[Scotttheking]

With a twist It's a kosher kitchen.

Soo, yeah.

What I have:
Microwave.
Toaster oven.
1 set of silverware.
Glasses.
Some whisks.
A 2 quart metal bowl.
1 8" chef knife (dairy).

That's about it for the useful materials.
Budget is approximately $1k.
I'm going to avoid nonstick stuff, not because I don't like it, but because it cannot be koshered, and if a mistake were to happen, it would be quite annoying to replace.

Dairy stuff:
silverware.
plates.
whisks.
8" knife.

Meat stuff:
silverware from above.


Pareve stuff:
metal bowl?


Soo, that's a lot of filling in that needs to be done. What stuff would you suggest? Again, budget is about $1k.

Go for it!

[Paco500]

I wouldn't spend too much money on fancy cookware- ie caphelon/all-clad. It's nice stuff, but I bought a full set of the all-clad for a pretty penny and find my self using the cheap stuff just as much. The All-Clad may cook a bit more evenly, but for the most part it's not noticeable and it just costs so damn much.

One odd-ball piece of cookware I find us using way more than I thought I would is a crock-pot. I know nothing of kosher cooking or your tastes, but it's great for making easy tasty stuff, like stew, chili and cheese dip.

The only other bit of advice I would say is don't buy a lot of specialized, single use gagetry. Find stuff that's multi purpose.

Alton Brown has a great "Kitchen Gadgets" book. Buy it or go to the book store and read it.

[Rolling Bones]

MicroSoft fridge.

[SVass]

Cast iron skillets, one large and one small (if oiled and never soaked in a detergent will be non stick)
A large cast iron pot or a crock pot. smaller pots, etc.
I use LeCreuset; but it is expensive! (Their skillet grill is really nice.)
http://www.lecreuset.com/usa/product...category_id=17

Wooden spoons and high temperature spatulas.

sam

[scaught]

Originally Posted by SVass

Cast iron skillets, one large and one small (if oiled and never soaked in a detergent will be non stick)
A large cast iron pot or a crock pot. smaller pots, etc.
I use LeCreuset; but it is expensive! (Their skillet grill is really nice.)
http://www.lecreuset.com/usa/product...category_id=17

Wooden spoons and high temperature spatulas.

sam

mastrap smiles upon thee.

[turtle777]

cat juicer.

An absolute MUST.

[Rolling Bones]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

cat juicer.

An absolute MUST.

and litter.

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by SVass

Cast iron skillets, one large and one small (if oiled and never soaked in a detergent will be non stick)
A large cast iron pot or a crock pot. smaller pots, etc.

Agreed. Cast iron is the best, it will last you forever and it will be naturally non stick. It will never scratch, it will get better with age and you can make a decent steak in a cast iron skillet.

I bought a fair number of my pots second hand in France, for next to nothing. Depending on where you live country markets can be a good source of cheap, high quality stuff.

If you want new avoid shops aimed at the consumer, you will only get ripped off. Go to a pro shop and get your stuff there, it will be cheaper and higher quality. You'll need (IMO)

Several small stainless steel bowls. I've got about six. Cooking is all about the prepping and these bowls hold the prepared ingredients until it's time to get smokin'.

One large stock pot, about 2-3 gallons. Good for stock making and the occasional dose of Jewish penicillin. Chicken soup. About $60.00

One medium sized pot, for pasta and vegetables. Make it a good, heavy one. $60-00-80.00

Two Dutch ovens, different sizes. $50.00 each.

Frying pans, cast iron.
1 small, 1 medium, one large.
Smooth, not textured. Smooth will get your fried eggs from pan to plate with minimum fuzz. Total cost should be about $60.00

One saute pan. A frying pan with a higher ridge, for quick frying on high heat, also good for risottos. A lid for this pan is a good idea.

Sharp knifes. This is where you should spend your money. 1 cook knife, one paring knife, one vegetable knife, one bread knife. I use a cleaver shaped cook knife as my main knife, it makes it easy to get stuff from the chopping block to the pan. I'd allocate about $300.00 just for knifes.

A good chopping board, wood, one for meat, one for vegetables. Never mix the two, never buy plastic chopping boards. They are germ ridden, wood is naturally antiseptic.

Colanders, fine mesh, large and small.

Spatulas, tongs, etc.


I have no idea what koshering involves (sorry), does that mean you need everything twice?

[scaught]

keeping strict kosher would mean no mixing of meat and dairy ingredients, i think. so ya, technically, you would need 2 of everything i think.

this is sort of interesting, someone pointed out to me that alot of the tofu dairy substitute stuff that make the vegan kids go all giddy is always kosher (ie, blessed by a rabbi). this makes it easy to keep kosher as its not real dairy you are mixing with whatever meat product you may be eating, etc. he seemed to infer it was more for the kosher purpose than the "being vegan" purpose, but i dont know about that.

[f1000]

A wife...someone's got to use all that equipment.

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by f1000

A wife...someone's got to use all that equipment.

Heh. Chicks dig guys who can cook. Why do you think I learned?
Nowadays I am a married man, but in my younger days an invitation to a home cooked romantic dinner was a far more sure-fire way to see some action than the most expensive of restaurants.

[alligator]

Don't forget food.

[ghporter]

In my experience, just buying a cast iron cookpiece is only half the battle. You have to season it too. Seasoning is what makes cast iron so simple, smooth, non-stick and so on, and what allows it to, as Mastrap says "get better with age."

Unfortunately a lot of seasoning instructions call for a variety of oils or fats that would render you "Unkosherable." I found these instructions that provide a kosher-safe process. I think NOT properly seasoning cast iron is why so many people go with non-stick coatings; it takes a bit of time to do it and it takes a little bit of thought to do it right, so people default to not thinking.

[simonjames]

Here is my $0.02AUD worth - hope it is helpful

Lots of plastic storage containers of different sizes and plenty of small ones - get ones with with different coloured lids so you can separate meat from dairy etc.

as many as 20 tea towels - again colour coding may help

a set of good knives - the ones with a serated edge are best. This may sound strange - even the cheap ones from kmart can be very useful

3 to 5 plastic chopping boards - colour coded - perhaps matching the same colours as the storage containers and tea towels

glass (pyrex) cookware. These are best for microwave. Never heat anything up in plastic.

a coffee grinder

about 3 measure cups

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by simonjames

Here is my $0.02AUD worth - hope it is helpful

Lots of plastic storage containers of different sizes and plenty of small ones - get ones with with different coloured lids so you can separate meat from dairy etc.

a set of good knives - the ones with a serated edge are best. This may sound strange - even the cheap ones from kmart can be very useful

3 to 5 plastic chopping boards - colour coded - perhaps matching the same colours as the storage containers and tea towels

Sorry Simon, but just a couple of comments:

Plastic leeches into food, even when cold. Use glass or porcelain whenever possible.

Good knifes are never serrated, not even the much pushed 'tomato knife'. Ever. Properly sharpened knifes don't need to be, they cut because the blade is sharp. The only exception are bread knifes. Cheap knifes are a waste of money. *

Never use a plastic chopping board, they are hygiene nightmares. Food particles will rot merrily away on a plastic chopping board, whereas the natural acids in wood will help kill most bacteria. If you insist on using plastic, wipe them with vinegar after every use, then put them in the dishwasher every two days.


* More on knifes: The sharpest knife I own is a Japanese sushi knife. You have no idea just how careful I am when using it. When buying knifes make sure that they are properly balanced, the handle should not be heavier than the blade. The blade should be fitted to the handle either metal rivets or be metal itself. Weight is important, it allows the knife to do the work for you. If you can, take a knife skill class at a local cookery school, it makes all the difference.

[BigBadWolf]

Go to you local Williams-Sonoma, if you don't have one nearby, shop from their website. You will find everything you need there.

http://ww5.williams-sonoma.com/

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by BigBadWolf

Go to you local Williams-Sonoma, if you don't have one nearby, shop from their website. You will find everything you need there.

http://ww5.williams-sonoma.com/

Way too expensive. I mean, look at this:



That thing cost 150 bucks. Insanity, it should not be more than 40, at a stretch. And the wooden handle means it's not oven proof. This is exactly what I mean when I am talking about not buying from consumer shops. It's more show than substance.

Then they sell a cast iron 'wok', for $100.00



Woks must never be cast iron, because you need to adjust temperature and rapidly so. Professional woks are always carbon steel and will never set you back more than 20 bucks. Woks also never have a flat base. This is just overpriced stuff that looks good but doesn't do the job properly.

[thunderous_funker]

Well, I have to admit that I bought a pan from the Wolfgang Puck collection on QVC or HSN (whichever one he sells his stuff on) and it is absolutely terrific.

It was bought half out of honest curiousity and half whimsy since I had never ever bought anything off TV before.

Seriously. This is the best peice of cookware I've ever owned with the exception of my indestructible Lodge cast iron skillet which will be buried with me.

I cook a lot and I'm not half bad at it, if I say so myself. I've since bought a couple more peices of the Puck stuff and I can honestly say they peform beautifully. Get great and hot for perfect searing. Generate terrific fond for sauces. Heat evenly on electric or gas. Work in the oven and they clean up terrific. They are even very sturdy.

Seriously. If you're in the market for some cookware, just buy one pan (they are stupid cheap--like $40 for a 10" chicken fryer with lid) and give it try.

Yeah, yeah. Its cheasy. But they don't really have big obnovious logos or anything so no one even has to know you bought the "off TV stuff".

[DeathToWindows]

Good knives are a must; if they will need to be kashered, I'd stay away from wooden handles... Victorinox makes a decent set; their 8" chef's knife is $30 or so... viciously sharp, plastic handle.

I'll second the responses re: pots/pans... cast iron OR professional grade (from a supply shop) is good. Cutting boards are personal preference; I find very hard wood to be nice, but you will need two and good ones aren't cheap.

Metal mixing bowls... excellent.

If you're into coffee, thats a wholly different issue...

[moonmonkey]

for $300 you should be able to get a good set of 5 Global's (Japanese knives) if you need to get double for Kosha stuff, just get two good chefs knives like the G2 (under $200 for two). Global is fantastic brand and if you look after them they will last a lifetime.

http://www.knivesandtools.com/en/ct/...efs-knives.htm
These are pro knives, not like Victorinox (they make watches too!)

Get color coded chopping boards too (these are massive in europe), this is a must and very cheap (about $30 you only need one set too). I prefer using wood but hygine wins, and they seem to be very kind on the knives,

[milhous]

a great thread. i bought a multi-cooker last weekend from wal-mart and unfortunately, after washing all the parts, i started to to notice rust marks on the bottom. i'm definitely taking it back.

i have a tempered glass cutting board, seems to work pretty well.

curious, how often do you have to season/maintain cast-iron pans? might be something i could look into.

and, being a fan of martin yan, i picked up a cleaver. it's a cheap one, but i love it.

[DeathToWindows]

moonmonkey, my reason for suggesting the Victorinox knives is that they're low cost and very good; I've used the globals (brother's a chef) and would own some myself if they weren't 130 or so for the 10" chef's... hell, if the OP can afford two, do it - and never look back.

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by DeathToWindows

moonmonkey, my reason for suggesting the Victorinox knives is that they're low cost and very good; I've used the globals (brother's a chef) and would own some myself if they weren't 130 or so for the 10" chef's... hell, if the OP can afford two, do it - and never look back.

I was joking, Voctorinox are great knives, just being snobby

FYI global have a new premiere range that is only available in Asia, serious samurai tempered stuff.
Way out of my league.

[simonjames]

hey mastrap - you have your opinions and I have mine and I believe I have the right to express them without some know-it-all coming along telling me how wrong my opinions and experiences are.

I have a number of good knives (yes, the plural of knife is knives) - probably 8 in all - ranging from $140 for one German knife to my two most recent from Denmark at $70 each. The Danish ones are the best I ever bought but are hard to find - Fiskars - they are not imported into Australia. All these knives need professional sharpening every year or so and yet a $2.95 serated kmart special I bought 7 years ago is still going strong. Go figure!

I agree on the plastic issue but what do you store half a can of tuna in? A plastic container is the easiest vessel.

My plastic chopping boards go into the dishwasher after every use.

I don't use glass chopping boards as they blunt blades.

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by simonjames

hey mastrap - you have your opinions and I have mine and I believe I have the right to express them without some know-it-all coming along telling me how wrong my opinions and experiences are.

I'm just telling what I learned by working in professional kitchens.

Of course you're free to have your opinions, but if you give half-arsed advice to people who might not know any better, such as recommending plastic chopping boards, without giving proper cleaning instructions, when they are a hygiene nightmare and serrated knives instead of proper equipment then be prepared that people who do know what they're talking about might call you on that.

Serrated knives are rubbish for many reasons, the first one being weight. They are too light, without exception. When you prep food, and especially when you're prepping food in quantity, you want the knife to do the work for you. The blade of the knife never leaves the cutting board when chopping, the movement isn't up and down but elliptical. Try that with a serrated blade and not only will you rip your food to shreds, you'll also destroy your board.

I suggest that you find yourself a good local cookery school and take a knife skill course. I can assure you, you'll never use a serrated knife again.

Ohh, and you caught a typo of mine. Well, bully for you, I am sure it totally invalidates my argument.

[macforray]

Originally Posted by SVass

Cast iron skillets, one large and one small (if oiled and never soaked in a detergent will be non stick)
A large cast iron pot or a crock pot. smaller pots, etc.
I use LeCreuset; but it is expensive! (Their skillet grill is really nice.)
http://www.lecreuset.com/usa/product...category_id=17

Wooden spoons and high temperature spatulas.

sam

Cast iron cookware is my absolute favorite. I am using a 10" round griddle and 8" skillet that have been handed down in my family and are closing in on 100 years old. They are both Griswold brand, and after casting they were turned to give them a smooth cooking surface (not like the cheap, but still functional, Lodge brand where the cook surfaces are still "as cast").

The key with using cast iron is to properly season it and NEVER wash the seasoning off with detergent. Properly seasoned, cast iron is as "non stick" as any of the newer materials. Hot water wash as needed with a possible "light" scrub with a scotch-brite (registered TM) pad, and wipe off with a paper towel is all that is necessary.

Seasoning is simple also. Agressively clean and scrub any purchased cast iron and dry completely. Put a light coat of vegetable oil on the cooking surfaces, including the sides of a skillet. Place in a 350 deg F for 45 minutes to one hour. All done. As you continue to use this cookware and remember to NEVER CLEAN WITH SOAP, it will continue to improve on that seasoning. A well seasoned cooking surface will be very dark gray to black in color.

When using, make sure the griddle, skillet, etc...., is hot before applying oil. In this "low fat" world, I now use a spray product (unless deep frying). Make sure the oil is heated before adding food.

Some of the best places to find good cast iron cookware is at garage sales and flea markets. Remember, this stuff will last longer than we do. If buying used may compromise your religious restrictions, then new is the only answer. Remember that this stuff is so durable, that if find a real "cruddy" piece of cookware, it can even be sand blasted to an almost "new" condition. You just need to find a local paint shop to do it.

Again, remember to NEVER WASH WITH SOAP. If you must, then you will need to season again.

Also, although a dutch oven is nice, a quality modern crock pot for untended cooking can't be beat.

Hope this helps. Enjoy.

[TomR]

I will add one VERY important item for that kitchen....

A fire extinguisher. Seriously. Get a good one.


Tom

[Paco500]

Another vote on the cast iron. I have a 10" cast iron pan and cookpot in general rotation that was owned and used by my great grandmother.

It rocks.

[slugslugslug]

I was gonna say Kitchenaid mixer, but that'd eat into your budget right quick.

I'd go for at least one frying pan that's not cast iron, 'cause sometimes you wanna just lift the thing with one hand to shake it around a bit. Not so fun with cast iron, though I suppose you could be way tougher than me.

Pyrex baking dishes are good.

If you're not using non-stick surfaces, get at least one all-metal spatula. Won't have to worry about accidentally melting it

What kind of coffee maker to get is probably a whole 'nother thread...

[Mastrap]

Ebay link to tons of cast iron pots and pans, cheap and plentiful.

[macforray]

Originally Posted by BigBadWolf

Go to you local Williams-Sonoma, if you don't have one nearby, shop from their website. You will find everything you need there.

http://ww5.williams-sonoma.com/

Great place. I love to "browse", but rarely buy. Your $1000 will not go very far there. Do the "touchy feely" there and then get online, or find the closest restaurant supply store that sells retail.

They are convenient in case you forgot your wife's birthday. That $150 frying pan will not only "look" nice on the stove, but leave just as big bump on your noggin as that cheap department store one.

I have never been so desparate for a piece of kitchen equipment that I didn't have time to shop around.

This is a great thread.

[wdlove]

I wish you all the best with the remodeling of your kitchen. Definitely smart to seek professional advice.

[simonjames]

This topic has been really interesting especially from a regional view. I come from a euro-australian background and have never known anyone to cook with a dutch oven or own lots of cast iron cookware. As a child I remember my mother cooking some french recipes using a crock pot but never using a dutch oven. That said australians will use a camp oven (similar or the same as a dutch oven) when they are camping - the thing sits in the fire to cook whatever it is.

Mastrap was the only person to mention a wok - most aussies would have one. I have 2 - a small and a large.

And Mastrap - the correct term is 'half-baked'.

[ghporter]

ABSOLUTELY ALL CUTTING BOARDS AND CHOPPING BLOCKS MUST BE THOROUGHLY AND EXTENSIVELY CLEANED AFTER EACH USE. Wood or plastic, it makes no difference. Of course it's easier with a plastic cutting board because you can throw it in really hot water or run it throught the dishwasher, where you must use a wire brush and a lot of elbow grease to properly clean a wooden cutting board. Oh, and salt helps too-coarse ground salt rubbed hard into a wooden cutting board will usually get out just about everything, eliminating the need for the big wire brush, but the elbow grease is still required.

I have a wok/skillet; it's a 30cm diameter piece that's something like 12-15cm deep. It is not quite round all the way down, but it does most wok things great.

Simon, a dutch oven is great for all sorts of things, but more modern cookware has sort of pushed it aside (except when camping; you can BAKE in a dutch oven in the coals of a campfire). A lot of cast iron applications look like they've been pushed aside by "more modern" cookware, but in reality you're just getting something that you can use right out of the box and for less time. My sister has a set of cast iron that our grandparents had; and except for the ding I put in the skillet's handle (don't ask!) it's BETTER than when it was new.

[simonjames]

One last piece of advice.

check the size of your stove/cook top and for any restrictions. The reason I write this is I bought my mother a large frypan a couple of years back only to find the rim around the stove wouldn't let the large frypan contact the glass cooktop. It was about half a centimetre above it.

Also check the height of what your dishwasher can take - one of my current chopping boards is too large.

2 lots of measuring spoons and cups would come in handy

[SSharon]

Hey scott!
If you find the budget running low, I left a few items in my old apartment that you can buy from me.

Crock pots are even better when you use the oven bags for them so you don't have to clean them. I got a knife block from amazon.com and although I don't think it will last forever, I was very happy with it when I used it.

Don't forget a can opener that doesn't destroy your hand. Also, you can buy a nice bamboo cutting board at bed bath and beyond.

See you first weekend in March.

[Stradlater]

As were briefly mentioned, you need wooden spoons and spatulas.

A bunch of mixing bowls would be good, too.