Cooking Essentials: Getting the Right Tools
Most people know that cooking their own food is one of the best ways to eat meals. However, cooking healthy meals is not always easy. Sometimes, you’re too tired or feel like you don’t have enough time. Other times, you may look in your kitchen to discover that you don’t even have the right tools to cook and prepare a meal! Today, we are going to talk about the importance of having the right tools in your kitchen for cooking healthy meals.
Evaluating the Tools in Your Kitchen
How good are the tools in your kitchen? There is nothing in the world that can compare to cooking with the finest, freshest ingredients. However, this kind of experience requires the right tools for the job. While you don’t need every fancy, expensive gadget on the market, you do need some of the essentials.
When it comes to pots, pans, and skillets, you should keep in mind that conductivity is very important. Your pots and pans should be made of a heavier gauge. This allows them to heat evenly and eliminates the risk of hot spots, which may cause sticking or scorching during the cooking process.
Kitchen knives are also important tools to have around. If you plan to prepare a lot of meals in your kitchen, quality knives will be a great investment. Have you ever tried to prepare food with low-grade knives? If you have, you understand just how important it is to buy well-balanced, high-quality knives.
Make sure you test the handles before purchasing any of the aforementioned tools. This is particularly important for knives. If you do a lot of chopping, you’ll want to make sure that every knife you own feels comfortable in your hands. Check out our picks at best kitchen knife sets
Specific Tools for Cooking Healthy Meals
If you’re a meat-eater, then you should also invest in a meat tenderizer. It is a very useful tool for breaking down the collagen in the meat, which makes it easier to chew and gives the meat a more enjoyable texture. It also pierces the surface so that marinades can penetrate the surface for a more flavorful dish. This is by far one of my favorite kitchen gadgets and it isn’t a big investment for the value it provides.
A good quality grater is another tool that no kitchen should go without. There are many who believe that pre-shredded cheese products make graters obsolete, but nothing could be further from the truth.
First of all, pre-grated and prepackaged cheese simply doesn’t taste as good as freshly-grated cheese. Second, cheese isn’t the only thing that you can grate. Graters are also excellent for grating citrus fruits, spices, garlic, chocolate, and even onions.
A good nonstick rice cooker is a very handy and inexpensive tool that is common in many Asian homes, but surprisingly absent in many Western kitchens. With a rice cooker, you just measure the rice and water and let the machine go to work.
Additionally, a rice cooker is not just for rice; you can throw in vegetables, spices, and broth to make a quick and flavorful one-pot meal. As an added bonus, you can get a small, 3-cup cooker that will produce smaller portions. This is perfect if you need to make healthy meals for kids.
Finally, you should always get a couple of good quality, non-stick mats. Silicone mats are fantastic. You can use them to roll dough or bake tasty treats without a lot of clean-up. No soaking or scrubbing required!
The Bottom Line
Naturally, there are many more tools that you could add to your kitchen’s arsenal. Plenty of appliances can make your time in the kitchen easier and more enjoyable. It all just boils down (bad pun) to your personal preference.
My best advice would be to purchase the best quality tools you can afford and gradually replace your cooking equipment, one piece at a time. This way, you won’t feel a lot of strain on your budget. Plus, you’ll get to see the benefits of new tools as you get them!
Make sure you look for your next post on cooking healthy meals! Next time we will be talking about low-fat cooking tips for the whole family!
About the Author
Twigs cafe staff is comprised of editors, writers, food & drink experts, nutritionists, and researchers to create informative and helpful content for health-conscious people.
