One thing that stands out to a lot of people is how little equipment I have in my kitchen. I have four pots and pans (all stainless steel), two knives (a paring knife and an 8” Santoku knife with a wider blade than you usually get anywhere because I bought both knives at a restaurant supply store for less than $20 total), two cutting boards, measuring spoons and cups, some utensils (rubber spoonulas, metal spatula, wooden flipper, wooden ladle, and a couple others), some mini whisks which are great for scrambling eggs in one of the three 2-cup measuring glasses, a couple of mixing bowls in different sizes, a strainer, and that’s about it. I love using such a simple setup because it shows how much more important the methods are, not the equipment. You don’t need a $150 knife or a $300 enameled cast iron Dutch oven with a French name on it to cook REALLY good food. In fact, there are people with all that and a $30,000 stove who still can’t cook a soup!
10” Frying Pan
This is my small standard pan for scrambled eggs, small steak, etc. This is usually not large enough or at least doesn’t leave any room for error, so I usually opt for the larger frying pan with dual handles since this gives me a lot more room to spread out and not accidentally spill out.
12” Frying Pan
This is what I usually use for steak, chicken, roasting veggies, etc. You want an aluminum core, that conducts the heat best for precise control and even heating.
8-qt Sauce Pan
This is a great little one for pasta since it can cook a whole pound and has built-in strainers in the lid. I use this one for cooking rice, queso, black beans, and all sorts of other dishes.
12-qt Soup Pot
This one is used more than some people would because it’s not only great for soups but great at containing splatter when making marinara, butter chick peas, bacon, and more. This one is a touch tall for doing much work on the bottom, but I need the larger size for my largest soup recipes and it doesn’t bother me enough to get a smaller one.
Paring Knife
Both of my knives are stainless steel with easy grip white handles exactly like you would see in a commercial kitchen.
8” Santoku Knife
This one has a much wider blade than most Santoku knives you’ll find which makes it great as a bench scraper as well. I prefer the Santoku shape because it’s more natural in my hands. Don’t buy one because I like it. Don’t buy a full-size butcher/chef’s knife because someone else told you to. Buy the knife you are most comfortable with. That will be the safest and the one you’ll use the most, so it has to be a good one FOR YOU.
I do not buy things at most kitchen stores. I find they usually carry expensive, more decorative versions of everything. I can get what I need for a fraction of the cost elsewhere. I find that most of these stores cater to people who want to LOOK like they cook, not necessarily that they actually do much cooking (or any!).
Stainless Steel
This is my choice for pots and pans for a few reasons. They’re very durable, they’re easy to keep clean, they’re not toxic (assume ALL nonstick pans are toxic, even if we don’t know for sure yet how THIS one is toxic, we should assume it is), they give you a lot of control over the heat (larger pans such as cast iron and enameled cast iron hold A LOT of heat, so if you’re running too hot and turn it down, it will not change the food immediately), etc.
Cast Iron
I know people love it, and I’m not saying it can’t be, but they’re not always as great as some people make them out to be. The biggest issues I have with them are 1 – They are coated in the factory with something comparable to nonstick coating. They’re vague in how they describe it, but it’s not a simple safe oil that was properly seasoned. Raw iron is metallic, very shining. Cast iron being black is a good old one that’s been used for decades. New ones are black because of that coating. And 2 – They hold too much heat. You don’t have the control you want and can easily overcook things.
Nonstick
I assume all nonstick is toxic. The last ones I bought were by GreenPan which is supposed to be truly nontoxic. But given how prevalent toxic things are in America and how toxic some of these are, I have no desire to risk my health for slightly easier cooking. Teflon was so toxic that workers at the factory were having birth defects in just a couple of years after exposure.