Equipment

Apart from my knives, I don't have any specialized kitchen equipment. I've got the usual stuff you can purchase in any store. I don’t even have the Kitchen-Aid stand-mixer, that every American household seems to own…. I refuse to spend that much money on one of those things.

I used to have this really nice kitchen machine in the UK, which did everything - it was awesome! It liquidized, processed, centrifuged, juiced, pulped, kneaded, whipped… and more. It all came in one box, without the need to buy extra attachments and was only around $100. Unfortunately, I had to sell it before we moved to the US (due to the difference in the power mains - 240 V to 110 V). I was hoping for something fancier than the one I had, but sadly I was disappointed. I either had to buy a base model with expensive attachments OR buy 20-30-year-old-looking separates!

I ended up with the separates:
- Stand Mixer – Bosch Compact Kitchen Machine, MUM4420UC
- Liquidizer – Kitchen-Aid KSB46SWH
- Food Processor – Black & Decker Power Pro II 500 W
- Hand Blender – Oster 2614
- Mini Food Processor – Black & Decker HC306, 1.5 C one-touch electric chopper
- Knives – Global, Japanese steel that's so sharp, you can cut yourself from looking at them. 16.5 cm (6.5-inch) meat cleaver (G-12); 18 cm (7-inch) fluted vegetable (G-56), my favorite, 15 cm (6-inch), Chef’s (G-58), 14 cm (5.5-inch) fluted vegetable (GS-39), 9 cm (3.5-inch) paring (GS-38), 6.25 cm (2.5-inch) peeling (GSF-17) and although not a knife, I also have the 14cm (5.5–inch) fish tweezers (GS-29).

What I'm trying to promote, is that you don't need the latest celebrity Chef's gadget to cook. You can cook, and cook well, with basic and relatively inexpensive cookware. I would however, recommend that if you plan to do a lot of prep work (chopping vegetables etc), to buy at least one really good knife.