Useful Kitchen Tools

So I thought that it might actually be useful to show what types of tools that are essential to your kitchen if you want to make great pastries. You don't have to have a ton of fancy equipment though you would think that in order to make these great cakes and pastries like the ones you see them make on TV it's actually quite the opposite. There are only a handful of essentials that you must have.

First, a must is a stand mixer. My favorite the KitchenAid stand mixer (Show Below).


It's a bit pricey, but there are a variety of colors and styles. The price range, depending where you go and whether they're on sale or not, can range from $200 - $600. It sounds almost ridiculous to be paying that much for a mixer; however, I cannot stress this enough, it is one of the best investments I have ever made. They also have attachments that you can purchase, from ice cream makers, juicers to meat grinders and pasta rollers. There are also different paddle attachments that come with the mixer including the paddle for making doughs, a whisk and a hook for bread.

Because it is a bit pricey, and you don't want to wait to save up for one, a good alternative is KitchenAid's and mixer, which is also a good choice.

I'm really not trying to advertise for them, but this is the most useful tool. For more information, you can go their website.

Before I get too far ahead, I'm almost certain that you already know that you need measure cups and spoons. Those should be basics that everyone already has so I'm going to just skip ahead to the next most important tool.

Some of things that is almost a must have in the kitchen are baking pans! It's almost a must to have one of each of these items in order to make an assortment of pastries though it most certainly would be nice to have an all in one pan like the KitchenAid mixer which is pretty much an all in one mixer. That way, you storing all these pans would be less of a pain.

When choosing your pans, go for the commercial ones that are made of aluminum for better results. NOT the darker nonstick pans. If you use nonstick pans, your baked goods turn out a darker color. Okay, at this point I'm also guessing that you're thinking, "Ugh, that means I gotta scrape and clean those baking pans when I'm done!" But guess what? WRONG. If you properly grease your pan or line it with parchment paper, cleaning will be a breeze. Just soak it with water, or you can even add some dishwashing liquid to help it degrease and "voila!" you're done!

Now that I've explained the basics of how to choose your baking pans, pictured below are the types of pans you should have.

A spring form pan (to make cheesecakes)

A bundt pan
A loaf pan
A tart pan
A muffin pan
A round cake pan (having 2 may be useful when making layer cakes)
A cookie sheet
A cooling rack
Ramekins
Spatulas

Also among other things, having a food processor is also handy for making pastry doughs like tart crusts and such.

The list could go on and on but those are the most basic tools. But really, once you get started, you'll end up collecting them so there's no need to buy them all at once.

Until then, good luck!