Basic Cooking Equipment
You may want to do a quick inventory of your kitchen to see what you already have for cooking equipment. Following is a list of basic tools to outfit a family cook's working kitchen. You don't need to have everything on this list to be able to cook real food, but a well-equipped kitchen will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.
Good Knives
It's worth the money to invest in a good set of kitchen knives. If you are going to be cooking real foods from scratch, you will end up doing a lot of cutting, chopping and dicing. Sharp, well made knives make this job much easier. Look for a knife with a handle that's comfortable for you, with a full tang: the steel running all the way up through the handle. Sometimes the steel is riveted in the handle, and sometimes it's fully encased by the handle, but make sure it's there. It's a good idea to have a short paring knife (3" or 4") for paring, peeling and small chopping; a longer chef's knife for slicing, chopping, and opening up larger fruits and vegetables (6"or 8"); and a long serrated knife for cutting delicate, thin skinned produce such as tomatoes, and slicing breads (without squashing them).
RFM TIP:
Keep your knives sharp. With everything you have to get to every day, sharpening your knives may seem like a pretty low priority. But dull knives slow cutting time and make it more difficult. Contrary to what you would think, dull knives also cause more injuries than sharp ones. While it's a good idea to have them professionally sharpened once or twice a year, you can do the maintenance yourself with a sharpening stone or electric sharpener once or twice a week. If they are high quality, sharp knives to start with, it will take you less than a minute with a few strokes on the stone.
Cutting Boards
We like bamboo cutting boards best: they are harder than hard wood and won't dull your knife blades; they have natural antimicrobial properties; are not expensive; and bamboo is a renewable resource. Plastic boards, while easy to throw into your dishwasher to sterilize, dull knife blades over time and do groove-creating pockets where bacteria can collect.
You'll need one for cutting produce and one for cutting animal foods-it's safer to work with any meats, fish or shellfish on a separate surface from your produce or breads to limit any spread of bacteria. You'll also want a smaller board for cutting pungent foods like garlic, onions and hot peppers, to keep their lingering odors and oils from getting into your apple pie! Don't make your boards too small-you want to leave yourself plenty of surface area for cutting and making stacks of foods.
Wash the surface of your cutting boards with soap and hot water after every use-do not submerge them (can cause cracking). Rinse and dry thoroughly to prevent warping. To improve the longevity of your bamboo or hardwood cutting boards, oil your completely dry boards with a small amount of white mineral oil (USP grade mineral oil) weekly to seal the surface and condition the wood.
RFM TIP:
Regularly sterilize your wood or plastic cutting boards with undiluted white vinegar in a spray bottle: spray surface thoroughly and rinse and dry well once weekly for animal food boards and once or twice monthly for the others.
More to come...