10 ms·

The Minimum Viable Kitchen

• run4yourlives 14y ago
  That's a lot closer to a dream kitchen than an "minimum viable".
  • jon-wood 14y ago
    Agreed, I'd say I have half the items on that list at the most, and still manage to make good food most nights (admittedly my last soup came out like baby food). And since it seems somewhat on topic, Hubbub are hiring developers, so if you love both food and technology we'd love to hear from you: http://developers.hubbub.co.uk/ http://developers.hubbub.co.uk/. We provide an online delivery service for local independent food shops, because we love food too much to leave it to the supermarkets.
  • protomyth 14y ago
    the quote in the article is "This post lays out the Minimum Viable Kitchen (MVK) for creating gourmet food." - I'm guessing it is equivalent to "the Minimum Viable Garage for race car teams".
• scottbartell 14y ago
  My personal MVK cost a lot less than $970...
• jmduke 14y ago
  Line by line, my disagreements: - You don't need cookbooks. The internet is better in terms of 'MVK', and the best cookbook is the one you make yourself. - Get rid of half of the pots and the dutch oven. Cast iron is indeed the greatest. - A stand mixer is nice, but by no means is it Minimum Viable. - If you insist on getting a mixing bowl that isn't a regular bowl, don't get three of them. - Ditch the whisk. - Saying an ice cream maker is part of an MVK is like saying cool t-shirts is part of a startup's MVP. That being said, I really like this article.
  • ironchef 14y ago
    Ditch the whisk? A whisk is perfect for controlled aeration of a substance. A fork lacks the necessary dispersion area. What else would you suggest using to cream whites or eggs that is in his list (if you're also getting rid of the stand mixer)?
    • notJim 14y ago
      Seconding this, I skipped the whisk for my kitchen, and it's fucking impossible to whisk stuff with a fork.
      • mattmaroon 14y ago
        Out of curiosity, why would one skip a whisk? They're cheap. They take up very little room. I use one so much I bought a second.
        • notJim 14y ago
          I didn't know I would need it, and was buying only the very minimum number of things. (For example, I also didn't get a garlic masher which is small and cheap—less useful, but again I didn't know how useful a whisk was yet.)
    • jules 14y ago
      I have a whisk but I always cream whites with a fork because it works better. Whisks do work better for other things though (e.g. batters, mayonaise). Also, if you're doing any baking then one of those rubbery plastic spatulas are invaluable (and cheap).
      • tptacek 14y ago
        I don't know what "creaming egg whites" means, but if you're going to have any electrics, have one that does a good job of whipping egg whites and don't waste time doing it by hand.
• weego 14y ago
  The only part he got right imo is the one most people get wrong; knives. Lots of my friends have tons of them, I have 3, a good chefs knife and a good flexible knife for boning and filleting and then a throwaway paring knife (ie it is so cheap that if I feel like it's not sharpening up well after a few months I throw it away). Lots of other stuff I've never had... I mean an ice cream making as minimum? And a stand mixer? Elbow grease costs nothing, as someone probably rightly once said. The takeaway possibly is that minimum viable anything is relative to the expectations of the observer. Also that over-thinking things can lead to excess.
  • typicalrunt 14y ago
    This. You'd be surprised at the crap knives people buy. Not only do cheap knives dull quickly, they also are composed of multiple pieces. Dull knives lead to scarring injuries (whereas sharp knives lead to a clean cut that most likely won't scar) and knives that have multiple pieces will be harder to clean and therefore contain more bacteria. If anyone needs a recommendation, I swear by Global [1] knives. They are sharp as...well, anything I've ever seen. They also stay sharp for a long time. Yes, they will cost you a lot of money (but they're usually on sale somewhere out there) but over the long term you are saving money by not having to buy so many knives. I respectfully disagree with having a throw-away knife because a knife is a sharp cutting instrument that is supposed to be an extension of your arm/hand. If you are always purchasing new knives, you are changing the feel of the knife and you will change how you unconsciously use it (also known as muscle memory). Especially with a paring knife, use the same one because the 'paring' action usually involves you cutting towards your wrist and you want to make sure that you don't accidentally suicide yourself. My goto knives are: - G-4: Oriental cook's knife (http://www.global-knife.com/products/g/product_g-4.html http://www.global-knife.com/products/g/product_g-4.html) - GSF-49: utility knife [I use it as a paring knife] (http://www.global-knife.com/products/gs/product_gsf-49.html http://www.global-knife.com/products/gs/product_gsf-49.html) One other key piece of advice for knives: cutting boards. NEVER NEVER NEVER use glass cutting boards. Tempered glass is very strong and you are just damaging the blade by cutting on it. Use wood (and clean it well) or, at the very least, plastic. [1] http://www.global-knife.com/ http://www.global-knife.com/
• justjimmy 14y ago
  Good list and good read but nowhere close to MVK. $25 for a cutting board? A $40 digital scale is overkill. True MVP/MVK should be using stuff that's truly necessary. ie: A knife honer - just use the bottom of a ceramic bowl - worked for chefs for millennium.
  • eropple 14y ago
    If you read the thesis statement in the article, it's a minimum kitchen for cooking from books like Keller.
• protomyth 14y ago
  This article is horribly titled (not the HN one, the article's actual title). The full quote from the article (Minimum Viable Kitchen (MVK) for creating gourmet food) would have been better. The thesis statement is also helpful to understand what he is trying to achieve: I define the Minimum Viable Kitchen as one that can allow you to create over 75% of the recipes that are in what I consider to be the best cookbooks for home chefs.
  • nsfmc 14y ago
    I get that, but also i'm going to echo the points of the other folks up here that MV is totally an "eye of the beholder" metric. For cooking most western foods, for example, i think he totally misses the mark in the pots/pans section. Having worked in a 'new american' kitchen, i can confidently say that buying cheap aluminum/stainless 8", 10" sautee pans, an 8" nonstick, a 1pt saucepan, a 2qt pot, (~$9 ea at fsw or whatever) and a cheap $30 dutch oven covers the vast majority of of cooking needs if you throw in a few pieces of steel wool and let the sheet tray pass for whatever baking. the notion that heavy pans for 'even heat distribution' are essential is true at some echelon of gourmet cuisine, but getting to know how your pan behaves on your stove is infinitely more valuable and cost effective than buying a set of all-clads. case in point, buy a cast-iron fry pan and discover its 'even heat' characteristic still includes a hotspot right under the burner. 75% of all recipes don't require all that much, though, it's the 25% that add much of the weird equipment overhead (i'm looking at you, spring form pan!)
    • wiredfool 14y ago
      Actually, my cast iron pan has a donut shaped hot spot, with a cold spot in the middle. My 12" allclad fry on the other hand, not so donut shaped.
• meaty 14y ago
  I disagree. We cook anything for a family of 5 with virtually nothing. Two stainless pans, a roasting tray, frying pan, 2 knives, 2x wooden spoon, metal strainer spoon, peeler, a whisk, a pyrex jug and a couple of forks. Probably cost us < $100 as most of it was free. Same with our bone china crockery + cutlery (both were $20). Less to wash up as well and we haven't cooked any ready meals for 10 years - we only cook from basic ingredients. Recipe books - we own one and it's the Mary Berry baking bible because it's so easy to fuck up when baking and she does 100% bullet proof recipes.
  • sitharus 14y ago
    That's similar to my kitchen as well. These days I do have a lot of random appliances, mostly from loyalty rewards. They're handy, but the only one I regularly use is my electric mixer. No need to a stand mixer!
    • meaty 14y ago
      We purge appliances regularly. Seem to collect microwaves and bread makers from relatives who think we are poor and need them. We make bread by hand (only takes ten mins) and everything that comes out of a microwave tastes like shit.
      • bhousel 14y ago
        How do you make bread in 10 minutes?
        • meaty 14y ago
          Flatbreads in frying pan. Actual bread takes 10 minutes of attention and about 2 hours of wall time.
• stevesearer 14y ago
  There are some thing I would definitely do different that would either save me money on my MVK or allow me to choose to buy better quality items. Things I could do without (I just don't bake much): -stand mixer -ice cream maker -rolling pin -cooling rack Some things I would spend a little more on: -knives -thermometer Additions: -can opener
• gte910h 14y ago
  This is a kitchen that can bake tons of stuff from scratch. Without that (expensive) component, you can greatly pare down this list to about ~400ish
• nerdo 14y ago
  The Minimum Viable Kitchen is a microwave and a spork.
  • bhousel 14y ago
    A campfire and a sharp stick.
• stcredzero 14y ago
  Here's my recommendation for a knife sharpener, the Lansky system: http://amzn.com/B000B8L6LI http://amzn.com/B000B8L6LI Buy that, plus the "Ultra Fine" stone: http://amzn.com/B000B8L6MC http://amzn.com/B000B8L6MC The Lansky system has metal guides that maintain the right honing angle for you, so you can easily get a decent edge by just following the directions in their video. So long as you treat your knives right, you should just have to do that twice a year. (No dishwasher, and don't let them bash against silverware in the drying rack and in the drawer.) As for a knife, get something with a real high carbon steel blade. Most stainless is too soft and loses its edge. Chicago Cutlery used to be good, but I see now they've cheaped-out on their design. (If you have the good fortune to find an older Walnut Traditions knife, make a "boat" with aluminum foil and soak the handles in mineral oil, then don't wash them so much. Oil soaked wood doesn't need too much washing.) This one looks promising: http://amzn.com/B0000CFDD5 http://amzn.com/B0000CFDD5
  • jrabone 14y ago
    Seconded, I have that Lansky set and it's the best sharpening system I've used, and very fast and accurate, whether you're grinding a blade to a new angle or touching up an existing edge.
  • cpenner461 14y ago
    I thought stainless knives were actually too hard and therefore can't get as good of an edge to begin with? Could be remembering wrong though...
• rdl 14y ago
  The fundamental rule I have is "don't buy sets -- buy individual items as you find uses for them". I bought a lot of really expensive stuff on eBay (Staub, Demeyere) and in Japan (Global Pro knives), and I actually only use a few of each. A cast iron enameled wok, though, is awesome. I got mine from the Wok Shop in SF for $30 with spatula/etc. http://refer.ly/cooking_tools/c/59d5b57c118b11e2a4ec22000a1d0d51 http://refer.ly/cooking_tools/c/59d5b57c118b11e2a4ec22000a1d... is what I came up with a while ago.
  • mattmaroon 14y ago
    I mostly agree. I just recommended the pots and pans set because they're cheap that way, and you really will use everything you find in a 10 piece set (which, btw, usually counts at least 3 lids as pieces). Knives on the other hand... I got a set as a gift long ago and have at least 5 I've not touched.
    • rdl 14y ago
      The main benefit for me in having two knife blocks of knives is being a able to do meat vs. veg prep with different instances of the same model knives and not wash anything until it is done, but now my kitchen is too small to do that.
• jtchang 14y ago
  I cook quite a bit and have a lot of friends who own commercial kitchens. - Victorinox Fibrox knives are by far the best value you will get. They are inexpensive and are quite the workhorse. - I agree for the most part about the pots and pans except cast iron should be #1 on the list. The one thing you will learn very quickly as a cook is that cast iron is your friend. It also lasts forever. - Someone said something about ditching whisk. Are you freaking kidding me? A whisk costs under $5 and it is invaluable for lots of dishes. - Desserts are generally hard and require specialized gear. I'd drop the whole damn category. - I'd add a bamboo steamer to the list. You can pick one up at a asian grocery store. Put it over a large pan of water.
  • notJim 14y ago
    Seconding the whisk. I have a very minimalist kitchen, and its one of the few things I feel I'm missing.
  • mattmaroon 14y ago
    I like cast iron, and have a couple pieces. The problem is I feel like it's an addition since there are things you can't do in them and didn't fit with the minimum viable gourmet kitchen. Cooking with tomatoes would be probably the most frequent thing I need non-cast iron for. And yeah, I laughed at the whisk thing too.
    • danielweber 14y ago
      I do spaghetti sauce in a cast iron all the time. Am I doing something wrong?
      • danthony 14y ago
        Unless you're talking about enameled cast iron (Le Creuset, Staub), then acidic ingredients like tomatoes will remove the seasoning from your pan. It shouldn't hurt your sauce, but re-seasoning your gear is a pain in the ass.
        • 14y ago
• muraiki 14y ago
  The Victorinox Fibrox that he recommends is indeed a great knife for general cooking. I have a lower-middle range gyuto but I usually use the Fibrox because it's easier to take care of. While I cook mostly vegetables, a friend of mine who is a much more talented cook uses the Fibrox for everything. In terms of pots and pans, I recommend getting a carbon steel wok. A carbon steel wok requires a bit of TLC but pays off in terms of delicious quick meals and the ability to use much less oil. Unfortunately when most people use a wok (often stainless or non-stick) they never actually stir fry but only end up sauteing or braising/steaming the food in its own juices. A zucchini and onion stir fry should only take about 4 or 5 minutes to stir fry, if even that. A wok is great for meals for two -- for larger meals you will have to cook in batches, if what is being made in the wok is the main course. A good book for learning how to use a wok is "Wok Fast," which teaches you the techniques behind the wok, gives you a variety of sauces, and a bunch of recipes. By learning why a certain thing is done (such as why you should steam broccoli a bit before stir frying) instead of just following recipes, you can be more creative when cooking. The book is out of print but Amazon lists some other sellers. Just be aware that most carbon steel woks come with a protective coating that must first be removed prior to seasoning and using it; find some instructions online or else you will end up with strange translucent stuff in your food. :) The coating has to come off as it is the interaction of oils with the carbon steel that cause a wok to develop its non-stick patina.
  • dkhenry 14y ago
    What would you use to get the Wok Hot enough for Stir-Fry. My biggest hindrance to using a Wok is the lack of a proper burner. I imagine there are lots of people in my situation.
    • deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    • jpitz 14y ago
      If you have the means to cook outdoors: http://www.amazon.com/King-Kooker-24WC-Heavy-Duty-Portable/dp/B000BWFTJE/ref=pd_sim_lg_17 http://www.amazon.com/King-Kooker-24WC-Heavy-Duty-Portable/d...
• kennon 14y ago
  I like that the article is attempting to encourage people to cook more, but the premise is flawed. You don't take someone who's interested in food and tell them to read the French Laundry Cookbook. You tell them to start with Julia Child, or the Joy of Cooking, or Cooks Illustrated, or Mark Bittman. Crawl, then walk, then run. Similarly, you don't tell a novice to spend $1000 on equipment they might never use. I've cooked "gourmet" for over a decade and I've never owned a stand mixer. You tell them to buy a good chef's knife, a good paring knife. A stock pot, a frying pan, maybe a saucepan. I have a cast iron pan but i use my nonstick pans much more often. The difficulty in learning to cook is not in getting the right tools. It's in getting someone to overcome their fear of it. You just need to show them that it's actually not a difficult thing, that you can screw up a recipe multiple times and still have a delicious result. Make a pot of spaghetti, then a simple soup or stew, roast a chicken, fry a steak. Then go nuts making Keller's Oysters and Pearls. But only after. The people who would find use out of many of the items listed are the same people who know what they need, anyway.
• notJim 14y ago
  Mark Bittman [1] has a very good article about this. I followed it, and have rarely been disappointed [I didn't buy a few things, such as the mandolin]: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html?pagewan... 1: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/diningandwine/columns/the_minimalist/index.html http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/diningandwine/columns...
• pndmnm 14y ago
  This is certainly not a "minimum viable kitchen" by any stretch, but it is a reasonable list of equipment necessary to make a certain type of recipe (from-scratch French-inspired New American cooking that involves baked components). Personally, the single piece of equipment that I would recommend to the home chef* would be a good pressure cooker. Vegetables, stews, beans, and grains cook better and much, much faster, and the stocks you can make in a pressure cooker will blow away stovetop stocks. *: I would consider a home chef to be someone who wants to spend time cooking. I know many people who don't and I don't grudge them that -- but for me, cooking is a true hobby (as in, something where I negatively value my own time -- the longer it takes, the more satisfaction I derive from it).
• WiseWeasel 14y ago
  I'd go for a food processor (~$100) over a stand mixer, but I don't make a lot of deserts. For making bread and pizza dough, I got a cheap bread maker for $50, and it was well-spent. The food processor comes in handy quite often; I'd hate to make bread crumbs, sliced or shredded vegetables, fresh salsa and a bunch of other things without one. Also, for those who are (like me) too lazy to keep their steel knives in proper working sharpness at all times, a ceramic knife is pretty handy for preparing veggies.
• icey 14y ago
  I'd highly recommend adding kitchen shears and butcher twine to this list. Both items have a ton of uses and I've found them to be indispensable to have around.
• mattmaroon 14y ago
  Definitely should have put "for gourmet cooking" or something to that effect in the title, as that was the intended purpose. Half the comments here are "you can cook with less than that" with which I agree. You just can't cook a high percentage of the stuff in a cookbook written by a guy with Michelin stars.
• grecy 14y ago
  Title should read "The Minimum Viable Kitchen for heavy consumers" Go and live in a developing country for a few years, see and taste the phenomenal food, then double check if you need to spend a fraction of $971
  • ubercore 14y ago
    To be fair to the author, he's talking capital K kitchen. Like, you take food as a serious hobby and want to have a reasonable chance of recreating dishes from Top Chef or in culinary magazines. I don't think he's trying to make a "Minimum Viable Food Preperation System".
• dakr 14y ago
  Mark Bittman wrote a nice column about outfitting a "no-frills kitchen" over at the NYT. I came across it via a review of knives over at the wirecutter. I can recommend both. NYT article: <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&#62 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html?_r=1&#3...; The Wirecutter review: <http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/a-great-chefs-knife/&#62 http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/a-great-chefs-knife/>
  • mikeocool 14y ago
    I love that Bittman article! I think it's much closer to the idea of a 'minimum viable kitchen' for someone whose just starting cooking than this article. And it has the much more approachable cost of "under $300," as opposed to the OP's "under $1000."
    • BenSS 14y ago
      Different goals! The OP's aim is a "Minimum Viable Kitchen (MVK) for creating gourmet food".
• rdl 14y ago
  There are a few cases on there where they mention something as the undisputed best in the high end, but you should get the cheaper thing, and they got the cheaper thing right 100% of the time, but either neglected another top option (which may be better in many ways), or actually didn't pick the top option. e.g. Demeyere is objectively better than All-Clad in every way except advertising spending. Shun Ken Onion is only mid-range for knives (but very good); MAC, Global, and a variety of both cheaper and more expensive Japanese options are better for Japanese, and there's a style argument for Japanese (sharper, harder) vs. European (tougher). Staub > Le Creuset, although the lodge or tramontina is 95% as good for 20% of the cost, and unglazed cast iron from lodge (or old stuff from Griswold, etc.) is just fine for $20-30 (but unglazed cast iron is fundamentally different from glazed).
  • mattmaroon 14y ago
    I don't know where you get these opinions from, but I know it isn't Cook's Illustrated. And I don't know anywhere else to get well-tested opinions.
    • rdl 14y ago
      I find chow.com to be more accurate than CI. Vitamix and Blend-Tec are both on par; I'd take either. (slight preference for vitamix, maybe?) I've never owned either, although I've used a vitamix at a military hospital; it was nice. Demeyere is unquestionably better than All-Clad. It just has no distribution in the US (at least not until recently). All-Clad outspends everyone in sponsorships and marketing. "All-Clad is like Starbucks" comes up often. Staub vs. Le Creuset has come up a bunch. Staub is certainly more durable (interior glaze, color change). Le Creuset has more colors outside, and more range. I have both (and Lodge), and agree about Staub > Le Creuset generally. Also, the stoneware crap from Le Creuset = hate. I hate it when premium brands come up with lower end stuff which is hard to distinguish. The worst is probably Kitchen-Aid; they had a bunch of Wal-Mart stand mixers which were visually indistinguishable and sucked.
• wj 14y ago
  I've either purchased or influenced the purchase of at least ten copies of Ad Hoc. It has a lot of tips throughout and the recipes are simple enough for most cooks while showy enough for dinner parties. Oh, and a good set of tongs are my must have in the kitchen.
• bhousel 14y ago
  I feel like there is lots missing from this list that a really functional kitchen needs. Supplies I'd add to a MVK: Dry measuring cups/spoons, liquid measures, rubber jar opener, bottle opener, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, digital timer, oven mitts, soap (I also like Lysol wipes for quick sanitizing) Ingredients to keep in stock: Fridge: butter (salted for cooking, unsalted for baking), lemon, lime, whole milk or cream, eggs, soy, Worcestershire Pantry: cooking wine, vinegar, olive and vegetable oils, salt, black pepper (peppercorns in grinder preferably), dried spices (oregano, basil, parsley, cilantro, mint, chive, dill, cumin, coriander, chili powder, red pepper, garlic powder, dried onion, or at the very least some "cheater" mixes like Adobo, Jane's Krazy, Old Bay), vanilla, nuts and nut butters, shortening Dry ingredients: white flour, white sugar (brown optional), baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, chocolate, breadcrumbs (or make them) Also keep around: fresh garlic, onions, quick starches (rice, couscous, pasta, potato), bread, liquid stocks (really you can make these), cheeses, other alcohols I think you can probably get everything on my list for less than the price of the ice cream maker.
  • sarah2079 14y ago
    My favorite jar opener is a rubber band looped around the lid. The fat ones from asparagus work well. I agree that measuring cups & spoons and oven mitts are a big oversight though, and the inclusion of the ice cream maker is just strange.
  • eumenides1 14y ago
    This. People focus a lot of the equipment, but a properly stocked pantry will get you further. Find a canned "quick" item that is super luxurious. Keep it always stocked. It makes the simple life awesome. Mine are "elysee gherkins". Eat a sandwich? Add gherkins. Any kind of appetizer? put a small bowl of gherkins out.
    • bhousel 14y ago
      Sweet, I am totally going to buy elysee gherkins the next time I see them. My secret luxurious dessert ingredient is speculoos. I saw it on Chopped so now I have to pick it up every time I'm at Trader Joe's.
• lnanek2 14y ago
  I don't think he's going to turn many people to his side with broad generalizations, then a ton of purchases and equipment. Maybe just come up with a purpose - cook a date a meal, or cook a family a holiday spread - then a simple plan and maybe one piece of oddball advanced equipment. Enough purpose+tutorial articles -> he might manage to justify that kitchen army. Even then adherents will spend a lot more time cooking and on food than those of us who can just buy a grocery bag of bread and milk and fruit every day or two and live without cooking, or who have other cut down hacks.
• mstromb 14y ago
  Ikea sells surprisingly good butcher blocks for $25: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40082918/ http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40082918/ I assume they use odds and ends from their furniture manufacturing.
• ssharp 14y ago
  Regarding pots and pans, I'm curious how these things hold up over time. Is a high-quality 15 year old pan (appearances aside) function as well as it did when it was new? The reason I ask is because I see what I assume to be quality SS cookware at restaurant auctions all the time and they usually go for a fraction of what they're worth new. When I wanted to get a huge kettle (compared to my 20 quart canning pot) for brewing, I was able to get a 10-gallon SS pot for $30 at one an auction. For boiling water, it works perfectly. I'm just not sure about more delicate applications of heat and food.
  • wiredfool 14y ago
    If it's something like all-clad, aluminum bonded to stainless, then it should hold up forever unless it's been overheated to the point of melting. I've got some that are going on 10 years, and they're essentially new, except for baked on oils on the (outside) bottom. Cheaper stuff tends to show wear more, anodized aluminum exteriors wear through, nonstick fades after a few years, thin stainless dents. I like restaurant supply stuff, I'd go there more often if I was closer to a store. I'd generally have no problem with used stainless stuff from a restaurant.
  • sarah2079 14y ago
    If you want another option for buying good quality stuff at a reasonable price, check out a restaurant supply store. I bought some of my pots at one, and really good quality SS 2-quart pot with a heavy bottom was about $25 new. I have never had any problems with cream sauces or other finicky items where uneven cooking would be apparent. My local restaurant supply store has a 10-gallon SS pot for $165. A 15 year old item going for 18% at auction seems pretty reasonable to me. Things are cheap at auctions, and people will pay a big premium for a new item. http://catalog.sefa.com/category_product_list.php?dealer_id=10103&product_list_id=10310&category_id=6&subcategory_id=10435&product_line_id=3187 http://catalog.sefa.com/category_product_list.php?dealer_id=...
• paulyg 14y ago
  I agree with most of the article. I do think he missed a few items through. #1 is a cast iron skillet as others have mentioned. It's the third most used pan in my kitchen. #2 and #2 most used is an omelet pan. Use it not just for omelets but for any kind of eggs. Also rocks at grilled cheese. Here you do want to go non-stick. #3 is a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons. My advise is skip the plastic and get stainless. Plastic ones seems to break after a few years, especially if you run them through the dishwasher. You will also want a separate set of measuring cups for liquids if you get serious about cooking. OXO makes a nice set of three clear liquid measuring cups with graduations that you can read from above. Indispensable IMHO.
• eumenides1 14y ago
  I think the post is great, but he made an assumption that wasn't stated and might cause all of us to disagree. He picked a cuisine without saying which one. A MVK will have different sets of equipment depending on the cuisine you choose. A Chinese kitchen will have a wok and a rice cooker, while a French kitchen will have things that you need to make bread. The most important thing is to choose a cuisine and stick to it! There is a lot of learn from one cuisine before you move to another. In my experience (being Chinese and born in North America), my kitchen holds a lot of stuff that i like (black bean sauce and grainy mustard) that just don't work together, but i wouldn't want to live without. (Also wok spatula and tongs if you are looking for an equipment example)
  • tptacek 14y ago
    American kitchens should probably skip the wok even if they're making Chinese food, because woks are designed for a specific kind of cooktop and are outperformed by large sautee pans otherwise.
    • mechanical_fish 14y ago
      I have been told this, and therefore never owned a wok, but I'm now thinking of getting a wok anyway because Kenji (aka "J. Kenji Lopez-Alt" of SeriousEats.com) disagrees, and "follow Kenji around like a zombie and taste what he tastes" is a motto that is serving me well in life so far. Here's Kenji's non-scientific rant on the subject: http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/06/wok-skills-101-stir-frying-basics.html?ref=search http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/06/wok-skills-101-stir-fryin... Here's the better-equipped-with-charty-graphy-goodness version: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/06/the-food-lab-for-the-best-stir-fry-fire-up-the-grill.html?ref=search http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/06/the-food-lab-for-the-best...
      • tptacek 14y ago
        I am totally getting that Weber grill/wok setup.
    • eumenides1 14y ago
• callmeed 14y ago
  On blenders, I've never had luck with a < $100 blender and my vitamix would be on my short list of "If you were stuck on an island with 1 kitchen electric ..." I cook a lot (for a family of 5) and my minimum/essential kitchen items for us are: - 2 knives (I use Global but I like Victorinox too) + Henckels sharpener - Cast iron skillet - Wok - Small non-stick pan (my wife prefers little/no oils) - 2 Pots - 1 steamer basket - 1 baking sheet - 1 pizza stone (or some unglazed tiles from Home Depot) - KitchenAid stand mixer - Vitamix 5200 blender - 1 large Rubbermaid tub/lid for rising bread dough - 1 slow cooker / crock pot (you can get em for as little as $20) As for books, I've collected a few here and there but the ones I refer to the most are The Professional Chef (referenced in article), The Magnolia Bakery cookbooks, and Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (amazing bread a pizza dough for busy people). http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/0312362919/ref=sr_1_1 http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutioni... http://www.amazon.com/The-Magnolia-Bakery-Cookbook-Old-Fashioned/dp/0684859106/ref=sr_1_1 http://www.amazon.com/The-Magnolia-Bakery-Cookbook-Old-Fashi... http://www.amazon.com/Zwilling-J-A-Henckels-Sharp-Sharpener/dp/B00006CJLM http://www.amazon.com/Zwilling-J-A-Henckels-Sharp-Sharpener/...
  • vecinu 14y ago
    Thanks for these great suggestions. What do you think about slow cookers destroying vital nutrients? This is the only thing keeping me from buying one. I read some more serious research a while back but a quick search on Google got these 2 (not so great) sources: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=45 http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=45 http://www.livestrong.com/article/129000-slow-cookers-nutrition/ http://www.livestrong.com/article/129000-slow-cookers-nutrit...
    • callmeed 14y ago
      It's an interesting topic and I honestly haven't done much research on it. I really only cook 2 things in our slow cooker: (1) meats in some sort of sauce (usually chicken or pork) which we use with chopped/raw veggies for tacos or salads and (2) steel cut oatmeal (we set it on low the night before with diced apples + cinnamon).
• edw519 14y ago
  One mans' MVK = another mans' WTF. My MVK? A refrigerator, a knife, and a cutting board. A little background... 90% of what we eat = raw produce. So it's pretty straightforward. We just eat produce at home and an occasional hot meal out. Every meal at home is either fresh fruit or a salad. (I haven't eaten anything other than fruit before noon for 25 years.) We have lots of nuts & seeds, cereals, snacks, and many wonderful things in our fridge. We eat out at restaurants several times per week and zero in on our favorites. (Living in Miami, we'll probably run out of fantastic options in about 30 years.) Most of the places we go serve food far better than what we could or would want to prepare and most definitely satisfy our "foodie" desires. Miami also offers many foods we would have never even dreamed about. This was a nice post for beginning foodies (Thank you, Matt), but these days, MV<anythings> asymphtotically approach zero. In most places, you really can eat lots of delicious and healthy food without all that stuff. (By the way, anyone need a stove, range, or microwave with 0 miles on them?)
  • bhousel 14y ago
    The guy did say that he's trying to cook his way through Keller's Ad Hoc at Home. So that will definitely define his MVK. Personally, I'm trying to cook my way through Weber's Big Book of Grilling. So I don't even need the kitchen, nyahh. To each his own, I guess.
  • tptacek 14y ago
    If you're eating out most nights except for the ones where you eat salad, you don't have a viable kitchen.
    • edw519 14y ago
      Sure I do. You don't need to cook food. We eat better than most people I know who do cook. Come on over the next time you're in Miami and we'll show you. :-)
      • tptacek 14y ago
        If that's your perspective, why even have a kitchen? You can put a fridge in any room. Replace one of your countertops with a stationary bicycle and add a power rack; call it an "eat-in gym". It's all love with this comment, you know. Come to Chicago sometime and we'll make you ceviche.
• mey 14y ago
  My favorite frypan, http://www.vollrathco.com/catalog_product.jsp?id=5099&cid=193 http://www.vollrathco.com/catalog_product.jsp?id=5099&ci... Picked up from a resturant supply store for $75 dollars. Worth every penny.
• pbnjay 14y ago
  If you were to get only one cookbook ever, the best bang for your buck and the one that gets the most use at my house is the Joy of Cooking. It's $22 and has thousands of recipes from salad dressings to pot pies to all that fancy-shmancy stuff. http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Cooking-75th-Anniversary-2006/dp/0743246268 http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Cooking-75th-Anniversary-2006/dp/0...
  • cowpewter 14y ago
    I would definitely recommend the Joy of Cooking, it's truly a cookbook and not just a compilation of recipes, going into theory and whys and hows, something you can really learn from and not just follow route directions, but I would try to make an effort to find a copy of the 1975 edition (something published before 1997!) In the 90s, they totally changed JoC, removing whole sections and modifying a bunch of the recipes to be "healthier" (read low-fat). I much prefer having the original recipes and then be able to choose my own substitutions if I want to modify them.
• ghc 14y ago
  My Minimum Viable Kitchen would forget about half that stuff and add a Rice Cooker and broiler pan. I have more kitchen equipment than I know what to do with, but 95% of the meals I wind up cooking need at most these: - Bamboo Cutting Board - Plastic cutting board - Tongs, spatulas, and cooking chopsticks - Rice cooker - Chef's knife - Paring Knife - Sashimi knife - Nakiri - Aluminum nonstick pan - cast-iron griddle / broiler pan - Pot with steamer - Saucepan - 12 Qt. Stock pot - Large Wok - Mixing bowls - Whisks - Hand mixer This is enough equipment to cook a broad range of French, Japanese and American dishes. It's nice to have things like a Mandoline, oil thermometer or blender, but I find myself using them less frequently as I become more experienced. I've also never owned a tabletop mixer and never wished for one.
  • tptacek 14y ago
    If you have a nakiri and a sashimi knife, why would you want a chef's knife?
    • ghc 14y ago
      Chef's knives are excellent for cutting all sorts of things that don't require an extremely sharp edge, but they're just not good for cutting paper thin slices of very hard ingredients like lotus root, and my personal experience with using a chef's knife to slice tuna belly was not so great. By the same token, I would not dare use either a nakiri or yanagi blade on a chicken carcass or to fillet a whole fish, because you risk damaging the extremely sharp blade.
• davidjhamp 14y ago
  I think the author needs to try to cook a great meal with a rice cooker before he labels everything that comes out of one as painful. When it comes to minimal a rice cooker is what I would want. You can steam, pan fry, boil and slow cook. Short of baking and dehydrating(which I'm sure you could figure out) its got you covered. Saying you 3 knives is minimum seems to be missing the point.
• tptacek 14y ago
  Notes: * Strong recommend on the Fibrox knife. If you don't already have a serious knife, don't buy one; get the Fibrox and use it for awhile. You may never want another knife, and if you ever do, you'll have a very good idea what you're looking for. Beware of knives: they're Veblen goods. * Don't get the expensive butcher block board. Actively avoid it. If you feel like arguing about this, you're not the reader this note targets; everyone else, trust me that the butcher block board is a lot of maintenance for not a lot of practical difference. Plastic and laminate boards work great, are cheap, and you can throw them in the dishwasher. * Get two boards of different colors and designate one for meat. This minimizes accidental cross-contamination and also makes it easier to handle multiple prep steps since a board that was used for carrots and onions can just be rinsed off to reuse for shallots or garlic. * I'd recommend against the knife sharpener. It's hard and a little time consuming to do a good job sharpening knives, and if you're not ready to commit to learning how, you're better off bringing your knives in every month or so; it takes just 2 minutes for a shop to do it. You probably won't sharpen your own knives even if you buy the equipment, but having it, you'll convince yourself you don't need to have your knives sharpened professionally. Bad sharpeners can also mess up your knives. * Strong disagree on "just get 10 piece set" of pots/pans. You need a large sautee, a saucier (which will double as rice and veg cooking), a soup pot, and a _small_ nonstick omelette pan, and nothing else. Except for the omelette pan, which you'll be replacing every year or so, the quality of your pans will matter a lot. I like All-Clad, like everyone else. * If you want to optimize a little, get a Lodge Enamelled Dutch Oven and use it for soup and also braises. * Get the cheapest All-Clad on offer. All-Clad's multiple lines are mostly about price discrimination. * Unless you eat smoothies, most people will use their Kitchenaid Mixer more than they'll use any blender. You can safely skip the blender! People geek out on blenders, and, what's more tricky, venders aren't Veblen goods; their performance really does scale with their price. Which means you'll easily be convinced to drop a lot of money on a blender. If you're unsure whether you want to allocate a lot of dollars to a Vitamix (we love ours, but...), get an immersion ("stick") blender instead. They're very cheap and they'll do most of the culinary things you'd do with the stand blender. * Again regarding mixers: there is only one brand. You want a Kitchenaid. * If you're not going to bake, you can skip the mixer. * If you get a stick blender, you can get one with attachments and skip the hand mixer. * Nerds need slow cookers. Here again I disagree with Matt. Normal people can get away with not having a crock pot, but if you're looking to set up a kitchen that will get you cooking more and eating In-N-Out less, you need the crock pot. They're cheap, and more importantly, they allow you to queue up a meal in the morning and come home to it done. * Hard to disagree with Matt on the utilities. You need a scale. You need a stack of light metal mixing bowls (do not waste time and money on heavy mixing bowls). Microplanes are great. You want a box grater. You want a thermometer. If you're making room in your budget for optimization: the Thermapen is totally worth it. Nobody I know who has one fails to wax poetical about them. I rarely use the rolling pin. I disagree about the silicone tongs; get all-metal ones, but get a good pair. Matt didn't say "fish spatula" but trust me on this, you'll use it all the time. If you didn't know you needed a good whisk I don't know how I can help you. Finally: One thing Matt didn't list here that has more or less changed my life: go to Amazon and get the largest bulk plastic deli cup box they'll sell you. Deli cups are amazing. You need deli cups. I don't mean "you need 1 or 2 deli cups". I mean you need a stack of 60 somewhere in your kitchen, and another 300 or so in a closet. Stab at a true minimum viable kitchen (there are other minimal configurations): - Cuisinart 3qt sautee ($52) - Large pot ($25, Cuisinart) - Small cheap nonstick omelette pan ($20, Cuisinart) - Fibrox chef's knife ($26) - Metal fish spatula ($12, OXO) - 2 plastic cutting boards ($30 for 2, generic) - 2 light metal mixing bowls ($20 for 2, generic) - 1 4-cup pyrex measuring cup ($10) - Balloon whisk ($10, OXO) - Large wooden spoon ($5, Calphalon) - Large slotted spoon ($10, OXO) - Tbsp/tsp measuring spoon ($3, generic) - Stick blender ($45, Cuisinart, w/ whisk) - Pepper grinder ($10, generic) - Thermometer ($20, generic) - Scale ($20, generic) Total: $305
• SonicSoul 14y ago
  in regards to owning multiple plastic cutting boards, i was at the MOMA store the other day and thought their Index Advance Chopping Boards were neat: http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_Index-Advance-Chopping-Boards_10451_10001_112198_-1_26669_26670 http://www.momastore.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDi...
• tjic 14y ago
  I've got a copy of Myhrvold's "Modernist Cuisine" http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-Art-Science-Cooking/dp/0982761007 http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Cuisine-Art-Science-Cooking/... ...which helped me learn about the MAXIMUM viable kitchen. It has a $10,000 lab-grade centrifuge, among other things.
  • sarah2079 14y ago
    It drives me nuts that someone I hate created a book that I would very much like to read. I wish there were a way to buy this without supporting the king of patent trolls.
  • mattmaroon 14y ago
    Can I borrow that? :)
  • bambax 14y ago
    I do too. It's a fantastic book but much too expensive for what amount of actual information is in it. The photos are extraordinary, but you don't need that book to learn how to cook or for any specific recipe. As for a general book about cooking, the best value is "On food and cooking" by Harold McGee. It's about $25 and it's comprehensive and well-written.
• zwieback 14y ago
  Good list. We've got a lot more stuff in our kitchen but that list is what we use all the time and wouldn't want to live without. I do have a couple non-sticks for omeletts and stuff like that and love them dearly but treat them very gingerly.
• jackalope 14y ago
  Before you run out and spend money on pans, do yourself a favor and spend some time with an induction cooktop. You can get a single element hob for less than $100 that's reasonably portable, easy to store and useable on a counter top. You'll want a large element, but even a 4 inch one is an eye opening introduction to this amazing cooking technology. I've always cooked over flame (and still consider red glowing coals superior to anything), but induction is a game changer. After a year of using the hob, I replaced my gas range with induction and haven't looked back. Unfortunately, that meant half my pans went into storage, being aluminum or nonmagnetic stainless steel. Many cheap pans work well with induction, including cast iron, but a well made induction-ready pan is a thing of beauty. Also +1 on parchment paper and Silpats. Your baking sheets and pans will last forever.
  • tptacek 14y ago
    Induction burners are awesome and extremely cheap. They're not strictly cost effective to operate in the US (we have unreasonably low gas prices) but are pretty much everywhere else. The coolest thing about them is that they're completely portable; they're lightweight and they generate very little ambient heat. You could bring one to your office to make omelettes, if not for the cleanup problem afterwards.
  • SageRaven 14y ago
    As an experiment, I bought a Max Burton Delux 6200 1800-watt portable model (110V) about 3 years ago (from amazon, around $80 at the time). I love it. It boils water in my kettle much faster than our 220V electric-coil stove burner, and even marginally faster than a propane burner we used in the past. The heat is nice and even (though also a function of the pan itself -- our induction-ready pans are a notch nicer than our older pans) and turning it off means instant heat reduction. I've had far fewer incidents of burning or scorching with the induction unit. Highly recommended.
• dsugarman 14y ago
  I don't think I could live without a toaster, definitely makes lunch or breakfast 10x better. Also, I really like my slow cooker, it also works great for either hacker or hustler with a lot on their mind because you just cut meat & veggies, throw it in the pot with some seasoning, set it and get on with your life. Nothing like a good beef stew..
• pfranz 14y ago
  When I first moved across the country and needed to build up my kitchen supplies from scratch I was quite lost. I think I generally followed this nytimes article and was very happy with the results: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html?pagewan... The nytimes author seems less fussy about things and imho has a better list for people who need a basic version of most often needed kitchen items. This priceonomics article is pretty good. I definitely agree with the Victorinox suggestion and only buying a chef's knife and paring knife upfront. I think getting an ice cream maker is kind of ridiculous. I do think it's good to have a few basic cookbooks handy (finding good recipes on the internet is definitely an acquired skill). One very helpful thing I haven't seen mentioned is to check out restaurant supply stores. They generally charge way less than most retail places, while their presentation isn't always as pretty they work fine (obviously, since they're used in restaurants). The only issue I've had is that the size of things necessary for a restaurant can be too big for my home use.
  • loevborg 14y ago
    I second the advice by Mark Bittman, the "minimalist". A small kitchen does not need a stand mixer (though a food processor is useful to make Indian food, among other things), and certainly not an ice-cream maker.
• jlkinsel 14y ago
  Nothing minimal about that list. "Mininum" kitchen can probably be had for under $100. Never put the words "Thomas Keller" near "minimum." I have some allclad D5, it's great. If you're looking for nonstick, pick up Tfal's pro nonstick line on amazon - saute pan runs around $30 and is Cook's Illustrated favorite pick.
• malandrew 14y ago
  I second the professional chef. McGee's On Food and Cooking is another essential. It's a reference book, but worth it.
• bambax 14y ago
  Great article, but an "MVK" is really one iron wok, a heat source, and a knife. Everything else is useful but not "minimal".
• bambax 14y ago
  I don't know if HN is the proper place to exchange recipes but here's the most simple sauce for asparagus (or many other dishes). What you need (for 4): one egg, some oil, salt, dijon. With the yolk, oil, salt and dijon, make regular mayo. Make it strong (don't save on oil). You need to mix everything before adding oil, as salt doesn't dissolve in oil. Whip stiff the egg whites. Then mix the two (mayo and stiff whites) slowly. Use a spoon for this. This produces a sauce that is delicious and extremely easy/fast to make.
• tomkinstinch 14y ago
  I'll add side towels to the list. They're great for picking up hot things (but not if they are wet!), drying herbs, keeping the bottoms of bowls from sliding around, covering dough while it proofs, cleaning up miscellaneous spills, and tidying up the edges of plates. I like to keep a tall stack of clean ones on the counter, and throw them into a dedicated kitchen hamper as needed.
• delwin 14y ago
  $971? Are you fucking kidding me? It took me less than $200 to outfit my kitchen, and that includes a breadmaker, a rice-cooker, as well as things to eat the food with. Most of this was scavenged from estate sales and thrift shops. This MVK post goes completely against the whole "minimal viable" spirit, which _should_ be self-explanatory: only what you need. This kitchen getup is certainly viable, but it's anything but minimal. This is more like the "I have $1000 and want a fancy ass kitchen" viable kitchen.
• GFischer 14y ago
  Congratulations for an excellently written article. I found myself engrossed by the descriptions, and it has the appropiate amount of humor too. Sadly I don't think I can find most of the items in my home country (maybe there's an opportunity there :) ).