The essential kitchen or YOUR must haves

[Beezle2]

We are downsizing soon and I MUST reduce the kitchen supplies. I have some cast iron, some stainless steel, a dutch oven, etc. What do you think is the bare minimum of pots, pans, and baking pans that a minimal kitchen would need?

 

[mousefan73]

bare minimal. I would say would be what one gets in most rentals... one each small, medium, large pots, one nonstick fryin pan. and maybe two casseroles.. 2 baking sheets...

maybe one dutch oven thing... i mean you can only put some much on or in an oven at one time, so go by that..

we rarely ever use our non-stick fying pans.. so the stainless steal ones would go for us

 

[Karin1984]

Really depends on the size of the household, what do you like to cook, how elaborate you are cooking?

I am a one person household, not really that elaborate, simple meals, etc. I can do with one pot/pan for carbs & vegs, and one for meat.

Also, I usually only use 2 out of 4 pits on my stove.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

It kind of depends on how much you cook and how many you're cooking for. I would want: 4 saucepans of varying size, 3 cast iron skillets of varying size, one dutch oven, one large stock pot, one large stainless steel skillet, 2 pyrex 9x13, 2 pyrex 8x8, several corningware casserole dishes with lids (or similar brand), 3 baking sheets, slow cooker, hand mixer, 2-3 colanders, 3 cutting boards, 2 loaf pans, 2-3 cooling racks, several mixing bowls of different sizes. I'd also want to keep my food processor, instant pot, and ninja blender, but those things definitely don't get as much use as the other items.

I have a deep nonstick skillet that I almost never use - I could definitely part with that, and a few extra baking sheets I don't like and rarely use. Also I could get rid of my broiler pan. I used it a lot more when I ate meat, but haven't used it in years now.

 

[AgentMama]

Do you have enough space to box up and store what you don't think you'll need/use? That way you could swap things out if your assumptions are wrong, anything you haven't wanted or swapped out in a year, then maybe donate after that time.

 

[Minnie1222]

My bare minimum would be:
Slow cooker
Kettle
Water pitcher with filters
Non stick skillet
Staub all day pan
Dutch oven
Baking sheet
Blender

 

[PollyannaMom]

The ones I use most are:
Small non-stick pan
Large non-stick pan or wok
Griddle
Medium saucepan
Large pot
2-3 baking sheets
Crock pot

 

[tzolkin]

It really depends on what you cook so it may vary widely from one family to another or even what season of life you are in. We are vegetarian and cook mostly from scratch, so to me an instant pot/pressure cooker, food processor, tofu press, veggie bins for the fridge, silpats for roasting, etc are essential, but others may not use them at all. When our kids were little, I baked a ton and froze things so I needed a lot of muffin tins and loaf pans but now I have one of each and still hardly use them. We also needed thermoses, snack containers, lunchboxes, etc but don't have any of those now.

I would think through and make a list of what you think you use the most often (and then limit those items to only one of each type). I would then do a test run if you have the time before you move. Pack up all of your non-essentials and see how your cooking goes over the next several weeks without them. If you realize that there are a few items that you do wind up needed to pull back out, then you know you would want to include them in your new minimal kitchen.

We downsized a few years back and that's what I did before we moved with every room. Added benefit was that it was very easy to keep clean while showing the house. Our current house is less than half the size, but there is a basement off the kitchen so I have shelves down there for the items I wanted to keep, but don't use very often.

 

[Praying Colonel]

8" nonstick skillet
12" nonstick skillet
cast iron frying pan
small sauce pan
larger sauce pan
Dutch oven
Instant pot
2 baking sheets
Casserole dish
Blender

 

[starvenger]

- wok
- dutch oven
- M or L saucepan
- large pot
- 1 or 2 standard baking sheets
- baking racks
- rice cooker
- small oven/toaster/air fryer

 

[dvcgirl67]

I could easily get by with one 12 inch non-stick frying pan, a 2 qt saucepan, 4 qt saucepan, large dutch oven (the most versatile piece of equipment in any kitchen), 2 baking sheets, 2 casserole dishes, one set of glass mixing bowls, good blender, toaster, drip coffee maker, and various cooking utensils.

 

[ronandannette]

The first things I would purge (if you have them) are the specialty small appliances that only do one thing, such as panini presses and rice cookers and whatnot. I’d actually be careful about not cutting too deep into the cook
-and-bakeware, especially if you have certain recipes that are your “specialty” that require a particular piece, even if you don’t make it very often.

My suggestion, if you can tolerate it, is to box up and take pretty much everything with you. Unpack only what you feel is essential and fits nicely into the new space. Give it a month to see how doing without the rest of it feels. There you’ll have your own answer and what you don’t need/want can easily be donated since it’s already sorted and boxed.

We’re moving ourselves in a few weeks and the packing (after 9 years here) has been an interesting exercise. Any boxes in the basement we’ve not opened since our arrival are being ruthlessly donated or discarded - period. I’m going to use the method above for my kitchen stuff. I realize it will make being completely settled take a little longer, but I think it will be very effective.

 

[_19disnA]

I would look at it more along the lines of what are the things YOU use most often. Do you frequently bake where you need a stand mixer, cookie sheets, canisters for flour/sugar, measuring cups, etc? Stand mixer can take up a LOT of counter space but if you use it often then it makes sense to have one. Do you do a lot of holiday baking? How large is your family and do you often have gatherings where you cook/bake for a number of people? Do you often cook/bake to take things to other relatives houses for various family gatherings? In a typical week how many meals do you cook and for how many people? That is where I would start in deciding what you need/don't need.

 

[auntfrannie]

I would look at it more along the lines of what are the things YOU use most often. Do you frequently bake where you need a stand mixer, cookie sheets, canisters for flour/sugar, measuring cups, etc? Stand mixer can take up a LOT of counter space but if you use it often then it makes sense to have one. Do you do a lot of holiday baking? How large is your family and do you often have gatherings where you cook/bake for a number of people? Do you often cook/bake to take things to other relatives houses for various family gatherings? In a typical week how many meals do you cook and for how many people? That is where I would start in deciding what you need/don't need.

Exactly! What do you reach for the most? I know I have tons of cooking/baking items that I can easily toss if I had to downsize. I know I never use my blender so that wouldn't make the cut; same thing with the bundt pan and so many other specialty pans.

 

[DLgal]

Bare minimum:
2qt saucepan
4 quart pot
12 inch nonstick skillet
One Dutch oven (4qt)
Nonstick griddle Pan
12 inch saute pan with high sides

2 half sheet size cookie sheet/jelly roll pan
1 12 count cupcake pan
One loaf pan
One 9x13 rectangular baking pan
One 8x8 square baking pan

 

[barkley]

Slow cooker

esp. if it's an older model b/c while you might think you could just go out and replace it-you might find as i did that the newer are inferior to the older (message boards are filled with people lamenting donating their old crocpots after they've tried new ones).

 

[barkley]

if you can pack it and just leave it packed to see if you need it (or can toss it after 6 months and 1 full holiday cycle) it's what worked for us. other than that-figure out which appliances can be used for multi vs. individual tasks: i could toss my airfryer b/c i have a convection oven and a convection microwave, i recently donated my popcorn popper (microwave works for that), ice cream maker (never used it), spiralizer (i have the one that fits on your finger-easier/less clutter), i hung on to the tiny rice cooker b/c it's the easiest way to cook rice and takes up almost no space. got rid of turkey roaster (electric) b/c i don't host big holidays anymore (allot of stuff can be gotten rid of if not doing regular hosting).

on pots/pans-any that you MUST have for a specific dish? i have to keep a couple of cast irons for a handful, a dutch oven for a couple (and it doubles as a pot when i make soup or stew). i probably have more pans than i need but i have some recipies that call for multiple things to be cooking at different temps at once.

evaluate YOUR cooking habits.

 

[Imzadi]

It really depends on what you cook and HOW you like to cook. What are you USING now? How many people are you cooking for? Do you like to use many pots & pans for a meal, or do you prefer one-pot meals?

For me, I NEED my coffeemaker. In addition to using the stove, I bake and broil my meats mostly so I use my convection toaster oven more than searing or frying in a skillet. And I microwave water and heat up some foods in it.

Beyond that, I've gotten rid of a lot of gadgets and kitchen equipment that just took up space, after the initial novelty of using the item wore off. I got tired of moving them back and forth in my cabinets, so I donated them.

After I developed a chronic illness and learned how much non-stick coating is in all of our bloodstreams and in the ground water, I got rid of all my non-stick coated pots & pans. I went back to using stainless steel pots & pans. I soak all my pots & pans after using and I've never had a problem getting food residue off that a scrubbie pad and Barkeeper's Friend couldn't handle. And yes, I've burnt and blackened the pan and thought it was hopeless. Five minutes of scrubbing and they are shiny again.

I know everyone is supposed to have a cast iron skillet, but I find them hard to keep seasoned and free of rust. So, that is a no for me.

So, what are must haves for others aren't necessarily so for me.

 

[jimmymc]

1 big pot for boiling water or sauce
2 smaller pots for sides
1 large (12" or larger) and 1 small frying pan (6" to 8")
2 baking sheets
1 muffin tin with 12 spots
3 cutting boards, two thin plastic ones and one larger wood one
1 casserole dish, for baking things not on sheets
1 chef knife, 1 bread knife, and 4 steak knives

I also love my roasting dish, but if space is an issue, disposable ones are cheap

 

[Minnie1222]

esp. if it's an older model b/c while you might think you could just go out and replace it-you might find as i did that the newer are inferior to the older (message boards are filled with people lamenting donating their old crocpots after they've tried new ones).

This is very true. I'm still using my 20+ year old slow cooker with great success. I got a newer one in 2020 but I don't like it as much.