Essential kitchen items that every housewife should have.

Spatulas and cutlery

The number of forks and spoons depends on how many people live in your house and how often you receive guests. The most convenient way to store cutlery and spatulas is in a pull-out drawer of a cabinet, sorting them into the tray sections. But if the kitchen is spacious and there is enough space on the countertop, you can place forks and spoons in a special vertical rack.

Stainless steel appliances are the best combination of reasonable price and excellent quality.

Use a kitchen apron if you want to always have appliances at hand and not clutter the countertop: rails with hooks and containers will help.

Pans

The minimum program includes only 3 containers:

1. A small 1.5 l saucepan for cooking for one, heating or boiling eggs. Can be replaced with a saucepan with a handle.
2. A medium one for preparing side dishes for 2-3 liters.
3. A large saucepan for soups or compotes for about 4-5 liters.

If you want to replace your old containers that have become unusable or have lost their attractive appearance, choose saucepans in a set: they have the same design and are easy to insert into each other, saving space.

Knives

The “chef’s trio” of essential knives:

1. Universal for slicing meat, fish and chopping vegetables. Choose a quality product, because it bears the brunt of the load.
2. A serrated bread knife.
3. A small knife for peeling vegetables.

Knives should not be stored together with other cutlery: the blades should not touch other metal objects. Place them on a magnetic board, in a special compartment or holder with sharpening.

How do you know when to sharpen a knife? Professionals advise doing this once every two weeks, but it is better to rely on your own feelings: if the knife has stopped cutting and started to shred, sharpening is necessary.

Frying pan

This is another thing that is hard to do without. Every kitchen should have at least two frying pans. The first one is made of cast iron or stone – 26–28 cm in diameter for stewing and frying meat, cooking pilaf and cutlets. The second one is shallow, 24 cm in diameter: for pancakes, fried eggs and frying vegetables. A traditional frying pan with a non-stick coating will do.

We do not recommend stacking frying pans on top of each other to avoid scratching the coating: there are special stands with dividers for them, allowing you to use the space to the maximum. Another interesting storage option is to hang the devices by the handles.

Cutting boards

Without them, it is impossible to cut vegetables and meat without damaging the countertop. It is believed that there should be two boards – for raw and cooked foods, since bacteria from meat and fish are not removed by simply rinsing under the tap. In fact, it is much more convenient to have three boards and use one smaller one for cutting bread.

We do not recommend purchasing plastic boards: they slide on the surface and quickly become unusable due to numerous scratches. Using such a product is simply dangerous. The most affordable and practical materials for boards are wood and bamboo: they look beautiful, do not absorb pathogens and do not dull knives.

Cutting boards can be stored on hooks or in a well-ventilated vertical dish dryer. There are also special shelf holders that allow you to use empty areas usefully.

Deep bowl

This is a universal item for cooking: you can put already chopped products in it, mix a salad, put the prepared dish in the refrigerator. To mix the dough and mince, you need a large bowl – you can buy a set of two or three containers and stack them inside each other.

Choose stainless steel or glass products: they are environmentally friendly and safe. When cooking with a mixer, use high-quality thick plastic.

Textile Accessories

Potters, kitchen towels, sponges and rags are indispensable during cooking, cleaning and washing dishes. These things should always be at hand, but they rarely decorate the kitchen with their appearance, so when decorating the interior, it is worth maintaining a balance: put some of the devices in closed cabinets, and leave the most necessary ones in sight.

The modern market offers many interesting solutions for beautiful and practical storage of sponges and rags.

The most durable and high-quality rags are made of microfiber and bamboo.

The listed minimum items are necessary if you cook at home and want to reduce the amount of kitchen utensils in favor of free space.

What can’t you do without in the kitchen?

Write in the comments your minimum set that you can’t do without.