Essentials

• Chef’s Knife – The best you can afford
• Paring Knife – make sure it feels good in your hand
• Ginsu Knife – really – I use mine all the time
• Santoku Knife – middle of the road will be OK
• Heavy duty meat cleaver
• Sturdy kitchen shears – Ideally they come apart to clean
  
• Honing/sharpening steel – Use at least every other time
  
• Flat sharpening stone – I just send mine out yearly
• Cutting Board – Small plastic and large plastic for raw meats and other things that cannot be eaten raw
• Cutting Board – Butcher Blok or Kiln Dried Maple or Ash for veggies and things that CAN be eaten raw
  • Occasionally sand the board with a fine sandpaper, and then use a food grade mineral oil to treat the surface
  • Sanitize occasionally with white vinegar
  • Never into the dishwasher though

Incidentals, but Important

• Smooth Edge Can Opener – no nasty cuts
  
• Measuring Cups – good quality 1/4 C – 1 C
  
• Measuring Spoons – good quality
• Glass Measuring Cup – 4 C
• Bench Scraper
• Mixing Bowls – Stackable glass set
• Large stainless steel mixing bowl – 20 quart ±
  
• Salad Spinner / Colander
  
• Strainer – Regular and fine
  
• Vegetable peeler – even expensive ones will grow dull
  
• Potato masher – sturdy / heavy duty
• Whisks – one steel and one for non-stick pans
• Grater / zester / microplane
  

Cookware and Bakeware

• 12 inch stainless steel skillet with lid
  
• 10 inch sauteé pan
• 8 inch non-stick omelet pan
• Saute pan – with lid
• Small sauce pan – with lid – 2 quart
  
• Medium sauce pan – with lid – 3 quart
  
• Large pot – with lid – 5 qt Dutch oven is a nice choice
  
• Large stock pot – with lid
• Grill pan – nice to have, but optional
• Cast Iron Skillet – lid optional
• Heavy duty rimmed baking sheet
• Wire cooling rack
• Casserole dish – 9*9 and 9*12
  
• Pyrex round glass pie plate
• Bread loaf pan
• Broiler pan

Cooking Tools / Hand Utinsels

• Spatula – silicon and wooden
• Stirring spoon – metal, silicon and wooden
• Sturdy tongs
• Ladel
• Oven mitts or hot pads (3)
• A rolling pin
  
• Infrared thermometer – from ThermoWorks
• Instant-read probe thermometer – ThermoWorks
• Oven Thermometer – Alternately, test periodically with infrared
  

Appliances

• Immersion Blender – alternate to a hand-mixer
  
• Digital kitchen scale (with tare)
  
• Countertop blender

Other Kitchen Essentials

• Food storage containers – I use yogurt containers, etc
• Aluminum foil
• Parchment paper
• Sandwich wrap – waxed paper
• Saran Wrap (or similar)
• Cloth towels
• Paper towels – I use washable Dollar Store wash cloths
• Sponges
• Scrub sponges
• Dish drying rack
• Small and large trash bags – I use grocery bags in a mixing bowl
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