The Perfect Kitchen

[Meenah]

What do you consider to be the PERFECTLY STOCKED kitchen? I'm talking about dishes, pots, pans, cutlery, utensils, and any gadget you can imagine.

I am trying to streamline my kitchen. I have spent the last 6 months slowly getting rid of things I just do not use, or have three of. I still have way too much. Between DH and I combining households, my Ex moving to Europe and leaving his entire kitchen in my garage, and my daughters moving out, in, and out again, I have way too many things. Honestly, I think in the past 6 months I have supplied several peiople with an entire kitchen via Freecycle. Just last week I gave away two Espresso/Cappucino makers. So, what is the perfect minimal kitchen?

[Deebs]

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

I can't help you. My solution was to buy a house with a bigger kitchen.

Honestly, though, I have used a tip that the guy from "Clean Sweep" suggests, and it worked for me. Put all of your kitchen utensils into a box. As you use each one, place them into your drawers. After a couple of weeks, I weeded through the box to dig out things I use specifically for entertaining and holidays and put those into my china cabinet. The rest went to Goodwill.

[Flynn]

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

I'm kind of in the minority here I think. I despise extras or clutter. It makes me crazy.

Sooooooo, other than serving utensils and platters/bowls I really don't have two of anything other than two bottle openers. I JUST bought a new mixer after the one we got second hand broke. I love EMPTY cupboards and giving stuff to goodwill. I like knowing where everything is in a split second and getting it out of the cupboard takes a fraction of a second.

I would like a set of "tweener" dishes. Something nicer than my everyday and more casual than our china -- but that's in the future.

For our birthdays we are going to finally get a GOOD espresso machine. Our cheap one broke a while ago and we never replaced it. It was no big deal living in the NW but now that we live in shopping and coffee Siberia, it's a good investment.

We thought about doing a built in wall espresso machine in the house -- it was pretty spiffy but so was the price and that was easy to cut. (2500$$) If we ever do move I'll be glad we can take our espresso maker with us!

So that's me.

[Vanquisher]

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

I can't help you with kitchen stuff. Truly. I am useless when it comes to this. My only solution is a bigger kitchen. I cannot get rid of kitchen things. My popcorn popper? Do I use that a lot? No, but I use it once a year for making caramel popcorn, I have to have it. Egg slicer? Great for mushrooms and strawberries! I can't have enough spatulas and whisks and things. Giant stock pot? Lasagna noodles and lobsters. I just can't seem to pare down any of it. I really do use it all, if not every day, but I can't get rid of it either. It would really tick me off if I wanted to make something and couldn't do it the way that I wanted to because of equipment.

[Vishenka69]

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

Since every time we move, I end up with a bigger kitchen, I accumulate more than I weed out. It's the one area that I have the hardest time throwing anything out unless it's obviously broken. There's tons of stuff that I'm still in process of aquiring as I never had space or time to use them before.

My perfect kitchen will have every gadget known to man and enough space to hold them all.

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

Good storage is a must for the perfect kitchen in my head.

I don't like single use appliances like this stupid hot dog cooker we have. I'll make an exception for the icecream maker and the espresso machine and that is about it.

Generally speaking, a few really good pieces of equipment would be better than lots of mediocre pieces -- I would rather have two good knives than 10 so-so knives, etc.

[DCJenn]

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

Here is my general list:

things I have two of:

8 X 8 glass pans
9 X 13 pans
cookie sheets and silpats
muffin pans and silpats (if you haven't seen the muffin silpats, OMG- they're fab!)
sets of measuring spoons (actually I have a three full sets and some stragglers but they all live in a mug on the shelf rather than spread out in a drawer)
liquid measuring cups
dry measuring cups (three full sets)
paring knives (three)
bread knives (three)
large knives (three)
spatulas (three total- I could use a few more)

I have a drawer of gadgets- pizza cutter, apple corer, lemon zester, etc but I do use them, pretty frequently in fact. I also have three different sizes of colander/drainers. I cook a LOT.

Appliances- I have purged over the years but the basics are: coffee maker, coffee grinder, stand mixer, hand mixer, crock pot (two different inserts for various sizes of 'stuff') waffle iron, indoor grill, popcorn popper, blender, etc. I have a juicer that is rarely used but it takes up minimal space so I keep it. The ice cream maker is going to have to prove itself this summer or it's going.

I have one complete set of dishes for everyday and one set of china/silver/crystal that rarely is used.

Jenn

[HouseofWool]

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

I am bad here too. I love what I have and truely believe that one should purchase quality kitchenware.

*2 flat air-bake cookie sheets
*1 cheapie lipped cookie sheet that dh bought
*1 roasting pan
*2 9x13 glass pans
*1 8x10 glass pan
*1 8x8 glass pan
*9" glass pie pan
*10" glass pie pan
*1 very nice 14" skillet
*a cheap 13" skillet
*2 large stock pots, one shorter and wider, one taller and narrower
*1 small stock pot
*a small skillet
*a saucepan
*a teeny tiny sauce pan by Revereware
*2 wire cooling racks
*assorted utensils including multiple sets of measuring cups and the adjustable measuring spoons.

*MUST HAVE - my kitchenaide mixer from my grandmother, my crockpot, and my coffee maker (although I did resort to the camping percolator when the coffee maker died this last summer)

Gosh - I have a lot of stuff. Better to list what I have that I wish I didn't

- a smoothy blender (thanks to my MIL)
- a snowcone maker (again thanks to my MIL)
- ice cream maker (this may have been a gift too - I wouldn't have purchased it)
- George Foreman Grill - we only use the waffle maker plates (Gee thanks MIL)
- set of 4 margarita glasses (Hmmm, MIL again - anyone seeing a trend? )

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

Whoever mentioned the waffle iron -- that gets a green light from me for single use appliance. I like having a waffle iron.

We had a snowcone machine that got "lost" in a move.

[Michele]

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

Where did you get the silpat muffin stuff DCJenn? Are they just the silicone liners? I must have them!!!!

[DCJenn]

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

I found them through my colleague at work who was selling them as a school fundraiser. It was in one of those catalogs. Fantastic.

Jenn

Re: The Perfect Kitchen

Check QVC for silicone muffin pans and other silicone bakeware. I have tons of their stuff and use it all the time. Have bread pans in classic and decorative shapes.