Whether you've just started culinary school or you've been working as a chef for years, make sure you always have access to these ten tools, Chef's Knife. It's true that there are all kinds of specialized knives out there. It's time to take stock of what's in your kitchen. If you're still using a second-hand cutting board and those cheap knives you found on sale at Bed Bath %26 Beyond when you graduated college, an upgrade awaits you.
We spoke to two professional chefs, Associate Professor of Culinary Arts at the Culinary Institute of America, Lance Nitahara, and Sabrina Sexton, the former lead culinary instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education, about their kitchen essentials. While seasoned chefs have mastered the art of sharpening stone, Sexton says a canteen knife sharpener, one of those gadgets where you stand up on your counter and slide your knife, is easier for beginners and gets the job done. While glass or stone cutting boards can be pretty, Sexton says wood or plastic is his best option. Those are going to dull your knives, so I wouldn't recommend making heavy cuts in glass or stone, he says.
Grooves can cause bacteria to build up, so, Sexton says, you should replace your cutting board every two years. Heat resistant is the name of the game when looking for a quality spatula. A high-powered mixer is perfect for making smoothies, mashing soups and sauces, grinding your own bread flour, and can work as a substitute for a food processor if you don't have space for both. My Blendtec 625 is used at least daily in our house, if not more, and it's a total workhorse.
Seriously, new technology is the best. He took my favorite time-saving appliance from the kitchen and eliminated the need to mess up a frying pan when you need to brown your meat. I use this Hamilton Beach Stove Safe slow cooker constantly. The time also works in 30-minute increments, so there are no more dinners ruined by cooking.
From sauce to pie crusts to crumbling cheese and chopping nuts, having a food processor is one of those things that simply makes life easier. Yes, you can also use a blender for some of those things, but not all, and there are some things where you just want additional real estate offered by a food processor. Not to mention all the slicing capabilities of the additional add-ons provided by a food processor. This Cuisinart 14-cup food processor is fantastically large, but compact in size, so it doesn't take up as much cupboard or countertop space as some do.
If I Could, I Would Seriously Marry This Staub 6 Quart Cocotte. It's beautiful, easy to clean, and seamlessly transitions from stove to oven to table in perfect style. Browning, simmering, roasting, you name it, this pot can do it. The 6 quarts is enough for our family of 4 and a good size pork or veal roast.
Knives are the most fundamental tool in a professional chef's kit. The classic chef's knife has a small tip for fine work and a large, curved blade for quick cutting and chopping. Boning knives have a thinner, stiffer or more flexible blade, depending on chef preference. Paring knives are smaller than chef's knives or boning knives and are used for delicate side dishes or shaped vegetables.
Gentle sawing nature preserves inner crumb (compared to a chef's knife that uses straight force). Common professional chef tools include a large or flat griddle for cooking breakfasts and frying items in quantity. I have owned more than 100 knives throughout my career and have learned that a true understanding of how to care for your tools is what takes your performance to the next level. Conversation changes just as often, and we'll be chatting with chefs about everything from podcasts and kitchen equipment to travel and trends.
You put a lot of work into cooking a perfect steak, and supporting it with the right tool helps you finish the process with strength. Rick Ortiz is the chef and owner of Antique Taco, a three-location Mexican restaurant chain in Chicago, Illinois. In his current role as director of pastry art at the International Culinary Center, Chan works to shape a new generation of world-class chefs. Ortiz's background, like his restaurant, is a deep mix of high-brow and low-brow sensibility: the chef worked on two Michelin-starred Relais Sainte Victoires and in the kitchens of Chicago's Soldier Field.
For high-volume production food processors, chef equipment types, such as rotary grinders and electric slicers, offer fast and efficient bulk preparation of meat or vegetable ingredients. And in my kitchen, a restaurant, it's a tool that I use to remind my team that when you become an owner, you spend your own money on building your dream. Along the way, they share tips on how to get the most out of these tools, so you might even discover something new that you can try with a device you already have. .
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