Modern kitchens are also filled with two basic types of kitchenware; cookware, meaning pots, pans, and cooking plates, and kitchen utensils, such as kitchen knives and stirring spoons. Many different kinds of cookware are used around the world, but the most common include cooking pots, pans, frying pans, and wok pans. Cookware that is used only in the oven is called ovenware and includes metal baking sheets, cake tins and baking sheets as well as heat-resistant ceramic or glass casseroles, pie pans and other heat-resistant cooking dishes.
Common kitchen utensils in most homes include a set of very sharp kitchen knives, some wooden stirring spoons, a spatula, a grater, a soup spoon, a vegetable peeler, and a pair of kitchen tongs. Other items in the kitchen include cutting boards, measuring cups, mixing bowls, colanders, cooking timers, oven mitts or gloves, tea towels or dishcloths, etc.
Here are 6 basic kitchen items you need to cook at home.
Basic Utensils
I’ve been using partially melted tablespoon quantities for about five years now, which means that everything I bake during that time may have the wrong amount of the base ingredient. Meanwhile, these Kitchenaid measuring spoons are actually $6! Likewise, I’ve been using the same disfiguring spatula since I moved to New York in 2013. After four apartments and eight roommates, I was long overdue for an upgrade.
Baking Basics
Like many others, I spent the first few weeks of quarantine baking increasingly sophisticated cakes, breads, cookies, and muffins. While my output has slowed considerably since the early days, I don’t regret investing in some basic tools. If anything, their presence in my cupboards motivates me to bake more often than I did before the pandemic.
Sustainable food storage
More cooking means more leftovers, which in turn means more food storage. After flying through single-use plastic bags, I bought these reusable silicone replacements, as well as these simple Anyday bowls, which double as a cutlery and storage container.
Grownup Serveware
Having spent most of my 20s eating in bed and eating while watching Netflix (or worse, rolling my phone by the sink), I never imagined that one day I might be the kind of inviting guest People having dinner together. Now that I finally have room for a dining table (it’s the little thing!) I find myself cooking for friends at home and needing utensils that aren’t paper or plastic.
Aesthetic indulgence
Now that cooking takes up more of my time, I’m starting to treat my kitchen less like an afterthought and more like the rest of my living space. That means thinking carefully about the items I use every day—especially those that aren’t always tucked away in drawers or cabinets.