Common Kitchen Utensils and Their Uses
These are the basic cooking and baking utensils that any aspiring baker and cook should have.
Pots: they are used for cooking food and boiling liquids on the stove top.
Sauce pans: making sauces and holding liquids. Heavy bottomed ones with pouring lips are preferable.
Knives: used for chopping, cutting,carving and filletting food.
Chopping board: used to place food items on while chopping or cutting so as to protect the work surface.
Mixing bowls: used to put ingredients in while combining them.
Baking dishes: used for baking puddings and casseroles in the oven.
Frying pan: used for frying food or sauteeing meat. Heavy bottomed one’s are preferable.
Collander: used for draining water from food. It could be nylon or metal meshing.
Electric/manual blender: used for grinding and pureeing food and vegetables.
Food thermometer: for taking temperature of meats, chocolate,water etc.
Measuring jug: for measuring liquids.It should be heat proof.
Grater: used for grating ginger, garlic, chocolate,cheese and citrus rinds. Four sided metallic ones are preferable.
Double boiler: used for delicate sauces, chocolate melting and generally melting stuff.
Bottle /can opener: for opening cans and bottles. It should be well mounted if possible.
Kitchen scales: for measuring food quantities. Should be either metric or imperial.
Microwave oven: used for quickly heating or melting food and frozen sauces.
Mortar and pestle: used for pounding food and crushing spices.
Kitchen timer: for accurate settings of cooking intervals.
Measuring cups and spoons: for measuring ingredients accurately.
Spatula: for lifting food from pans and also for scrapping food from pots, pans and bowls. It’s used for mixing ingredients together.
Kitchen scissors: for cutting through bone and meat.
Brush: for applying liquids such as egg, oil and sauces on food.
Piping bags: for piping cream, icing, potatoes etc.
Blender /liquidizer: used for finely grinding food and vegetables. It is used for making milk shakes and smoothies.
Grill: usually comes with the oven, but it can come separately. It is used to roast steaks, chops and sandwiches.
Seive: it is used for draining sauces.
Ladle: it’s used for fishing out soups.
Wire rack: it’s used to keep cakes, cookies, buns etc while they cool.
Scoop: for dishing out ice cream, potatoes etc.
Pressure cooker: used for cooking casseroles, stews, dumplings and basic stocks fast.
Pastry cutters: used for cutting and shaping pastry.
Other kitchen equipment include; freezer, food processor, ice cream maker, toaster coffee maker etc.