The kitchen plays a much more vital role than just being used for cooking meals throughout the day. It is where families sit together, and relatives come to visit. It’s where we host and spend quality time with some of our favorite people!
For all of these reasons and much more, your kitchen may benefit from a clean and minimalistic setup. To achieve this, a lot of decluttering is required, but what essentials should you stock up on, and which should you get rid of?
To answer this question and help you set up your kitchen the right way, we have listed the dos and don’ts of kitchen essentials today. Read ahead and familiarize yourself with the things we think you should never compromise on to achieve a minimalistic cooking space.
What are the Essentials for a Minimalistic Kitchen?
Top-Notch Cutlery
First, we need to talk about the cutlery present in a modern kitchen. Contrary to the conventional standard of drawers filled with different spoons and knives, you only really need one set of each utensil. Also, since plastic cutlery breaks easily and is not eco-friendly, go for silicone cooking utensils. These are super easy to use and clean and are sold at affordable rates.
Additionally, a good quality, sharp and serrated knife is best suited to chopping veggies and meat, whereas a paring knife can be used for softer fruits like berries and apples.
Knife Sharpener
Knives need to be sharpened from time to time, or else they will go dull. Instead of buying more knives, you must invest in an efficient knife sharpener! This kitchen tool will save you tons of time, money, and space.
Quality Cooking Pans and Pots
Rather than focusing on the price tag, it’s best to always look at the quality of any pot or pan you intend to buy. Then, opt for about three pots, each of different sizes, to suit your needs. We recommend getting anywhere between three-quart and six-quart capacity pots.
A non-stick pan is mandatory for every amateur and professional chef. Although this might cost slightly more than a basic pan, it will surely improve the cooking experience of everything cooked inside it! Just make sure the coating on the pan is reliable and of high quality.
If you are wary about the quality of your cooking pans, look for stainless-steel. It might take some time to get used to cooking with this pan, but it beats every other material in terms of durability and will be a reliable cooking partner for several decades!
Mini Food Processor
This truly versatile equipment is perfect for making anything, from your basic cauliflower rice and hummus to more complicated pesto and ice cream recipes.
An excellent mini food processor might be a financial investment, but it can help you save shelf space and money by avoiding stocking up on several nonessential pieces of kitchen equipment.
Blender
Look in any kitchen, and you are bound to find a blender. This compact and portable kitchen essential is extremely useful and lets you make everything from smoothies to pancake batter to soup!
Quality Cutting Board Set
Thanks to cutting boards, gone are the days when people used to cut their veggies directly on the counter causing irreparable damage (not to mention the mess!)
A high-end cutting board keeps your counter clean and protected. It also protects your knives!
It is beneficial to keep at least two or three cutting boards, each for different purposes. This way, you can keep things orderly in the kitchen while avoiding cross-contamination between meats and fruits and veggies.
Baking Dishes and Sheets
Baking sheets and dishes are a must-have for every kitchen, used for cooking your basic meals to preparing cakes and cookies.
A top-notch stainless-steel baking sheet will last for years. Invest in heavier, thicker ones that will not warp in the oven.
Essentials You Definitely Don’t Need for Your Minimalist Kitchen
Bread Maker
Ask anyone which of their cooking tools they do not use, and almost every time, the answer will be the bread maker.
Apart from being space-consuming, the cheapest bread maker will cost no less than $50. So, why spend the money on something you will rarely use?
If you want to bake your own bread instead of picking up a loaf from the bakery, a pizza stone and an oven will suffice.
Air fryer
Air fryers are the hottest kitchen appliance on the market right now, but are they really worth the money?
An air fryer takes up a lot of kitchen counter space and does everything an oven or toaster oven can do. We’re convinced that this fad will too fade away and that air fryer will end up collecting dust somewhere in your kitchen.
A Vegetable Spiralizer
Spiralizers may be a great way of including more veggies into your everyday meals and, yes, making sweet potato or zucchini noodles using it may seem cool, but will do just fine without one.
A quality chef knife is a perfect alternative for cutting anything into long, thin strips. Not to mention that it is cheaper and can be easily stacked into your drawers. Or, if you own a stand mixer, the spritzer attachment will also do justice to your vegetable noodles.
Food Dehydrator
Apple chips and dried mango slices can be prepared using other methods. While a food dehydrator may help you get the job done faster, employ your regular oven to bake your ingredients at a low temperature to dry them out.
A food dehydrator takes up space, and if you prefer not to cram your kitchen with superfluous equipment, we recommend you skip it.
Ice Cream Maker
Unless you are committed to making homemade ice cream, your kitchen counter does not need another chunky addition.
Let’s face it, preparing ice cream from scratch is not any cheaper than buying your favorite flavor from a nearby market. Furthermore, the internet is filled with numerous no-churn ice cream recipes that depend on your regular blenders, so why not use them instead?
Electric Can Opener
What is wrong with using the manual one that can be tucked neatly away in a drawer?
Popcorn Maker
Sure, Sunday movie nights without a bowl full of popcorn are incomplete, but you don’t need to waste wads of dollars and kitchen space on this.
Making popcorn the conventional way, in a pot on a stove does not require any fancy appliances, saves counter and cupboard space, and cuts down on your electricity bill!
Garlic Press
As we said before, what is the need to invest in something that you could do with a readily available sharp knife.
Aside from cluttering up your minimalistic kitchen, a garlic press is a menace to clean since you always seem to miss that one (or often more than one) garlic gunk on the mincer.
Juicer
Compressing tons of apples or carrots to end up with half a cup of juice can be demotivating (and a sham). So, to save your time and energy, we believe that buying ready-made juice is definitely a better and more space-conserving approach.
Quesadilla/ Panini/ Grilled Cheese Maker
Again, why waste your money and space on a novelty kitchen gadget that your conventional pans can easily replace.
Mortar and Pestle
Certainly, curry made from scratch tastes great, but do you really see yourself doing the labor-intensive thing of regularly crushing your own spices?
If you’re not a fan of sophisticated recipes with tons of ingredients and added steps, opt for the premixed herbs and spices, and avoid this bulky purchase.
Final Thoughts
Here at Toolspicks, we sincerely believe that it is best to combat your temptation when it comes to novelty kitchen appliances. And if you are gifted something you know you will never use, it is for your own and your kitchen’s betterment that you sell it or re-gift it so that it does not sit on your counter, accumulating dust and space.
The kitchen has become much more than a place made for just cooking food. By following the dos and don’ts mentioned above, your time spent in the kitchen will be more enjoyable and productive!
