I'm moving to Alaska and need to reduce my stuff to what can fit in my truck.
I think I can make major cuts in my kitchen because I'm single and not much of a cook.
What's the bare minimum stuff to keep in a kitchen for one person?
Overall Rating: votes
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Posted 1 year ago #
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There's a list in Mark Bittman's cookbook, How to Cook Everything.
I've gotten by, overseas, with
cast iron skillet with lid
large pot with lid
mixing bowl
cooking spoon
spatula
knife
can opener
vegetable peelerAlso a few plates, bowls, cups, and utensils. I think that was it. I was doing basic cooking, ho baking and no measuring anything.
Someone, somewhere, suggested putting something like a sticky dot or a strip of masking tape on things, and removing the marker when you used the item. If you do that for a few months, you'll see what kitchen equipment you actually do use and what is there just in case.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Or perhaps it was putting a marker on the items you did use. D'oh!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Why is everybody moving to Alaska all of a sudden? Are there more jobs there?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Juliarose, I determined to downsize my kitchen (I'm also single) a year or so ago. I asked a friend who is a master of frugal, tasty cooking to go through my kitchen with me and help me purge and, if necessary, replace.
One of the first things that went were a variety of knives, which she (correctly) deemed, "dull and dangerous." These were replaced by two of good quality, one for vegetables, a larger one for meat. I also purchased a plastic cutting board, useful for cutting either.
Out, too, most of the other gizmos in my "miscellaneous" drawer - I kept measuring spoons, a rubber bowl scraper, bottle and can openers. I replaced my worn plastic spatula with one of a better quality.
A variety of frying pans was replaced by two, good quality, teflon frying pans, a small and larger one, with lids.
I purchased two corning ware bowls with lids (medium, large) that can be used in the microwave as well as stove and fridge.I kept two baking pans: 9x9 and 13x8. These are useful for cooking all sorts of things, from a turkey breast in a browning bag to a pan of brownies to bring to a pot luck dinner.
A new glass measuring cup and something for draining salads, spaghetti, etc.
Add the items in Zora's list - and a small crock-pot--and you've got my kitchen.
If I get the urge to bake, I borrow cookie sheets or bread pans from a friend.I'm no gourmet cook, but I'm able to put together some tasty meals. On Saturdays I'll cook a bit -the olive-oil chicken suggested in the other thread is amazing--there's a recipe on Martha's website. I may make a pot of spaghetti or rice. As the week goes on, I'll repurpose the chicken by heating it with a good spaghetti sauce and cheese, or sweet and sour sauce. I keep cut-up veggies on the ready to throw in the microwave to fill out a meal.
The replacements, all total, were under a hundred dollars. Best of all, I almost enjoy cooking because, finally, I have the right tools.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thanks for all the replies. This will help a lot!
Amy, I have heard that the economy is pretty strong in Alaska.
I'm moving because my company is shutting down our local office.
I'm one of the lucky few to have been offered a job in one of our other offices.Posted 1 year ago # -
I am not much of a cook, although I enjoy making certain homey winter dishes like soups, stocks, stews (and all things with S apparently). We have 4 knives--butcher, 1 paring, and 2 small all-purpose. Zora's list is a great starting point; we have a bit more than that but not much more. DH does almost all the cooking and uses a heavy frying pan and a stock pot for almost eveything.
For baking I do have lidded nesting mixing bowls which we also use for food storage and freezing, and measuring spoons and cups, and some casserole dishes/pie plates. All get heavy use. We also have a couple of well-used unitasters too though: coffee grinder (also for spices, grinding nuts and flax for baking etc) coffee machine, and blender. We also use an electric wok and a fondu set, both of which get used every couple of weeks. Electric kettle also gets used several times daily. No crock pot, stand mixer, or microwave.
we have very little by way of food storage, as we don't need much. I find ziplocks in varying sizes to be perfect for everything, even soups. We wash them out and reuse them until they look like they are starting to break down.
Then you will need some stirrers, wooden spoons and a spatula, a whisk, peeler, wine/bottle opener. Manual can opener. Some tea towels and silicone oven mitts and you are done!
Posted 1 year ago # -
the minimal kitchen really depends on your cooking style and food preferences.
if i absolutely had too, i could manage with
wooden chopping board
2 knives
a vegetable peeler
a wok
a rice cooker
a large saucepan and a small saucepan
a coffee machine
a blender
a toaster
a wooden spoon
a metal spoon
a whisk
a grater
a sieve
nesting bowls
tea towels
oven mitts (silicon ones are great)
dish cloths
2 bowls
2 plates
2 cups
2 spoons/forks/knives/teaspoonsnow please indulge me while i get onto one of my very favourite rants.
one of the most important life skills we can have is the ability to cook decent food for ourselves.
i am talking nutritious, from-scratch, proper food.
it needn't be a gourmet extravaganza every night of the week.
control over your daily food is the best and most important long term investment you can make in your health.
so please take the time to learn how to make a handful of wonderful tasty nutritious things and rotate them.Posted 1 year ago # -
amen!
so Bandicoot, get thee o'er to the recipe thread and get us going with a wonderful concoction...c'mon, I know you want to!I tease...but I would love to learn a new recipe;)
Posted 1 year ago # -
Juliarose - I imagine you're moving to Anchorage? I've lived in Alaska for the past 37 years, so feel free to ask any specific questions (unless you've been/lived here before, and thus know what you need to know :) ).
Posted 1 year ago # -
Juliarose, "minimal" depends on what kind of cooking you do and you say you don't do much!
I think I could make do quite nicely with an electric skillet (one of the largish ones with a lid), a slow cooker, and a microwave. If you have those three appliances, you don't really even need a cooktop or oven. And then one 5 to 6 quart heavy-duty pot with lid, big enough to boil noodles.
Cooking tools: two each spatulas, turners, and spoons. Can opener. Colander. A set of Pyrex measuring/prep bowls - 1-cup to 4-cup - the ones with an integrated handle and spout. Wooden chopsticks (for safety when heating liquids in the microwave: put a chopstick in the liquid and it won't splash up when you touch the hot container). A paring knife and a chef's knife and a cutting board. Dish and hand towels, and a trivet.
Tableware: Plates, bowls, mugs, and flatware for two (we ARE talking minimal here, but it's nice to have the option of serving two!). Placemats and cloth napkins (cotton being my preference - washable and don't need constant ironing!) are inexpensive accessories that can make your meals at home more comforting, believe it or not, and more of an occasion.
Posted 1 year ago # -
As an Alaskan I'll mention we have no Ikea, Target is just in Anchorage and most other box stores aren't up here. You'll be stuck with Walmart, Sam's Club and Fred Meyer( Krogers) +specialty kitchen stores for kitchen equipment. So if you consider yourself a gourmand consider holding onto anything you think you'll be replacing when you get here, don't get rid of it for weight thinking it will be cheaper to buy it here because it won't. Do get rid of it if you can deal without. You'll be surprised on how little you can get away with.
Also, yes, the jobs environment is still pretty good in Alaska. Construction is down, but not awful.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I have to mention my favourite cooking blog here, Stone Soup (subtitle: 'Minimalist home cooking'). Jules's food is gorgeous and she writes a lot of '5 ingredient, 10 minute' recipes. She also has a couple of nice posts on minimal cooking equipment. http://thestonesoup.com/blog/
Here's my list, FWIW:
* a cast-iron frypan and dutch oven
* large and small saucepan, and a colander
* tea-kettle and coffee plunger
* cook's knife, bread knife, small knife
* wooden chopping board
* a silicone spatula (I call it 'the universal utensil' – they are that good!), a whisk, a big spoon, tongs, a ladle, a peeler
* Pyrex measuring jug and measuring spoons
* a big mixing/salad bowl
* a mortar & pestle (for making pesto and guacamole and banana smoothies)
* a couple of cake tins and a Pyrex roasting dish
* a bunch of Pyrex containers for storing/freezing foodPosted 1 year ago # -
Since you're single and don't cook much it really depends on what you like to eat. My BF and I live together and neither of us really cook.
2 bowls
4 plates (for eating & preparing foods)
2 glasses
2 mugs
4 of each: forks, spoons, knives
1 manual can opener
1 bottle opener
1 cutting knife (for cutting raw meat)
1 big spoon with slots in it for drainage
1 spatula
1 soup ladle
1 pair of tongs
2 mixing bowls (1 small, 1 large which also doubles as a salad bowl)
1 strainer
1 small pot
1 big pot
1 small pan
1 big pan
2 small tupperware bowls with lids
1 medium tupperware bowl
1 cookie sheet
1 muffin pan (makes 6 muffins)
1 square pan (8x8)
1 Foreman grillOur tastes our simple and what we mostly eat are: sandwiches, soup, salads, cereals, baked chicken, grilled meats, the occasional casserole, pastas, muffins (I like to bake). Whenever we feel like having a full course meal or something specific like Chinese food we'll just go out to eat because it's cheaper than buying/preparing the ingredients. Same goes for seafood because I hate a fish smelling apartment.
Posted 1 year ago # -
NPR ran a great cooking for one article a few years ago that has, in addition to some very nice tips and recipes for people just starting to cook for themselves (it was a graduation piece), a pretty good basic equipment list with explanations of what each item is useful for. As noted repeatedly above, tailor your list for what you yourself make -- if you never cook anything at all that requires whisking, you really don't need a whisk, but if you can't imagine life without coffee, you likely want to keep your coffee pot. 8)
Posted 1 year ago # -
also keep in mind that rural areas can have power outages. I don't know how the Alaskan cities are for that, but I remember a LOT of power outages in the Yukon. So perhaps favour the non-electric (i.e. keep the manual can opener, ditch the electric etc.)
Posted 1 year ago # -
I can't belive so few people mentioned food storage. I use them constantly to take food to work and store leftovers. I prefer to cook more than I can eat in a meal so I don't have to cook as often. The glass containers with plastic or rubber lids are awesome. I don't microwave plastic anything, so that takes a step out of the re-heating process.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Slow Cooker! Top priority! It's the best kept secret ever. If you want a minimal kitchen, no clutter, ease of cooking and cleaning up - this is what you need. It has the added bonus of being incredibly efficient also so saves money. I am converted - I cook everything in mine - honestly you will be amazed it's not just for casseroles and stews - the best ever lasagna can be produced in a slow cooker and will feed an army and that same army for lunch the next day! You can get tiny cookers for one or larger ones where you batch cook and refrigerate or freeze... I blog about simple recipes for slow cookers at http://www.simplybeingmum.wordpress.com - there's only a few recipes on there at the mo but will keep adding to as I experiment.
Posted 1 year ago # -
@lisetiffner - there is a Target in Wasilla as well (and I think on the Kenai). In Anchorage there is a kitchen/housewares store Habitat, and in Wasilla, All I Saw cookware. In the more populated areas, there are resources. But Ikea, sigh, not here. And Juliarose, mail order will become your friend. :)
Posted 1 year ago # -
@pkilmain True, us Fairbanksans thinking of Wasilla as part of Anchorage. And I mentioned specialty kitchen stores which would include Habitat. We have Country Kitchen here in Fairbanks. My hints were specifically that replacing gourmand items might be pricey so hang onto them.
Posted 1 year ago #
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