Building a kitchen (that's interesting)

Everything else
61

Man, a whole bunch of great advice in this thread already, so I’d just like to put in what I personally use all the time and would hate to be without.

Knives. A big as you can handle it chef’s knife and a paring knife. Lots of love for others but if you get a decent chef’s knife it does the job of all the others within 90%. Buy the Victorinox, buy a cheap sharpener, replace it in 20 years when you’ve taken 1/16" off of it. (and get the ten inch, trust me and Aerosmith on that one.)

Food processor. This is a surprisingly important one, it is actually super useful. I wouldn’t even look outside of Cuisinart, and if you can find one that’s 30 years old, all the better. They just work. BUT, you will also have to purchase the lid that doesn’t have all the safety bullshit on it, about $30. It turns it into something you use constantly vs. something you rarely use because use and cleanup is such a pain in the ass.

Good can opener. Don’t sneer at canned goods, if you research it you can find fantastic foods in cans. By good I mean maybe the Oxo vs. the throwaway cheapest, don’t go crazy.

10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet. I’ll argue against some folks and say that they do not require any significant maintenance unless you’re Martha Stewart, Just cook in them over and over and over and let the fat sit from breakfast to dinner, there’s nothing that’s going to hurt you between 8am and 8pm. When they get too rough from accumulated burnt fat, grab a pack of steel wool and go to town. And don’t be shy to clean them with scrubbing pads and degreasing cleaners like Dawn, it’s an old wive’s tale that it ruins the seasoning. That seasoning is a layer of burnt carbon, if Dawn could cut through that without an angle grinder, then Dawn would be an industrial product. Clean it, wash it, heat it, oil it, keep going.

A comfy several spatulas. Again, the cast iron won’t give up the seasoning if you get in there and scrape around with a steel spatula, go nuts. I like to have at least two going because one is always dirty in the sink.

New one: Bench scraper. Should be two bucks for a plastic one, and that’s fine. It’s wildly useful for what its name says, pick up your board and scrape your bench into your hand or a dirty pan or whatever. Quick cleaning means more cooking.

Another new one: Swedish dish rags. I just got onto these and they are great. Think a paper towel that is thicker, much more durable, washable, and dries like nobody’s business. I don’t like waste and these are the solution to paper towels in many scenarios.

Non-stick pan. You do need one. In fact, I would argue it’s not a bad thing to have two, but if you watch for sales you can find them cheap. They don’t do high temps safely, and they need to be babied a bit re: the steel spatula (get another plastic one for this specifically) but if you keep them perfect, they work as advertised. I even bought some All-Clads, which is probably the de facto “good stuff but not stupid good stuff” brand for 20 bucks apiece for an 8" and 12". Macy’s has good sales on these.

Saucepot, small and large. Honestly, I do love All Clad again for this but I bet there’s a KitchenAid version that does just fine. Stainless is always going to take more work but sometimes you just need it.

Cutting board: Whoo boy, I gots some opinions. End of the day, the best possible cutting board is a super thick endgrain maple board. If you can see the grain in it, then it isn’t endgrain, it’s face grain, and that means that when you cut it, you cut the fibers and they never come back together. End grain is friendly to your knives and somewhat self-heals when you oil it. A good cutting board never leaves your counter, it’s a counter all its own. They can get silly expensive, but if you invest in a big bastard, like 12x20x2", then it will be the first and last one you ever own. Go to the laxative section of your pharmacy and get a $2 bottle of mineral oil and soak that sucker until it can’t take any more. Once the color starts to fade, hit it again. If you had a table saw and clamps and whatnot then you could look around for a butcher-block tabletop offcut and make your own, but I think that’s probably not in your wheelhouse right now. Butcher-block counters are usually face grain, which is fine, but not what you want for a forever board.

Big stainless bowls. Buy some. Small medium large, and by large it should be a foot or more across.

Measuring cup. No need to spend big dollars here but get a good 2 cup pyrex cup with imperial and metric gradations.

Basic wooden spoons. Cheap as heck and you can’t have too many.

Colander. You need one, don’t go crazy. Anything enameled is just fine.

Cheese grater. Same as above.

Vegetable peeler. Again, Oxo does a fine version. When you start doing 2 star ratatouille then upgrade.

62

In general, are there any brands that signal quality and trustworthiness? Seems like OXO us highly regarded here. Any any to absolutely avoid?

63

Hard question, because there are different areas to consider. When it comes to “gadgets” like peelers, can openers, etc. then Oxo shines through on the value to quality scale. Cast iron, I’d be argumentative but receptive to education that the basic Lodge isn’t as good as anything.

If there’s a brand that probably signifies decent value for money outside of power appliances, probably KitchenAid. (not to say that the KitchenAid mixer isn’t still the gold standard, but they make a lot of other powered stuff I’m less keen about.)

Oh, and if you have a certain old-school bent for “fuck you, just give me something with horsepower and none of the frippery” then Oster makes a nice blender.

64

OXO is generally a very dependable “cheap but not cheap” brand for basic handheld gadgets like can openers, whisks, peelers, etc. They make their branding on their Good Grips line with rubberized, chonky grips that some people don’t care for, but I am a fan of a vegetable peeler that my hand can hang onto that isn’t gonna go wildly sliding out of control into my thumb. They’re not lifetime items, but for stuff like peelers and graters, where the blade will wear out over time and you’re gonna replace it, anyway? OXO’s gonna last you at least that long, 9 times out of 10.

Calphalon, Cuisinart, All-Clad are all very solid brands for cookware. Lodge if you want cast iron. To expand a little on the clad stuff we’ve mentioned a few times, the main idea is that by layering aluminum between stainless steel, you get a very good mixture of speed-of-heating, heat-retention, evenness-of-heating, durability, and attractiveness. Fully clad cookware has the three (or more) layers running throughout the whole piece, for even moar heating evenness/retention, while cheaper stuff has a “cap” of layered metals soldered onto the bottom of the pot. Those can come off over long, heavy use, but fwiw, I’ve owned a cheapo $40 6qt pot with a tri-clad cap for about 12 years and it’s still hanging in there, and you know I cook a LOT and travel with my cookware for parties frequently.

Victorinox, J.A. Henckles, and Wusthoff are all good knife brands. Like someone else mentioned, the latter two do have “lines,” some of which vary in quality. A basic stamped blade that costs $40 is probably made in the same set of Chinese factories regardless of brand, heh. The nicer forged blades tend to come out of Europe or the US. Look for “full tang” blades, where the metal of the blade extends all the way down the handle, where it’s bolted in place. Partial tang blades are just a short sharp hunk of metal jammed into a plastic or wooden handle, and they have a bad habit of popping out the second you try to cut through something difficult like butternut squash or a big block of cheese.

I adore most Cuisinart appliances for mid-range stuff. Their 14-cup food processor is probably my next big kitchen purchase, clocking in at $230. It’s built like a tank, has very few fancy features to mess up, but it will process the ever-loving shit out of some food. Anything they’re selling in the $100-250 range is probably very solid. Down below that, like @Houngan mentions, Oster definitely has some good product, but there is some get-what-you-pay-for territory when you’re looking at sub-$50 appliances. Breville is highly regarded on the upper end, along with brands like Vitamix in the blender world, but at this point you’re looking into multi-hundreds-of-dollars purchases for someone who really knows what they like and want.

Commercial brands (like Volrath skillets) can be a nice “midrange dependable” option, esp. if you have a restaurant supply store nearby. Tend to be no-frills but built to take a beating in kitchens.

With appliances, most brands have some duds, either as individual units or particular models/lines that just seem to suck for whatever reason. You get unlucky sometimes. My original Kitchenaid mixer died on a pretty normal-sized sourdough bread recipe, overheating and sending toasty motor oil oozing out the fixtures. The replacement has been a tank for many years since.

You also get lucky sometimes. I got a $50 Black & Decker convection toaster oven when I moved out for college like 15 years ago that is somehow still trucking. It has a knob for temp, a knob for time, and a knob for cooking mode, and that’s it. Similarly, I’ve got a B&D food processor that’s lasted me over a decade, though in that time, I’ve shattered two of the lids, and those damned things cost near as much as the original unit did to replace by this point, hence my eyeing an upgrade next time around. I wouldn’t generally call B&D a reliable, notable kitchen brand, but, hey, sometimes it works out.

There’s also some, hmm, let’s say Bose/Alienware-esque brands in kitchen stuff. Ninja blenders come to mind upfront, maybe Instant Pot pressure cookers, that kinda thing. Heavy on the branding, higher on the cost scale, lots of gee-whiz tech, but maybe there’s just-as-good options available for a little less, oftentimes? They’re not bad by any means; you tend to get solid product from those brands. And buying in gets you into the ecosystem, man. So many recipes are written specifically for the pressure-cooking features and techniques of the Instant Pot! There’s some upside to being in on the popularity train line that.

I would generally avoid chef-branded kit, which is a little worse on the “branding over value” equation, like Monster cables. I’m sure the Pioneer Woman’s pretty printed enamel cast iron dutch oven is very nice, but the Lodge you can get on sale for 30% less is very much the same damn thing, heh.

65

you reminded me, certainly not a purchase for starting out, but eventually you will want a pressure cooker. Here I’m a huge unsupported snob, I think slow cookers are bullshit but pressure cookers are the bee’s knees. Anything in stainless, not aluminum, by Presto is just fine for that. Go bigger by choice. if you somehow become the king of pressure cookers or slow cookers or whatever, then buy something expensive, but the basic Presto and a past-3rd-grade intellect will serve you well for many years.

66

Best advice in this thread. They are -excellent- starter knives. I still use several weekly and sometimes daily. Until you need and have the cutting skills for anything better, they are ideal. They are hearty, easy to sharpen, maintain a good edge for a decent time and have excellent grips. The “Fibrox” handled ones are my favorites. Keep it simple to start: chef’s knife, paring knife. If you eat breads that need cutting get a bread knife, if you decide you want to start deboning chicken, get a knife for that, etc. Start with the basics, build as you need to.

If you don’t get a large in-place cutting board like a Boos or something, consider these instead of plastic:

They are made of Richlite, which is hundreds of layers of paper with a hard resin pressed to bind them. That makes them as light as bamboo and believe it or not, VERY durable and wood-like in terms of germ resistance. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Boos cutting board but it is huge, VERY heavy and takes a lot more maintenance. Stick to simple, cheaper and get something bigger when you need it.

67

Heh, yeah. I’ve never “upgraded” to an electric pressure cooker, because my cheapo Presto can do the same basic task with a little more attention/work, and is versatile in ways the Instant Pots aren’t. Many Instant Pots have a “sear” mode to start cooking, say, short ribs (you wanna sear the outside for nice flavor from the Maillard reaction for a lot of meats). But they’re never gonna get as hot as a regular old pot on even a dinky electric stovetop like mine. And once you put the lid on and seal it shut, your temp is limited by physics more than anything, so, again, so long as you don’t mind fiddling with the stove temp to keep the steam-release steady, you’re not losing anything skipping the electric models.

On the other hand, as a beginner cook? I really do gotta give the nod to 'em for the aforementioned recipe availability. And they do have some neato, but largely secondary, features, like a “yogurt-making” temp setting or whatever.

68

Thanks, and true I agree, not having really messed with the finer points. (It never occurred to me to make my own yogurt, for example.) But when I want to fuck up a piece of meat like it fuckin’ looked at my girl wrong and I just got out of the joint and motherfucker I’m gonna fuck you UP! . . . sorry, pressure cookers get me excited.

But yeah, start in the cast iron, get your sear where you want it, then blow it up in the pressure cooker. That’s what good and decent people do. Yeah.

69

Oh, also, thanks for the Swedish dish cloths link. I love my Zepolis for multi-purpose kitchen towels, but as mentioned, the one thing they don’t do super well is absorb water. I mean, they do fine, but my gf has been griping at me for tossing some of our old fuzz-bucket thicker towels out when I got the new ones, since those could drink up a bit more liquid for spills and stuff.

70

Give 'em a try, I’m loving them. Several dishwasher and laundry cycles, they seem to be just as robust as new.

71

Of all the things you mentioned I nodded my head but these two are stars among the others who say they can but don’t deliver for the price point. Ninja blenders rock (I gave one to a QT3 member for the price of shipping a few years back because we had multiple.) And my Instant Pot is a workhorse. I covet one of the newer and larger ones so badly.

@anonymgeist I would suggest building your kitchen around what you want to make. You mentioned you aren’t much about baking, what about meat dishes? Vegetable cooking? Rich or pasta dishes? Pizza? Build around what you like to do. Don’t be afraid of new technology things.

Also some additions to Armandos wonderful advice: for OXO be SURE and get their peelers. And add a Microplane grater or two.

72

I think my issue with Ninja blenders is that for just a bit more you can kick up to some of the really snazzy models (like the glorious $250 Breville I got for Xmas last year, or the lower-end Vitamixes when compared to the top-tier Ninjas). That said, in the sub-$100 level, Ninja tech may well be the winner; it’s been awhile since I’ve read up on it.

But like you say, they’re still very good. In the same way that Bose headphones are genuinely great. (And in some instances, like noise canceling wireless, maybe best-in-class)

73

You didn’t mention a Microplane and if you don’t have one I’m sending you one ASAP.

74

Hurtful man, it’s like I’m not even here!

(I’ve written a metric fuckload of words in this thread today. No worries at all for missing that)

75

Awww, I missed that statement.

76

I’d say meats and vegetables are probably the focus. I really like the idea of simple dishes executed very well. Though the idea of cooking an excellent pizza at home is quite attractive!

77

Ahhhh! runs around in complete disarray

Excellent pizza is a can of worms, but thankfully it’s a can that I don’t know enough about to even address, so I will wait on the sidelines while you get dogpiled. I can’t do it, but I’d love to learn how.

Veg and meat is all about texture and temperature. And those mostly come down to having a decent set of stove top gear, a stove with a broiler, and then a bunch of technique to do everything at the right time.

78

Having used regular stovetop pressure cookers for years, I really gotta say the instant pot has legitimate value.

What you say here is true in that you can theoretically sear better with a regular pressure cooker, I’ll say that the instant pot has never had trouble searing meat before I cook it under pressure.

And really, the instant pot is just way easier to manage. Not that a traditional one is hard, but the instant pot is just basically zero thought or effort. There’s value in that.

That being said, I think the important thing is that everyone should have a pressure cooker of some kind. It doesn’t really matter what kind.

79

Sautéing, baking (not just bread, think whole dishes,) roasting, braising and stewing are your major things then. Get a good sauté pan with lid, skillet with lid (or a universal lid for both, some baking pans/sheets, a roasting pan (think chicken, turkey, large roasts, etc,) and if you want to get fancy, a slow cooker, pressure cooker or combo unit. Those are the major lifters for food like that. If you don’t have one, a grill is another nice thing to have some changeup in the method of preparing meat and veggies. A few pots and a sauce pan are also good to have not just for veggies but also the extras you surround those basics with: rice, pasta, other grains, a good pan sauce or gravy, a soup, etc.

When I was younger and finding my way I often only bought new things for a new dish. It saves a big spend and helps you work a new kitchen item into something you’ll have in your rotation.

80

I would say a microplane may be specific but zesting citrus fruits and grating hard cheeses are incredibly common and delicious things in many recipes. They’re also useful to make garlic paste.

And I have like four Brevilles (microwave, convection oven, immersion blender, food processor) and <3