The Bare Neccesities: Essential Cooking Tools

It's your first college apartment, and you've walked into your kitchen and you realize all you have is some paper plates and maybe some silverware you *ahem* appropriated. Sure, you've got your mom's old microwave (or maybe a nice new one), but all there is in the fridge is an assorted stack of take out containers. "Are those microwaveable?" you wonder to yourself.


For the first time, your budget is your responsibility. If you want to have more money for beer, or whatever, the best way to save money is to eat in instead of out. So your first investment should be some basic kitchen utensils. Most of the things I'm about to list could be found on a low rent budget at second hand stores or dollar stores, except maybe the knife.


1. A decent sharp medium sized chef knife. Now there are hundreds of different knives out there. But, you can accomplish most jobs in the kitchen with this knife, which makes it an excellent knife to start your collection off with. Depending on your budget, I would look for one that allows you to make a rocking motion with the blade on the table without crushing your fingers between the grip and the table. Also look for one that is "full tang", meaning the metal in the knife runs from the tip of the knifepoint to the far end of the handle. (To go along with that knife you might want a cutting board, but I'll leave that up to you and your counters. I prefer hard wood, but the plastic ones are ok too.)


2. Some pots and pans, specifically a frying pan, a sauce pan and a stock pot. (A what?) The frying pan is the wide shallow one, a sauce pan is deep and holds about 2 quarts, and the stock pot is that big pot you cook pasta in. I could make all kinds of recommendations here as to materials etc, but in general thicker is better because it will cook more evenly. For more detailed advice try this post on the only three pots and pans you'll ever need.


3. A wooden spoon, and a plastic spatula. I found my favorite plastic spatula at the dollar store. You can usually find sets of three wooden spoons there too. These are essential for being able to move your food around in those pots and pans you just got. I recommend plastic and wood because they are less likely to scratch the surface of your spiffy new pots and pans, especially if you got teflon.


Some other things you might want handy in the kitchen would be an oven mitt (an old t-shirt folded up or a towel will work). A towel for mopping up messes (See the oven mitt). NOTE: you never want to grab something hot with a damp towel. The moisture on the towel could turn to steam and burn you - I've seen it, don't do it, please.