Searching for a complete list of essential tools for baking and cooking at home? If you’ve been baking for years, you probably have most of the tools and supplies you need. But there are always a few you can add to make baking more fun. If you’re just starting out and need all the essential baking and cooking tools, you better compile a list and prioritize it with the most important items at the top. Here are a few good lists to start with.
Your Lists of Essential Tools for Baking And Cooking:
1. Essential Tools for Cooking and Baking
This might sound obvious, but the first tool to add to your list is cookbooks, yes cookbooks. How can you cook or bake without some guidance? You can go online to cooking sites for some recipes, but it is nicer to have a book in front of you when trying new foods. You can check for recipes on sites such as newyorkstreetfood.com for advice along with other helpful sites.
Different categories of food require different equipment. For instance, if you want to bake cookies, you need mixing bowls, spoons, spatulas, a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer, measuring cups and measuring spoons, cookie scoops, baking sheets, and cookie cutters. One great source for unique cookie cutters is Ann Clark Cookie Cutters. This and other sources will have dozens of cookie-cutter shapes to choose from.
Other baking essentials include:
- Pyrex liquid measuring cups
- Rolling pin
- Parchment baking paper
- Kitchen scale
- Mesh strainers
- Cake tester
- Whisks
- Wire cooling racks
- Food processor or blender
- Baking pans for cakes, bread, muffins, pies, and more
- Dough scraper
- Pastry brushes
- Wooden spoons
Start with what you absolutely need and then add the fun stuff. For instance, if you’re just starting with cakes and cookies, wait a while to buy the bread pans, bundt pans, and other fancy pans. You can add them when you want to bake that item.
2. Essentials for Cooking Main Dishes
Now, if you don’t have the basic cooking tools for making meals, you must add them. Some essentials include:
- Good skillets
- Good pots and pans—start with the most-used sizes and add as you go
- Casserole dish or two
- Rice cooker
- Slow cooker
- Soup ladle
- A good set of knives for slicing and chopping
- A griddle
- Cast iron frying pans and enameled heavy-duty dutch ovens
- Hot pads
- Roasting pan
- Food thermometer
This is a good start, but specialized recipes call for additional equipment. Start cooking basic foods that you like and would like to cook yourself. Then, branch out to other foods for the pure adventure of it. Always get instructions for a new dish from a cookbook or from an online tutorial. It never works to guess, and cooking is not a seat-of-your-pants kind of activity. You need the benefit of other cooks’ experience.
Take Care When Baking and Storing Food
When making any dish, measure carefully and use the exact amounts and ingredients the first time you make a recipe. In the future, you can make small adjustments in spices or other ingredients. Cooking is a wonderful way to be creative and deal with life’s little stresses. You can make wonderful, healthy treats for yourself, your friends, and your family.
Remember, when you make a dish and there is more than you can eat in one sitting, properly store the food so it remains fresh, tasty, and safe to eat. That adds a few more tools to your lists such as storage containers, freezer containers, plastic wrap, and aluminum foil. These items are also useful when you bake a dish to share at an event away from home. You need to transport your food item safely.
I hope these lists of essential tools for baking and cooking at home will make your life easier and more fun in the kitchen. Let me know about your cooking adventures in the comments below!
