Every kitchen out there, whether it be for the home chef or the five-star restaurant needs dedicated kitchen tools. Kitchen tools are essential for preparing and cooking quality food, this is why everybody who has a kitchen needs them. Tools empower the chef to create their dishes at the highest level and make it a far quicker and efficient process with less hassle. To help you out with your kitchen, we have put together a list of ten essential tools every kitchen needs. It doesn’t matter what your cooking ability is, these tools help everyone in the kitchen.
- Knives
Kitchen knives are a chef’s best friend when it comes to cooking meals. Knives allow the cutting of ingredients such as fruits and vegetables, along with general items such as bread. Knives make the preparing process for meals a lot easier and faster for everyone. With enough practice and skill, chopping ingredients can be done at rapid speed, further shortening the prep time. When it comes to knives for cutting, sharp is always better. Knives that do not slice well will make the chopping and overall prep process sluggish and tiresome. It is much harder to chop successfully with them and they cause more injuries over sharp knives. Sharp knives are without a doubt the best pick and they will make everything so much better.
- Peelers
Peelers (also known as vegetable or kitchen peelers) are essential if working with vegetables and in some cases fruit as well. Kitchen peelers allow the user to peel the skin off vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. It can also be used for fruits such as apples and pears. Peelers are important as many recipes and dishes require your ingredients to be prepped. Of course you can do the same thing with a conventional knife but it is far less efficient and time saving. Kitchen peelers only peel off the skin while using a knife can take off some of the vegetable/fruit as well. It also takes a lot longer with a knife and the results are never as good. This is why kitchen peelers are essential for every kitchen. They are cheap and affordable as well so there is no reason not to have this in your kitchen.
- Can Opener
Everybody has cans in their fridge and cabinets, however without a can opener they can be insanely difficult to open. Canning is used to preserve foods so they need to be air tight and sealed vigorously, this is why a can opener is needed. Can openers allow you to easily open cans and make the whole process a breeze. Without a can opener, opening a can requires a few creative ideas which can be dangerous. One method is using a knife, which can make opening the can take an eternity as well as posing a serious risk to the user. Can openers are safe, easy to use, and can be picked up at any department store.
- Colander
Colanders (also known as strainers) are essential for working with foods cooked in water and many other things. Colanders are bowls with small holes in them so that when food in water is put into them, the water falls out while the food remains. These are great for things like pasta. Since pasta is cooked in water, separating the two of them can be a pain. A lot of the time without a colander, it ends in pasta falling out onto the ground and getting wasted. A colander solves this problem and makes this process far easier and faster for all foods. Colanders come in a range of colours and varieties and can be picked up at a low price.
- Cutting boards
If you are using knives in the kitchen, which you most certainly will be, cutting board are an absolute necessity to have. Cutting boards provide a strong and secure surface to cut and prepare food on. Doing this process without a cutting board and on a countertop can damage and scratch it. Cutting boards allow cutting to be done neatly and they do not leave your benchtop scratched up. Cutting boards can be wooden or plastic with each having their own strengths and weaknesses. Cutting boards can easily be found for a cheap price and they are without a doubt essential for you and your kitchen.
- Cleaning towels and cloths
It doesn’t matter whether you are an amateur or a pro, spills and messes are naturally going to happen no matter what. This is when cleaning towels and cloths come in hand. Cleaning towels allow messes, especially liquid spills, to be cleaned up quickly and easily. Cleaning towels and cloths should be kept in a place that is easy to reach in the kitchen so that messes can be cleaned up right after they happen to prevent an even bigger mess. They can also be used for cleaning and drying dishes afterwards. Cleaning towels and cloths can be found pretty much anywhere for a low price and can last a long time.
- Measuring cups and spoons
When following a recipe, it is essential to have measuring cups and spoons. Recipes generally ask for precise measurements like half a cup, one third of a cup, half a teaspoon, or three tablespoons. This is where measuring cups and spoons come in hand. Measuring cups allow precise measurements of ingredients like flour to be incorporated into your dishes. Of course, you can guess but this can severely ruin dishes and make them taste terrible. Measuring spoons are great for measuring small amounts of ingredients like vanilla extract and baking soda. Overall, you definitely need measuring cups and spoons in your kitchen as it makes measurements much more accurate and allows the final product to be more like the recipe.
- Scales
Kitchen scales are another form of measuring equipment in the kitchen that help and assist in making precise measurements. Scales are used predominantly for measuring things in grams and kilograms instead of cups and spoons. They are useful for ingredients such as butter which cannot conventionally fit in cups. While most recipes use cups and spoons, scales are still sometimes used and can be used for general use as well. Small kitchen scales can be found at kitchen stores and other similar shops.
- Bowls
Kitchen bowls are essential for mixing ingredients and foods together such as salad. Kitchen bowls are much larger than normal bowls which means more food can be prepared in them. They are great for making cakes and baking goods as such items require mixing and usually require large bowls. Having dedicated cooking bowls makes the process much easier and cleaner than using bowls that you eat from. Kitchen bowls can be found at kitchen and department stores all across the globe and are well worth buying.
- Graters
A grater is a ‘grate’ kitchen tool that helps save you time and makes preparing food a whole lot easier. They are designed to grate food quickly and in perfect even strips. It is much faster than purely using a knife and is a lot more consistent as well. There are generally four grating options on a grater for a variety of different foods. Graters can be used for grating vegetables, fruits, cheese, and pretty much anything that is not too solid. Graters are absolutely a kitchen essential as they save you so much time and create a much better result than using a knife. They are low cost and a necessity in every kitchen.
Overall, there are tools that every kitchen needs and this list has covered ten of those. By having these tools in your kitchen, cooking and preparing food is made far easier and more efficiently. You will find yourself cooking food in no time and producing great meals that everyone loves, all thanks to a few useful tools.
