10 Essential Cooking Tools for Clueless Dads
Unless you want to be feeding your kid microwave dinners and cup ramen for every meal (Childhood Obesity!), you will have to learn how to prepare and cook nutritious food for your family. If your food is coming out bland, burnt or just…bizarre, you might need a refresher on the fundamentals of making edible food. This comes down to knowing the fundamentals, having the right tools, and lots of practice and repetition.
You don’t need too many things to start, but I’d urged you to spend a little more on quality items as they will truly last for years and years if you maintain them correctly. Buy once, cry once.
made in: carbon steel pan
1.Carbon Steel Skillet: I prefer carbon steel as a starting skillet for a few reasons. They hold temperature well, provide a good sear, are relatively non stick if maintained well, and are easier on the wrists than cast iron. I have a cheap non stick for eggs, but long term studies seem to suggest that their use is detrimental to our health. A 12 inch skillet is a good first pan.
2. Chef's Knife: Unless you want to rip things apart with your hands and teeth, you’ll need some sort of knife to cut things with. You want it sharp, and you want one that fits your hand well. While most will opt for a chef’s knife or santoku for a first knife, a cleaver is also a good choice if you prefer to chop vs. slice. Wusthoff and Shun have full tang blades (where the blade metal goes through the handle) which are sharp, durable and fit well in my (somewhat larger) hand.
3. Stock Pot: You can make soup, stews, pasta in these things. I also use them to parboil vegetables and potatoes. Made In makes good value stainless steel pans that have served me well for years.
4. Baking Sheet: Super useful for roasting vegetables, baking, or for cooling off fried food if combined with a wire rack. I prefer aluminum, but you can’t put them in the dishwasher!
5. Mixing Bowls: You can never have enough of these. Grab various sizes for mixing ingredients, marinating meat, and storing leftovers. I like these as they come with an airtight lid so you can throw things right into the fridge.
6. Instant Read Thermometer: You want something that will improve your ability to cook meat instantly? Grab a thermapen instant read thermometer. These grab temp in about a second, allowing you to consistently hit your desired meat temperature. Just remember that internal temp will rise a few degrees depending on thickness of the meat for a few minutes after taking it out of the pan—this means you should take things out at around 5 degrees less than your ultimate desired temperature.
7. AirFryer: You will want one of these, trust me. The moment your little one tastes chicken nuggets, this little thingy will be the most used piece of equipment in your kitchen. Throw some frozen fries, chicken tenders, corn dogs in this thing, set the temp/time and shake or flip at the halfway point. They crisp things well with minimal need for oil. Grab one with a large heating basket as certain items are harder to heat up with a smaller container.
8. Colander: You’ll need this to wash vegetables, drain pasta, and as a helmet for fighting dragons with your kids. I like metal ones as they won’t melt if you need to drain hot oil.
9. Tongs: These are like finger extenders! I guess you could just grab stuff with your fingers, but I, for one, do not enjoy 2nd degree burns on my fingers or hand. Id recommend grabbing both silicone and metal tongs, as sometimes silicone can melt if it makes direct contact with a very hot pan.
10. Fish Spatula: Yes, this sounds weird, but think of it as a better spatula. It flips things like fried eggs, pancakes, and fish much better than a flat spatula due to its unique shape.
That’s a good start. Next, we’ll go over the fundamental things you need to understand in order to make consistent delicious meals.
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