Equipping a home (particularly kitchen) - advice welcomed

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Equipping a home (particularly kitchen) - advice welcomed

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Started 1 year ago by snosie
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snosie
Member

I've just bought my first apartment. I have lived out of home for a long time, but moved home to save money about two years ago. As a result, most of my kitchen stuff was donated to those with a greater need (the housemates I left behind).

Now I'm in the uncluttered mode, I'm trying to work out how to equip my little kitchen (it's along one wall) but without having too much! I do like to cook for my family, and hope that with friends nearby, I'll continue to cook lots. But I don't want to buy a set of nesting bowls if I only will really use one size. Likewise with spices or herbs etc

I suppose what I'm trying to get a barometer on is
1. What is essential? (like scissors, plates etc)
2. What are great multitaskers?
3. How should I approach the aquisition? I am thinking each week plan a menu, and buy the ingredients, and the required dish etc

I understand everyone's life and preferences are different. But tell me how you did it, how it worked for you, what you'd do differently if you were to start again!

Posted 1 year ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

I outfitted a kitchen buying as needed. I'd start by considering your 3 favorite recipes... what tools and equipment would you need to make them?

I would buy Corelle dinner wear because it takes up less space than stoneware, plus it's lightweight and durable. I'd look for a place that sells open stock so you're not stuck with pieces you don't want. Also, you'll be able to get additional pieces eventually.

Get a good chef's knife, not a cheap one, and get a knife sharpener. And get a cutting board. Measuring cups and spoons. A pot big enough to cook pasta in can be used to make soups and stews. A medium-sized non-stick frying pan with a heavy bottom. Silicon spatula and spoon. (silicon can take higher temperatures.) A manual can opener. A vegetable peeler, paring knife, serrated knife, and colander. A stick blender can be used for so many things that you probably won't need a whisk or a blender, (unless you like to make blender drinks).

Posted 1 year ago #
susanintexas
Member

I think there were some previous threads that had lists for kitchen outfitting. . might want to search for them. But a couple of considerations from my experience:

Some of my WORST purchases were things I bought at the last minute to accommodate a recipe. I ended up buying whatever the store had -- not necessarily the BEST item -- and often paid top dollar for it.

Since you are willing to do this slowly, it might be a good idea to ask around and see what the best places and times are for kitchen equipment. Here in the states, May is an excellent month for cookware -- it goes on sale for June wedding gifts. Tuesday Morning, a high-end discounter, has an erratic but excellent kitchenwares section. It may be last year's colors, but it may also be 80% off. Bed Bath and Beyond mails out a coupon every 6 weeks or so that can nab you 25% off any one item. You get the idea.

I'd look around to see what you like, what you can afford and where it is available. I'd look at a high-end store, even if it's beyond your price range, just to get a feel for quality. Then, when you shop where you can actually afford stuff you will be in a position to recognize the best thing within your budget.

I actually got a lot of our stuff (including our everyday china) at a restaurant supply store. Here, they are open to the public. The stuff is built to last, often no-frills and quite well priced, especially for things like mixing bowls, measuring cups, tongs, spatulas and wire whisks. Plus, they sell most things individually, not as prepackaged sets.

Sounds like you are approaching this logically -- good for you!

Posted 1 year ago #
OnARoll
Member

Good advice in the above posts!

One problem is cooking pots come much much cheaper in sets. Which is aggravating if you want to minimize your items. But, the sets generally make sense and I generally wind up using all of the items. So pick out a set that really looks like what you need for what you like to cook. Generally, heavier pots last longer and burn less, I tend to like the heavy aluminum or stainless types. Lightweight and copper clad, not so much.

For baking ware, definitely do get the stuff from the restaurant supply house, the household-grade stuff gets browned to bits and corroded so fast with use. My heavy aluminum cookie sheets have been through hell and look like they're 3 weeks old.

Don't get the cheap $10 appliances they sell in drugstores, they are crap and a waste of money. Also most toasters are now crap, I would be inclined to go 'vintage' on that.

Multitasker: a large glass measuring cup (4 cup) can double as a mixing bowl and microwave cooking pot, and measuring cup.

Unitasker: I'm sorry, I really like having an electric kettle for boiling water, I don't care that I can do it with a saucepan just as well. Everybody's entitled to ONE unitasker they love, aren't they?

Posted 1 year ago #
tammy
Member

I would start with a trip to a second hand store. some of my favorite glass dishes came from used stores, at about 50 cents a piece.

Posted 1 year ago #
Juliska
Member

There is actually a book out on the subject; I bought it a few years ago:

The Itty Bitty Kitchen Handbook, by Justin Spring; check your library.

He spent a lot of time on boats as a kid, and he lives in a small apartment in New York, so he knows his stuff.

Before you buy anything, think about what you eat and how you actually cook. I eat fish but no meat or poultry, so steak knives and roasting pans are unnecessary, but our table-top grill gets used a lot, and so does our non-stick stirfry pan (a small wok).

Things we didn't really need: The food processor. It does everything you can do with a good set of kitchen knives, a box grater, and a set of nesting mixing bowls, and it's much harder to wash! It also takes up a lot of room and, unlike the mixing bowls, I can't use the food processor bowls for serving or food storage.

I have a set of kitchen knives in a wooden block, but the knives we use the most are the three that are usually recommended: The chef's knife, for cutting and chopping; the serrated bread knife (we buy whole loaves of bread); and the paring knife. We rarely use the other knives.

I second the suggestion to buy at a restaurant supply store. That's where we got our plain, white, go-with-everything dishes. They're nice and heavy, and we know where to get more if any break.

Posted 1 year ago #
Ella
Member

In addition to the best you can afford for those three basic knives, you'll also want to invest in a high-quality heavy-duty pair of kitchen scissors (shears). My scissors are made by Henckels, going on 20 years old and still one of the hardest-working, sturdiest multi-taskers in my kitchen, and they look like new. I think the current price is about $30. If they ever need sharpening (rarely), I simply cut through a couple layers of sandpaper.

Almost forgot the essential Microplane grater! I don't know how we lived before the Microplane came along.

Posted 1 year ago #
snosie
Member

Thanks so much for the great advice so far! It's been really enlightening! I did have one question - what is a paring knife? maybe it's just the word I don't use, but what sort of things do you cut with a paring knife? Is it just a smaller knifE?

Ella - can't agree more with the kitchen scissors/shears - my mum uses them for everything, including cutting pizza and pies!

Posted 12 months ago #
Another Deb
Member

A paring knife is very useful

http://www.stockpilingmoms.com/2010/06/knife-knowledge-did-you-know.html

I recommend for dishware, casserole dishes and glass Corning pots, go to the thrift store. One you decide how you use things, then invest in the item in your choice of brand, color, etc.

I learned a lot by going to thrift stores and garage sales:
1. There is no good way to clean a waffle iron.
2. People get rid of a lot of muffin tins (never use?) and metal meat loaf containers.

Posted 12 months ago #
snosie
Member

Another deb - isn't that weird that you mention to two unused items - both gets so much use in my family home, so much so I was thinking my muffin tin is almost unhealthy it's that used!!

Thanks for the link too!

Posted 12 months ago #
Mimi
Member

i would be VERY careful with buying things before you move. my tips: just buy the very basic stuff, move and wait what you REALLY need. you know that you will definitely need some things like a bed, a cushion, a blanket, your clothes, a table, 2 chairs (I suppose you will have at least one guest) and some kitchen equipment. if i would start a new living like you do, this was my shopping list:
4 large dishes, 4 small dishes, 4 bowls for muesli, soups, dessert etc
4 forks, knifes, soup spoons and tea spoons
4 wine glasses, 4 water/juice/beer-glasses
4 mugs, 1 teapot, 1 milk jug, 1 container for sugar, 1 container for salt
2 large non sticking pots, 2 non sticking pans
1 large chef knife, 1 paring knife and a vegetable peeler
1 mandoline-slicer, 1 cutting board
2 tea towels, 1 corkscrew

Posted 12 months ago #
Jennifer
Member

What is a mandoline/slicer?

Posted 12 months ago #
snosie
Member

@Jennifer - it's a contraption that you slide food back and forth over and it slices it at uniform thicknesses - there are different blades too, so you can 'cut' chips too, but I've never tried.

I'm interested it made it onto such a short list - mimi must have some great uses for it!

I'm curious about a sugar container - only cause I reckon I'll be very modern and just get sugar from the sugar jar for tea&coffee! And milk from the carton/bottle! No manners I know! Thanks for you list!

Posted 12 months ago #
pkilmain
Member

I just find it more convenient to have sugar in a small container on the table rather than getting out a larger jar from a cupboard. That being said i always milk straight from the bottle. But neither my DH or i use milk in coffee...

Posted 12 months ago #
lucy1965
Member

Things I wish I'd known about sooner:

The equipment recommendations at Cooks Illustrated: I found my primary set of tri-ply pans through a "Best Buy" rating there, for $90. They have the time and resources to test 20 different pieces to find the best one, and like Consumer Reports, they don't accept advertising, so I tend to trust their results.

Luminarc Working Glasses: I use these for hot and cold drinks, and storing odds and ends of leftovers and dry goods (pop one of the plastic lids on top, stick in fridge or on pantry shelf). I pick them up in thrift stores for fifty cents, and it's the only way to find the 375 ml glasses (as they've been discontinued).

Snapware Glassware: freezer, dishwasher and microwave safe, and they won't etch after storing acidic foods the way the Snapware plastic pieces do.

OXO Good Grips Pro vegetable peelers: not only are they well built and comfortable in the hand, you can change out the blades when they become dull.

Posted 12 months ago #
djk
Member

there is no easy answer to this question, as one's lifestyle determines his/her needs.

if you don't eat bread, you don't need a toaster. If you eat rice every single day, as some of my Asian friends do, then a rice cooker is a necessary item.

What I don't have right now, but have loved dearly in the past, is a small cast-iron frying pan. It was my only pan for years:) I am looking for one here.

ETA:
I would recommend always going for the manual item over the electric, with an exception: the drip coffeemaker (I can't stand the taste of cafetiere or Bialetti coffee, no matter how much more stylish they look)

Posted 12 months ago #
snosie
Member

Thank you so much for all the advice - I'll have to store these ideas for a little longer, since there was a hiccup with my loan application. Sadly the bank's valuation came back much less, and I didn't have the spare money to cough up (and it also concerned me that the bank didn't think the purchase price was the 'true' value). Thankfully, I'd not started buying items!

Posted 12 months ago #
Parsifal
Member

You can go a long way with a cast iron skillet, a small pot, a large pot, some decent knives and a cutting board. Stock some salt, pepper, flour and sugar. Add a french press, some coffee, a baking pan and a casserole dish, and that accounts for 90% of what get used in our kitchen every week (and about 5% of all the crap that is actually in the kitchen).

Things we don't really need that I'm trying to get DW to let go of:
a uni-tasker rice cooker (not even a pressure cooker)
a food processor that gets used about once every 3 months
a 2-year old mixer that has never even been opened
a cheap $70 set of stamped stainless cutlery that is impossible to sharpen well
at least one george-foreman style grill
the world's cheapest toaster
ramekins. RAMEKINS?!?

Posted 12 months ago #
irishbell
Member

lol, I use ramekins/ small bowls quite often!
for spices/salt, dipping sauces, oils, dressing, salsas etc.

Posted 12 months ago #
Mimi
Member

this is what i called a mandolie slicer :) http://www.eurosau.de/shop_cfg/eurosau/4933106074.jpg
it´s really multifunctional: you can slice vegetables and fruits and because of many different "blades" in it you can also use it to grate vegetables, fruit, cheese, chocolate, nuts, nutmegs... it´s like a food processor that does not need electricity. and it´s easier to clean :) you can buy it for about 5-10 euros or for 300... the expensive one lets you adjust the thickness of the slices etc. i have the cheap one and i use it every day because i eat fresh vegetables every day.

concerning the sugar pot: i gave up using jars, so i store the sugar in the original wrapping in the cupboard . i drink coffee with milk and sugar and drinking coffee is a one of the rituals that i don´t want to give up. i like it nice and cozy with a sugar pot, a milk jug and a candle. :)

Posted 12 months ago #

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