Essential Tools for Every Cook | Serious Eats

hi I'm Arielle Kanter I'm the director of Commerce at Serious Eats today we're gonna do something a little different we're gonna talk about some cookware namely the most essential cookware that you need when you're starting out a new kitchen so whether you just moved or you have a kid or just graduated from school or you've never cooked before and you're deciding to get in the kitchen for the first time these are the essentials to get pretty much all of our recipes done so it may look like a lot of stuff here but I'm gonna take you through each piece tell you why you need it how to shop for it and then how to cook with it [Music] so the first thing we're going to talk about is a chef's knife a chef's knife is the most essential knife you'll have the problem is they're really hard to shop for because they come in so many different shapes sizes prices weights at the end of the day the best chef's knife for you is the one that feels good in your hand serious eats did a test for the best chef's knife where our team tested 27 different knives and came up with 6 winners three year Western for Japanese I have two here this is a Wisthoff classic this is what they gave us in culinary school to start out with it's a great plate and if you're looking for a Japanese knife which is a little more lightweight and has a straighter blade this is a Mac knife which is also great if you have more room in your kitchen and a budget for another knife I suggest a bread knife bread knifes are great for slicing through really crusty breads or if you're making one of Stella's pound cakes these are great to cut through it and without squishing the crumb or anything like that this is by a 2-0 it's about under 20 bucks which is a great price and that's nice because it's actually really hard to sharpen the soft tooth blades so you kind of want to replace it every few years as it gets dull so 20 bucks is in bed another great knife to have in your arsenal is a paring knife small but mighty it's great for cutting up smaller ingredients most of them are pretty affordable you just want one that's really sharp out of the box this is Victorinox I think it's under $10 and it will definitely serve you well and as long as you keep it sharp so if you have all these knives you definitely need a cutting board if you have a bad one they can warp in the dishwasher they can damage your knives or your knives can damage them and so you've gotta you gotta invest in a good one our favorite plastic cutting board is made by Ock so they're the most durable they're dishwasher safe they have these plastic grip ease so they don't slide around when you're cutting and they come in a whole bunch of different sizes from you know like massive to really small depending on how much space you have in your kitchen people who can often be really resistant to buying cast-iron pans they're really heavy they kind of seem like they they take a lot of seasoning a lot to maintain them it's not really that hard especially if you follow Daniels guides to how to season and maintain your pans well cast iron isn't great at conducting heat they're really great holding that heat in which makes them great for searing steaks or getting really charred vegetables if you get enough seasoning on your cast iron skillet eventually it can become pretty nonstick then you can make your eggs and that makes a really good breakfast and you have an intruder and you need to hit them camp this is a nonstick skillet and in terms of ease when you're making eggs or fish they're kind of worried about sticking a nonstick skillet is the way to go you really don't want to spend too much on a nonstick pan because eventually it will degrade and you'll need to replace it this is a farmer where pan it's um about under $30 one thing to note with these fire beware skillets is that they're not induction safe if you find a nonstick pan that's clad in stainless steel then it will work on your induction cooktop so the next pot I'm gonna talk about is a saucier these are great if you want to boil pasta heat up soup and but what's to note about these is that it has this one has a slope side so if you're making gravy or custard or caramel your whisk that you're using can get right into those slopes so they won't burn or get gross this is an all-clad which can get kind of expensive but they're really well made if you are looking for one that's a little more affordable you can get a great saucier by KUHF one so the next pot I'm gonna talk about is an enameled Dutch oven these are amazing pieces of equipment they're super versatile good dutch ovens should be heavy and they should be deep enough to do a braise like a buff working out or brisket you might notice that the inside is white and that's because it's enameled so the enamel makes it much easier to clean and then you don't have to worry about the seasoning that you have but the regular cast iron pan so will crews say is sort of the king of all dutch ovens they're beautiful but you don't have to spend a lot to get a great Dutch oven we really like one by Martha Stewart a Cuisinart and if you want to read about those daniel has a great Dutch oven review so the next thing I'm going to talk about in baking dish I really think of a baking dish as the symbol of comfort food you use these to make lasagna and mac and cheese the great tab in the house you really don't have to splurge for a baking dish the best ones are made out of tempered glass like this they're functional they're easy to clean and you don't really need to get any more fancy than that when I was growing up sheet pans were all just for making cookies and they were always completely flat so if you ever put anything on them that drip they would just drip into the oven and start an oven fire good baking sheets actually have a rim so whether you're roasting vegetables all the juices kind of stay contained in and don't leak into the oven which is great and when you have a rimmed baking dish paired with a wire rack you get even more versatility klaapa a spatchcock turkey I'm here for Thanksgiving and all of the oven airflow will go down and around and on top making a nice crisp skin and juicy interior if you want to dry brine a turkey on here that's another great thing you can do I'm one of those people that loves cooking for friends and family but sometimes I get a little paranoid that I'm going under cook chicken or something and poison everyone and then they never want to come over again but that paranoia has changed since I got an instant read thermometer all you have to do is open the probe go like this and you have immediate peace of mind you know a temperature you need to cook it too so we recommend the thermal works thermapen it's super accurate it's easy to clean and all you have to do is open it up and it turns on and it's ready to go this one is a little bit more expensive just under a hundred dollars but it's a more affordable version is the thermal pop and you can also find the javelin which is similarly shaped to this a little bit less another thermometer that's really great for your kitchen is an oven thermometer these little babies are like seven dollars and you just hook it onto your your oven rack and it will tell you the actual temperature of your oven if you live in a really old apartment where the oven hasn't been replaced in a century it likely is not 350 degrees when it tells you it is so get one of these keep your up and honest and your food will most likely turn out a lot better another amazing multitasker for your kitchen is a fine mesh strainer it's not just meant for straining you can sift flour in it like you want to do for a lot of Stella's baked goods you can steam vegetables in here you can actually poach eggs in here which is really cool you could make fresh cheese in here too a good fine mesh strainer will be made of stainless steel it's nice when it has a little hook on it or something so that it can just hook right on to your pot like that instead of falling in like that you can definitely cook and bake using volume measurements but we highly recommend using weight do this you need a scale like this and it's just so much more accurate so for example say you're using a cup measure and you take a scoop of flour one day that flour can be really compact and one day it could be really aerated and that can really make or break a recipe there are a lot of skills out there a good one needs to be super accurate it needs to be easy to read it should toggle easily between pounds ounces kilograms and this one really does it all this one is by Ock so this one has a pull-out display so if you're using a really big bowl and you're like oh my gosh I can't see the measurement you can easily just pull it out like that you can actually pull this off and clean it which is really great especially if you're working with tiny little particles of flour and sugar they kind of get everywhere and you can just wipe it clean and put it back in place there is a backlight which just makes it easier to read if you're baking in the dark for some reason and this thing is amazing so the last few things I'm gonna talk about are a little more self-explanatory but I want them on your radar so the first thing is a salad spinner it may not feel super necessary but giving your greens a little dry like this is really fun the next you have mixing bowls these come in a bunch of different sizes they're super affordable they're exactly what you'll see in a restaurant kitchen and you're gonna get a home next we have just a bunch of small quick utensils you got tongues for grabbing stuff a wooden spoon for stirring and scraping stuff this is a whisk if you don't know a good Y peeler this is a small easy to use peeler kaylynn apples potatoes carrots if you want to make zucchini strings or whatever good to have a peeler this is a flexible silicone spatula so if you're pouring brownie batter into your cast iron skillet use this to get all those extra drops out this is a fish spatula this is nice and flexible so you can go right into the pan right underneath the fish and flip it over without damaging it then just a great set of measuring spoon and cups still use your scale but how these are out just in case you need them finally we have the pepper grinder because pre ground pepper is just not nearly as spicy and aromatic and delicious of the stuff you're cracking yourself so pick whatever peppercorns you want plop them in here and then make your food tastes much better oh so there's one more kitchen essential and that's right here this is a Pippin and I suggest you get one like him you won't find one exactly the same because he is perfect and singular but if you can get yourself a little sous chef like this guy I highly recommend it good boy [Music]

Channel: Serious Eats

Views: 96,196

Rating: 4.8636098 out of 5

Keywords: Serious Eats, equipment, shopping, cooking, starter kit, new cook, how to cook, how to bake, pans, cutting boards, salad, kenji lopez-alt, ariel kanter, sasha marx, stella parks, bravetart, daniel gritzer, cooking technique, relaxing cooking, best recipe, best equipment, unboxing, kitchen equipment, cooking supplies, best frying pan, best salad spinner, best chef's knife, best sheet pan, best kitchen

Id: tbnPbDVbNHU

Length: 10min 26sec (626 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 16 2019