slightly longer than a 240v kettle, but still much faster than a kettle over a gas range.
Real reason is that most people in the US don't drink tea and don't have a need for quick hot water on demand.
I don't think they're that uncommon in the US. They're not ubiquitous like they are in Europe but I feel like the majority of people have them. As mentioned, it's probably more to do with whether you drink tea than anything else, and not as many people drink tea all the time here. Come to think of it, I've never seen anyone boil water for tea on the stove in the last decade. They either use a kettle or they don't drink tea at all.
I didn't realize this was a thing many American homes lack or are perceived by other countries to lack? I'm in the US and have one, my teenage stepson loves it for getting water up to temp faster for his cooking. I don't use it that often but I think it's worth having anyway.
I've heard that too...of course, I can't compare to 240V but it takes me probably 2-3 minutes to boil about 2 cups of water and probably 5-6 for a full kettle at a rolling boil (rough estimate from memory). It's not much faster than the stove but theres no wasted heat, and no hot pan sitting on a burner after I'm done. Another theory I've heard is that in the US people opt for a drip coffee maker instead of a kettle (for their one spot on the counter? Why not both?), since we don't drink tea that often.
We drink coffee, but prefer an electric kettle for water and then use the pour over method for individual cups or french presses if we need more than a cup at a time in a hurry. Less waste this way and allows for tea and coffee when hubs and I want it.
I would probably hand over my beloved grind and brew amazing coffeemaker that also had a timer (it’s also my alarm) well before the electric kettle. Not only for tea, pour overs, kombucha, head start on quinoa, pasta, etc, blanching, and so on.
My carbon steel pans are used almost every day. I've got a 32 cm wok for stir frying, deep frying and blanching big portions. And i got a 28 cm debuyer mineral b for searing meat and fish.
I got a really simple one, but it's been incredibly helpful. Get the biggest damn bowl you can find, like unreasonably large, that is your new mixing bowl. I always find myself half way through a recipe with no bowl space left, therefore more dishes. My bowl looks like it could be an outside dogs water bowl it's so big. Now with big bowl, I grab it every time and never have to switch, the only downside is finding somewhere to hide it.
Yes, I love me a big ol' bowl! For the same reasons you mentioned.
It's also helpful for when you're sick and pukey and don't want to be stuck by the toilet or just don't want to stick your head in the toilet at all, lol.
Oh yes! I love my giant bowls for washing voluminous leafy greens and fermenting fruit vinegars.
An unexpected one for me was my air fryer. I thought it would be very situational and gimmicky, but I use it all the time. It's basically a small second oven that cooks food faster, uses less energy, and doesn't take forever to preheat
And things come out more crispy due to the increased air circulation. I wouldn't have guessed i would use it so often too.
After years of thinking about getting one, I got a cheap ($12) japanese rice washer. It's amazing! I make a lot more rice than I used to and the washer is so simple and just works so well. It also doubles as a regular colander whenever needed.
Me too! I've also used it as a colander, and I used it to catch a small lizard that found its way into my house a couple weeks ago.
If only it didn't come with a sticker on the bottom that resists removal...
I've got Zojirushi instant hot-water maker and their bread machine that both get a lot of use. And I recently picked up some random brand one-top induction cooktop that has taken most of the action away from our older electric stove. But the one thing you would have to pry from my cold dead hands would be the rack of cast iron cookware. At least one or two of the pans there get used every day.
I own very expensive knives. I bought them when I was single and had a good income. I have taken very good care of them and they are great knives to this day.
The first knife I always reach for is my $15 Chinese cleaver.
I don't have super expensive knives, but I have a couple decent steel ones and a couple good ceramics, and I still go for my caidao first for almost everything.
I can't afford more than the Victorinox knife I have but I would probably still go for it if I did have more expensive knives.
My 10 inch cast iron pan
A ramekin full of salt on the counter.
My electric kettle is almost always on. One with stay warm function and temperature control is great to accommodate the different temps I may want for various teas or coffee. It's also useful for speeding up cooking when I need to get a pot of water boiling.
I can't necessarily recommend a specific one though, my old gooseneck spout kettle was great for pouring but the screws holding the handle in place rusted out and the plastic clips broke. My current one is insolated to help stay warm longer which is nice but the plastic lid has begun deteriorating. The only advice I could really offer is find something with as little plastic as possible in it's construction, especially where it may touch water or steam.
Probably just my chef knife. But that's an obvious and boring answer.
My choice would be my hand blender. I use it for making any dips, many sauces (it is made out of metal) and it also got a blender attachment for shredding vegetables. One of the best investments I made for my kitchen.
I've been using a Lido 2 hand grinder for coffee every morning for almost 12 years now. More recently (~7 years) I've settled on using a Chemex to actually make my coffee. I'll likely keep using this setup for the rest of my life.
I also have a cast iron and I struggle with seasoning because all the burners I've ever used are just a bit too small for it (common electric ones). Soon I'll buy a torch (like for making Crème Brûlée) and maybe some sunflower oil to experiment on getting a reaallly nice coating on it. Sunflower oil has I higher burn temperature, so I'm thinking it will improve the longevity of the coating, but we'll see.
I have become an air fryer believer. Yes, it's basically a convection toaster oven, but SOMEHOW it works 100x better. That, my instant pot, and my stand mixer are my life. Air fryer to quickly make chicken nuggets for my picky children, instant pot for rice and beans, and my stand mixer for bread. We love carbs.
Air fryers are absolutely worth it. I have a bucket style one, but now I really want the more oven styled one for pizzas and sandwiches.
I don't see the point of using an oven for anything other than baking ever again
Microplaner.
I love throwing garlic in my food. Grab two pieces, put them through the planer, and bam, you got fresh garlic paste.
Plus hard cheese, citrus zest, all the good stuff. Cleaning is also a breeze.
I’d say aside from my chef knife and various coffee related implements, the MVP in my kitchen is undoubtedly my enamel cast-iron Dutch oven.
In order: Drip coffee pot so old the label is gone and I have no clue what brand it is but the little champ keeps going, the flexible cutting board my brother in law got us, and the kitchen knife with a bent tip that somehow cuts better than all the other knives even when the other knives are freshly sharpened and it isn't.
My coffee grinder, french press, and electric kettle.
My cast iron pan. I use it for everything that doesn't need to be done in a pot. Even things I probably shouldn't do in a cast iron like stir fry I do anyways because it's just already there and convenient.
And they are so much easier to take care of than all the cast-iron fori/subs/articles yammer on about. I “neglect” my ancient cast iron terribly, and it’s doing just fine.
I'll go with: High quality burr coffee grinder.
I bought it in 2004 or so, it gets used daily, and still works like new.
Only thing I've ever done is replace the burrs a few weeks ago cause they were getting dull. Was an easy job and the burrs were pretty inexpensive.
Just going to save some people some research and say: just get a Baratza Encore. Good enough at it's price point to make great filter, cold brew, or aeropress coffee, and every part that could possibly break can be ordered directly from the company and repaired yourself (although a lot of people go 5-10 years with their machine in perfect condition). If you're doing espresso, there's the encore ESP, and if you really want the highest quality burrs for the price, you can go for a hand grinder from any number of companies, such as 1zpresso
Sounds like a great deal. Mine's a Rancilio Rocky, but I didn't specifically suggest it as I knew the market would have changed in the past 20 years.
Yessss, grinding your own beans is the single best thing you can do to make better coffee.
Chefs knife. It’s virtually the only knife I use outside of a bread knife.
I'm embarrassed, but...my microwave gets a lot of use. I meal prep and reheat a lot, though sometimes I get fancy and finish in the toaster oven. I also bake all my bread, and the kitchenaid is invaluable for kneading all that dough.
The most esoteric tool I use on the reg is probably the whirley pop, it makes the best stovetop popcorn, which I snack on at least a couple times a week.
Nothing wrong with microwave cooking. You'd be surprised how many things you can cook with one. Old school microwave cookbooks from the 70s are awesome.
I love my microwave too. Had to get a new one recently as our old one bit the dust. It meant a whole week without microwave lentils or precooked meals that I'd frozen. I was so lost! I'm not a huge fan of cooking so the micro is my friend.
Oh same on the whirley pop. It took a lot of deliberation before I bought it, because it's such a single use thing for my small kitchen. But it is so much better than microwave popcorn and so much easier than shaking a pot/bowl on the stove. Definitely worth it!
I concur!! I used to burn so much popcorn lol. The company is also amazing, the first one I got looked slightly wonky, but after a phone call and a few photos they were able to figure out it was damaged in transit and sent me a new lid within a week!
My Breville Toaster Oven. I rarely use my regular oven since it's so much more efficient, and fits 90% of what I cook in a house of 2 people. The air fryer function works really well (obviously not quite as good as a dedicated one).
Kitchen Aid mixer. Versatile as hell, we use it for so many things. Making pulled meat is a LOT easier to toss into the bowl and flip a switch than it is to do by hand.
It never crossed my mind that you could use a stand mixer to pull meat… I’m going to try that next time! Thanks for the tip.
Huh - I made a pork roast last night and shredded by hand. It never occurred to me to put it in the mixer.
Probably my gas (well we have LPG here) hob because I suffered with an electric hob for so long in my last place.
Or possibly my stainless steel copper bottom sautée pan but my husband just scoured that with steel wool (you can probably imagine the stunned look on my face). I want to get some cast iron cookware but stainless steel is so versatile for sauces and risotto.
In your opinion what are the benefits of gas over electric?
I grew up with gas stoves, I remember my first apartment had an electric where it was just solid glass, and my parents would complain about it when they came over. I was like 19 I don't remember one way or the other. But the next place was back to gas. Now the place im in came with an old electric stove, with the coils on top instead of the glass, and I'm really trying to figure out why people like gas more? I cook a lot, this stove boils water faster than gas. The temperature settings seem more accurate than gas where the first 3/4 of the know was basically full flame and the last 1/4 was for adjusting the heat. The only difference I've noticed is that the coil stays hot a bit longer after cutting the power but it's literally as easy as moving the pan to a cold burner.
I just don't personally see enough of a difference to have a preference, other than 'gas is what I grew up with so gas it shall be'
Coil-top stoves are definitely better than gas IMO.
Now, I'm hooked on induction.
I got a good single-burner induction hob to test it out (was like $120, bought online) and immediately fell in love with it. I only revert back to my current gas stove if I absolutely have to (some of my cheaper pans are sadly just aluminum base and dont work on induction) or if I need multiple things going at once.
I'm really getting a lot of mileage out of my cast iron on the induction hob too, I think this is the most I've used it in years and thus the pans are getting quite well seasoned.
I'm hooked on induction all the way. It's such a pleasant cooking experience. Precise heat control all the way from just a little warm to basically melting the pan. Boil water in a couple minutes. No indoor air pollution like with gas.
I started with cast iron before getting a nice stainless pan, and I had every intention of using both equally, but I rarely reach for the cast iron now. Really only use it when I need very high heat (like for cast iron pizza) or with things that would stick a ton and make a mess (like burgers)
Hob?
Stove top, burners, cook top.
My husband was gifted a powerful Ninja blender and I constantly use it for some vegan cooking. I made plant-based cheese sauce, hamburgers, deli slices, and copycat just egg with it yesterday. Also very handy for quick smoothies!
Every morning, we rotate between a Bialetti moka pot + an Espro P3 french press for coffee depending on what level of expression/mouthfeel we're craving out of our beans that day.
For cooking uses, my most used gadgets are:
Also coffee related now that I'm thinking on it...
Holy Jesus, I will be shit out of luck during the next power outage that happens.
My carbon steel wok. I've been cooking on it daily for the past 5-6 years, and it's wonderful.
My Vitamix blender. (Same one Starbucks uses)
I use it for so many different things but the most popular item is my homemade milkshakes. Kids love them and it’s perfect for them.
Skillet and sharp knives!!
My most used kitchen items are also my coffee setup. Gaggia classic and eureka mingon. Used at least once a day
Recently made the leap to get a relatively expensive ($60NZD / $40USD) variable temperature kettle. Being able to keep the water warm while I take a shower or get coffee/green tea at the right temperature has been such a quality of life improvement!
Vitamix, instant pot, and air fryer. All almost equally. The versatility of just these appliances is insane and can't imagine a kitchen without them.
Ceramic knives, fish spatula, and the immersion blender.
5 mini silicone spatulas. It was cheaper to buy 5 than 1 on Amazon and at first I was like I don't need this many mini spatulas, but they're super helpful and great at scraping and I don't have to worry about washing them between jobs since I have several I can swap between. I find them more versatile than having one big spatula.
My rice cooker! It takes the guesswork out of making brown / mixed grain rice and the cleanup is 123!
I love my Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker ❤️
Definitely my slow cooker; I don't have a ton of time to actually cook (three birds who stick to me like glue will do that), so I can just throw some ingredients into the crockpot and have dinner done w/o much effort or having to wrangle the flock out of the kitchen.
My favorite is the rice maker. I’ve had only perfect rice since I got it. But the most used are the gooseneck kettle and the hand grinder for coffee.
What hand grinder do you have? I’m looking for a decent one, hopefully simple and sturdy like my grandma had and used for decades.
It's the Hario Skeleton Pro. Not exactly grandma-tier -- it's got plastic parts on it, including the little dial for setting how coarse/fine -- but gets the job done. Hario also makes some wood/ceramic/steel ones that would probably be more durable (and definitely have that grandma's kitchen look).
Thanks! I’ll look into that. I did find a similar one to hers, made in Germany (and crazy expensive). Hers was an oval wooden box that you held between your knees. Cast iron crank and feeder cone. It had a little wooden drawer that you pulled out to get the coffee grounds. Magic!
We have two stoneware baking sheets that I use almost exclusively for putting things in the oven. They're great for reheating stuff in there and kind of like cast iron, they get more and more non stick as you use them.
All 3 of my cutting boards. They get so beat up and I hardly ever maintain them.
FYI, if they're wooden, you can make your own cutting board conditioner easily and inexpensively. Only needs two things; mineral oil and pure beeswax, 4 parts oil to 1 part beeswax. Heat up the oil, mix in the wax, decant into containers, and let it cool. Store-bought conditioner is almost always that same primary mix; maybe with a little something extra, maybe not.
Thanks! I’m mostly just lazy. I have conditioner I just don’t use it. Good idea though!