🛠️ Cooking Equipment

Idea from https://tylertringas.com/cooking-for-founders/

Pots and pans

Baking

  • half sheet pans + racks

    so useful; roasting veggies, prep, cookies, etc

  • pyrex baking dish

    roast chicken, whole vegetables (sheet trays are better for cut vegetables)

  • silicone baking sheets

    reusable parchment

  • baking steel

    so expensive 😢 but really improves pizza crust. use it for quesadillas or smash bugers on the stove top, or making english muffins

  • parchment paper

    useful in a lot of places; cut a small square when smashing smash burgers and it'll keep your spatula from sticking; cook bacon for a crowd by lining a sheet tray with it

Tools

  • 2 stainless steel tongs

  • fish turner spatula

    so useful. pancakes, stirring vegetables, cooking eggs, etc

  • 1-2 big wooden spoons

    stirring stuff, tasting

  • 2 big wooden spatulas

    scraping, stirring

  • silicone spoon

    very extravagant, but super handy for scraping the last bit of sauce out of a pan. kinda overlaps with below though

  • rubber spatula

    this is a nice set with the 3 i use most (small, large, spoon-like)

  • large grater

    i broke some of those handled graters >_< which are frustratingly NOT a single piece. this set has been a lot more reliable and has a nice large grating surface

  • microplane

    super useful; cheese, citrus, garlic/alliums, nutmeg, etc.

  • nice pair of kitchen shears

    breaking down poultry, cutting herbs. i use mine for ton of miscellaneous tasks

  • rice cooker

    you can cook beans and lentils and other grains in these too!

  • immersion blender

    sauces, mayonnaise

  • citrus juicer

  • large mortar and pestle

  • whisk

    a nice big piano wire whisk, 12 or 14", handy for mixing dry or wet ingredients

  • rolling pin

    nothing fancy, but necessary for making laminated doughs (pie crusts, biscuits, pastries). i end up using my french style rolling pin more often tbh (easier to clean, more durable)

  • metal ladle

    useful for serving soups / stews / chili portions. also can be used for wok cooking, pancakes

Prep

The references list is spot on for this stuff: https://tylertringas.com/cooking-for-founders/

Some additions:

Knives

Probably most controversial:

  • 2 8-inch commercial chef's knives

    you can spend a ton of money on knives if you like. i've had extremely good results with these knives; bomber, sharpen easily and very sharp. clean and dry immediately after using them. i used to use a japanese water stone to sharpen, but now i just use one of those pocket ceramic sharpeners, which works great on these knives

You DON'T need a bread/serrated knife. A sharp chef's knife is better in every application IMO.

I rarely/never use a paring knife; pretty much any kitchen task is easier with a chef's knife for me.

That's it. That's all you need for knives.

The advice on cutting boards here is spot on (at least 1 large wooden, 12"x18" or bigger, and 2-3 small wooden or plastic): https://tylertringas.com/cooking-for-founders/

Storage

  • deli containers

    these are super. they all use the same lids, nest compactly, leakproof, clear so you can tell what's in them. cheap. reusable. you can toss them if they break.

Exotics

This is stuff I use less frequently but is handy.

  • spice grinder

    I have a model sortof similar to this one. I use it when grinding whole toasted sichuan peppercorn, toasted whole spices for indian food, etc

  • molcajete

    guacamole tastes better out of it, might be all in my head though 😅 also useful for making aioli and pesto

  • stand mixer

    I use this pretty rarely but it is useful when making enriched doughs like brioche

  • food processor

    also pretty rarely used, but great for pesto or lazy biscuits, breadcrumbs

  • cooking chopsticks

    these are handy for stirring and moving stuff when tongs are a little too hefty. cheap to have around. I don't use mine as much as I should!