Small Equipment

In the first article we went through the large appliances needed when cooking in the kitchen today we will look at the smaller ones and run through the basic culinary equipment.

First of all lets get the small appliances out of the way starting with.

The Kettle As you know a kettle is needed when it comes to getting boiled water, when looking to purchase a kettle it is a good idea to get a cordless version, one that has a separate base so that you don’t have the cord knocking over your ingrediants. As well try to get one that has a cord that wraps within the base to reduce the amount of cord on your work surface, screwing the base down can also improve the safety in your kitchen.

The Toaster When purchasing a toaster it is wise to make sure that the slots where you place the bread are wide enough for thicker slices such as crusty bread, it would also be benificial if you had more than two slots and a good set of controls to make sure your bread is browned nicely.

The Waffle maker If you love waffles get a waffle iron, this is the easy to make waffles. Some appliances can perform both the making of waffles and toasties which make perfect snacks.

Mixer/Electric whisk you can choose between either a small hand held Mixer to a stand alone appliance both with extra attatchments. These will be usefull when whisking the egg whites and creaming certain mixtures.

The Blender Can come as a single stand alone appliance or an attatchement can be used for the stand alone Mixer, if you purchase the hand held mixer then make sure to buy a blender. This can be used to make bread crumbs, crush nuts, and even make puree.

The deep fat fryer These are a lot cleaner and easier to use than a deep frying pan. These come with a frying basket used to easily place ingrediants into the fryer. With the deep fat fryer you can make things as simple as chips to such things as fruit or other filled fritters.

The slow Cooker This is a pot used for cooking as the name implies slowly. The pot is self heating and uses very little power, it should be used to cook food over a long period of time, such things as stews, savory items and even rice pudding. The slow cooker can even be used to poach apples and even keep their shape.

The Pressure Cooker This is a pot used with a normal oven on the hob, you can also buy a version that works in the microwave. THis is a brief explanation as to how a pressure cooker works. When the atmosheric pressure is higher it takes longer for water to boiler meaning that the water has to get hotter before it evaporates, this of course means that inside the pressure cooker the water is hotter than the usual 100 degrees it takes to evaporate causing the food to be cooked alot faster. Make sure for safety that you check the weight limit on the pressure cooker and to let the steam out slowly at the end of cooking before removing the lid.

When going through recipes in the future articles i will explain any other equipment needed, but for now I will list the basic tools that you will need.

Pots and Pans Try to get some good quality pots, cheap ones wont last for long and can possibly ruin future meals aswell. Try to get ones with a non-stick covering, this will help when frying anything in a pan aswell as keeping them clean. Make sure you buy a range of sizes for different sizes for both larger pieces of meat for boiling and if you’re just serving a large selection of people. A good choice would be to get stainless steel equipment.

Bowls Try to get a few bowls so that you can mix ingrediants easily without having to use any of the pots. You can use the plastic variety if you check to see if they are heat proof otherwise you’ll find your bowls melted and your ingrediants ruined. Glass bowls are the best to use they are heatproof and can be used in ovens and placed over poets of boiling water.

Basins This is where you’re going to be washing whether it be after the meal has ended or when you are washing off the potatoes. If would be a good idea to get a double basin to keep washing items seperate for health precautions.

Over Proof Dishes and Moulds These are dishes you’ll be needing to either cook your pies in the oven or baking cakes. It looks nice to serve such pies in a decorative dish when entertaining guests so take some time to consider getting at least one nice looking one. The moulds are useful for shaping desserts, here’s a list of a few shapes.

Bomb Mould
Coeur a la Creme Mould
Dariole Mould

Measuring Spoons and Jugs These are things that you will definatly need when cooking, when you purchase the measuring spoon or jugs make sure they comply with the british standard measurements, these will be the ones used in future articles.

There are so many more pieces of equipment to help when preparing and cooking food so be sure to make note of any new equipment that will be mentioned.