Essential Cooking Equipment Every Learner Needs to Practice at Home
As a student, you need to continue practising at home after the classes. You may not get all the equipment you need to practice but you should have enough to get started. If you are living at home (with parents) you have the chance to use the plethora of equipment and gadgets at home including pizza ovens and grills. If you are not, aim to get the following equipment to continue your culinary art classes at home.
A Digital Scale
You can sail through cooking without a digital scale but if you need to learn culinary art or baking, you need to weigh your ingredients. To make perfect dishes and drinks, you need the perfect scale. Even your coffee will not taste as great if you miss the ratios.
When shopping, looking for a scale that gives you measurements in different units because you never know the units used in the next recipe you follow. Again, choose a scale that measures as low as 5 grams (which is why you might need to make coffee) and as high as five kilograms.
Measuring Cups and Spoons
These are linked to the digital scale. They are ideal when you do not need very accurate measurements but still need to get the proportions right. Measuring cups can measure liquids and powders and you use them faster than you do a weighing scale. However, these are not replacements for the weighing scale.
If you are learning to bake, these cups and spoons will be a great addition to your kitchen as you can quickly measure flour and other ingredients. You may not have a pizza oven or baking oven in your student room yet, but you might have access to one at home.
Salad Spinner
As a student of the culinary arts, you will make a lot of salads. Besides, you also make a lot of salads in your college room so getting a salad spinner is a good idea. A salad spinner is like a colander – it drains the water from your salad, so you never have to eat soggy lettuce. If you have a colander in your room, you do not need to add the spinner as you can use it to drain the water out of your salad.
Knife Block Set and Cutting Board
Every chef needs a knife. Although you can get a kitchen knife and use it for everything, learning to use different knives as a student will help you learn culinary arts or baking faster.
Because there is no multi-purpose knife in the kitchen, you need to get a knife set with at least five different knives. Most sets have eight knives and will cost you no more than $20. Choose sets that come with a holder. A good cutting board only helps make your cutting easier.
Digital Kitchen Thermometer
A kitchen thermometer plays a crucial role in the kitchen – as much as a digital scale. This is especially true when you are baking or grilling and you need the cooker to be at a given temperature before and during cooking. You do not want to end up with a dry chicken, overcooked beef, or burnt pizza.
A digital thermometer doesn’t cost much but it will save you the shame of presenting a burnt cake.
Non-Stick Frying Pans
You can do so many things with these pans. There are so many food items you can make from a non-stick frying pan from pancakes, a slap-up meal, and so many others – anything you need to fries goes to the pan. High quality pans will serve you for many years, so take your time when shopping for the pans. The beauty of these pans is that they are easy to clean and you can do your student experiments on them.
Oven Gloves
Quit using your tea towel to reach for items in your oven; you will burn the towel and your hands. Instead, get a quality pair of oven gloves and learning to bake or make pizza will be fun.
A Blender
There are some ingredients you might need to blend, plus you sometimes need fresh juice at home. A blender is an amazing addition to your kitchen when you need to continue learning at home. A blender will not cost you much and there are so many things you can do with it.
Conclusion There are so many other tools you may need – the above are just the beginning. If you can afford a quality cooker or pizza oven, get one and your kitchen will be almost complete.
