Five simple things the pros use that you should get for your home kitchen
Cost-effective, durable, and versatile equipment that will make a difference!
You don’t need large fancy gadgets and hundreds of dollars to pimp out your kitchen. These simple staples will make prep and cooking significantly easier for less than $75. They take up minimal space on your counter or kitchen drawers, are easy to clean, and parchment paper aside, they’ll last for a long time!
Sheet Trays
I love sheet trays for mise-en-place. They are sturdy, allow you to group several ingredients on one tray for better visibility, and significantly reduce the clutter on your countertop. Imagine having just one or two trays of mise-en-place instead of six or seven smaller sized bowls — exactly, it’s a no brainer. They also double up as oven trays for smaller bakes or melting lots of cheese on an open-faced sandwich!
Microplane
Ever need to mince garlic & ginger quickly, zest a little bit of citrus into a sauce fruit, or perhaps grate whole spices directly into the pan? Or maybe you’ve always wanted to finish a savory dish with grated cheese or cakes and ice cream with chocolate shavings? The Microplane handles all those tasks with precision. They are easy to clean, take up virtually no space, and stay sharp for ages! With a range of colors (I like purple), you can even have it match your kitchen sets or personality!
Stainless Steel Skimmer
Ever had a sauce or curry with pools of fat on the surface that make for unpleasant eating and viewing? How about that moment when you’re trying to remove blanched vegetables from hot water or deep-fried food from hot oil, and you spill plenty of liquid while trying to remove the ingredients? Yup, been there done that.
A stainless steel skimmer does all that with minimal fuss. The next time you need to remove poached eggs from the water bath so that you can pop them onto your English muffins for eggs benedict, you’ll reach for this. You can find these skimmers in any East Asian grocery store, but my favorite is the one from Muji! Easy to maneuver because of the handle's angle, easy to clean, and fits in a knife bag or kitchen drawer with no fuss!
Ring Cutters
Want perfectly round pieces of potatoes for chips or gratin, circles of pastry for your flatbreads or quiches? Maybe you’ve wanted to plate like a professional but can never get a perfectly circular portion of spinach? Get one set of these round cutter, and you’ll use them for more than you can currently think of! From cutting out tiny circles of radish or other crunchy vegetables for taco night to cutting crescent moon shape bits of puff pastry or cookies, you’ll use them so much that your friends will watch you and get a set too.
Parchment / Baking Paper
Sounds simple enough, right? Use baking paper to make cartouches. If you don’t know what a cartouche is — here is a video on how to make one. It’s origami practice and also helps you in the kitchen! Cartouches keep moisture in the pan for glazing vegetables, prevent sauces from burning when cooking braised dishes in the oven, and placing on your stainless steel pans to make them “non-stick” if you need to crisp up the skin side of delicate fish!
Like any other chef, I enjoy looking at displays in kitchen stores like Williams & Sonoma and imagining how I’d lay out my kitchen when I win the lottery. But then I snap back to reality and make sure that every piece of equipment I buy is practical, efficient, sturdy, and offers the best bang for buck.
So if you want to add tools that professionals use to make a massive difference in your cooking for a relatively affordable price, add these, and you’ll feel like Colette from Ratatouille — an absolute boss in the kitchen.
