Finding My Favorite Gear

People often ask about my favorite kitchen gear. First of all, I always approach it with some level of practicality, balancing quality with cost. Secondly, I only keep what I can use. If a piece fails to make the cut, it finds a new home, while my favorites become dependable old friends.

In fact, I rely on my favorite gear so much it has to go with me on extended travel. I sometimes dedicate an entire suitcase to my favorite gear in lieu of extra clothes. When going through airport security, I can tell you that airport security often leans into the x-ray screen with squinted eyes before selecting my bag for further inspection. I’ve learned to get to the airport early.

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Associates Program Disclosure

As you have noticed, I do not clutter my site with advertising. I do, however, participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. These products do not cost you any extra; however, I may earn a small commission on your purchase. Please know that I only use affiliate links for products that I enjoy using. If my exact favorite item isn’t unavailable, I link to something similar.

I hope this list of links helps you find all the great gear you need for your kitchen, wherever you do your shopping!

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And Now the List

Baking Dishes: 8-inch square (2-quart), 9×13-inch rectangle (4-quart), 8-inch round (2-quart)

Baking dishes are not as conductive as metal, cooking custards and quiches more gently around the edges. They are also nonreactive, which makes it an excellent choice for recipes containing acidic ingredients such as tomatoes, lemons, or limes.

Bowls: 1-cup,1-quart, 3-quart, 5-quart (part of a larger set)

These stainless steel bowls are versatile. You can toss a salad, cover resting bread dough, or even devise an impromptu double boiler. Stainless steel is nonreactive, which means it will not alter the color or taste of acidic ingredients.

Bowls, Tempered Glass: 1-cup, 1-quart, 3-quart (part of a larger set)

When melting or heating ingredients in the microwave (like chocolate), tempered glass bowls are much safer than regular glass.

Cake Pans: 9x9x3-inch square, 8-inch round

Aluminum is an excellent conductor, browning baked goods beautifully.  When it comes to lightweight baking pans I avoid stainless steel, which yields crusts to blond, or dark coatings, which yield crusts too dark. I particularly like these pans because they are anodized, rendering them nonreactive with acid ingredients. Plus, they have removable bottoms, allowing them to function as springform pans. Everything pops out of the pan.

Can Opener: smooth edge

This opener breaks the seal between can and lid instead of cutting the metal.  No more sharp edges.

Cooling Racks: 10×16-inch

I’ve tried large cooling racks, thinking bigger was better. Turns out, they were just difficult to store. These are large enough to be serviceable and yet small enough to tuck behind the cutting boards.

Cutting Boards: bamboo, plastic

My bamboo cutting boards do double duty. The knife action happens on one side, while the second side makes a lovely presentation platter. For preparing raw meat and fish, I only use plastic because I can sanitize them in the dishwasher. These have grippers which hold them tight to the counter while slicing and dicing.

Dutch Oven: 6-quart

Lodge has an excellent reputation and is reasonably priced. The enameled is more versatile than the seasoned because is nonreactive, which means you can deglaze it when making a lovely stew. The dutch oven also bakes beautiful a loaf of bread, and roasts a chicken to perfection.

Egg Slicer: hinged

This tool isn’t just for eggs… it works for any soft ingredient. Just slice, then rotate to cut across the slices, resulting in a perfect julienne or dice every time.

Ice Cream Maker: electric

This ice cream maker comes with a 2-quart bowl that stores easily in the freezer. The machine makes fabulous ice cream, gelato, sherbet, and sorbet. I always throw a towel over the top to get an extra firm freeze.

Griddle: 10-inch round

Years ago I bought a square griddle because it promised more cooking surface, only to discover that it cooked unevenly. The heat from the burner simply could not reach the corners. That square griddle found a new home and I went back to the round classic.

Grill Pan: 10-inch round

A seasoned cast iron grill pan gets hot, holds temperature, browns food beautifully, and cleans up with a metal scrub brush and hot water. I tried enamel and found it expensive and all but impossible to clean. Soaking and scrubbing still left it discolored. It had to find a new home.

Kitchen Shears: stainless steel

These shears are sturdy and sharp, and they disassemble so that you can clean all the nooks and crannies.

Knives: 8-inch chef, utility, pairing

Knives should feel good in the hand. I like sturdy heels that flair smoothly to meet the handles because it gives a nice balance and reduces the nooks and crannies where bacteria likes to lurk. Strong rivets hold in a full tang (the part of the steel that goes into the handle). For the chef knife, a curve on the front end makes it easy to rock the blade while chopping or mincing.

Knife Sharpener: hand-held

This is easy to use and removes the guesswork from sharpening knives, which makes it a satisfying pleasure instead of a chore. The long handle keeps hands out of harm’s way.

Loaf Pans: 9x5x3-inch, glass, L4LP3 cast iron, anodized aluminum

My two favorite loaf pans are oldies, but goodies. Pyrex and Lodge. With Pyrex, you can monitor the browning process right through the tempered glass, eliminating guesswork. With cast iron, the pan builds up heat during baking, promoting a rich, hefty brown crust. Anodized aluminum also works well, but not the glazed stoneware. It leaves crusts pale and soft.

Measuring Cups: stainless steel

These measuring cups are heavy stainless steel, which is durable and cleans up well in the dishwasher. I stay away from plastic because fats tend to cling to the surface and it is prone to mishap around hot surfaces. This set includes two extra measurement cups (2/3 and 3/4) that are helpful to have on hand when you are in the middle of a recipe.

Measuring Cups: 1-cup, 1-pint, 1-quart

When your measuring cups are tempered glass, you can measure and microwave without changing containers. It is incredibly convenient when you need hot milk for a bechamel or hot broth for a risotto.

Mesh Strainer/Sieve: small, medium, large

These nest nicely for easy storage. I tend to use the small and medium sieves for sifting, and the large one for draining pasta or straining custards. Stainless steel won’t react with acidic ingredients, and cleanup is snap in the dishwasher.

Mixing Utensils: bamboo

Bamboo is strong, nonabrasive, inexpensive, and not conductive. It is strong enough to mix bread, it can be used with any type of cookware (or the ice cream freezer bowl) without scratching, and it doesn’t melt my gelato when I am transferring it out of the ice cream freezer bowl.

Parchment Paper: 12×16-inch sheets

These lay perfectly flat in a half sheet pan, or they may be creased and torn in half to line quarter sheet pans. I fit them into the bottom of brownie, cheesecake, and cake pans to eliminate the risk of sticking. Even caramel releases easily from parchment.

Pastry Blender: metal

Using a pastry blender is much like using a potato masher, but it cuts the pieces of fat without developing gluten. The result is super tender pastry crusts.

Pie Plate: 9.5-inch, deep dish (6-cup)

Pyrex remains the standard for me. I have tried stainless steel, which resulted in poorly browned lower crusts. Next I tried glazed stoneware, which had similar results. Aluminum works well, as long as it is anodized, but I can’t find it as a deep dish. Finally, I circled back to Pyrex. The glass makes it easy to monitor the browning of the bottom crust, and the pie can be truly deep dish.

Pizza Pan: 14-inch

Seasoned cast iron offers outstanding browning. This pan can be used for making pizza, baking artisan style breads, roasting vegetables… you name it. Put it on the grill, put it on the campfire. It all works.

Potato Peeler: soft handled

The rubberized handle makes peeling potatoes, carrots, and cucumbers easy on the hand.

Potato Ricer: plastic handled

This ricer offers the option of fine or coarse presses, and its heavy-duty plastic construction is easy on the hands. I prefer it to my metal version, which feels harsh around the handle and only allows a fine press.

Ramekins: 1-cup (8 ounce)

These little baking dishes are not as conductive as metal, cooking custards and quiches more gently around the edges. I utilize them for baking individual cakes or pot pies, serving dips, and storing leftovers.

Roasting Pan: 12x16x3-inch

Tri-ply construction offers an ideal combination of conductive aluminium sandwiched between nonreactive stainless steel. It is heavy duty, moving between oven and stovetop effortlessly. The handles are sturdy, upright, and riveted in place, which is an incredibly important safety feature when hauling that hot turkey out of the oven.

Rolling Pin: French (no handles)

A French rolling pin is long and light, and its gentle curve leaves no lines. When rolling pasta, its small diameter makes it easy to control, pushing and rolling to stretch the dough.

Saucepan/Stockpot/Skillet Set: 1.5-quart, 2.5-quart, 6-quart, 8-inch, 10-inch

I should start by mentioning that there is much confusion over labels.  A stockpot is sometimes referred to as a saucepot, while a skillet is sometimes called a fry pan or an omelet pan. I opt to call it “skillet” because it is used for far more purposes than making omelets or frying food. Regardless of what they are called, these pieces are excellent sizes for most recipes. The lids are interchangeable and the tempered glass lets you easily keep an eye on things while you are cooking or baking. The tri-ply construction offers an ideal combination of conductive aluminium sandwiched between nonreactive stainless steel. Its heavy duty construction allows it to move between oven and stovetop effortlessly. I have used Calphalon tri-ply for almost 20 years.

Spatula: silicone over flexible stainless

This spatula is heat resistant to 600°F and has a thin edge. I also like the way the flexible stainless steel supports the silicone almost to the edge. I used to favor an old stainless steel spatula that I picked up at a flea market 23 years ago, but had to make a change because it was slowly scratching all my cookware.

Spatulas/Spoon: small, large, spoon

These are heat resistant to 600°F and of seamless construction, making them durable and hygienic. I started with the small spatula and loved it so much I added the other pieces.

Tongs: stainless steel

Tongs are handy for fishing pasta out of hot water to test for doneness, plating salad, turning salmon, pulling hot bits of food out of the oven, and even snatching that stray piece of something that landed too close to the gas burner.

Timer: digital

I like the precision of digital, but I also have a inexpensive little twist timer from Ikeah for tasks that take less than an hour. Maximum time on this model is 99 minutes and 59 seconds.

Whisks: small, medium, large

These whisks have smooth handles, which are easy on the hands.  The relatively open wires make them multi-taskers, mixing batter as easily as whipping eggs.

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