Cora's Cottage

Cooking from scratch can be stressful, but a lot of stress can be reduced by having the right, high quality tools. 

I enjoy cooking and baking but when I’m in an ill equipped kitchen, it is not nearly as enjoyable and can be downright draining and stressful.

To combat this overwhelm, I focus on the high impact, multi-purpose tools rather than the latest cool new gadgets.  While those cool new gadgets can be helpful, they often take up a lot of space, are only good for one thing, and only get used occasionally … if at all because we can’t remember where we stored it when we actually need to use it.

Instead I look for tools that will be used for most if not all of my from scratch-cooking that will stand the test of time in the kitchen.  One of these top items is a cutting board.

Wooden Cutting Boards

While quality wooden cutting boards are expensive, they are a very good investment.  When taken care of properly, wooden cutting boards can last for years; while in my experience, plastic cutting boards just don’t have that longevity.  I use my cutting boards a lot, often times multiple times each day, and wood is the only material that has held up to this heavy use.

When it comes to the safety of a cutting board, I also prefer wood.  Wood is naturally antimicrobial, so bacteria growth isn’t nearly as a much of a concern, and I don’t have to rely on heavy chemicals to keep my cutting boards clean. 

Another reason I love my wooden cutting boards is that my knives don’t get dull nearly as fast.  Plastic boards caused my knives to go dull incredibly quickly; however, I have not had this same problem since switching to wooden cutting boards!

Speaking of knives, these are the next quality tool I recommend to any from-scratch cook. 

Knives

I have 4-5 quality knives that I use a lot: a chef’s knife, a tomato knife, a bread knife, a paring knife, and a peeler. These are the knives that do the heavy lifting from regular, day-to-day meals to putting up produce every summer and fall.

The chef’s knife is a staple that I use for any large jobs such as cutting open squash or chopping large quantities of vegetables.  This knife is a workhorse and needs to be sturdy for things like cutting open squash or even pumpkins.  This is why I like a knife that not only has a good, sturdy blade, but a solid handle as well.

The tomato knife that I use for canning season is a major workhorse when it comes to getting pasta sauce, ketchup, barbeque sauce, and other tomato products in jars. It is a serrated knife that doesn’t smash or crush the tomatoes or other soft produce. While it was designed for tomatoes, I find it works well for soft fruits as well like strawberries and peaches.

My bread knife is more of a single use item than most, but because bread is such a large part of meals in our house, it gets lots of use.  A good sharp bread knife is a must to cut through soft sandwich loafs without squishing and smashing the loaf while also working well on more dense sourdough loaves. My bread knife also gets lots of use slicing English muffins and bagels in half.

I have a couple duplicates of my favorite paring knife because they get so much use! These little knives are my day-to-day, go-to knife and get used for nearly everything. Chopping fruits and vegetables, slicing meat, dicing potatoes; they get used for all of it! A good solid handle that is comfortable in your hand and a blade that holds a sharp edge are important because this knife will get used ALL. THE. TIME.

A quality peeler can make or break a meal prep session.  Nothing is worse than trying to peel potatoes for a meal with a dull peeler that isn’t working.  A quality peeler can make a world of difference and help to keep your hands and wrists from hurting after peeling a bushel of apples in one day during canning season or just cooking dinner for the family.  Having a handle that is comfortable in your hand and solidly attached to the blade is a must as this is a high use tool.

Quality Towels

Messes are inevitable in the kitchen, so being well prepared with thick, soft, absorbent towels is a must.  Both hand towels and wash clothes can make cleaning up any messes a much less stressful endeavor when you know that one will do the job.

I have found that the cheap hand towels and wash clothes are not worth the expense because they either don’t absorb much or they wear out super quickly.  Instead, it is worth it to spend a little bit more money up front for quality towels.  Better Homes & Garden’s hand towels are still a reasonable price, but a much better quality than any generic brands I have found.

Food Storage

Quality, reusable food storage is vital if you are cooking from scratch.  These containers can hold everything from pre-chopped ingredients to extra leftovers.  Not only is glass more durable for the long-term reuse, it is healthier to store food in than the plastic options.

I love using mason jars for storing things like pre-portioned fruits and vegetables for meals or snacks as well as storing broths, juices, and gravies.  They naturally lend themselves to efficiently storing and transferring items that pour, rather than trying to store things like broths or juices in a low, flat container that makes a mess every time you try to pour from it. 

There are even reusable lids with and without pour spouts for mason jars to make transferring liquids even easier. 

However, for things like casseroles, meat, and sides I really like lower profile glass dishes with snap on lids.  These are easy to stack in the refrigerator and are usually freezer, dishwasher, and microwave safe.

Heavy Bottom Stock Pot

A heavy bottom stock pot can be used for so many different things from making soups and stews to simmering bone broth for hours to cooking down pasta sauce for canning.  This kitchen workhorse can make a job in the kitchen a lot easier.

It is important that the stock pot has a nice heavy bottom to help spread out the heat and reduce scorching and burning.  Thin bottom stock pots do not distribute the heat as well and can increase scorching and burning especially when cooking over a gas stove.

Heavy Bottom Sauce Pan

A heavy bottom sauce pan can be just as vital to a from-scratch kitchen as a heavy bottom stock pot.  I use my heavy bottom sauce pan for everything from making gravy to warming up vegetables to serve with dinner.

The heavy bottom on a sauce pan is important for the same reasons a heavy bottom is important on a stock pot: it helps to distribute the heat more evenly and to reduce the amount of burning and scorching.

Quality Frying Pan – Cast Iron

A high quality frying pan is another workhorse in a from-scratch kitchen.  I love to use cast iron because I find it super easy to care for and clean, but a heavy bottomed stainless steel frying pan is a good option too. (Heavy bottomed pots and pans are always the way to go in your from-scratch kitchen.)

A frying pan can be used for everything from making fried chicken for dinner to scrambled eggs for breakfast. Using cast iron allows me to simply wipe it out after most uses, as a well-seasoned cast iron pan often only needs to be wiped down with a rag or paper towel after each use. Even when I have a bigger mess, the cast iron is quick and easy to clean.

While choosing high quality items for your from-scratch kitchen can be pricy up front, it can often save you time and money in the long run because you aren’t looking to constantly replace items or needing to find multiple towels to wipe up a spill.  Anything that can lower our stress-level and increase our efficiency in the kitchen is something to value!

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