Be Excellent To Each Other

I haver decided that it is time for me to learn to cook properly.

For various reasons I will be starting with a blank kicthen other than microwave, oven.

What do I need/look for. Are there are thing that you guys think are essential

Type of knives
Handblender / whisk
Pyrex bowls, oven proof pots
etc

It's far better to spend money on three good knives than buy lots of crap ones.
I have three good ones, hidden in lots of crap ones that I should throw away.

What you need really depends on what it is you like to cook - if you like a lot of steak, for example, you need a good skillet.

That is the intection, I don't want to buy cheap, but don't have a clue what I need or where to get it..

As Grim... says it depends what you cook so buy stuff as you need it or you may just fill your cupboards with crap you never need. Also while really cheap stuff might be a false economy buying catering grade equipment for a domestic kitchen can be equally as stupid. Some of it is built to withstand the sort of constant use it'll never get at home.

I suppose I am after a list of essentials, liek what type of knife (pairing etc)

BIG MEDIUM SMALL

And get a knife sharpening thingy.

BIG BIG BIG. There is no situation where a bigger knife is not superior.

<crocodile dundee.gif>

Get a Gourmet V Slicer!

And mind your fingers...

Chopping some things is easier with a smaller knife.
/less dangerous

A garlic chopper is useful; I miss Charl's - one of those little ball things with blades attached to rubberised wheels; garlic cloves in, rolly-rolly, chopped garlic out.

I got a Sabatier carving set a couple of Christmases ago; I don't use the knife or fork much but a proper sharpening steel is a brilliant thing; it turns my cheapo Asda knife set into passable tools.

A pizza stone and slicer (large curved blade with handles for rocking back and forth) go well with the bread machine and measuring cups/spoons for easily churning out the dough.

A skillet and a big, heavy frying pan. A wok. A couple of other pans - stainless steel with a copper layer in the base are a good compromise.

A big sieve and a colander. A wooden spoon or two. I miss having a ladel more than I thought I would; portioning stuff into freezer bags is a massive, messy faff without. A good pepper mill; I like freshly-milled black pepper but cheap mills are rubbish.

Some scales.

The best thing for cutting pizza is (and always will be) scissors.

Oh, scissors! I need some scissors*. I bought a tin opener the other week as well - I'm so used to ring-pull cans I was flummoxed by one without, mid-session. Thankfully I had my old Swiss Army knife in the drawer. What a pain in the backside the old-fashioned style is though!

Edit: A Pyrex measuring jug! I've still not got one, which makes it a good job I've tried making bread recently.

* Not for cutting pizza though. Heathen!

Pizza cutters are for lazy people who don't care about their pizza. Try it!

[edit]And any other doubters should try it too. This way you have an excuse to eat pizza tonight.

Make sure you get pans that can be put into the oven. Yes, you're guaranteed to burn yourself at least once, but they make life much easier.

And the dishwasher. If you have a dishwasher.

Blender wise, I'd get one of the stick blenders that'll do you for dicing, blending, and whisking. Something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-HR1372- ... 390&sr=8-6

To try it would require my going to buy scissors and a measuring jug. Given I can't even get round to buying bananas or OJ (or anything else which I can put straight into my belly) at the moment, chances are not good.

I have a cheap low-powered one of these I bought on a whim. It's brilliant. I'm going to upgrade it soon to something like the one you linked too.

To try it would require my going to buy scissors and a measuring jug.[/quote]
Or scissors and a pizza, of course.

Ideally, you'd want two pizzas - one to cut with scissors and one as control pizza for comparison.

Try a few knives to find ones that feel comfortable to hold & move around. Wee handles give me cramp, too heavy/light a blade makes it a pain to use & a flimsy blade makes you more likely to cut yourself.Aye & learn how to sharpen the blades properly. The edge will last longer & the steel will last longer.I tend to stick with larger knives too, my wee knife only gets used for taking the pith out of peppers & peeling stuff.


@Grim... I use scissors too. I'm not sure they're any better or worse than a pizza cutter, but they work well & save me buying more shite to clutter my kitchen drawers.

Thanks for the blender recommendation..

What make of knife should I go for.. is there a recommended one?

Nah, not really. So long as you buy a good quality knife (or set) the rest is fairly subjective.

how can you tell, other than cost..
what is a ball park figure?

There are loads of good makes out there.

Global and Sabattier are two for starters - shop around though as they're very expensive and there are lots of other makes out there - personally I use Global knives but I would criticise them for having handles a little too small on all but the bigger chef's knives (I do have very big hands /cue Trousers and his piss taking) but they are very well balanced and fucking sharp. Don't forget to spend money on a decent convenient sharpener unless you're hell bent on buying ceramic stones and guides to keep the fuckers sharp. A decent steel is a good investment as well.

I would go for one chef's knife, about 9-10" blade and a couple of smaller ones - another chef's knife about 5-6" and a solid handled paring knife about 4-5"

If you're mainly going to be chopping and slicing you'll use the bigger of the chef's knives for nearly all of that. The paring knife you'll use for things like de-seeding chillis, boning joints etc. The smaller of the chef's knives is handy for fine chopping, such as garlic etc.

A mixture of recommendations & cost. I've just been thinking, I've seen quite a few expensive knives that I wouldn't use if you paid me.

I'll have a look at who made my knives when I get home. It was around £50 for the two knives & £30 for the cleaver IIRC.

anolon make some decent pans.

You want, to start, a decent sautee/frying pan, two medium pans, one big one. You can buy more if you get into cooking and feel you need them.

Get some cheap metal trays of varying depths for the oven.

Get a couple of oven proof dishes - preferably ceramic.

Don't buy le creuset unless you're planning on replacing weight training with cooking ;-)

Also, you don't need to spend a king's ransom on knives. Have a look around in any of the big department stores.
Things to look for are that the steel of the blade should run right through the handle or be the handle, so either forged as part of the handle or clearly visible running through the wooden sandwich that is the handle. This is important for strength.
Balance - check it's comfortable to hold and that you don't feel like you need to grip too close the start of the blade for control.
Make sure the steel used is good quality - not always easy to ascertain, but one rule of thumb is don't buy from China or any other former eastern bloc country. Better the steel the longer your blades will hold an edge.

Get a great big solid chopping board. Being able to knock out all the ingredients for a stir fry in little piles on the same board is always a bonus.

Another vote for Global knives here. My chef's knife is used for just about everything and glides through all veg with very little resistance.

Pan wise I would avoid stainless steel - mine dissipate heat so much so that my non stick Tefal jobs can boil water in a fraction of the time.

I'd get some decent tongs as well - really handy for handling raw meat so you don't have to wash your hands every 2 minutes.

Despite my total inability to shop in TK Maxx, I recently discovered that they are quite good for kitchen stuff. My mum had taken me out for the day and made me go in there. They have a lot of rubbish but they also have some really good pots and pans as well knives. Worth checking out, the prices can be pretty good compared to other shops.

I would also echo Trouser's suggestion of a big wooden chopping board, handy for garlic bread, pizzas etc as well as for cutting veg when you've got a lot of it to do. You can usually buy sets of three different sizes which is useful.
A knife set in a wooden block can be really handy as it contains different types of knives as well as a really easy (and safe!) way to store them but it's not worth it if you don't spend money on it. I have two in my kitchen (I'm not even really sure where I got them) but I never use any of the knives except for one which is for cutting bread-the set is just to cheap and as a result the knives are rubbish.
I got an excellent set of knives for my birthday one year which I use all the time, it came with a sharpener and has five different knives.
One great big pot with a lid is really handy to have for making soups, stews, basically any easy one pot meals.
This sort of grill pan is great for cooking steaks and finishing off chicken with skin on. That link is meant for illustrative purposes only though and not a recommendation of a particular one.
A wok is a great choice as well since stir frys are really quick and easy meals after work. Easy to clean as well if you haven't coated it in stuff while cooking you can just give it a wipe with some kitchen roll and oil.
Most gadgets can be left until you know what sort of cook you are and what sort of stuff you are going to be cooking. No point in buying something only to find you never have a use for it but if you find yourself wishing you could make your own bread then it's easy enough to go out and get a breadmaker.
Get a good roasting dish as well that you can use for making any sort of roast meat as well as doing roast veg which is an easy and lovely side for any meal. I like making med style veg (like you can buy in supermarkets.) Plus it is good for doing garlic roast potatoes (yum yum).

Can't really add much to this, other than to emphasise starting with what you know - you'll only annoy yourself if you buy a load of stuff you'll hardly ever need because you weren't sure what you'd be cooking a lot.

Knives are worth splashing out on, but don't go nuts - to be honest, I balked at the £50 for two knives bit up above. That's pretty heavy duty, especially if you're just starting out. Get a wok, certainly - stir fries are great, but you can also cook some pasta and rice dishes in one, as well as diced chicken. Non-stick ones are handy, but they can't cook at a high enough temperature for "proper" stir fries. They're more than passable if you're not too fussy though, and non-stick are much easier to clean. You have to be more careful with them as well though, obv.

Don't get a garlic crusher. They're a joke. A small knife will do - crush them with the flat of the blade, and chop. A garlic chopper, on the other hand, I've never even used, so can't recommend for or against - I would trust Bik's judgement on that one.

It's likely that a blender or some sort of hybrid blender/whisk type set up would be well worth the money - I've never been FAST at chopping, but I keep up a moderate pace. Even so, I used to find that a simple pasta with veg deal would take ages to prepare simply because I was stood there chopping and dicing all evening.

Otherwise, just don't go nuts all at once. Start with some pots and pans and basic knives and spoony things (if your pots are non-stick, avoid metal. Some wooden spoons and spatulas and a deeper spoony thing for serving should be fine to start) and a big chopping board (and optionally a couple of little/medium ones). It's probably more worth spending big money on these things than on anything less general-purpose, as they'll get more use. Oh, and a colander thing for draining - they're handy sometimes even if you're not big on pasta, because you can use them to strain over-fatty meat or overly thin sauces.

It may be worth leaving the blender for a little while until you know what else you'll need in terms of gadgetry. Personally, I'd probably spend the most money on a wok, a couple of large-ish saucepans, and the knives.

Had a squint at them, my knives are "Henckels". Their cheap ones are below par & then they go from reasonable (depending on your perspective) to WTFyeraffyerheidman expensive.Depends on how you look at things.

They're the only cooking knives I own, I've had them since I was 18 & I eat a minimum of three meals a day & plan to do so for the rest of my life I might've been able to get a couple of decent ones for less, but I went for a pair that were good to handle & I knew would last me (I got a bit of assistance/reassurance from a chef pal).

My cleaver*'s been even better value for money though. It'll happily lop fish heids off, crushes garlic with ease & has saved a few lives including mine**

*It's a kukri really, I just wondered if anyone would pull me up for spending £30 for a big daft knife that has no real use in most kitchens. Nearly everyone I know with a cleaver just uses it to crush garlic. The rest are murderers butchers & farmers.
**Had to sever a tow when it started sinking & we couldn't get the shackle free, & a decky nearly got dragged overboard by a line wrapped around his foot.

Some pyrex bowls to heat things up in the microwave.

After 13 years of owning all sorts of cookware, I couldn't be without a set of stainless steel saucepans. You don't have to spend a fortune. My set are by Judge, and are stainless steel with glass lids I got them in a Fenwicks sale for about £9-13 per pot. The lids have vents which are very handy. Non-stick saucepans are a trick purchase and aren't needed. Even if you really mess up with a stainless steel saucepan a soak in hot water and go-over with a scouring pad will see them right in no time and there's no special coating which you can ruin. I've had mine for years and years now and they look like the day I bought them.

There kind of is - leave salt in a dry/damp stainless pan and it'll knacker in short order. But yeah, stainless with copper plates in the base to retain/distribute heat are great. I wouldn't have light stainless pans again though, as someone said before they're way too hard to keep at the desired temperature.

I didn't know that, but I guess it is something that you'd be unlikely to do and so discover. I don't know much about the pans I bought, but they have a thick base that looks like it was moulded separately from the rest of the pan, so maybe my ones have the copper in them like those you speak of. They certainly feel quite heavy to me, but then so does a bag of crisps.

The one thing I hate about this flat is the lack of gas hob. These newer flats don't have gas, and I hate hate hate electric hobs. Not because they take an age to reach temperature, but are horrible for when you want to turn the heat down. Blech.

PS: what would salt do to the pan? Leave it pitted? Can someone please explain using science? Thankoo!

Yeah, gas hob has always been important to me. Stupid leccy.

Salt corrodes the layer of Stuff that makes it stainless, I think.

This thread has reminded me of things I need to own (Good, big, proper knives - Decent chopping block - sieve - skillet - colander) that I do not own and cannot afford.

This is why I keep away from the car thread.

Cheers guys, that is a big help..

Also don't forget some sort of glazed earthenware style dish for roasting things in the oven.

And an oven.

Go on laugh...

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... +BLOCK.htm

I got those because I was tired of using my good knives for heavy tasks such as sawing through bones etc. When I'm hacking up bodies I need.... Ooops. TMI

Seriously though I expected them to be utterly shit but they're really good. I really hate admitting it because they're so cheap it's almost embarassing but they will go through just about anything.

They're not the best for finesse on account of them being micro serrated (meaning they're single use no sharpens) but I've had mine for well over 6 months and they're still ruddy sharp.

I am moving out of my house, so wanted to start a fresh, so wanted a good starting poing.

Will be getting the blender Craster pointed out.
Chopping Boards (one for meat, one for veg)
Bowls (pyrex)
Dishes for the oven
2 or 3 decent knifes depending on my budget.
Scissors
Decent peeler
Tin opener


for starters

Dude, get that El Shit (tm) knife set I showed you for the rougher tasks like boning and removing fat ETC. You don't want to be doing that with a good knife.

If you really want to treat yourself get one of these things. I shall be getting mine soon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kyocera-White-Z ... 379&sr=8-1

Oh, and FFS get a slow cooker. You need one, life can not go on without one.

Actually, I've been doing a superb job - despite Grim...'s best efforts - of turning that into a thread about why cars are bloody stupid and no-one should ever get one.

Why not use a good knife for tasks like that? It's what good knives are for! Metal tends to be harder than flesh, after all.

I don't think I've got a peeler either, now I see it in your list Kov. Um. I really haven't been cooking much have I?

Saucepans? Wok?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crock-SC7500-Co ... 268&sr=1-6

ordered this.


I have pans and a wok...
Microwave and kettle

Seriously the most used item in my kitchen without a doubt.

To the butcher for some lamb's liver.. Make up some gravy nice and thick and fill the slow cooker about half way then chop up an onion and chuck it in aswell as the liver and a few slices of bacon. Set it to low.... An hour later? heaven awaits.

Am I the only person who doesn't like slow cookers?

In the evening after getting in from work, I'm lucky if I can prep and slow-cook a meal by 9pm. I can prep it the day before, but then I have a crockpot taking up space in my fridge. Plus I found if I slow cooked, say, a casserole or stew for 8+ hours while I'm in work, it's overcooked the meat by the end, no matter how I fiddled with the high/low/warm settings and kept using fattier and fattier cuts of meat.

I ended up only really using my slow cooker on weekends so I sacked it off and bought a cast iron casserole instead. It's more versatile and takes up less space in my cupboards.

Plus, most decent ovens have timers which can switch the oven on and off.

Obvious really, surprised no-one else mentioned it.

A chef.

They're not as slow as I would like them to be. I've overcooked things a few times. They're just easy and probably use far less power than an oven.

I do so many things in mine.. Stews, hot pots, casseroles, meatballs in pasta sauce, lamb shanks, pork chops in apple sauce and honey etc etc. Seriously I cook about 80% of all of my food in that tiny little wonder.