You can have my KitchenAid stand mixer when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands.
Spring loaded tongs. Seriously, I don’t know how people cooked before they were invented. Hell, they weren’t even all that popular for home cooks to have until a few years ago. Only really serious home cooks or professional chefs seemed to have them back then.
Chef’s knife - I actually have three and they all work well, one really hefty Henckel’s and two inexpensive stamped ones from Target (bought for carcamping trips) that work surprisingly well.
Braun immersion blender - perfect for blending soups in the pot, tomatoes in the can, making milkshakes, etc. $25 years ago and still works great.
I will add my Vote to a GOOD set of knives, I have one Hinkle (well 2 but the little pissant one is good for just about nothing, including self defense) chefs type with the straight edge and one I cant remember the brand Serated both are the never need sharpening and both work friggin wonders.
cutting board cause I knife aint worth squat without one.
big ass frying pan…no bigger than that, no EVEN BIGGER THAN THAT. got one at costco, the thing is so damn big I can in all seriousness use 2 burners with no problems on a standard stove top.
crockpot/slow cooker.
other than that I would have to say the stove and the fridge but I would imagine that goes without saying.
I couldn’t get along without my rice cooker. We use it at least three times a week, sometimes more.
I’m currently reading Gear For Your Kitchen, by AB, and there’s a lot of crap in most people’s kitchen! Mine too, but I have to honestly say that I use most of it at least twice a year.
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Stuff I would save from a (slow moving) fire (after my kids and photo albums):*
My 5 quart sautee pan with lid. I cook most of our “1-pot” meals for four in it.
My knives. They weren’t expensive, but they’re damn good and perfectly balanced for my hand.
Flexible cutting mats. So much lighter and easier to clean and store than heavy solid cutting boards. And, yes, to mollify the food police, they’re color coded for meats and veg. Plus I like how I can chop a huge mess o’ onions on the counter, and just roll the mat up and walk it over to the cooktop, instead of chasing falling onions everywhere.
Reynolds Release aluminum foil. I get away with cheap crap-ass cookie sheets 'cause I line everything with this stuff. No cleanup, no stick. I feel a little guilty about that whole disposable part, but sometimes a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s got to do.
My pasta pot. Actually, I need another one, but I’ll get fundamentally the same one again. It’s one of those with the locking perforated lid to strain. Yep, As Seen On TV. Best damn invention since the egg slicer. Speaking of…
The egg slicer. Not one of those wimpy wire ones, but with actual blades. Not only does it slice eggs for egg salad, but it does mushrooms and strawberries in seconds. It claims to do tomatoes, as well, but it only really works on the store bought monstrosities.
**My Alton Brown salt cellar. **Yes, I got it 'cause I’m a rabid fangirl. But I actually love it. Before, I was using a sugar dish, which required two hands and gunk got into my salt and this is so much better.
Things I like a lot and I’m glad I have them, but don’t get used that often:
Kitchen-Aid stand mixer. I have my great-great grandmother’s, the K5-A model. Still works fine.
The food processor. It lives in the top cabinet and comes out maybe twice a year.
**The immersion blender. **I use it mostly for making herbal cough syrup, 'cause slippery elm is a bitch to blend! I often forget I have it, though.
**The Vita-Mix. **It sees a lot more action in the summer. Time to dig it out and start making daily smoothies!
Stuff that I don’t have but a certain to remain nameless cooking host on the Food Network has convinced me I need to get:
A salad spinner. Okay, it just looks fun. Plus, I have to admit I don’t wash salad greens, and I probably should.
**Electric knife. **Not just for roasts, but I love how he uses his electric knife to cut inverted pies so quickly and neatly. And it would really help my meatloaf, which tends to fall apart when looked at crossly, nevermind pressing into it with a regular knife.
A sleeve-style measuring cup. I like the idea of measuring everything into one cup, instead of measure dump measure dump measure dump.
Stuff that other people say is valuable that I’ve gotten along without just fine:
Garlic press. Seriously, how are these things “efficient”? I lose half the clove to the little holes. Whereas a sharp smack with the side of a good French chef knife presses the garlic to smithereens. If I really need it smaller (very rare, garlic tends to melt anyway when exposed to heat), then a few chops does the trick.
Rice cooker. Rice has got to be the single easiest food to cook on the stovetop. Unless I was of an ethnicity that did rice for two or more meals a day in tropical heat, I don’t see the benefit to a rice cooker.
**Double boiler. **I just use a metal mixing bowl set onto a pot of simmering water.
My big skillet. Big, heavy, high-walled, perfect for countless cooking tasks. I’ve never found another like it. I use it for tacos, stir-fry, rice, sloppy joes, fish, shrimp, grilled cheese sandwiches…hell, just about anything.
My wife often says that she married me for my skillet.
My Victorinox knife and my Braun mixer.
Preach it!
I may have to borrow that idea of a traveling knife. Hubby’s sister is a good cook, but has crappy knives. So dull that you can’t slice a non-ripe tomato with them.
I don’t mind helping, but I dread using her knives.
As far as kitchen equipment goes, I get along fine without any eletric gadgets except a toaster, blender, hand mixer, and mini-chopper. I don’t use any of those very often, but they’re the best things for the jobs they do.
Knives, skillets, bowls, saucepans, stock pot. Those are the essentials for me.
My KitchenAid [del]cement[/del] stand mixer
Cheap Microwave (how did I survive without a “reheat” button before?)
and my Electric Steamer