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COOKING AT HOME: What I Reach For Every Week
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items I'm on the road about 200 days a year, so the nights I'm actually home cooking are worth getting right. Nothing here is fancy and most of it is cheap. It's the pans, tools and machines I genuinely reach for every week - the ones that earned their cou...
Sections
5
Pots and Pans
Prep and Precision
Countertop Machines
Coffee
Outside: Smoke and Flat Top
Pots and Pans
The pans I actually reach for, not the ones that look good hanging on a rack. A couple of these are decades from wearing out, and one of them gets better every single time I cook on it.
The pan I cook on most. Cheap, close to indestructible, and it gets better the longer you own it. It holds heat well enough for a real sear, which no nonstick will ever do. Wipe it out instead of soaking it and this thing outlasts every other pan in ...
Lodge Chef Collection 12" Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet
Soups, braises, chili, bread. One pot that does the heavy work all winter. Cast iron holds temperature so a low braise actually stays low instead of swinging, and it goes stovetop to oven without a second thought.
Lodge ® Cast Iron 5qt. Dutch Oven
The cheapest way to stop ruining meat. Guessing is how a good steak turns grey in the middle. Pull chicken at the right number, rest it, and you get a different result than you have been getting for years.
OXO ® Precision Digital Instant Read Thermometer
The weekday machine. I'm out the door early most mornings and this is about thirty seconds start to finish. It isn't the same as pulling a real shot and I don't pretend otherwise, but on a Tuesday I'm not standing at the counter grinding beans.
Nespresso by Breville Vertuo Coffee and Espresso Machine with Aeroccino and Chrome - Target / p / Nespresso Vertuo Coffee and Espresso Machine Black by De Longhi - A-52208778
Gets used more than the oven does. Chicken thighs, vegetables, reheating anything that would go soggy in a microwave. It doubles as a toaster oven, so it replaced two appliances instead of adding one more thing to the counter.
Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven 7-in-1, 1800W Stainless Steel CTOA-122NAS
The weekend machine. When I'm actually home and not in a hurry, this is what I use. Real portafilter, real steam wand, and you have to pay attention to get it right, which is most of the appeal. The Nespresso covers weekday mornings and this one cove...
De'Longhi Classic Espresso Machine Stainless Steel
Half the dinners in this house happen on one of these. Vegetables, chicken thighs, everything on one pan and one thing to wash afterward. Get the two-pack, because you always want the second one, and the flimsy ones that warp in a hot oven are why pe...
Nordic Ware Naturals® Baker's Half Sheet Pan Set of 2
Rice, sauces, blanching, reheating soup. Nothing exciting about it and I use it four nights a week. Heavy enough that the bottom doesn't scorch the second you look away, which is the whole difference between a cheap saucepan and one you keep for twen...
Cuisinart Professional Series 3qt Stainless Steel Saucepan with Cover - 89193-20: Dishwasher-Safe, Gas & Electric Compatible
Ceramic nonstick instead of the coated stuff that starts flaking in year two. Seven pieces covers almost everything I cook at home - a fry pan for eggs, a saute for anything with a sauce, two saucepans for sides. The rule with any nonstick: medium he...
ZWILLING Milano 7-Piece Ceramic Nonstick Cookware Set
Prep and Precision
Sharp things, and the stuff that keeps them sharp. You can cook well with mediocre pans and a good knife; the other way around doesn't work.
Does about ninety percent of the cutting in this kitchen. Cheap enough that you stop being precious about it, sharp out of the box, and the grippy handle still works when your hands are wet. Six inches is more nimble than the big chef's knives people...
Victorinox Stainless Steel 6 Inch Chef S Knife
End grain, so the fibres close back up instead of holding every cut, and it is far easier on a knife edge than the plastic boards that warp and go slick. Hand wash it, stand it up to dry, oil it a few times a year. Fourteen inches square is enough fo...
14"x14" End Grain Acacia Wood Cutting Board Natural - Figmint™
Pre-ground pepper is dust. These actually adjust from coarse to fine instead of pretending to, and the difference on a steak or a plate of eggs is bigger than most gadgets costing three times as much. Boring thing to spend money on, and the lifetime ...
Cole & Mason 7" Stainless Steel Salt and Pepper Mill Gift Set: Pepper Grinder, Lifetime Warranty, 2-Piece Set
Mostly for coffee and bread, and it settled a lot of arguments with recipes. Cup measurements are a guess; weight isn't. The display pulls out on a little arm so a big mixing bowl doesn't hide the number, which sounds like nothing until you've tried ...
OXO 5Lb Food Scale with Pull Out Display: Kitchen Scale, Backlit Electronic Display, Black, Battery Powered
Countertop Machines
Things that plug in and do one job well enough to earn the counter space they take up. The bar for this section is high, which is why it's short.
Soup gets blended in the pot instead of in three batches in a blender that then has to be washed. That is the entire pitch and it is enough. Cheap, one speed, lives in a drawer, and it comes out every time I make anything with squash, beans or tomato...
Cuisinart Quick-Prep Single-Speed Hand Blender - White - CHB-60TG: 250W Immersion Blender, Handheld Mixer, Stainless Steel
Two baskets is the whole reason I have this one. Wings on one side, vegetables on the other, both finishing at the same time instead of cooking in shifts. Eight quarts is enough to actually feed people, and it's the appliance that gets used on a week...
Ninja Foodi 8qt DualZone 2-Basket Air Fryer (DZ201)
Coffee
I drink a lot of bad hotel coffee, which is exactly why I won't put up with it at home. Two things, both earning their keep.
The upgrade that actually mattered. Blade grinders chop unevenly and you taste it - bitter and thin at the same time. Burrs give you consistent grounds and a dial that means something, so the coffee tastes the same on Saturday as it did last Saturday...
OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder - Stainless Steel
Gooseneck so the pour is slow and lands where you want it, and it holds a set temperature instead of boiling and hoping. Matters for pour-over, matters for tea, and it is the first thing I turn on most mornings before anything else in this kitchen is...
Electric Gooseneck Kettle 1L Stainless Steel with Variable Temperature Control – Bonavita
Induction heat and a spinning disc, so the milk steams instead of scalding, and it's done in about a minute. This is the thing that stopped me buying a six-dollar latte on the way to an appointment. I'm not a barista - I just got tired of bad coffee ...
Breville Milk Cafe Milk Frother (BMF600XL)
Outside: Smoke and Flat Top
Between the smoker and the flat top there isn't much I can't cook outside, which matters on the weekends I'm actually home and people come over. One runs low and slow and doesn't need me standing there; the other runs hot and feeds everybody at once.
This is the one that made me quit pretending I could hold a steady temperature on a charcoal grill. Set it and walk away; come back hours later to a brisket that didn't need babysitting. The WiFi sounds like a gimmick until you're only home a few day...
Traeger Pro 575 Pellet Grill and Smoker
Thirty-six inches of flat top is the difference between cooking for the family and cooking for whoever shows up. Smash burgers, breakfast for a crowd, fried rice - anything that wants surface instead of grates. Season it properly and it'll outlive th...
Blackstone 36 in. Griddle (4-burner flat top)