As a home chef, there’s no doubt that you enjoy testing new recipes, experimenting with a variety of ingredients, and putting together dishes that make an impression. With that said, much of what you will do in the kitchen tends to be food preparation. Food prep is one of those things that most people don’t exactly enjoy, but they know it’s important so they can start cooking up a fabulous meal. With that in mind we’ve gone ahead and put together a list of three must-have food prep essentials that you’ll want to stock in your kitchen.
High Quality Knives and a Cutting Board
When you think of food preparation, chopping, dicing, slicing, and cutting is obviously where you’re going to be spending the majority of your time. With that said, you can make the job move along a whole lot faster and smoother if you’ve got a set of high quality knives that comes with a variety of types and sizes meant for different tasks. The four main knives you’ll want to be sure your set comes with are a slicing/carving knife, a long serrated bread knife, a paring knife, and what’s called a Chef’s knife that is 8″-10″. From there you can build on your collection and add more.
Of course, in order to do all your chopping, you need a good solid cutting board to work on. Typically, wood cutting boards are a great option and are versatile enough that they can be used with your vegetables and fruits, for mincing all your fresh herbs, and even for carving up fresh cooked meats. Anything from about 8×12 and up will do the trick depending on how big your kitchen is, and how much work surface you have available. As for where to find these style of cutting boards, you can get it at Virginia Boys Kitchens; they sell four convenient sizes.
Food Processor
Now, if you want to speed up prep time and start to become even more efficient in the kitchen, then a food processor is the way to go. Food processors can make quick work of all kinds of chopping, slicing, and dicing. Now depending on the model you get, it may also come with additional attachments that let you use it as a mixer. It may also have a small dough hook, and be able to puree. You’ll probably want to give some thought as to how you plan to use the processor, and then let that answer guide your decision making process when it comes to must-have features.
Food Scale
There’s no doubt that you probably have a whole collection of measuring cups for wet and dry ingredients, but did you know that’s not the most accurate way to measure things? Not only that but you can’t use those cups for every ingredient. That is exactly why any home chef needs a food scale in their kitchen. It takes out all of the guesswork and provides you with incredibly accurate readings.
Master Food Prep Just Like a Professional Chef
Thanks to these kitchen essentials, you’ll be able to master food preparation just like a professional chef does.