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The Minimum Viable Kitchen

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Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#111

Post by blacksmith_tb »

Tarrosion wrote: post #104
tptacek wrote: post #87

Notes: * Strong recommend on the Fibrox knife. If you don't already have a serious knife, don't buy one; get the Fibrox and use it for awhile. You may never want another knife, and if you ever do, you'll have a very good idea what you're looking for. Beware of knives: they're Veblen goods. * Don't get the expensive butcher block board. Actively avoid it. If you feel like arguing about this, you're not the reader this…

A few comments: - Stick blenders, at $20, are a steal. - Kitchenaid is a good mixer brand, but Breville also gets very high marks. - If you're going to bake even infrequently, the rolling pin is non-optional. A good solid rolling pin can also be used for whacking things (e.g. butter you want to soften but not melt) and as a cylindrical mold.

I've never heard them called "stick" before, but I was going to chime in that immersion blenders are more useful in everyday life (plus you don't have to wash anything else - puree that soup right in the pot you cooked it in).

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#112

Post by tptacek »

wpietri wrote: post #13
jmduke wrote: post #5

Line by line, my disagreements: - You don't need cookbooks. The internet is better in terms of 'MVK', and the best cookbook is the one you make yourself. - Get rid of half of the pots and the dutch oven. Cast iron is indeed the greatest. - A stand mixer is nice, but by no means is it Minimum Viable. - If you insist on getting a mixing bowl that isn't a regular bowl, don't get three of them. - Ditch the whisk. - Sayin…

I'm mostly with you, but I think almost anybody who needs a guide to buy kitchen basics also needs a couple of cookbooks. Fishing for recipes on the Internet is an advanced skill. You need to know how to cook reasonably well in order to evaluate the recipes and adjust each one to your situation. In contrast, something like Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" gives a lot of basic advice, has a set of consistent recipes…

Bittman's got a bit of a shaky reputation. Good writer. Not super authoritative, though. If you're going to do the "one cookbook only" thing, I strongly recommend the Cooks Illustrated books. One nice thing about them: they publish new ones every year, so you can get one a few years old for very cheap.

If you want to be "interesting" about this: get Ruhlman's Twenty (which is 20 core techniques with sample recipes) and Ratio, and then use the Internet for everything else. If you read Twenty, you'll probably be able to spot bullshit on the Internet.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#113

Post by bhousel »

eumenides1 wrote: post #102
bhousel wrote: post #44

I feel like there is lots missing from this list that a really functional kitchen needs. Supplies I'd add to a MVK: Dry measuring cups/spoons, liquid measures, rubber jar opener, bottle opener, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, digital timer, oven mitts, soap (I also like Lysol wipes for quick sanitizing) Ingredients to keep in stock: Fridge: butter (salted for cooking, unsalted for baking), lemon, lime, whole milk or cre…

This. People focus a lot of the equipment, but a properly stocked pantry will get you further. Find a canned "quick" item that is super luxurious. Keep it always stocked. It makes the simple life awesome. Mine are "elysee gherkins". Eat a sandwich? Add gherkins. Any kind of appetizer? put a small bowl of gherkins out.

Sweet, I am totally going to buy elysee gherkins the next time I see them.

My secret luxurious dessert ingredient is speculoos. I saw it on Chopped so now I have to pick it up every time I'm at Trader Joe's.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#114

Post by jerhinesmith »

tptacek wrote: post #109
jerhinesmith wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. In this case, it's not actually 8 pans, since they're including the lids in the count. It's actually two sauce pans, two saute pans, and a dutch oven - which is perfect for me.

So here I'd just point out that if you're going to have a dutch oven, it should be enameled cast iron.

Oh, agreed. I use the tramontina one primarily for boiling pasta. I have a cast iron dutch oven for things that actually require a dutch oven.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#115

Post by sarah2079 »

tjic wrote: post #98

I've got a copy of Myhrvold's "Modernist Cuisine" http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-Art-Science-Cooking/... ...which helped me learn about the MAXIMUM viable kitchen. It has a $10,000 lab-grade centrifuge, among other things.

It drives me nuts that someone I hate created a book that I would very much like to read. I wish there were a way to buy this without supporting the king of patent trolls.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#116

Post by tptacek »

r888888888 wrote: post #70
jtchang wrote: post #24

I cook quite a bit and have a lot of friends who own commercial kitchens. - Victorinox Fibrox knives are by far the best value you will get. They are inexpensive and are quite the workhorse. - I agree for the most part about the pots and pans except cast iron should be #1 on the list. The one thing you will learn very quickly as a cook is that cast iron is your friend. It also lasts forever. - Someone said something…

I feel that cast iron pans are overrated. Stainless steel is easier to clean, lets you build fond, lets you cook acidic pan sauces, and are lighter so you can be more aggressive about pan flipping. The only advantage cast iron has is heat retention and there are few cases where that's useful (like deep frying for example, or baking bread). Iron is actually a relatively poor conductor of heat also and a good tri-ply p…

The thing about cast iron pans is they're dirt cheap, so it's hard to overrate them.

I guess I agree with you: if you have a high-quality stainless skillet, you don't need the cast-iron pan. Things we do in cast-iron that we don't do in the All Clad pan: make cornbread, sear steaks, grill vegetables outdoors.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#117

Post by m0nastic »

Tarrosion wrote: post #104
tptacek wrote: post #87

Notes: * Strong recommend on the Fibrox knife. If you don't already have a serious knife, don't buy one; get the Fibrox and use it for awhile. You may never want another knife, and if you ever do, you'll have a very good idea what you're looking for. Beware of knives: they're Veblen goods. * Don't get the expensive butcher block board. Actively avoid it. If you feel like arguing about this, you're not the reader this…

A few comments: - Stick blenders, at $20, are a steal. - Kitchenaid is a good mixer brand, but Breville also gets very high marks. - If you're going to bake even infrequently, the rolling pin is non-optional. A good solid rolling pin can also be used for whacking things (e.g. butter you want to soften but not melt) and as a cylindrical mold.

An empty wine bottle filled partly with water can substitute for a rolling pin (minus the "whacking things" use case you outlined) for people who really don't do much baking.

We have a Vic Firth one that gets used about a half dozen times a day (my girlfriend has been on a year-long hardcore baking addiction...which while almost as costly as a meth addiction at least has the nice side-effect of keeping us in an embarrassment of breads, cookies, and pies).

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#118

Post by mattmaroon »

tptacek wrote: post #103
gabemart wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory, the acidity of the tomatoes breaks down the seasoning of the cast iron.

Isn't it the opposite? Doesn't seasoning of cast iron allow you to cook acid foods? Washing your pan is what breaks down seasoning, but also, seasoning is easy to fetishize. Just wipe the pan down with canola and stick it in a fast oven. Seasoning cast iron is even easier than sharpening a knife.

Takes a lot longer though. I don't want to bake a pan for 2 hours every time I use it.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#119

Post by cpenner461 »

stcredzero wrote: post #20

Here's my recommendation for a knife sharpener, the Lansky system: http://amzn.com/B000B8L6LI Buy that, plus the "Ultra Fine" stone: http://amzn.com/B000B8L6MC The Lansky system has metal guides that maintain the right honing angle for you, so you can easily get a decent edge by just following the directions in their video. So long as you treat your knives right, you should just have to do that twice a year. (No dish…

I thought stainless knives were actually too hard and therefore can't get as good of an edge to begin with? Could be remembering wrong though...

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#120

Post by jackalope »

Before you run out and spend money on pans, do yourself a favor and spend some time with an induction cooktop. You can get a single element hob for less than $100 that's reasonably portable, easy to store and useable on a counter top. You'll want a large element, but even a 4 inch one is an eye opening introduction to this amazing cooking technology. I've always cooked over flame (and still consider red glowing coals superior to anything), but induction is a game changer. After a year of using the hob, I replaced my gas range with induction and haven't looked back. Unfortunately, that meant half my pans went into storage, being aluminum or nonmagnetic stainless steel. Many cheap pans work well with induction, including cast iron, but a well made induction-ready pan is a thing of beauty.

Also +1 on parchment paper and Silpats. Your baking sheets and pans will last forever.

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