I have a confession to make.

My kitchen at home is probably the worst chefs kitchen in the entire country. I don’t mean in the way of cleanliness or organization. That I will get top marks on (I’m a bit of a clean freak and organizational task master) Rather in the way that there’s hardly any neat kitchen chef gadgets. It’s kinda embarrassing actually.

My only excuse for this is that I have schlepped most of my kitchen wizardry including all my specialized pastry tools to work in order to help advance the next generation of pastry chefs. There my tools reign supreme.

This got me thinking. For the average person who sorta cooks at home but mostly eats out, what does make up a well stocked kitchen in terms of equipment and hand gadgetry? I’m not talking about the essentials such as a fridge, stove or the kitchen sink, but instead, something with more depth. A little more ingenuity. A little more sophistication.

I get asked a lot about on all sorts of kitchen equipment that one could use at home. Which do I like better Kitchen Aid or Cuisinart for a mixer? Le Creuset verses cast iron for longevity. Henckels verses Global verses Victoria Knox for knives. Wooden cutting boards or plastic cutting boards. Stainless steel pots over cooper pots. And on and on.

To answer some of these questions, I’m going to share my thoughts on what I think make up some parts of a well rounded home kitchen as well as some things I would avoid, at least from a pastry chefs point of view. There is a lot of stuff out there that one can buy to outfit their cooking space. Some of it essential, but most of it, unnecessary and way over the top. So let us begin as I’ve been told recently that I sure know my way around a kitchen.

1) Cutting boards – I cringe every time I see someone whip out a glass cutting board and start chopping. Use either wood or plastic instead. Both are durable, and have 2 to 3 of them in various sizes. After use, I run my plastic ones through the dishwasher.

2) Knives – I’m not saying you have to go out and buy a big expensive set of knifes, but what I am saying is don’t be afraid to go to a knife store and buy a few good knives, including a sharpening steel. Consider it an investment. Cheap knifes don’t last, they dull quickly which can lead to some nasty slices of the fingers and will either chip or go rusty on you. Neither which is good. Treat your knives with respect. Don’t use them to pry off bottle caps, as screw drivers or as an axe.

What I have and use everyday is the following: 2 paring knifes (serrated) bread knife (serrated) cake knife (14″ serrated) 10″ and 12″ chefs knives and a steel to sharpen them all with. I once had someone ask me why I need to sharpen my knives because the hardest thing pastry chefs have to cut is soft butter. Well ha ha! I’ve got 2 words for that “frozen cake”

3) Whisks and spatulas – The spatulas that most people are familiar with are the white paddled ones. These don’t work so well once added to heat as they melt. So think of that the next time you are making scrambled eggs and your spatula keeps getting smaller. Yum, melted plastic in your eggs. The spatulas I use are heat resistant. They do cost a bit more but when I’m boiling sugar, or working with hot oil, these things are worth their weight in gold. In regards to whisks, I have about a dozen of them in all sizes, but mostly on the smaller side and I use them about a 100 times a day.

While on the topic of hand tools, personally I’m pretty skeptic of any venture that sells kitchen items by marketing them as “gourmet” and for “the foodie”. This includes any store that sells the same types of products that other stores offer but charges 10x more for the same product. I’m not saying the quality isn’t there, but it’s more about a status thing rather then a practical thing. If you want the same type of equipment that chefs use on a daily bases, then visit a kitchen supply store that caters to industry professionals.

4) Coffee maker – If you are like me and love coffee, then I would suggest that you get yourself a decent coffee maker. It has been proven to me that if you invest in a good coffee maker, it just makes really good coffee. Period. Yes it does help to have great coffee beans, and cold water, but taste is subjective. My husband likes his coffee strong, whereas I like mine just a little less. So we now have a coffee maker that grinds it’s own beans, as well as a Bodum. Both are fabulous.

5) Kitchen scale – Because I live in Canada and because I work in the pastry shop, I scale my ingredients in metric. Even at home I have invested in an electronic scale. All my recipes are written in metric and if I come across anything written in imperial, I convert it to metric.

I also have a couple of really good liquid measuring cups. You have no idea how many times I’ve seen people measure flour or sugar in a liquid measuring cup. Oh the horror. Then they wonder why their recipe didn’t turn out…”I followed the recipe exactly and I don’t know why it didn’t work” It didn’t work because you measured the ingredients wrong using the wrong form of measurement. Simple. Ahem, I digress, I don’t work in the imperial system (exception spices). I know new age hippy dippy stuff, but it works.

6) Cook books – I do have my personal collection of recipes that I have collected over the years from generous pastry chefs, and I have them all framed in a black binder that I have dubbed “the bible”. I use a lot of these recipes in order to teach my class. I also have a pretty solid collection of reference pastry books that I go back to time and time again. But that’s it. I don’t collect cook books, I don’t spend hours pouring over cook books, nor do I write down recipes on cue cards. The reason being, if I’m looking for something, I use the internet as there are many, many, many great recipe sites and I print off what I need.

7) Cleaners – Dish soap, dishwasher detergent, environmentally all purpose spray cleaner and a spray bottle with bleach to sanitize is what I use. I also have a handy supply of clean dish cloths (White. If they get stained beyond washing, I throw them out), cotton towels and paper towels (select-a-size)

So this concludes the lesson. Some people may disagree but these are just my observations. I do own a Kitchen aid (white) and I love it. My knives are Victoria Knox and I love those too. I keep all my pastry hand tools in a tool box that you can pick up at a hardware store and you would be amazed what you can find that is useful in a dollar store. Now go fourth, examine and restock your kitchen and do me proud.