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Step 1
Prepare for kitchen cutting duties with a quality set of knives. Start with the four basics, a paring knife, a chef's knife, a bread knife and a good slicing knife. These four kitchen knives will allow you to complete all the basic cutting needs. Don't forget to add a cutting board and a knife sharpener.
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Step 2
Mix with a good stand mixer. Many recipes call for heavy duty mixing and your arm will be fatigued long before the mixture is ready. A hand mixer is nice as an alternate for small batches or just one egg white, but a good stand mixer, like KitchenAide or Bosch will last for years and perform all your mixing with ease.
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Step 3
Stir and store your kitchen ingredients in a quality set of stainless steel bowls in graduated sizes. Optimally, choose bowls that come with snap-on lids but don't turn away from a good set of stainless bowls if they don't have lids.
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Step 4
Purchase the basic microwavable items, such as a bacon cooking plate, small and large heating dishes and other plastic or Pyrex glass items that are microwave safe.
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Step 5
Add to your kitchen essentials with two or three good baking sheets and at least one 9-in. by 13-in. glass baking pan and two 8-in. by 8-in. square baking pans. Select a 1-qt ceramic cooking pot and add larger and smaller sizes and you can afford to.
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Step 6
Include good hand tools in your list of kitchen essentials. A collection of heavy-duty large stainless steel and wooden spoons are imperative and you will use a hand whisk frequently.Silicone spatulas will allow you to stir hot foods and scrape the last bit of cake batter into the pan.
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Step 7
Remember the small details, they can make kitchen life so much easier. A candy thermometer and a separate meat thermometer are indispensable. Keep a small kitchen timer on the counter-top for those times your stove timer is in use.
