Basic tools, supplies and utensils that should be part of every well stocked kitchen.

While it is not necessary for the home cook to have a commercially stocked kitchen, you will find that certain items will make it easier to prepare many recipes. Listed below are some of the basics that the average kitchen should be stocked with. The more expensive items, such as a blender or food processor, need not be purchased right away.

Most of these items can be found at any kitchen supply store and in larger grocery stores. General home merchandise stores such as Linen & Things and Bed, Bath and Beyond have large kitchen departments which are worth checking out.

Baking dishes - Available in a variety of materials such as glass and oven proof ceramic, they often come with matching lids. Convenient sizes to have on hand are 1-quart, 1 1/2-quart, 2-quart and 4-quart. You may also like to purchase a round 10x1 1/2 inch deep ceramic dish which comes in handy for making quiches and tarts.

Baking pans - Available in aluminum and a variety of non-stick materials. Convenient sizes to have on hand are two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans, one 9 inch round pie pan, two 8 inch round cake pans, two 2 1/2 x1 1/2 inch twelve compartment muffin pans, a 8x8x2 inch square pan, a 13x9x2 inch rectangular pan, a 15x10x1 inch jelly roll pan and two 13x9 inch cookie sheets.

Blender - Helpful for blending certain sauces and soups and for finely grinding bread crumbs, nuts, sugar and other items. If you own a food processor you may use that instead of a blender.

Cake tester - A thin metal wire which is inserted into cakes and muffins to determine if they are finished cooking.

Citrus juicer - Inexpensive 2-part plastic juicers can be used to prepare small amounts of fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice. If you are doing any serious amount of juicing, such as making your own orange and grapefruit juice, you may want to invest in an electric juicer.

Citrus zester/peeler - Removes the outer peel from citrus fruits and leaves behind the bitter white pith.

Coffee grinder - Used to grind small amounts of herbs and spices. Do not use the same grinder you use to grind your coffee unless you want coffee flavored herbs and spices.

Colander - Available in stainless steel or plastic. Used to drain pasta and vegetables and for washing fresh herbs and lettuce.

Cutting boards - Small wooden cutting boards are used to chop up and mince small items such as herbs. Larger, tempered glass cutting boards are convenient to have on hand when cutting up meats. Larger wooden cutting boards can double as a surface on which to roll out and knead bread and biscuit dough.

Double broiler - used to cook delicate sauces and puddings.

Egg slicer - used to cut uniform slices of eggs which can be added to salads.

Food processor - they come with various attachments and make easy work of grating large quantities of cheese or vegetables. They can also be used to make items such as pesto and to mix together various batters, dough and sauce.

Garlic press - crushes garlic cloves into a paste like consistency.

Garlic slicer - creates uniform slices of garlic.

Grater - A hand held stainless steel grater for grating small quantities of cheese and vegetables. For larger quantities it is nice to have access to a food processor.

Hand held electric mixer - essential for beating whipped cream and egg whites.

Knives - have a variety of sizes of sharp knives on hand for the cutting, chopping and peeling of a wide range of materials.

Measuring cups

Liquid measuring cups - It's nice to have both a 2 cup capacity and 4 cup capacity glass measuring cup on hand. They are used to measure liquid ingredients. The glass cups can also be used to heat up and melt small quantities of ingredients in your microwave oven such as butter or margarine.

Dry ingredient measuring cups - Available in graduated sets (¼, cup, 1/3 cup, ½ cup, 1 cup) and usually made out of either plastic or stainless steel.

Measuring spoons - Used to measure small amounts of either dry or liquid ingredients. Available in graduated sets made out of either stainless steel or plastic.

Resources

See the article More Essential Culinary Equipment; Meat Mallets to Wire Racks for additional cooking utensils you may want to stock your kitchen with.

To learn more about kitchen equipment basics refer to the articles Essential Equipment and The Pampered Chef to the Rescue.