[ito]

Title says it all. I moved into an apartment and the people I'm living with don't cook! I've got one knife, no vegetable peeler, no real cutting board, paper thin pans, a tiny pot, and a pizza slicer. My previous apartment mate was a wannabe cook so we had enough things to make do with, but none of it was mine. I'm now looking for a few things; basic knife set (chef's, paring, shears, slicer, sharpener, possibly filet, and maybe one of those cool z-shaped ones mentioned in Kitchen Confidential). I don't want crap, but I can't afford $300 for a chef's blade, I would however like it to last fairly well.

I need some pots and pans; nonstick and heavy, sauce pot, fry pan, dutch oven, saute pan, skillet of decent size.

The rest of the stuff I can manage by myself, though if you have favorites or essentials that are reasonably priced let me know.

Basically I need brands, suggestions on what type of items to get or not to get and online or bargain sources to purchase from. I know we have some cooks on here, so maybe I could find some help, please?

The Ito

 

[SkaredShtles]

I think minimum to get by:

Good quality chef's blade:

Cheap paring would be OK.

Pots & pans: big enough one for pasta, 12" nonstick for eggs & such, big saute pan (4+ qt)

I bought a Kirkland set of heavy stainless & can't say enough about getting pans with a nice heavy base.

 

[Nobody]

Excellent quality and decent snob appeal and a good price (i used to buy most of my knives from these guys...)

Calphalon Katana Series...

I've been using these lately, as some of my much more exotic and expensive knives have been trashed by working commercially with who-knows-whom is in the kitchen when my back is turned..

 

[MMcG]

what is the best size knife to get for doing most kitchen chores? 6", 7", or 8"?

Those knives look great.

 

[Nobody]

7" is about it.

A 20-year-plus pro chef friend of mine uses a classic 10" Henckel's chef knife.

A problem that he has, that he won't admit, is that chopping stuff in other people's home has the tip poking into things like the backsplash, small dishes, etc.

The fact is, most pro chefs get the biggest knife they can handle because it does the most work per chop, more or less. However, they have much larger work surfaces than we mere mortals do.

I find 8" to be borderline too big, but that's just me - I'm doing a fair amount of work in other people's homes and don't have the freedom of tossing their jars and bottles into the dustbin.

 

[V-Dub GTI]

t-fall [spelling?] makes some good pots and are kinda cheap, they even sell them at walmart if that helps!