5 Simple Tools For The Gourmet Home Chef
Are you moving into your very first apartment or home? Do you love to cook but never really learned the basics that a gourmet home chef should know? Maybe you are an old dog at home cooking and very accomplished at it, but you don’t have all the basic tools that a gourmet home chef needs to have a complete kitchen arsensal to be totally prepared to cook for your family and friends in the manner that you would like to? Then take a look at this simple list of seven basic tools that every gourmet home chef should have.
1. Kitchen knives. I know this sounds like a give in but you would be surprised just how many kitchens in home all across America are being run on poor quality knives that will not give you the service or presentation that you are looking for. If you have knives that are of poor quality or you have an incomplete set of knives then it is time to replace the poor quality knives with your best kitchen knives possible. Quality kitchen knives that will last a lifetime of service for you.
2. A saute pan that is either 10 or 12 inches is a necessary part of any home gourmet chef’s kitchen arsenal. The saute pan is probably the most widely used pan in your kitchen. By the way the word saute in French mean “to jump.” It means that you are cooking at a high heat and moving the food around quickly with a spatula, tongs or tossing the food like the cooks do on TV.(just a little quick info for you) It is great pan for fast frying, searing and making rous as well as making killer grilled cheese sandwiches and making omelettes and frittatas. The bigger the saute pan the better.
3. Do you like to cook roasts of different kinds? Do you like to cook large birds? If you do then you will need to have a roasting pan in your kitchen as they are top notch for roasting anything from chickens and turkeys to large roasts and vegetables all in your kitchen oven. A good size standard roasting pan is about 16 to 22 inches which is big enough to a cook a 20 or 30 pound meat roast or turkey. The general pan sizes will vary from 14 to 22 inches long and 8 to 4 inches wide by 5 to 6 inches high. Of course there are electric roasting pans as well that will do the job to the same quality specs as a roasting pan that you put in your oven. It is a matter of choice for you.
4. You will surely need a large pot or stock pot with a strainer or for making soups and boiling water for pasta dishes and it is excellent for making stews and chili. A good stock pot will also let you simmer meats and vegetables for a wide array of recipes. I prefer an 8 to 12 quart pot for my daily chores and recommend those sizes for most kitchens. Stock pots will be stainless steel in most cases with various core options, but there are other forms of stock pots like cast iron with enamel coating and aluminum stock pots. Once again this is a matter of choice.
5. Along with everything else you should have in your kitchen is a good quality kitchen cutting board like a John Boos cutting board because you never want to cut food on surfaces that are not designed to cut food on. If you are cutting and chopping food on surfaces that are not designed for food preparation you are running the risk of food cross contamination and the proliferation of germs and bacteria in your kitchen. A good quality John Boos cutting board will be made of northern hard rock maple wood and will last a lifetime. The best part about this type of cutting board is that they have been found to be more sanitary than most synthetic boards on the market today by the National Sanitary Foundations or NSF. I have had my John Boos cutting board for over 10 years now and they are built to last a lifetime.
As with anything in life the fact is that quality will always cost more, but the performance and lifetime of service that you will get makes it all worth it in the long run. You need to find a happy balance that you can live with. Having the best equipped kitchen you can will make your cooking a real pleasure and impress your family and friends the the amazing meals that you will create. Start growing your kitchen tools collection today and you will be so happy that you did! To learn more about kitchen tools like the best kitchen knives and John Boos cutting boards then please visit: www.mistersharpstuff.com today!
About the Author
I have been self employed for four years now. I became self employed out of necessity after losing my last job in the cutlery business in management. After thirty years I was out of a job and there are not many cutlery business out there and I did not want to travel to another state and start all over again. So, I bit the bullet and became my own boss. I have been making my living on my own terms ever since. I would not go back to the 9 to 5 ever again. I help a small select group of clients build and grow there own websites and blogs and occasionally because of my years in the cutlery biz I do private lessons in self defense. I have loved the last four years and only wish that I had become self employed sooner. Better late than never I guess. If you found the information in this article helpful and you would like to learn more about kitchen knives and kitchen tools then please visit:www.mistersharpstuff.com Today!
Cooking Duck with Chef Rick Tramonto
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