Setting Up a New Kitchen

There was a time when all I needed was a refrigerator to hold my soda pop. And then I realized that the 24-hour grocery store around the corner had cold soda. Quite a change for a guy who had once been employed as a sous-chef at the best hotel in town. I'm assuming, however, that your needs are greater than mine were at that time.

A few years later I got married. I pulled-out my kitchen tools from storage, and combined them with what my new wife brought along. I also went out and bought things for my kitchen whenever I could. It didn't take long before I had more small appliances than my counter could hold, and my drawers were overflowing with hand tools.

It didn't take me long to realize that I had a lot of stuff I never used -- but more importantly, there were things that I just couldn't do without. Or at least I couldn't do without them at that point in my life. Remember, once all I needed was a refrigerator!

My list of things you'll need in your new kitchen is actually pretty presumptuos. Who am I to tell you what you need? Really this list is what I would buy if my house burned down, and I had to totally restock my kitchen from scratch. Buying everything on the list would actually cost a pretty impressive amount. If you're really just setting up a homestead, I would suggest you try to obtain as many of these things as cast-offs from family and friends. If you're getting married, put some of the more expensive things in your gift registary. Gather as many things as you can, and buy what's left on the list.

The list is actually quite long, so I've divided it into a number of parts:

• The Absolute Essentials
• Small Appliances
• Cookware
• Hand Tools
• Cutting Tools

First, let’s start with some essentials. Health and safety – things that may influence whether you’ll live long enough to need anything else on the list.

NEXT: The Essentials >>