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Cooking 101 – Equipment Guide

 


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A guide to MY FAVOURITE equipment for THE kitchen

Let me start by saying, you don’t need the latest cooking equipment to create delicious magical healthy meals in the kitchen. A knife (and sharpener), chopping board, pan and pot will do just fine. It’s more important you build your skills than your equipment collection. Second to that is to buy the best in season produce that you can withe the money you have and to cook it! However, there are some pieces of kitchen equipment that do make cooking easier, simpler and much more fun. In case you’re in the market for some new kitchen equipments, here’s a bunch of products I stand behind and have in my kitchen.

Equipment

  • A really pretty teapot this is essential in making a kitchen (in my opinion).

  • Sharp knife – and a great sharpener, you really only need one. Depending how much you chop, sharpen daily or weekly. This will keep your knife in great shape and last longer.

  • Bread knife

  • Wooden chopping board – I like this set of 3 that can also double as serving platters https://amzn.to/2JcCVcy.

  • Mandolin – the best thing ever. It’s a slicer, you can change the height of the cut and what you use to achieve paper thin cabbage slices / cucumber. Think of this as your ticket to BOOST YOUR SALAD GAME.

  • Spiraliser – I don’t like them.
    I’ve used 3 and they all fell a part or wasted more veggie than they spiralled for me. If you know of a good one, share your info pls!
    I also think you can do the same with a good quality mandolin and a julienne peeler.
    In saying that, I did write a guide a while back about how I make my zucchini noodles – with a review on 3 products – check that out if you’re interested.

  • Scissors – for cutting herbs in my cute balcony apartment veggie garden

  • Baking tins – loaf tin, for banana bread. 30cmx30cm  for roasting veggies. Round tin for cakes

  • Wooden spatula I also use these like a wooden spoon for cooking.

  • Silicone spatula

  • Silicone brush – I use this for lightly brushing an egg wash on my sausage rolls or to evenly (and lightly) distribute oil without wasting the oil

  • Nut milk bag / cheesecloth / muslin – for all things straining nut milk and making labneh. I buy from Lincraft or Spotlight, it’s about $3 per metre, a nut milk bag is about $20 per bag (you can buy these from health food stores, or Honest to Goodness)

  • Microplane – I love my microplane. Perfect for getting the zest from citrus.  Plus working magic on garlic, turmeric, ginger, nutmeg etc to make super fast salad dressings.

  • Julienne peeler – peels the thinnest and cutest little strips of veggies. Works well with: carrot, zucchini, sweet potato, cucumber, daikon radish. A julienne peeler is a great place to start if you want to experiment with equipment, for a small investment. This one is by far my favourite – the quality compared to every other julienne peeler I’ve tried is second to none.

  • Mortar and pestle

  • Grater

  • Seive / strainer / colander

Shopping

Storage

  • Glass Jars – some I buy, especially for pickling and preserving (you need new jars for this), when I can I upcycle from nut butter jars, cheese jars etc.

    • 200mL – for brekky on the run, I make a big batch on Sunday and portion into containers for the next 3 day. Like: chia puddings/bircher muesli. I also store salad dressings or dips for the week.

    • 500mL – usually my pantry jar size of choice, also for smoothies and soups.

    • 1L – for my yoghurt and for nut milks.

    • 2L and 3L for brewing kombucha, making sauerkraut or kimchi.

  • Containers for your leftovers – glass / tin / tupperware. Use what you’ve got.
    A note on saving the environment… REUSE and UPCYCLE before you buy new. Everyone has some kind of plastic containers around their home. Use these first and replace once they’re really done.

  • Snaplock bags (I reuse what I have over and over). I use these to store single servings of my chickpeas/beans/quinoa or other base meal ingredients.

Pots + Pans

  • Frying pan (with lid) – my favourite is my Chasseur cast iron pan.

  • Griddle pan – has grooves on it, so you get a nice charred effect on your food. I picked mine up for $10 at Vinnies.

  • Small pot – around 2 litres.

  • Medium sized pot – around 4-5 litres – I have 2 x dutch oven style pots for rice/quinoa etc.

  • Stock pot – for making soups and broths.

  • Steam basket

Electrical

  • High speed blender – I have a Vitamix. I’ve used them all and they’ve never lived up to the Vitamix standard and longevity.

  • Food processor – I have a Thermomix, it’s worth it’s weight in gold and times a million. Seriously.

  • Slow cooker – for lazy soups and stews.

  • Scales – mine are from Woolies, they work really well.

  • Thermometer


Check out the rest of this 6-part cooking 101 series

Pantry Guide | The Basics | Seasonal Eating | Get Your Shit Together (recipe book)
How to Build an Epic Salad.. that you’ll want to eat


 

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