In addition to a set of high-quality pots and pans, this is the gear I use every day in my kitchen.
High-powered blender
You don’t need a commercial-strength Vitamix to make silky-smooth purees and creamy dressings, but you need something more powerful than the cheap $20 blender you bought for making margaritas in college. At home, I love Breville’s line of blenders.
Rimmed baking sheets
Commercial-grade baking sheets, aka “sheet pans,” are easy to find online and at restaurant supply stores. I suggest stocking a few each of half-sheet (13 by 18 inches) and quarter-sheet (9 by 13 inches) sizes.
Wire baking rack
I almost always use a baking rack when roasting vegetables. The elevated platform allows for more airflow around the food, which means you can evenly brown the ingredient on all sides without having to constantly flip—this is especially helpful when roasting something that’s been coated with spices or cheese. Buy one for every size of rimmed baking sheet that you own, and make sure it has bars in a grid (as opposed to lengthwise rows).
Instant-read thermometer
A good thermometer is essential for cooking meat, and very helpful for deep frying as well. I like OXO’s thermocouple thermometer, which measures to the tenth of a degree.
Mandoline
I use a lot of thinly shaved fruits and vegetables in my cooking, and a mandoline will not only speed up your prep work, but give you more consistent cuts than you can ever achieve with a knife. Japanese Benriner mandolines are very affordable and up to the task—look for one with a julienne attachment.
Fine-mesh sieves
I recommend having two fine-mesh sieves in your kitchen: a small, cone-shaped one for sauces and dressings, and a larger basket-style strainer for purees and everything else.
Pepper mill
Invest in a high-quality pepper mill with an adjustable grind setting and you’ll never regret the purchase. Mine is made by Peugeot, and I’ve had it forever.
Cheese graters and citrus zesters
A fine-tooth Microplane (or similar style) rasp grater will tackle most cheese-grating and citrus-zesting duties, but I also have a ribbon grater for making potato ribbons, and a box grater or handheld coarse cheese grater for grating tomatoes and breadcrumbs in addition to cheese.
Digital scale
The vast majority of measurements in this cookbook have been converted to volume (i.e., teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups) for your convenience, but it’s great to have a digital scale around for weighing out ingredients for doughs and baking recipes. I use OXO’s digital scale, which has a handy pull-out display, and a smaller jeweler’s scale when measuring small amounts of ingredients.
Oven thermometer
Most home cooks don’t realize how far off their actual oven temperature can be from what the dial reads, especially gas ovens. I highly recommend buying a simple oven thermometer—or a few, and placing them around the oven—to make sure you’re cooking at the right temperature.
Knives
Knives are the most personal tools a cook owns, so you’ve probably already found some that work for you (and hopefully you’re keeping them sharp). If not, I’d invest in a small, sturdy paring knife for fine cuts, a utility knife (for fine cuts of shallots, garlic, and other small ingredients, as well as for butchering chicken), and a good chef’s knife (I use a Masanobu VG-10 Gyuto, as well as other knives from Korin). I also highly recommend an offset serrated knife (Zwilling J.A. Henckels makes a great one) for slicing hard vegetables and bread.
Corn zipper
This gadget (mine is made by Kuhn Rikon) is totally not necessary, but it’s cheap and you’ll probably fall in love with it. It does a much better job than a knife at separating kernels from a corn cob.