The greatest benefit of designing your own kitchen is to be able to create spaces for all those basic tools every kitchen needs.

Gone will be the days of fumbling through your cupboards to try to find a spatula. (Wait. What’s that doing there anyway?) You will no longer have to worry about the headache you will have after banging through your pots and pans to try to find the right one.

When you work with the best kitchen designer, you can come up with a solution regarding how to organize and store those items.

But first, you will want to make sure you know which tools you should have, just to make sure they have an ideal spot in your kitchen for them.

Basic Tools Every Kitchen Needs

1. Pots

You will want pots ideal for cooking your favorite soups, creating sauces, and for boiling spaghetti or other noodles, to start with.

2. Pans

Each pan has its own job. A few of the essentials include a frying pan, a roasting pan, and a wok.

3. Measuring spoons and cups

You should be able to find these in a set, and they will be essential to cooking and baking. Make sure you have all the necessary sizes, from 1/8 of a teaspoon to 1 tablespoon for the measuring spoons and from 1/4 cup to 4 cups for the measuring cups, for example. You can choose each size individually or have one item that offers you the ability to measure different amounts.

4. Food processor

A food processor makes chopping, dicing, and even pureeing easy. Although cleaning it can be somewhat of a challenge, it is not only one of the basic tools every kitchen needs, it will also become one of your favorite items.

5. Blender

Although it’s more for drinks such as smoothies and other frozen concoctions, a blender is handy for making sauces and salad dressings as well.

6. Cutting board

Invest in a sturdy cutting board. Some boards warp over time, making cutting difficult and dangerous.

Also consider purchasing a variety of cutting boards – one for raw meats, one for vegetables, one for small tasks, one for large tasks, one for serving, etc.

7. Butcher block

A butcher block will contain all the knives you need to make preparing and serving foods quick, easy, and safe.

8. Colander

Have you ever tried taking pasta out of boiling water without it? If you have, you understand that you can’t go without a colander.

You will also want to purchase a strainer for smaller items, such as draining water out of a can of vegetables.

9. Can opener

Because that can of vegetables is useless if you can’t open it.

Nothing will spoil your meal preparation quicker than not having one handy.

10. Mixing/storage bowls

You need mixing bowls for food preparation, but you can also use them to store items in the refrigerator.

You will also want additional, separate containers for storage, such as the ones you take with you on the road to work or during a daytrip.

11. Whisk

A handheld whisk is most used for mixing sauces and batters. It is perhaps the most overlooked of the basic tools every kitchen needs, but once you start using it, you will see its benefits.

If you’re a fan of making homemade desserts, you may want to buy an electric whisk as well.

12. Grater

Knives and food processors just won’t cut it when it comes to grating items. A grater will help you cut cheese and vegetables into very fine pieces.

You can use a grater for garlic, but in order to avoid having the strong smell on your grater, you may want to purchase a garlic press.

When using a grater, watch your fingers!

13. Spatula, stirring spoons, soup ladle, and tongs

The basic items you will need for meal preparation, you may be able to find these in a set as well. A spatula for flipping, spoons for stirring, ladles for ladling, and as for tongs – well, they are extra hands for picking up and moving things around, especially hot items.

14. Cookie sheet

A cookie sheet is handy not only for making cookies and other treats, but also for toasting nuts and breads.

15. Casserole dish

A casserole dish should have a lid, allowing you to safely make casseroles and other meals.

16. Slow cooker

With a slow cooker, you can make anything from meat and potatoes dinners to comforting soups. This is the way to go for one-pot meals and if you want to keep food warm for several hours.

17. Trash bin

For everything you don’t want.

Make sure your trash bin is in a convenient location near your preparation area. You don’t want to have to keep walking back and forth to throw away trash, and you don’t want to leave garbage in places where it shouldn’t be as you’re preparing the meal.

The kitchen can become a disaster faster than you know. A messy kitchen can make meal preparation cumbersome and unsanitary, and then the cleanup afterward would be much harder than it needs to be.

What else do you need?

By no means is this a full list of the basic tools every kitchen needs. It all depends on you. If you’re more of a baker, for example, you will need items such as a cooling rack and muffin pans.

As you are designing your new kitchen, think about the items you like to make. Then, talk with your JK Cabinets design specialist about how you envision using the kitchen.  Contact us through our website or by phone at 480-219-9580.

From making it easy for you to hang utensils on the wall to creating drawers and pantries to suit your lifestyle, our experienced team at JK Cabinets & Design can create an organized and efficient kitchen – where you can find what you need when you need it!