What Should Be Included In A Kitchen Utensils List?   by Graham Bailey

in Food / Cooking Tips    (submitted 2012-01-03)

Most of us would be surprised to see a complete kitchen utensils list - the kitchen can't possibility hold them all! Naturally, because of ever improving manufacturing techniques and the diversification of our society, we have more and more choices open to us. Added to this, our own cultures have been affected by other cuisines, some of which call for other styles of kitchen utensils. Nevertheless, there is a strong case for getting a sold basic set of kitchen utensils and applying the basic law of the 80-80 rule. You don't know what the 80-20 rule is? This universal law governs all activities, human and otherwise. For our purposes it states that 80% of all our cooking needs can be done with just 20% of our entire inventory of kitchen utensils. Now there's a thought!

Whatever Your Fundamental Needs, Go For Quality!

We could categorize our kitchen utensils list into cooking, handling and storing. Pans and pots are available in various sizes and in a great range of materials. It seems quite evident that material quality is directly related to cost, but not always. The very latest aluminum frying pan might be twice the cost of the traditional heavy iron kind, but that doesn't mean that it's twice as efficient. Cast iron spreads the heat throughout the entire surface of the pan, and so cooks more evenly. Less expensive (and thinner) metals tend to allow the cooking heat to concentrate in one area so there is a greater possibility of burning. However, if you are making eggs in hot oil taking just one or two minutes, then a thinner pan is ideal - it heats up quickly and makes that sizzle!

Heavy iron and ceramic earthenware is also great for closed in pots with lids, for stewing and baking in the oven. The large mass of material encases the food and bombards it with heat from every direction. Basic clay pots are also used in this way. Some kinds of enclosed cooking pots have been adapted to our modern living style by fitting with low power electric elements and timers. These electric pots can be set to begin cooking during the afternoon and welcome us with a meal at the end of the day.

Many people swear by copper pans, and they do cook extremely well. However, there are problems with this material. Firstly, utensils made of copper are not cheap and they can be very heavy. Additionally, they must be cleaned very well to remove the build up of toxic compounds. Acidic foods can't be prepared using copper pots and pans.

The use of antique cooking utensils is quite a two edged sword. On the one hand, they can cook very well if if used correctly. On the other, they can be too costly and not very flexible. For example, a modern pot or pan can be used several ways, due to our modern production processes. We can efficiently vary the thickness of the metal used to make our pots and pans. This wasn't the case a century ago.

About the Author

Graham Bailey writes on many subjects, including video search engine optimization and unusual subjects like what to included in a kitchen utensils list.