15 Must Have Kitchen Essentials That Makes Cooking a Breeze
There are hundreds if not thousands of all types of different kitchen essentials available and it can get completely overwhelming especially if you are a beginner cook. Some of them are an absolute waist of time, energy, space and money while others are totally worth the investment.
But where does one begin? Well…You start as my dad would say at the very beginning! Which doesn’t help much if you don’t even know where the beginning is. Well don’t fear my darlings, My Boozy Kitchen is near and I will share my favourite kitchen essentials that will make life in the kitchen a total breeze. My promise to you is that these must have kitchen essentials will not store up cobwebs and dust. You will thank me later!
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #1 – Knives
First things first, you need to get yourself a decent knife. Being a home cook your knives are your most valuable tool in the kitchen.
Believe me…. having a crappy knife is the most frustrating experience a cook can endure.
There are all sorts of different knives available from pairing to the butchers knife and everything in between. Is it important to have the entire collection?
The good news is… No you don’t! For me, you only need about 3 knives in the kitchen to get the job done. A small pairing knife, a chef knife and a serrated carving/bread knife.
Pairing Knife:
A pairing knife if a nifty little knife which has a blade of about 8cm. You normally use this knife for cutting into hard-to-reach places or jobs that require high precision. Some examples of the usage of a pairing knife is the scraping of carrots, pairing asparagus, peeling and coring avocados or apples, segmenting oranges or lemons and de-stringing celery or doing artful garnishes for your cocktails.
Chef’s Knife:
Medium to large in size a chef’s knife which is used for quick and easy slicing, dicing, and chopping. A good chef’s knife can change how you feel about cooking altogether.
Serrated Knife:
It is good to have at least one serrated knife in your kitchen. It is used for slicing soft fruit and vegetables like tomatoes. A serrated knife cuts bread so much easier. I have almost sliced my fingers off using a non serrated knife for cutting bread.
Just one big rule – NEVER EVER PUT YOUR KNIVES IN THE DISHWASHER!!! The quickest way too ruin your knives or anything with a blade. The same applies for kitchen scissors, graters, peelers and food processor blades.
Kitchen Essentials #2 – Chopping Board
Cutting boards come in different shapes, sizes, colours and materials. These days you can find anything from wood to glass. There is no right or wrong answer, except STAY AWAY from glass chopping boards. In fact they are technically called protectors. The quickest way to ruin your knives is to use a glass “chopping” board. That sound of a knife on glass – eeeeek just makes a person’s teeth to fall out! 😬
It is also important to have a few – one for vegetables and another for meat. This way you can prevent cross contamination. We don’t want to be giving ourselves or our guest jippo guts. For me personally I love wooden boards. It will last a life time if you look after it. Plastic is another option as you can dump it in the dishwasher for a better, clean especially if you have chopped raw meat like chicken on it.
#3 – Vegetable Peeler
So much easier and 10 times quicker than a knife especially when you want to peel a ton of potatoes for mash. Not only is it very nifty when peeling, but you can use it to shave Parmesan cheese or finely slice vegetables like carrots, fennel or asparagus. Who ever invented this piece of kitchen equipment is a genius.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #4 – Tongs
I mean this essential kitchen must have is pretty much standard in all Saffers home! Like how do you take your meat off from the braai? Don’t tell me a fork! We don’t use such abusive language in our homes!
Tongs just give you better control in the kitchen. They are great for flipping meat and boerewors, picking up hot things without POKING holes in the food, Suzan! For me it is the best way to dish up Spaghetti. Heck, I even use mine to toss a salad.
#5: Pestle and Mortar
I got one as a kitchen tea give and I absolutely love mine. It is the ultimate kitchen gadget. My favourite TV chef Jamie Oliver uses his ALL the time. Perfect for bashing and bruising herbs and spices to get the most flavour out of it. You can also use it to smash and grind up a bunch of ingredients to make your very own curry paste.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #6: Food Processor
I can’t live without mine and I will say it again… I JUST CANNOT live without mine. Sadly, mine ended up being borrowed with a never return policy. Honestly, I cannot tell you how much I miss using my food processor. It is a sorely missed item.
Now they also have become so expensive. But hey if you enjoy reading this article so far without annoying adverts all over the place you can buy me a coffee so I can save up to buy me a new one. #JustSaying!
Anyway must have Kitchen Essential is so efficient especially when when you want to chop, shred, slice or purée a bunch of stuff. You know those large quantities like cabbage and carrots for a summer coleslaw or puréeing chickpeas for hummus, even better making your own delicious mayo. You don’t want to spend your weekend chop… chop… and chopping away just to make a braai slaai.
#7: Kitchen “Skissors”
FYI – For anybody that needs to HEAR this – Kitchen scissors belongs in the BLOODY Kitchen!! Nothing that grates my cheese is when I need to open a packet of something and those kitchen skissors are no where to be found! 😡
Having kitchen scissors on hand is a must for any kitchen, since they are great for snipping herbs from your garden. Need to trim pastry? No problem! Need to de-bone a chicken? Don’t fret, your kitchen scissors will do the trick, no need to have a kitchen cleaver or carving knife.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #8: Grater
Every kitchen has one of these guys. They come in all different shapes and sizes. I am totally lost without mine. I actually have a two: the common box shaped one for grating and slicing vegetables and cheese, and a smaller one for zesting and grating spices like nutmeg or hard cheese like Parmesan.
They are incredibly sharp so just be cautious… I am sure you don’t want to add a touch of Jeffrey Dahmer in your cooking.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials # 9: A Large Pot
OK we all know we need to have a set of pots in the kitchen, because like how else will you cook? We will go into a detailed discussion on another time on what kind of pots will suit you best. So lets say you have your set of pots already. You totally need to add a big pot to your kitchen essentials. Okay we not talking big we are talking double big. They are great for cooking large batches of soup, stock, pasta, curries or stews especially if you have to cook for a large group of friends for a dinner party. It is best if your extra large pot has a thick heavy bottom.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #10: Frying Pans & Skillets
All cooks, including inexperienced ones, should have a frying pan in their kitchen since it is one of the simplest and fastest way to prepare food. They are easy to use, very versatile from frying to browning to a quick sauce you can cook almost anything in a frying pan.
They also respond very well to heat.
Once again there are countless options from non stick to stainless. In the near future we will go in depth on which option is best suited for you, but for now it is best to do a little googling to find the right pan for your kitchen.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #11: Colander
Colanders are either made from plastic or metal and you see they have rather large holes in them. This is to allow liquid to drain very quickly. Just think boiled potatoes, pasta and rice. It can also double up as a steamer if inserted into a large saucepan. If you really want to get creative, vintage colanders can make a pretty awesome light fixture for your kitchen.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #12: Strainer
Or what we Saffers call a sieve. Sieves comes in all different sizes. It is made up of a wire mesh attached to a ring with a handle which is used over a bowl to either drain liquids from solids or sifting for baking.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #13: Mixing Bowls
Here you can go crazy and have a selection of both metallic, porcelain or glass. You use them all the time for mixing, marinating and storing stuff. Ideally see if you can find those ones with measurements inside, that really does come handy.
A word of caution: if you are going to marinade in a metal bowl try to use stainless steel bowls (stainless steel is non reactive) and only for a short period of time. It is best to avoid using other reactive metals like aluminum, copper or cast iron. These metals reacts to the acid of the marinade and it can cause a chemical reaction to leach into the food.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #14: Measuring spoons and cups
Baking is a science! I can honestly vouch from experience that if a baking recipe calls for a 1/4 of whatever, you want the measurement as accurately as possible. If you are purchasing a new set of spoons you want the ones that are more squarish and narrow in order to fit into narrow spice bottles. I love mine that are stackable as they take less space. The same with the cups you want to make sure they stackable. Wet ingredients it is nice to have a few glass measuring jugs.
Must Have Kitchen Essentials #15: Last few bits and bobs
This is the last few bits and bobs you may need for an easy, less cluttered kitchen but essential items. You need a whisk, a few spatulas, serving spoons, soup spoon, a masher. These can be either metalic, plastic, wood, or silcone. Remember if you have non stick pots and pans just make sure you don’t use metal on your non stick as it can damage the coating. Most importantly don’t forget a few good wooden spoons.
Oh and and don’t forget a can opener because who wants to struggle with opening a tin.
Then a very important item every boozy kitchen should have is a wine bottle opener. You gotta uncork that wine to enjoy while cooking!
Here you go – a list of must have kitchen essentials to get you started. Over time as you gain more confidence in the kitchen you will find other useful gadgets to play around with.
Happy Cooking! Over and out! Until next time! xxx