Here, we've put together a Splurge/Save list of kitchen tools, along with reasons and recommendations.
Expensive tools aren't always necessary in the kitchen. You can do just fine with slightly-less-than-the-best, or even bargain-priced products.
On the other hand, there are items that you DO need to throw down the big bucks for. Some kitchen tools take a lot of abuse. They need to be sturdy and well-made, or you'll just keep replacing them over and over.
Find out here what to splurge on, and what to save on.
Splurge/Save At a Glance
Splurge:
Knives
Frying pan/Sauté pan
Sauce pan
Bakeware (some, not all)
Pepper mill
Save:
Nonstick frying pan/sauté pan
Stock pot
Cutting board
French press
Sheet pans
Basic, non-electrical kitchen tools.
Splurge
1. Knives
You have to have good knives. You just have to.
This doesn't mean you have to buy the most expensive knives out there. You can get good knives at a decent price.
Just don't buy chintzy knives. They won't stay sharp. They won't cut evenly. They'll warp.
You are far better off with two or three high quality knives than a whole set of cheapies. Your kitchen time will be so much more rewarding with good knives.
High quality knives will last you a lifetime. So no matter how much you spend, averaged over the next several decades, the cost-per-year-of-use will be minimal. So definitely splurge, because in this case, splurging is saving...and will probably be safer, too, because knives that stay sharper longer are also safer--it's dull knives that cause the most accidents, not sharp ones.
Good: Victorinox
Victorinox is a brand recommended over and over by America's Test Kitchen. They make all types of knives (here's what's available on Amazon), including their most famous knife, the Swiss Army Knife.
Here are the two basic kitchen knives, a chef's knife and a santoku:
Better: Wusthof
Wusthof is a German brand known for their high quality. They have several lines in several price ranges, and you can spend a few hundred dollars on a Wusthof. Here is one of their "starter" sets--not the best, but certainly nothing to sneeze at. The 2-piece set is a great set, and will cover about 90% of your cutting needs.
Wusthof Santoku (7 in.). If you prefer a straight blade, try the Wusthof Santoku:
If you want to see more Wusthof knives, check them out on Amazon.
Chef's knife or Santoku: Which one is better?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Instead, it has to do with your cutting style. A chef's knife is suited to the classic rocking motion taught in American and European culinary schools. A santoku suits the Japanese style of cutting--it cuts with a flatter motion. A santoku also cuts with the entire blade at once (because it's flat).
If you're not sure which knife is best for you, experiment with your cutting style before you buy. Getting the right knife for your style is the important thing.
The Problem with Inexpensive Knives: Stamping Vs. Forging
Any knife under $100 or so is going to be stamped rather than forged, including the Victorinox knives above. Stamping is the most economical way to make a knife: it works like an industrial cookie cutter, "stamping" the knife shape out of a piece of sheet metal. The knife is then given an edge and set into a handle.
Forged knives go through a more intricate shaping process. It's mostly done by machinery today (hand forging still exists, but it's very expensive), and it creates a knife with a lot more nuance than a stamped knife. For example, stamped knives are all one thickness, while forged knives are thicker near the handle and thinner at the edge and point. For expensive forged knives, the thickness is carefully designed for balance, ease of grip, and probably other fine points.
Stamped knives can be good quality, and they can serve your kitchen for years. And when they come with a lifetime warranty like the Victorinox knives above, they can be hard to pass up. They are good knives.
It used to be that forged knives were superior in every way to stamped knives. Today, though, the lines have blurred. There are good quality stamped knives (Victorinox again), and poor quality forged knives, as well. As with most things, you have to do your homework. If you stick to a reputable brand, like Wusthof or Victorinox, you'll get a nice knife. There are other good brands, but these are two of the most popular.
How Do You Know If a Knife Is Forged Vs. Stamped?
First, read the description (if you're buying online). If it doesn't say it's forged, then it's probably stamped. Next, look at the knife from all angles. If the steel is one continuous width (aside from where it's been sharpened to a blade, obviously), it's stamped.
2. Frying/Sauté Pan
A frying pan is the hardest workhorse cookware in your kitchen. It's used for multiple tasks, often multiple times a day. And it's used under the harshest conditions: high heat and hot cooking oil.
So you need a tough frying pan. It will be your go-to pan for about 70% of what you cook (used for so much more than frying).
We recommend two brands: All-Clad and Demeyere. All-Clad is slightly less expensive, made in the USA, and comes with a lifetime warranty (at least most of their clad stainless lines are made in the USA; their nonstick, lids, utensils, and small appliances are made in China). Demeyere is made in Belgium, and is super tough, super high-quality cookware with a 30-year warranty.
One great thing about Demeyere is that the handles aren't riveted, they're welded, so there's nowhere for food to get crusted on and require scrubbing. The Demeyere Proline skillet also has about 75% more aluminum--almost 4mm--than the All-Clad D3. This makes it heavy, almost like cast iron, but if you want the best performance available in clad stainless cookware, the Demeyere Proline is the way to go.
All-Clad D3 is lighter and easier to use, but still provides excellent heating and superb durability.
Both are top-of-the-line brands, and both will last a lifetime. The decision is up to you!
For more information, see the article All-Clad Vs. Demeyere: Which Is Better?
All-Clad and Demeyere have several lines. For induction-compatiblility as well as top quality, these are our recommendations:
All-Clad Frying Pan
All-Clad makes several lines of cookware, all with different construction, but all good. We like the 12-inch skillet size because it's the most versatile (you can make smaller portions in a large pan, but you can't make larger portions in a small pan). It also had a helper handle, and this particular model comes with a lid--not all All-Clad skillets do.
If this isn't the pan for you, check out the All-Clad pans available on Amazon. Copper Core is also very nice, induction-compatible cookware (see our Copper Core review here), but also more expensive than the tri-ply.
Demeyere Proline Skillet
If you do decide to go with Demeyere (which would be an excellent choice!), get the Proline skillet. It costs more, but it's induction-compatible and as tough as nails.
The Proline comes in three or four sizes, but the larger sizes are heavy. If you don't mind that, then you will be rewarded with superb performance; if you go with a smaller size, you will still get a top-notch skillet that's a little easier to handle.
3. Sauce Pan
A sauce pan is second in line for most-used pan, so you should have one that can withstand a lot of use. Our choice is the All-Clad. We like the straight sides (not curved or tapered), the handle, and the loop/helper handle--if in doubt, always get the one with a loop! It's makes full pots a lot easier to handle, which also means it's safer
What size? This depends on you, but we think the 3-quart is a good all-around size. Here's the Amazon page if you want to see more options.
Note also that the 3-quart is All-Clad's "loss leader" size, which means that it's less expensive than some smaller sizes, and considerably less than the 4-quart. It's a great size: large enough for most uses, yet still easy to handle.
Some 3-quart D3 sauce pans have a helper handle, but we haven't been able to find one.
4. Bakeware (Some)
Bakeware is use-dependent. Some you can save on, like baking sheets, cookie sheets, and pie pans. But bakeware used for temperamental divas like cakes and breads, you should splurge a little. Good bakeware can mean the difference between a beautiful cake and a puck, light crusty bread or a flat dense loaf.
Even if you only bake occasionally, get decent bakeware. You'll be glad you did. And the best news of all is that you don't have to spend a ton, even for the good stuff.
Cake Pan: Fat Daddio's 8-inch Round. This is a great cake pan, recommended and used by professional pastry chefs. It made a huge difference in the quality of my cakes when I started using it. Drawback: The perfectly straight sides make these pans un-stackable, so they'll take up a good amount of room in your cupboard or pantry. (If you have any clever storage ideas for them, I'd love to hear them!)
Cake Pan: 9x13: Gotham Steel Ti-Cerama Nonstick Pan. Though nonstick isn't the best choice for cooking, it can work for baking. It's also durable enough to double as a roasting pan.
Ceramic nonstick cookware has a negligible shelf life under the demands of frying. But for baking, it's a good choice, and should last quite awhile.
5. Pepper Mill
A pepper mill may seem like an odd item to group with high-end cookware and knives. But it's an item you'll use a lot, and buying a good one accomplishes two important purposes: 1) It will last for years, and 2) It is a pleasure (not a pain) to use.
PepperMate Salt and Pepper Mill. It's adjustable. It has a "cover" to catch the ground pepper if you're grinding a specific amount. It has a nice turning action, with a ceramic grinder and a lifetime warranty. And (maybe best of all), its flat shape, which takes up less room in the cupboard than round mills.
The only problem with this mill is a couple of quality issues. The grinding mechanism is excellent, but the plastic housing is a little chintzy. After taking the top off a few dozen times to refill it, it became loose and required a piece of tape to keep it fastened securely. But this was after years of use, so for all its other great features, we still recommend it.
Cole & Mason Derwent Pepper Grinder. The Cole & Mason is pretty much everything you could want in a pepper mill. It's adjustable. It's easy to fill. It's attractive. And it grinds pepper like a fine precision tool. You can't go wrong with this one--it's worth every penny.
Why You Don't Need a Salt Mill
Salt mills have become popular in recent years, but they are more a fad than a kitchen necessity. The reason you grind pepper is because peppercorns stay fresh, while ground pepper begins to lose flavor the instant it's ground.
This is not the case with salt. Salt will taste the same no matter what form you buy it in. So if you have a preference for a certain grind of salt, go ahead and use a grinder. But from a flavor standpoint, it's completely unnecessary.
Save
1. Non-Stick Frying Pan
Even with all the modern gains in nonstick technology, it still simply isn't durable enough for use as your daily cookware. Don't believe the late night infomercials--ceramic pans will be great for awhile--often as short as a month--then lose all of their nonstick properties. And no matter what they say about durability, DO NOT use metal utensils on these pans, or put them in the oven at any temp over 400F. You will kill your pans faster than you can say polytetrafluoroethylene. (Teflon, that is.)
Whatever you do, even if you really want a nonstick pan for eggs, please, please don't spend a lot of money on your nonstick pans: whether you pay $30 or $300, your nonstick pan is going to have about the same life span. So get the cheap one and replace it every few years.
Having said that, we recommend not going too cheap. If you spend anywhere from $30-$50, you will get a nice quality pan that's heavy enough to heat evenly, but you won't mind tossing it in a year or two when it loses its nonstick properties.
Anolon Nouvelle Copper Hard-Anodized Skillets, 8-inch and 10-inch. These are some of the heaviest duty pans you'll find of any type. And despite the copper and anodized aluminum layers, they are induction-compatible. The shape is a little funky, with kind of a small flat cooking surface, but you'll be hard-pressed to find better quality pans at this price.
There's also a 12-inch version, a