- We gave 100 pounds each to two chefs to kit out a kitchen completely empty except for an oven and a hob. - [Jamie] We're gonna
compare what they both bought and we're gonna get them
to use their new equipment by cooking us up some food - [Mike] Boys, lots of lovely equipment. - Very shiny.
- Yeah, Ebbers, why don't you talk us
through how you shopped and the logic behind it. - So for me it was less about the what and more
about the where first. So I started in charity shops. You're supporting a
charity, which is great, but there is no guarantee
of finding anything of use 'cause they don't carry a set inventory. - [Mike] But it looks
like it's done right. - So I got some interesting stuff. Then I spent a big chunk of my budget on a big piece of wood, two pans, and a tray that
will last a long time. And then I fleshed out
the rest of my budget with bits and pieces that I think you need because you can't get
away with not having them. - Kush, how about you mate? - I made a Excel spreadsheet,
basically a glorified list. Then I walked four and a half kilometres just trying to find the
cheapest of the cheap 'cause I thought let's get
as everything you might need for the first six months to a year. And if you don't use it that's fine. If you use it loads and you break it, buy a new one and get
a better one next time. Lots of this was nearly free. (guys laughing)
- Sounds great. Do you wanna get cooking
and then you can talk us through the individual items
and the purchases and why? - Yep, sounds like a plan. - I'm attempting a one tray wonder, a bake, a sandwich, and a soup. - All to show off and
justify your purchases. - Essentially, yeah like with
minimal, very inexpensive, slightly flexible equipment
(Mike laughing) and correct shopping and sharing you can get away with doing some decent food on a budget.
- Murder, murder. You can get away with murder. - [Jamie] Initially, you've
both gone for knives. - Yes, I went for a set of
six knives with knife covers 'cause I'm assuming if
it's an empty apartment you wouldn't have a knife block and if you buy a knife and
you put it in a drawer, it'll go blunt. So knife, knife cover,
wash it, put it back in, throw it in a drawer, won't go blunt. Or carry it around the house, you know if you wanna
sansugi here or a slicer. - He's so ready. - Never know when a knife comes in handy. - [Mike] There is a reason
they don't let you in airports. - Interesting, you've chosen
to start with the knives 'cause I reckon it might
be one of my only regrets. It was an online purchase
'cause I really wanted was two knives, a small serrated knife, and a larger chef's knife. - It's a six-inch.
- Did you think it was bigger? - It's a six-inch.
- Okay. - Not a six-inch blade.
- Correct. - Oh wow!
- Oh wow! - And the photos are quite deceptive. But really I only wanted
those two and I thought do you know what a little
paring knife is a bonus. But I promise you you'll be able to do 99% of jobs with these two. I've gone for a slightly
different approach to Kush. I'm just doing a simple midweek meal because I figured if you're
starting in a new flat with basic equipment,
less is more when it comes to food as well, but
it doesn't mean we have to hold back on flavour. So this is a beef and
aubergine one tray bake on a pea polenta. - So we're getting a pizza
gnocchi lasagna tray bake on the go with a base of onions and garlic sweating off in some oil. Half of that's gonna go into my lovely little aluminium
walnut handle sauce pan to make Ben's favourite seasonal soup, a bit of water cress,
crisp nuts, and pork belly on a quick fried rice
with a pork belly on top, some stir fried mushrooms. Oh and a southern fried chicken sandwich. - Of course you are.
- Hello. And ballpark figure, how much
did that knife set cost you? - So six knives with their sheets was, if you can believe it, nine pounds, 89. - No way. - But it sounds like you've
both taken the approach to shop around. So at no point does this task feel like it was convenient for either of you. In order to make it stretch
you had to work for it. - Yeah, and I think that
applies to so many things. Cheaper cuts of meat
normally need a bit more time or effort to long slow
cooks and things like that. And I think here, if you're
working to a tighter budget, you do need to be a
little bit more prepared to think around, shop around, not rely on too many delivery costs but actually walk to places
and get them yourself. - Can a poor quality knife
be really detrimental- - To your cooking?
- Yeah. - Yeah, it won't keep its edge, it'll be hard to use, and
you'll find that you're putting in too much effort
to chop your fruit and veg. So if you're putting loads of effort into cutting a
vegetable and you slip, all that effort is going into your finger. Where, if you use a sharp
knife, less effort, little nick. - I decided I was gonna
go big on my board. - Yeah, why is that?
- Yeah. - And this is a pretty good board. It literally locks into the the unit or you can turn it over
and you've got the divots. And I thought that gives
you loads of prep control. So rather than a need for
lots of little bowls and prep, if you're doing lots
of things that need be some prep, you just move
it to corners of the board and you've got lots of space to work with. - [Jamie] What about you, Kush? You've gone for a slightly smaller affair? - I've gone for a slightly smaller board 'cause I'd rather have two or three. 'Cause if I'm gonna cut chicken, I want that chicken to
be on a separate board that I can pick up and scrub in the sink. - My second logic was
buy all of the equipment that it is really difficult to replicate. Weighing is kind of key. So I bought a very,
very cheap set of scales and it'll get me through
the first few months in the kitchen because
for this recipe I need a weight of polenta and a weight of milk. - I on the other hand need to measure some tempura batter for my chicken. And I know that a tub of chicken
stock is 500 millilitres, so I will just fill that up with water and that is 500 millilitres. And then I'll put that through
the dishwasher and keep that and you've got endless storage tubs. - [Jamie] Feel like he's been a bit sneaky with some of his ingredients. - [Kush] What did you
season your mix with? - [Ben] Just salt. - Salt
- Any pepper? - [Ben] Oregano, tomato paste honey. - No pepper.
- No pepper. - [Kush] No black pepper. - I bought peppercorns in a mill 'cause it's an ingredient but
it comes the mill for free. - I think he's thought about
this a lot more than you did. - Yeah. - I'm gonna be honest, I walked out with a few things
under my arm this morning. - So let's talk pans. Kush, what was your approach? Did you go expensive stuff that last? Did you go variety? - So I went as cheap as
possible for the pan. Now all I'm gonna do is boil stuff in it. It's got a heat-proof handle
and it'll boil liquids quickly. - And you'll only ever boil stuff in it? - Yes, because I also bought
a slightly heavier based, non-stick stock pot casserole
style dish for stews, slow cooks, quick ragus like this that I'm gonna pour over
gnocchi and put into the oven. And then I spent the most money on pans on a relatively heavy but not oven-safe, non-stick frying pan. Non-stick pans are cheaper
because the consumers want them so they flood the market
with non-stick pans. So the not non-stick, the
stainless steel equivalent of that is four times the price. - Two approaches to pans. One, I walked into the charity shops first and I thought, if there's
any pans, rule of thumb, more durable items, they
tend to be older items that have probably been handed down through a generation or have come from- - Old people who died.
- Dead people's flats. - [Jamie] Yes, there you go. - So I picked up a small
sauce pan with a lid. Perfect for two portions of
anything you're cooking midweek. And I've gone for the non-stick because that's not something
I would get searingly hot. But it's good for scrambled eggs, it is good for wet and watery things. And then I went for a big
thing, a 3-6-5 pan from Ikea. Big fan of this range. So big in fact that it's the
pans that we started using on the channel 13 years ago.
- 13 years ago. - Nothing ever sticks to it. If it does you can scrub it. It's durable, it'll go in the oven. And I spent 15% of my budget on it. - I use a whole block of mozzarella. - He's taken this brief
so differently to Ebbers. - Yeah.
- So I'm laying my mozzarella on my toasted ciabatta, slow toasted. - Right, back to pans, I also went for one big
frying pan, oven proof. And when I pick a pan, I
like a pan with a side edge because then you can saute in it better. And because it's oven proof
you can also do all sorts of bakes and things in that too. - So I wanted the stick blender that had the little food
chopper attachment on the bottom 'cause I use one of those
at home every time I cook. I ordered it, it didn't turn up, so I had to run out
earlier and buy this one. It's the same price but
without the little choppy part. That would've done all of my chopping on my spring onions, my
garlic, everything else. - Where are you gonna use this now? - I'm gonna make mayonnaise with it and I'm gonna blend the soup with it. So I'm making tempura batter. I've weighed my 500 millilitres of liquid 'cause it says 500 on the side of it. - So what's that, sparkling water? - No, just London tap water. I got some tempera mix. I bought a whisk. - Oh interesting. We've had lots of
conversations about whisks. - The kind of things that
you might need a whisk for, you can probably get
away with like a fork, unless you're doing things like
whipping cream or meringues. And if you're looking at trying to make like lump-free sauces, change the method and use a wooden spoon. Never had lumpy bechamel. You don't need a whisk for it. - Ebbers, it looks
like you got a box grater. - I couldn't afford the whole box- - [Mike] It's got a fork. - So I just-
- One quarter of a box grater. - I just got a quarter of a box grater. So I think this is a
perhaps better example of something that is difficult
to find an alternative for. You could just peel and then
chop and get things smaller. But for me, spending money
on this means I can get finely grated Parmesan,
chunkier grated cheese, and it does potato slices,
mottled or otherwise, very similar.
- Oh, look. - [Mike] Oh look at this. Okay, we found one that they've agreed on. Got some chicken thighs,
togarashi, sweet soy sauce. And I'm just using the
tray that it came in 'cause I couldn't afford
them another mixing bowl. - I was thinking I probably need some form of mixing bowl in my equipment. That said, if you're just
cooking for small groups cereal bowls, which you've already said you probably have crockery,
are perfectly okay. But then I walked into the charity shop and they had six bolty
dishes for four quid. And I thought, do you know what- - (laughing) Brilliant, serving dishes. - Serving dishes, small mixing bowls, they can go in the oven
and get really hot, you could cook on a hob with
them and heat things up. So they're kind of more versatile and I thought they were
an absolute bargain at six for four pounds. Another example, that's quite difficult, if you do want to peel things, yes you can do it with a paring knife. I got given one of those
as my set of three. But you need quite a lot of patience, you have to be quite careful,
and a little bit expertise to get that right. One of those things I
think you almost can't live without is a peeler. You will use it for so
many different things. - Charred my pork belly up
or you know, roasted it. Got some fat out of it,
glazed it with oyster sauce, sweet soy, Szechuan
peppercorn powder, five spice, as you would. Then into the same pig fat
gone with crispy garlic, some pre-cooked short grain rice from the Korean supermarket,
some patchoi, bamboo shoots, a whole load of pre-roasted
and pickled chilies that I, no, not chilies, mushrooms, that I think are amazing,
pickled mushrooms. And just all deliciousness and that'll now just, that's ready. I'm making garlic mayo. So we've seen this before,
the pull through method. - Out of everything that
the two of you have bought- - Yes.
- Is there any place that you feel like you're making do? - This and this follow
the same two logics, which is 90% of the tins we
buy now have ring pull on it. So actually you probably don't need one. But on the occasion you
get a tin that hasn't, you absolutely need one.
- Yeah. - So what I've gone for is
you can't live without one but you don't need to spend much money because you so rarely
use it, you'll make do. - We've found a regret
purchase on the peeler. - Oh no.
- Oh! - [Kush] No, it's a serrated- I'm gonna grate my carrot instead. - We need to tell Kush that
all of his hobs are on? - Yeah, so I'm balancing the oil across these two 'cause
they've got a bit hot, so I culled it out with more oil. That is staying hot for a
fried egg later to top the rice 'cause everyone likes a fried egg. - So imagine you've just
moved into a new flat and you haven't got much equipment and somebody buys you a
nice housewarming gift. A bottle of wine, it's got a cork. You need to be able to get into it even with a really cheap,
this is really rubbish. (hosts laughing)
Really cheap, nice cork screw. - And is that called a
waiter's friend that? - No, this would be a waiter's nightmare. - [Jamie] Right. - This is called a waiter's friend and I would suggest one of those. - Right, you've both got
a selection of spoons, different materials. Talk us through your logic, Kush. - Because I bought two non-stick pans, I didn't want any metal
utensils, so I didn't buy any. I managed to get four bamboo
spoon style implements in a piece of bamboo with drainage holes. - Oh, hello?
- For two pounds. Hmm.
- Two pound 50. - Was it two pound 50? - Yeah, I saw your label earlier. I thought that's a bargain because I spent about that on each one. - What are the limitations
or positive things of bamboo? - Positives, bamboo is
really quick growing, so it's a sustainable wood, in effect. You can whittle it into
many different shapes. It's quite nice to hold,
it's quite easy to clean. It's really cheap. I'm gonna deep fry some chicken but I don't have my
trusty temperature probe. So how do I know the oil is hot enough? - Put a wooden spoon in it. - Put a little wooden spoon in it- - If it bubbles.
- If it bubbles, it's ready. - I've got a very cheap
metal, large spoon, a serving spoon. A slotted spoon, which is really good if you're doing things like
poached eggs and stuff. Again, more difficult to do
it without a slotted spoon. In buying that I got
given one of those free. I'll probably never use it,
it came as a set of three. - Why would you not use the spatula? - I use that all the time.
- Yeah. - I just find them fiddly,
which is why I prefer tongs. So I definitely bought a pair of tongs. Make sure that they've got
really good purchase at the end 'cause essentially that
is your opposing thumb. And finally, a wooden spoon,
which is my cheapest purchase of all and will last for a decade. - I've done all of my chopping, so I'm now using my chopping
board as a tray slash mat. And I bought this.
- What? - So that is a drainer. We call 'em spiders in kitchens. - I've never felt the need
for one of those at home. - It was so inexpensive and I knew that I wanted
to do some deep frying, it was a no-brainer. Ah, I'm gonna use this colander as a bowl. And I've run outta my chopping board, so I'm gonna use this really sharp knife to cut my tomatoes in half. I said we got fried chicken mayo. Should we go Italian? - Well, is it, why not? Let's start. - Oh, basil and tomatoes. I've just changed the dish. So we've got- - See when I do this, I just, I get people shouting at me. - You change the dish for the worst. - I weighed my polenta
out into my bucket bowl and now I'm stirring it
into my garlic-infused milk on the basis that I haven't got a whisk and this will do. It'll end up lump free. - I'm so, I really tried
to listen to that then. But Kush has just served
up a loaf of bread with chicken in it. - That's a chicken sandwich?.
- It is. - That is a gnocchi pizza lasagna. I'm gonna utilise this
fried onion container as a mixing bowl 'cause
I've run outta mixing bowls. Bit of red wine, black pepper, some salt, and then I'll mixy mixy and
slap it on top with some basil. - Another advantage of
big chopping boards is the ability in kitchens to
put hot things down on them. Personally, I hate
plastic chopping boards. I think they damage knives,
they're not great and to use, and not very comfortable to use. But also you can't put hot things on them. So a big chopping board, wooden one, doubles up as a heat stand as well. So I heated up some milk in
my pan, infused with garlic, quickly cooked polenta in it,
finished off with Parmesan, and then peas went in frozen
so they're just defrosted. So you've got kind of pea
fleck all the way through it. And then I'm gonna serve
that with this oregano and tomato, beef aubergine,
and spring onion mix on top, and a dollop of yoghourt. - Oh, lovely.
- I don't want any food waste and I wanna bring a bit of more
freshness back to this dish, so I'm utilising the rest of the pickles, some raw bean sprouts in,
and some sweet soy sauce. - So in terms of baking
trays or roasting tins, I deliberately bought one deep one because you can slow cook
and stew things in it as well but it's also really sturdy and durable. But I then also did buy
one flat baking tray for grilling things, roasting vegetables where you want larger surface area. And that was cheaper, but
it's still strong enough that it's not like
gonna fold in on itself. So it's enough. - We're gonna reveal what
each of these guys spent from their 100 pound
budget at the very end and I'm buzzing for that. How did you find working with
a 100 pound budget, honestly? - A little bit of jiggery pokery. So there are places
where we've cut corners but you're thinking
within a budget for today all of this stuff works. It's remarkable how much you can cook with a chopping board
and knife and one pan. You don't need to start out with 17 items. - How about you Kush? Did you find it frustrating? Did you find it liberating? - I would've preferred less money which would've then focused my
path down one area with food. I would've bought like four
things and cooked one dish. - Is everyone done? - Yep.
- I think so. - Wow, what a great video. There is some amazing food to tuck into. And while we do, so why don't
we talk about your summary of thoughts and find
out your final prices. - Yep.
(rock 'n roll music) Right, let's get in here. - Oh, that's fantastic.
- Mm. - It's unnecessary.
- Mm. - But it doesn't mean it's wrong. - No, no. That is my approach to food as well. - That is phenomenal. As an exercise, I mean,
that was fascinating for us to stand on the side. But have you drawn any sort of conclusions from the challenge and perhaps some advice that you think or some
rules that you could pass on to people watching when
it comes to buying equipment? For me, if you've got 100
pounds, go out, spend 50, test the stuff, go back, spend
another 10 if you need to. - Mine was more about the
order of where I shop first. So starting in charity shops you might find some hidden
gems that are really cheap and useful. Secondly, I spent a big
chunk in Ikea on stuff I knew will last. - And that equipment that you bought, how long do you reckon that
will generally last you? - It depends how you cook,
how often do you cook. - And how you look after
it when you do cook. - Yeah, what you cook as well. - Question on my lips, I don't
know about your lips, Jay, how much did each of you spend in total? - 99 pounds and 73 pence. - Oh, fantastic. Kush?
- 99 pounds and 63 pence. - Oh! - So you maximised your budget. - Yeah. - And I think you're right, in hindsight, there might have been one or
two changes here or there, but on the whole, some
pretty sound choices. - Well, this has been a lot of fun. Hope you've enjoyed it. It's over to you. In the comments down below let us know what is the number one thing in your kitchen that
you cannot live without. - And if you'd like us to
do this again with our chefs but with a different budget,
give the video a like, and let us know in the comments.
I like that Ben pointed out all that you need is a chef's knife, a cutting board, and a pan to do most cooking, then little fiddly bits.
Some brilliant ideas here if you need to purchase some kitchen equipment any time soon. Liked the tip of thinking of charity shops. Always forget how much useful items you can find there for absolute bargain prices.
An absolute brilliant video that, perfect tone, good information, entertaining whilst still being a bit of a lesson, plus very relatable to everyone with the budget
Saw Kush use raw beansprounts , isnt there a rink of salmonella or was that a risk that has "bean" and gone??
Would love to know as i used to love having them on my desk as a healthy snack
Great educational video. More of this please!
This is edutainment at its finest. Fun video to watch while learning how to stretch your money with kitchen equipment.
Kush has so much nervous energy. He's adorable but really needs to just take a deep breath and relax. It feels like he's too worried about us liking him but the truth is, we already do and he's great! So him taking his time a bit more and being himself is all we need