Kitchen tools checklist – part 1

Our guide to what you need to succeed!

In this first post, our chef Josh shares his thoughts on the best knives, pans and spice crushers that you can use to help improve your cooking – enjoy!

Knives

One well suited, versatile knife, looked after, will serve you much better than a whole set of specialist blades. When choosing a knife consider how comfortable you are with its weight and size. We recommend a medium to semi-large chef’s knife as a good all purpose home kitchen option. Small knives will struggle to chop more hardy vegetables, and a larger heavier knife can be a little cumbersome and tiring if you are not used to them.

Pans

One or two medium sized saucepans will see you through most dishes in our Cooking and Nutrition Portal. Every cuisine in the world makes use of pan frying, and so it’s worth finding one you can use over and over for different sized dishes. We recommend opting for a sided pan with a lid which can be used for sauces, soups, pasta and rice well as frying vegetables.

Spice mixers

For the strongest flavours, grinding spices fresh with a pestle and mortar is usually best. One made out of stone will work just as well as other more expensive (granite) options, and can be found relatively easy and at minimal cost. Once bought, they will last a lifetime and they can really help bring your dishes to life! If you don’t have a pestle and mortar, you can mix together pre-ground herbs in a bowl with a teaspoon instead.