One of the questions I get asked most often is, "What is my kitchen missing?". As a personal chef I’ve cooked in over 400 different kitchens, both in the US and Canada. And I didn’t realize until recently that I’ve been sitting on a very interesting pile of data. So, I have compiled this article, using what I have observed from all the kitchens, to come up with a guide that will show you how to equip your kitchen for optimal use. In writing this article, I have focused on equipment, time and functionality. You can use this as your benchmark to measure how your own kitchen stacks up.
Equipment:
Knives
The chef’s knife is the piece of equipment that would get the most use in a kitchen, as a chef does 80% of his cutting with a chef’s knife. It’s best to buy your knives individually, as I’ve never seen a set of knives that I would be completely happy with. So choosing each knife individually would furnish you with a set that would be as functional as it would be comfortable.
Much could be written about how to choose a knife. The length of a chef’s knife is proportional to the height of the chef. A shorter chef might use a 6=inch chef’s knife and a really tall chef might use a 12-inch knife. Most people feel comfortable with an 8- to 10-inch chef knife. A chef’s knife is never serrated. The minimalist knife set should include an 8-inch chef’s knife, a serrated bread knife, a small parring knife, a carving knife and a 6-inch serrated utility (or vegetable) knife. A steel (more accurately called a rectifier, as it does not sharpen a knife, it just keeps the edge straight after you’ve sharpened them) should be handy and you should buy a small electric knife sharpener to keep them sharp. How often do you sharpen them? As often as is required to keep them sharp. You don’t let your knives get dull. Your knives are best kept on the counter wall stuck to a magnetic strip, but look best kept in a nice wooden knife block.
This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2011.