Thinking Tiny … And Kitchen Gadgets to fill it…

Hey Smidgers,

Last week in my official intro, I told you guys about how the Lovely Amy and I were going tiny. Well, this got us thinking about what we would need in the tiny kitchen. This also brought about a bit of soul searching about my love of  kitchen gadgets, and how I would have to pare down to fit in the tiny kitchen.

The Lovely Amy likes a tidy kitchen, so I will have to find a home for every gadget that we decide to bring to the tiny house. This could present a problem because I have to have the latest and greatest of everything when it comes to kitchen gadgets. Where will I store my ice cream maker and rotisserie that only get used once or twice a year?

After giving it a lot of thought, I have decided that I need to what else, buy some more gadgets. I am thinking along the lines of multi-use appliances. I have been looking into the Instant Pot IP-DUO60™. It will allow me to get rid of, or not have to buy 7 different appliances. Not that I would ever use all 7. This will allow me to get rid of our rice cooker and crock pot. And it will let me try my hand at cooking with a pressure cooker, something I haven’t had a chance to try.

I know that I have a long way to go, but its a start.

All of this soul searching has made me think about what’s actually needed in a kitchen. So if you are just starting out, or moving into a tiny house like we are, here is my list of essential things to have in a well-prepared minimalist kitchen.

Just a note before I get into the list. This will assume that you already have a few things. You should already have, or will buy in addition to this list the following items.

• A set of high-quality pots and pans. At least, have a couple different sized skillets and sauce pans. You can cook most everything with them.
• At least one stock pot. I use mine for a bunch of things like gumbo, and stews.
• A set of high-quality kitchen knives.
• A kitchen scale. Buy a decent digital scale and you should be good.
• A decent sized cutting board. Use either bamboo or a good quality end grain cutting board.

Notice I harp on buying good quality items. I always tell people when it comes to the kitchen, cheap just won’t cut it. Thin, cheap pots and pans have ruined more meals than you can imagine. Spend a little extra. A good set of pots and pans should last you most of your life if not all of it.

Ok. With those items out of the way, let’s get on with my list of must haves in my new tiny kitchen.

• An assortment of wooden spoons. I would get at least three of different sizes. You can get as many as you want, but three is a good starting point.
• A couple whisks. We have several silicone coated ones and they are life savers.
• Tongs and large spoons. Again, we have several of each.
• Thermometers. I have three of these as well. We have an instant read for checking the temp of meats that I am roasting. We have confectioners for making candies and custards. And we have a long necked for frying.
• A micro plane. This gets used more than you might think. We use ours for quite a bit. We use it to finely grate ginger and garlic. We use it for lemon and lime zest. And, sometimes for chocolate and or nutmeg.
• A decent fruit and vegetable peeler. Pretty self-explanatory.
• A julienner of some kind. We use a Veggetti™ and love it. The lovely Amy and I will julienne some squash and use that instead of paste.
• A hand powered multi chopper. Unless you like crying over your onions, I would recommend some kind of chopper. We use ours to chop up onions and garlic and bell peppers, and… If you can chop it with a knife, you will save so much time with a chopper.
• A hand juicer. Once you have zested your lemons and limes, use the juicer to get all of the juicy goodness out. Hey, no seeds…

Ther you have it. An almost complete list of what I will use in my tiny kitchen. Did I forget anything? I’m sure I did. If you can think of anything I missed, tell me about it in the comments section below. And remember, if you are new to the site and haven’t subscribed, please do. We will send you 10 recipes if you do.

 

Food is love people…