Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

my expandable tongs and favorite knife.

There is no way I can choose just one!

Tongs! Okay, now I *love* my KitchenAid mixer, but technically, I could live without it. But, once I bought a fantastic pair of tongs, there was no going back. How did I ever live/cook without them?

A close second is my mini-ice cream scoop that I use to measure out cookies. I just love how easy to use it is, and the fact that my cookies now look a little more uniform and less weird than they did before.

all my knives,

Can I say butter?

@dearrie ~ I can't!!

I MUST have: all my knives, all of my tongs, my food processor, my Boos cutting board, my prep bowls.

A wooden spoon is a good one, along with knives... I can't choose, either. All I know is that my cookie dough never makes it to the oven, either. :>

@lunie ~ I can't stand survivor! I am NOT spoiled. ;-() Exile Island sounds scary. I don't camp, unless it is at the Hyatt. I am getting hives just thinking about camping.

@iz - I'm afraid my must have list is even longer than yours:-). I absolutely can't live without my:

*convection toaster oven (use it daily, often several times a day, and it serves all my baking/roasting/broiling needs. I could even cook a rotisserie chicken in it!)

*large electrical grill/griddle (eggs, pancakes, latkes, all kinds of meat, English muffins, etc.)

*vast collection of various Pyrex storage containers and prep bowls

*all knives

*all tongs, spatulas, whisks and bamboo mixing spoons (and spoon rests, for that matter)

*all bamboo cutting boards

*immersion blender

*vacuum sealer - I always freeze something, so this is extremely handy

*electric kettle

*both slow cookers

*80% of pots and pans

I should probably stop now, because I might as well list almost everything I have in my kitchen - since it's my kitchen, I have all those things there for a reason. Even though I certainly could live without some stuff, like say, a deep fryer or a steamer, or even a rice cooker, which are more in the "nice to have but not really necessary" category. Still, most other things are there for a reason.

Knives, grill pan, 10" and 12" saute pans, tongs.

@izzythere ... wimp. ;-)

Well when I moved across the country in our camper I had 1 hubby and 2 toddlers in a 20 feet long trailer for 6 months and I think when your whole kitchen is about 2 feet of total space you learn what you REALLY need. I adore my big kitchenaid mixer but in such a small space I had a kinda of stick mixer that whipped or had a paddle or a funky mixer attachment and it was shockingly useful and small. But now that I am in my house ummmmm I have no clue how I did that as I am on Team iz I need a LOT.:)

On a desert island? Either a cabana boy or Alton Brown.

my chef's knife

Alone on a desert island, eh? Hmmmm.........my piece of equipment would be a world renowned chef with every bit of his equipment. I choose Jacques Pepin because I'd love his food and he is the sexiest of the sexy, smart, funny and I'm sure he'd be great company, even if he is much older than I.. Geez, I sure hope he likes oldies and folk and jazz and classical and zydeco and doo wop.

While washing the things I don't put in my dishwasher, I realized that some items are because I use them so often, not because they shouldn't be washed there, necessarily. I'd say my cutting boards and good knives are a given. I also hand wash my spatulas because I rarely cook without them. All but one are non-scratch. The other item used daily is my 12" saute pan, non-stick. Also used on a near daily basis are my pot holders. I'm not a grab a towel kind of gal.

when we go camping i pare down my kitchen to a VERY limited amount, and to be honest I sometimes get more elabotrate at camp than at home. 2 knives, spatula, tongs, 2 wooden spoons, cutting board and 2 med bowls, large and med cast iron dutch ovens, 2 cast iron frying pans, and 1 cast iron griddle/grill. wow, that's actually alot isn't it? but to be fair when we go camping its sometimes for a month at a time, and I make 3 substantial meals a day, and cater to someone with fairly severe food allergies.

Hey, "desert island" or "camping" wasn't part of the game when I answered! :-)

@brooke ~ Yes, I know. I got in trouble with Lunie again! ;-P

I would love to say my favourite kitchen knife...butt I need a new/better one, so for now i'm going to say my 30cm paderno frying pan...

any suggestions on a good reasonably priced knife??

@Patwcampbell ~ America's Test Kitchen recommends Forschner Fibrox Chef's Knife and they are unbelievably priced. You won't believe your eyes!http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_2_6?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=fibrox+chef%27s+knife&sprefix=fibrox

@iz ~ I prefer the play mower that blows bubbles over the one that just pops little colored balls. I have both. You wanna borry mine before you decide?

Good knife for sure - I have a nice wuestoff classic santoku that I can't live without. When we stay in a rental place for vacation, I have a full kitchen but since there are so many people in and out of the house, it's kitchen utensil suicide to take anything of decent quality (we rent a house with friends for the winter and kind of run it like a hostel - super fun but stuff gets destroyed more often than not, especially when most guests are kitchen-clueless climber boys). I love that I can cook on vacation, but prep becomes such a hassle with shitty knives and it drives me nuts. It's moments like that when I try to farm out some prep to whoever's in the living room in exchange for free dinner.

Aside from that, my microplane fine grater - didn't realize how much I used it until the bf broke my first one. Ginger, garlic, hot peppers mmmm.

I can totally live without the french press, food processor, hand blender, and crock pot (got one last week!), but I'm really glad that I don't have to.

Good knife
Good cutting board (I prefer plastic and dishwasher-safe)
12" skillet
Wooden spoon
Good whisk
Wine for the cook =)

@Perkymac - Thanks so much for the advice! they are right in my price range! :P I'll be making my way to a cookware store asap!

@iz - the bubble mower is awesome. you should see that sucker chew the bubble gum!

@Patwcampbell ~ I have one and I'm very pleased. I want an 7" one now and I'd like to get their paring knife. I think that one is around $5 - insane!. I buy everything online, as long as I can get free shipping. Hope your cookware store has them - might want to call first. BTW: Nice to meet you!

Yup..I'm the newbee..I couldn't live without a good wooden spoon,good knife and a magnetic strip to hang my knife (ves) on!! If they went in one of drawers, they'd be toast (not literally TOAST) but you get the picture!

dishwasher. where is that damm christmas list? i don't care how bad i have to be!

OG Mizbee! The dishwasher! I was going to say my really great tongs. Can't find another pair like them and I KNOW they weren't expensive. But the dishwasher... Angels singing here

corkscrew!!! :-D

My pampered chef magic whisk. No matter how lumpy my gravy starts out, this baby smooths it right out. I thought I lost mine once (turns out the SO put it somewhere nonstandard when he unloaded the dishwasher) and I was bereft. Of course, as soon as the new one came in the mail, the old one showed up but now I have a backup.

@chefjeff ~ I love my salad spinner, too. I just watched a video of Alton Brown making french fries. After he rinsed the cut potatoes off, into the salad spinner they went. He certainly makes the most of everything in the kitchen.

For those who mentioned their heat-proof silicone spatulas. Me too, until yesterday. It just snapped in half while I was scraping out a bowl. Boo Hoo. I've had it maybe 2 years? Wasn't expecting that. :-(

Thanks for your condolences buffy. Memorial service at 3, BBQ at 3:05. Please come?

my really big knife. if i'm cooking/baking/prepping, i'm using it. and the husband loves me and keeps it nice and sharp for me.

aside from the usual knives, i couldn't cook without my flat bottomed wooden spoon. i use it pretty much every time i cook except when i make fried eggs. i have two, one for things without onions and garlic and one for everything else.

@Mizbee - amazingly enough, I just sat down with a glass of wine to reward myself for washing all our dishes, bowls, etc... By Hand. Our dishwasher died last week and the search continues for a good appliance repair person. To second carolrsfMISSESTEXAS's comment, dishwashers really are a time-saver in the kitchen! It might not have been at the top of my list before, but it's definitely there now. Otherwise, I would have chosen my cast iron skillet.

@Banannah- cast iron skillet is my second too.
and @cybercita flatbottomed wooden spoon. My TOTAL favorite!

My Dutch oven and Kitchenaid mixer. I cannot live without either one.

knife, chopsticks, spoon.

kitchen aid stand mixer - by far, and a good chef's knife.

my little 10" aluminum saute pan. I use this more than any other thing.
I bought a whole dozen!

@brooke29 ~ we could have a joint memorial service for our silicone spatulas (and your ruined veggies). You bring the booze, I'll supply the tears.

Frosty, my 26-year old boyfriend is in love with his kitchenaid mixer. If he had to carry it or me out in a fire, I'm not sure which he'd choose.