Housewares help

Arisen

United States2382 Posts

March 09 2012 08:21 GMT

So I'm about to move, and I need to stock my kitchen. Coming from my old apartment which was furnished by a friend, I only really have a coffee maker :/

So, I need to stock my new kitchen, and I'm looking for some help.

1) Where is a good place to get my housewares?

2) What do I need to get?

So, I made a short list of the things I think I'll need; I don't know if I actually need everything, and I'm not sure if I'm missing anything, any imput would be great.

Must Haves

Knives. I like to cook, and I think I find myself using a lot of different types of knives, but I'm thinking I can get away with just having 1 good chef knife, 1 Serrated knife and maybe a filet knife

Pots and Pans. I think if I get maybe 1 really quality saute pan, sauce pan and 1 large pot (maybe a dutch oven?) for large pasta/stock, I should be allright, but maybe I'm not thinking of something.

Silverware (I think just basic forks, butter knives, steak knives and cereal spoons should be fine, but I'm not sure how many I should get)

Plates (how many does a household of 2 need?)

Bowls (cereal/soup) (ditto)

Glasses (ditto)

A few containers for leftovers

A large bowl for mixing

Slotted spoon

wooden spoon

2 cutting boards (1 for chicken, 1 for everything else)

spatula

Dish drainer

Nice, but not necessary

Toaster

Microwave (maybe this should be in necessary :/)

Cookie sheets/cooling rack

Muffin Tin

Cake Pan

Roasting Pan

Bar Equipment (I would think 4 or so highball glasses, a boston shaker, and a jigger/pony would be all you need, If you're good with the shaker you don't need strainers and what not)

That's all I've got so far. I know I'm probably missing a lot of stuff, so that's why I'm asking for help ^^

On top of what, where is a good place to buy housewares? I feel like a lot of people will say Meijers or Walmart, but I've never seen a good chef's knife or good copper bottom pans at those places. I would like a decent set of plates/bowls, etc that don't look awful, so I'm looking for a place that's affordable but still reasonably nice.

Thanks for the help TL

TOCHMY

Sweden1692 Posts

March 09 2012 08:56 GMT

Hello!

Microwave would definately be a necessary thing in my opinion. The number fo plates and bowls and that kinda jazz depends on how often you're willing to do dishes. If you got a dishwasher I'd have atleast 6 plates and 4(household of 2, maybe 8 plates?) bowls since you usually don't use the dishwasher more than once a day ( i usually use it once every other day). If you don't have a dishwasher and u fancy doing dishes by hand then 6 plates should be enough. Keep in mind tho that its better to have more than less, like if u ever have visitors over etc.

All of this is kind of from person to person, I have tons of glasses since i have an OCD that I can't use the same glass after I finished my drink

Pots and pans. I have one smaller pan, one larger pan, one wook pan, 1 small pot and 1 big pot and thats more than enough for me.

Forks maybe the same ammount as plates. 6 plates = 6 silver and 6 meat forks.

Everything else you wrote is great. Keep in mind tho that this is all personal preference. The stuff i stated works for me and my scheduel and may not work for you. Good luck!

ohsea.toc

Australia344 Posts

March 09 2012 09:52 GMT

Grater for ze cheese. Pasta strainer?

Arisen

United States2382 Posts

March 09 2012 10:08 GMT

On March 09 2012 18:52 ohsea.toc wrote:
Grater for ze cheese. Pasta strainer?

good point yo

r.Evo

Germany14080 Posts

March 09 2012 10:36 GMT

Stuff you missed imo:

Egg cup(s)! 2 should be fine.

Tupperware! So damn handy.

Wine glasses!

Mixer! YOU CAN DO SO MUCH WITH THAT THING.

CUPS. HOW DO YOU WANT TO DRINK YOUR COFFEE / TEA? Maybe small containers for those as well.

For plates my gf and I run great with this:

4x large ones (for big dinners and such)
4x small ones (for breakfest and such)
4x deep ones (soup/saucy stuff)

for silverware 4 of each works fine for us (we added some knives at one point tho)

For glasses 2x4 (bigger ones/smaller ones) should do the trick.

...the amount of pots/pans should depend on the amount of space you have in your kitchen. e.g. if you only have 2 cooking plates one of each is fine. If stuff from one of those is done you can put it into a bowl and do the next thing. If you have 4 plates I'd run with 2 of each.

For the cutting boards I learned from a cook I lived with for a while that wood >> plastic, especially for meat/fish. I recall something about the bacteria not being able to have fun in the wood, but being able to happily marry on plastic boards. Might want to doublecheck on this and get an opinion from people who know their job (aka professional cooks and not your average store clerk =D).

PS: After living without one for like a year... oven > microwave. :>

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