A selection of good quality kitchen utensils are vital in every kitchen! They make the ease of preparing and cooking food much simpler and hassle free. Food preparation kitchen utensils will help to make the kitchen a fun environment to be in and could reduce the stress of hours of preparing food without the correct utensils. Many foodies will go out of their way to search for the latest gadget in the kitchen, the gadgets that promise to chop, peel and grate better and faster than the rest always seem to end up filling our cupboards! Most of the time these sometimes expensive kitchen gadgets are more good than their worth!
A well stocked kitchen is important of course, and obviously the more utensils you have in your kitchen, the more you can cook. Sometimes, while getting caught up in the latest kitchen utensil fads and trends it is easy to look over the most important, cheap and essential food preparation kitchen utensils. Here is a list of the top 10 must have cheap food preparation kitchen utensils:
1) A selection of knives. (not strictly utensils, but the most important in any kitchen so worth mentioning.) Don't be scared to buy expensive knives, they will last longer, be more productive and stay sharp for longer. In the long run the investment will pay off. Good quality, sharp knives will change your life in the kitchen! 3 essential knives - a chefs knife, a paring knife and a serrated knife.
2) Wooden spoons. Maybe obvious, but without these in the kitchen it would be 10 times harder. They will last a long time and are good to use with non-stick pots and pans as they will not destroy the non stick coating.
3) Spatulas. Something to do all the tossing and flipping! Metal and plastic spatulas available. Plastic can be used with non-stick pans, but be careful sometimes if they are left in the pan they will melt.
4) Can opener. Simple, cheap, effective. There isn't anything else that can do its job in food preparation!
5) Tongs. Are a must in any kitchen. Can be used to grab, drain, hold and turn food.
6) A peeler. A fantastic, vital, cheap utensil. A peeler is commonly used for carrots and potatoes and will peel the outside off, and save hours compared to peeling with a knife. Many varieties and designs available that all do the same job. The choice is all about personal preference.
7) A grater. A grater is commonly used for cheese, but has recently became popular to grate vegetables in food preparation. Potatoes can be grated to make rosti cakes, carrots grated to make a carrot cake. The grater is small, cheap utensil that will always come in handy.
8) A Whisk. Whisks are great for mixing sauces, dressings, eggs, or sometimes dry ingredients for baking. Much faster than using a fork!
9) Kitchen Shears. Can be used for soo many things in food preparation. Used for trimming meats, cutting herbs, cutting baking paper, opening ingredient packets. Please wash the shears after using like you would with any other kitchen utensil.
10) A draining and cutting board. Will protect your kitchen surface when chopping and preparing ingredients. Wooden chopping boards are thicker, stronger, will last longer and and slightly more expensive than plastic boards.