The Well-Equipped Kitchen (2024)

Look for:

Medium to heavy-weight aluminum, anodized aluminum, or stainless steel pieces. If you choose stainless steel, make sure there's a thick, solid disk of aluminum on the bottom of the pan to distribute heat well. Sets are economical if, and only if, you need every piece in the set.

Brands to Consider:

Low-priced: WearEver, Farberware
Mid-priced: Anolon, Circulon
High-priced: All-Clad, Calphalon, LeCreuset

Skillets

One 8-inch nonstick skillet

This is the pan you'll turn to when you want to make two scrambled eggs, cook an omelet for yourself, fix just one hamburger, or sauté a handful of mushroom or onion slices. Trust me, on this pan you definitely want a nonstick finish to make sure your omelet slides out easily and after scrambling eggs you're not left with a major scrubbing job.

One 10-inch nonstick skillet

Chances are this is the piece of cookware that will really get a workout in your kitchen. It's the right size for four chicken breasts, a frittata, or a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches. Here too we suggest you opt for a nonstick finish…you'll probably be using it for eggs, and you'll use it so often that you'll want it to be easy to clean.

One deep-sided 12-inch skillet

When you're browning a whole batch of beef cubes for stew, you'll want the large surface a 12-inch pan offers. And the deep sides are great for recipes like sloppy joes and chicken in wine sauce, where you brown items first, then add other ingredients and simmer. A slope-sided one can even double as a stir-fry pan.

2- and 3-quart saucepans

You'll need these for heating soup, steaming rice, making pudding. Odds are you do a lot of reheating and steaming in the microwave oven, so don't buy too many saucepans.

4- to 6-quart Dutch oven

When you're making soups, stews, or oven braises this is the pot you'll choose. As you're likely to take it right from the oven to the table, consider an attractive cast iron one with a colorful enamel finish. This piece is also the right size for boiling short pasta shapes like ziti or shells.

8-quart stockpot

Think of this as your spaghetti pot. It's also indispensable for big-batch soups and chili.

View the results of our latest tests of nonstick and traditional cookware.

Very nice to have:

A 10-inch cast iron skillet can brown a steak or burgers as well as an outdoor grill. Plus it can help put a dose of iron in your diet. The downsides are it can discolor foods like eggs or cream sauces and needs hand washing, careful drying, and oiling to develop and maintain its patina.

Here's what you need to be prepared for basic baking. Having said that, if you have never baked cakes, cookies, and pies, don't invest in all these recommended pieces at once. Purchase what you know you'll use, and add to your collection as you go. Just the act of purchasing pans is not going to turn you into a baker.

Look for:

Uncoated shiny aluminum pans or nonstick pans with a light-colored finish. Glass bakeware is a good choice if you remember to reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees when you use it. Glass is also attractive for items that will be served in the dish and can double as microwave cookware.

Brands to Consider:

Low-priced: Baker's Secret, Pyrex
High-priced: Wilton, Kaiser

Two 9-inch round cake pans: Many recipes will call for 8-inch round cake pans; you cannot use 8- and 9-inch pans interchangeably, so start with the size the first recipe you try specifies.

One 8-inch square cake or brownie pan

One 9-inch pie pan

One 13" by 9" baking pan: For bar cookies and to double as a roasting pan

Two cookie sheets: Pans with one or two raised sides that serve as a grip or handles give better results than ones with a rim all around the edges that are known as a jelly roll pans. Sheets allow for maximum heat circulation around cookies as the bake. Plus, it's easier to slide cookies off of them.

One jelly roll pan: Chances are you'll never use it to make a jelly roll, but this is a very handy pan for roasting vegetables, toasting nuts, or catching drips from a pie.

Two loaf pans: The most common sizes are 9" by 5" and 8 1/2" by 4". Start off with the size your first or favorite recipe calls for.

One 12-cup muffin pan

Very nice to have:

A Bundt pan lets you turn a cake mix into a fancy cake as long as you learn how to prepare the pan. Your Bundt will come out perfectly if you grease the pan very thoroughly with solid shortening, then dust lightly with Wondra-brand flour. Next, briskly tap the pan several times with the palms of your hands to distribute the flour evenly and then turn the pan upside-down over a sink and shake out any excess flour.

Look for:

Knives that feel good in your hand. They should have some heft, and the blades shouldn't bend easily. The best knives are forged, but stamped knives, which are cut out of a sheet of steel, can take an edge well and are more reasonably priced. Avoid a set, particularly one with 12 or more pieces, unless you absolutely know that you've used every shape in the knife block before. If you have to ask if you should buy a boning knife or a bird's beak parer, chances are you don't need one. By buying fewer knives, you can invest in better-quality ones.

Brands to Consider

Low-priced: Chicago Cutlery, Forschner
High-priced: Wüsthof, Henckels

8-inch cook's knife: If you can buy only one knife, this is the one to choose. It's long enough to slice, heavy enough to mince, pointy enough to pare or core, and has a heel to cleave bones. It's an all-around workhorse as long as you keep it sharp.

Paring knife: Look for one with a blade that's about 4 1/2 inches long instead of one with a traditional 3-inch blade. It makes the knife more all-purpose, so in addition to peeling apples or mincing shallots, you can use it to slice fruit, mushrooms, and cheese or occasionally debone chicken breasts.

Bread knife: By using this serrated cutter to slice crusty bread, you'll put less wear and tear on the edge of your cook's knife. And unless your cook's knife is sharply honed, you'll find yourself using your bread knife to slice tomatoes.

Very nice to have:

A long, thin slicer to use when you need to carve a turkey or a ham.

Knife Sharpener

Brands to Consider:

Chef's Choice, Smith's Edge, Wüsthof

Handheld or electric sharpener that keeps the knife at the correct angle as it sharpens. Most important piece of advice given here: Use it! And toss the butcher's steel — holding a knife consistently at the correct angle requires expertise most of us don't have.

All of these are useful, yet optional. After all, if you don't drink coffee, you don't need a brewer. Just the mere fact of owning a mixer is not going to turn you into a baker, nor will buying a blender lead you to make smoothies for breakfast. So be realistic about what you'll use and what you won't before you give up any of your precious counter space.

Brands to Consider

Low-priced: Hamilton Beach
Mid-priced: Oster
High-priced: Cuisinart, Breville, KitchenAid

Automatic Drip Coffeemaker: (View the results of our latest tests)

Blender: Indispensable for smoothies, pureed soups. (View the results of our latest tests)

Food processor: Helps you whiz through all kinds of food prep from mincing, chopping, slicing, and grating to preparing pie dough, salad dressing, and dips. But they're not small and have numerous parts to wash. They're a good investment for anyone who cooks large amounts from scratch often. (View the results of our latest tests)

Hand mixer: All you need for occasionally making cakes, whipped cream, even cookies. (View the results of our latest tests)

Stand mixer: Worth the money and the counter space if you're a frequent baker, especially if bread is in your repertoire. (View the results of our latest tests)

Toaster: If you like toast, you need a toaster. Need I say more? (View the results of our latest tests)

Toaster oven: If in addition to toast you frequently reheat pizza, make open-faced cheese sandwiches, or bake small items, consider a versatile toaster oven...just don't expect it to toast as well or as fast as a pop-up toaster. (View the results of our latest tests)

Colander: Look for one with feet that elevate it above the sink and lots of well-distributed holes.

Bowls: Stainless steel or glass in three sizes.

Can Opener: We love the Swing-A-Way manual model.

Plastic or wooden cutting board: Whichever material you use, be sure to wash it thoroughly after using it to cut raw meats and poultry and to periodically clean it with a bleach solution. (View the results of our latest tests)

Liquid measuring cups: Our top choice is the Oxo Good Grips Angled Measuring Cup, which lets you measure accurately without bending down to see the line. In 2002, it won a Good Housekeeping VIP Award (formerly "Good Buy" Award).

Dry measuring cups and spoons: In our tests, we have found Tupperware products to be consistently accurate.

Pot holders

Baking racks

Instant-read thermometer: Imperative for cooking foods to safe internal temperatures. (View the results of our latest tests)

Swivel peeler: The Oxo Good Grips is simply the best there is.

Ladle

Pancake turner/spatula

Tongs

Long-handled kitchen spoon

Long-handled slotted kitchen spoon

Silicone spatulas

Cheese grater: Consider one made by Microplane.

Salad spinner

Teakettle (View the results of our test of electric teakettles)

Very nice to have:

Kitchen shears, long-handled fork, potato masher.