Stocking Up Basic Kitchen Tools

A well equipped kitchen should contain a selection of cutting boards, each for use with a different type of food. One cutting board should be used exclusively for cutting vegetables, another for fruit and a third for raw meat.

Cutting boards are available in wood, plastic and disposable plastic.

You will find your mixing bowls to be among the most indispensable items in your kitchen, used for mixing, whisking and assembling ingredients. As such, you should consider investing in stainless steel mixing bowls in a variety of sizes. Stainless steel bowls are lightweight, durable and easy to clean. They are also non-porous, making them more hygienic than other materials.

Colander & Strainers

Salad Spinner

Colanders and strainers allow you to drain ingredients. You should have a large stainless steel colander for draining foods such as pasta, a medium-sized fine mesh strainer for draining items such as canned beans, and a small 2-inch diameter fine mesh strainer for straining smaller quantities of foods such as capers.

This handy tool removes water from freshly washed greens and herbs, preventing water-logged salads and delaying spoilage of greens.

You will need at least one vegetable peeler in your kitchen. Vegetable peelers have a stainless steel peeling mechanism and are available in a variety of handle types.

Liquid measuring cups allow you to measure wet ingredients such as milk or water. While liquid measuring cups are available in glass, plastic and metal, glass is recommended for ease of use and for getting an accurate reading. You should have at least one 1-cup, two 2-cup and one 4-cup liquid measuring cups.

You should have at least one set of dry measuring cups for measuring ingredients such as flour and sugar. You can find a stacking set of dry measuring cups with ¼-cup, ¹/₃-cup, ½-cup and 1-cup measures.

Dry measuring cups are also handy for measuring ingredients such as peanut butter, which are difficult to measure in a liquid measuring cup.
 

Your kitchen would not be complete without a set of measuring spoons. These spoons are useful for measuring spices and baking ingredients such as baking powder and vanilla. Measuring spoons come in sets that include ¹/₈-teaspoon (tsp), ¼-teaspoon, ½-teaspoon, 1-teaspoon and 1-tablespoon (tbsp) measures.

These versatile tools can be used for mixing dry ingredients, blending wet ingredients, and for whipping and beating. You should have at least two whisks that are between 8 and 10 inches long. Use a round flexible balloon whisk for beating air into ingredients such as whipping cream and a narrow, stiff whisk for soups, sauces and salad dressings.

Essential for baking, these spatulas are traditionally made of rubber but can be found in silicone versions as well. You should have at least one medium-sized rubber spatula for scraping batters from mixing bowls and at least one heat-resistant nylon or silicone spatula for stirring warm items such as custards.

Whether you're baking or grilling, you'll find that pastry brushes come in handy. A natural bristles brush is best for applying glazes to breads and cakes. Silicone brushes are useful for adding seasoning to meats, poultry and fish.

This useful tool does double duty, with the smooth side used to pound meat and poultry to an even thickness, and the spiked side used for tenderizing tough cuts of meat. This tool is commonly available in either stainless steel or wood.

Meat thermometers take the guesswork out of cooking meats such as roasts and turkeys. A meat thermometer gives an accurate reading of the internal temperature of meat, telling you if it is finished cooking. Meat thermometers are available in manual and digital versions, and some ovens even have built-in meat thermometers.

When making mashed potatoes or egg salad sandwiches, a potato masher will come in handy. Potato mashers are commonly stainless steel, with a plastic handle.

You will need two different sized graters stocked in kitchen. First, a box grater with medium sized holes will coarsely grate foods such as cheese. Secondly, you will need a hand-held grater with small holes to grate foods like ginger.

When a recipe calls for citrus zest, this handy tool will make the job easy. A citrus zester easily removes thin strips of peel from citrus fruit. You can find citrus zesters in many variations, with even the most inexpensive versions working well.

For those who love freshly squeezed juice, a reamer is a necessity. Available in wood, ceramic and metal versions, reamers are used to squeeze the juice from citrus fruits.

Tongs are useful for handling cooked foods such as pasta, meats and vegetables without piercing the foods. Stainless steel tongs are preferred due to their ease of use.

Wooden spoons are a necessity for stirring foods since they are useable in all materials, from aluminum to non-stick cookware. You can find wooden spoons in a variety of shapes and sizes.

After preparing a delicious meal, you will need serving spoons to dish out the food. You should have both solid and slotted serving spoons. Slotted spoons are useful for removing foods from a pot while leaving the liquid behind.

This tool comes in handy for transferring foods from boiling water. When purchasing a perforated skimmer, make sure that it is not too large to fit into your pots. A skimmer between 6 and 8 inches in diameter should work well.

Used to dish out foods such as soups, ladles are available in a variety of sizes. You should have at least one 4-ounce ladle for serving soup.

When cooking eggs, pancakes or hamburgers, you'll need a lifting spatula to turn the food over during cooking. Lifting spatulas are flat and usually have squared-off edges.

Parchment paper is a grease-resistant paper utilized in cooking and baking. It is often used to line baking sheets and cake pans to keep foods and baked goods from sticking.

Melon Baller

A tool used to scoop round or oval pieces out of melons. This tool can also be used to scoop the cores out of pears and apples.