What’s for Dinner? Cooking for Real People Part 5: Cooking Equipment I Can’t Live Without

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Task 5: Think about the kitchen equipment that will help you with your daily meals. What equipment would you want to try?

For this post I decided to give you an idea of some of the essential cooking equipment that I cannot live without. I wouldn’t say these are the only equipment that I use because I have a lot that I have not listed. I picked these because I use many of them everyday and some that help me so much when I am cooking. (*I linked the equipment (or similar) to the ones I own but these are not affiliate links.) I am also linking some recipes that I have made this equipment.

Vitamix Blender

I use this blender mainly for smoothies but it is super helpful for making soups or smooth sauces. You can also make flour and shaved ice with it.

Food Processor

This great for chopping veggies for stir fry, pizza toppings, grating cheese, making pesto and chopping nuts.

Immersion blender

Immersion blenders are good for blending soup in the pot, blending beans, and creaming sauces. I would say this is not 100% necessary if you have a good blender but it comes in handy when you don’t want to transfer that hot soup into the blender.

Stand mixer

Baking, baking, baking! Comes in handy for all your baking needs. You just dump the ingredients in and leave it to do its thing. The stand mixer is also great for making mashed potatoes! You can also buy handy attachments like the pasta maker.

Instant pot

My newest item. I love it and am still experimenting with it. It can be a slow cooker, a pressure cooker, and rice cooker. It sautees and browns and can be used for many things. I have made congee, soup, rice, and ribs with it already. The recipes below I have not used the instant pot but I would definitely try them using either the slow cooker or pressure setting.

Dutch Oven

This a versatile cooking vessel used for baking, making chili, making artisan bread, candy and sauces. It is great but heavy.

Cast Iron Wok

Everyone needs a wok. It can be used for stir fry, deep frying, making fried rice and chow mein. Using a cast iron version adds iron to your foods and become non stick when used for a long time.

Steamer

I use the steamer almost daily. Currently I love steamed broccoli and other vegetables. I also love making dim sum.

Baking Sheets

My favorite baking sheets that I have are my aluminum half sheets. I prefer these over the nonstick ones. I find they are great for baking chicken and also great for baking cookies. They can be used to prevent drips and toast nuts and bread.

Casserole Dish

Casserole dishes are great for baking saucy recipes, things like baked buns, casseroles and cakes.

What kitchen equipment can you not live without?

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