Thread: Kitchen equipment

I was wondering how you guys cook, and what is your equipment of choice.
I have a sous vide cooker that sees the majority of my creations, often paired with a smoking hot cast iron griddle. Other favoured tools are an immersion blender, a smoker, an isi whip and a cast iron wok. I hardly every use the regular oven, and almost never the microwave. I've been contemplating getting a thermomix, but apart from the "cool and handy" factor there really is nothing I would need it for.

Fess up guys

This is a tough one for me since I employ quite a few essentials. We just covered stand up mixers in another thread. And you and I have exchanged blurbs on sous vide and immersion circulators. And yes, I have a Bradley smoker as well. I use my oven regularly. I have self contained, self freezing ice cream maker, pots and pans of almost every medium, and a thousand different bread/cake pans, cake/tart rings, cake frames, terrine molds, gratin dishes......and a waffle iron.....among other things. Too many to list.

There is only one piece of absolutely essential equipment in our kitchen, my wife cause I can't cook worth a plug nickle.

Bob

Here are a few more specialized items that get used with varying frequency.

A couple hydrometers and a refractometer for measuring salinity or baume in syrups and brines. Mainly used when I'm making ice cream or sorbet.



This one you may have seen before, a hand held smoker for small items on the fly. I love using it on mushrooms as they really soak up the smoke flavor well. I particularly like using it on morels.



And this scary one is great for use when brining duck or pork loins before smoking. Shooting some of the brine right into the center of the meat helps avoid that tiny unbrined pocket dead in the middle of your product.

What nobody has mentioned the most common and 2nd most important, kitchen knives.

1-3" pairing knife
1- Santoku 5" (I want a 7" boker though)
1- chef knife 8"
1- 5" utility (for the small jobs)

Henckels 8" Chef knife.
Henckels 6" Chef knife.
Sabatier 4" utility knife.

As above,my knives,than my cutting brds, than my cast iron pans,all I need.

My Shigefusas and Kato knives are vital in my kitchen.
Gyotos, paring knives, Usubas, Yanagibas, Chinese cleavers, Sujihiki, honesuki and pettys.
All honed and stropped to fit the various knives and their uses.

My set of Le Creuset pots and pans are a delight to use, all others have been relegated to the back of the cabinet.
A good wooden cutting board in Canadian Maple ads to the pleasure of working in the kitchen.
A mandolin and a good peeler is vital as well.

The most used appliance though is my Blendtec Spacesaver blender.
That sees use three or four times a day.

No meat, be it seared, grilled or cooked is made without the use of my Thermapen termometer.
It is such an awesome little tool.

What is not used, as a principle, is a micro-wave....

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

This is a tough one for me since I employ quite a few essentials... Too many to list.

I hear you, I was just aiming for the bare-back essentials; I too have way too many. My .01 gram increment kitchen weight sees quite some use (for measuring out specialist ingredients like agar agar and stuff).. Daily use are my knives ofc, Tojiro shirogamashi santoku, a couple sabatier chef knives, a sabatier santoku and a small selection of specialized ones - butcher knives, fish knives, fillet knives, veggie peelers.. Flavor injecting basting syringe, check. I even have a fondue set for oil and one for cheese, they see no use at all.. A huge kitchen machine that only comes out when I make sausage. A cast iron sausage stuffer, I love using it even though there is one on my electric meat grinder. There even is a permanent pasta string in my kitchen, for drying fresh pasta before cooking. Pasta machine. Specialist items like silicone tubes for making modernist pasta (mango pasta anyone?), syringes for making caviar, a jaccard, silicone mats for baking.. One item that actually does see quite a bit of use it my fine mesh flour sifter, I use it for pressing purees through, makes them super smooth. Don't think I could live without that one, and it was less than a handful of small change.

Originally Posted by str8fencer

I hear you, I was just aiming for the bare-back essentials; I too have way too many. My .01 gram increment kitchen weight sees quite some use (for measuring out specialist ingredients like agar agar and stuff).. Daily use are my knives ofc, Tojiro shirogamashi santoku, a couple sabatier chef knives, a sabatier santoku and a small selection of specialized ones - butcher knives, fish knives, fillet knives, veggie peelers.. Flavor injecting basting syringe, check. I even have a fondue set for oil and one for cheese, they see no use at all.. A huge kitchen machine that only comes out when I make sausage. A cast iron sausage stuffer, I love using it even though there is one on my electric meat grinder. There even is a permanent pasta string in my kitchen, for drying fresh pasta before cooking. Pasta machine. Specialist items like silicone tubes for making modernist pasta (mango pasta anyone?), syringes for making caviar, a jaccard, silicone mats for baking.. One item that actually does see quite a bit of use it my fine mesh flour sifter, I use it for pressing purees through, makes them super smooth. Don't think I could live without that one, and it was less than a handful of small change.

I have a beautiful Le Crueset fondue set that too never sees any action. On a cold winter night, I love to have a pot of fondue and bottle of wine. But the wife has this phobia about melted cheese that I just don't understand. Take her to a baseball game and she'll eat that cheeze-whiz, toxic orange stuff with chips and pickled jalepenos all day long but won't touch fondue. So there it sits waiting for the right company.