Must-have items for in the kitchen?

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Must-have items for in the kitchen?

Must-have items in the kitchen.png

 

Hello everyone,


I hope you're all well.


Recently, we had a topic about must-have items for in the bathroom. Today, I thought it would be great to ask you which items are a must in the kitchen for your guests? What are standard utensils that you offer? Perhaps you think that providing at least some cutlery and plates is a must but that's it, or maybe you provide all the kitchen utensils they could possibly need?

 

Feel free to share your experiences and any tips and tricks :-).


I look forward to seeing your replies!


Quincy

 

In case you missed it: 'Must-have items for in the bathroom

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55 Replies 55

@Quincy

Oh, I do have chopsticks - I believe they are plastic - goes in the dishwasher.

Steel takes a lot of energy to produce and plastic I suppose is a big no-no too, so whichever way you turn ....

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Nikki36,

Nice to meet you!

Do you have any recommendations for must-have kitchen items? 

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Colleen47
Level 10
Frisco, CO

@Quincy We offer a full size kitchen complete with anything you would need to host about 10-14 people for dinner. The one thing we have a hard time keeping in stock are wine glasses. They always break. So now for ease, we only use kerr or mason jars. They are sturdy, come in all sizes, and are cheap to replace. 

Helga0
Level 10
Quimper, France

when we rented a family apartment on yhe seaside, most of the guests cooked. One item, my husband had sworn would never cross his threshold, was a microwave, but he ordered it for a young family, where the mother found herself with 3 kids instead their only one and no idea how to cook. All other items we had or got over the years. In Paris, where I host now, we created buffets for up to 30 people in our place reglarly, so guests can cook whatever they like and whatever their origin, they will find tools and spices for it. 

Sometimes there is a challenge: A guest announced to be a great cook, and to need a few sharp knives. He could bring a ceramic knife maybe. On a flight? I told him not to bother, after a count, there are about 21 long knives around, counting special blades for Japanese cuisine or a lomg salmon knive, not counting the hatches and about 18 short and middle ones. He stayed doubtful, that they would really cut, so I had them sharpened by the guy, who sharpens them at the bistro. In precaution, I advised him where the bandages where. He still brought a jnive, which he left and I threw out later. I guess he headed for the next special knive shop after returning home. 😉

About half the knives come from our own travels. Stayingin rental apartments, we usually bought one or two. - A knive sharpener is welcome, even if a good cook may sharpen a knive on the bottim of a ceramic plate. 

Some guests are so pleased with lots of spices, that they try to find one, that was not there and leave it. Or to cook something special with it and leave a portion in the freezer. I love that, it makes me travel to their home tastes. Never enough spices

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Helga0,

I hope you're well. 

That's a great collection of spices! I wonder what your guest was thinking, by trying to bring his own ceramic knives on a plane? It's actually funny that you mention a knife sharpener as I went out to the store yesterday looking for one. Sadly, I couldn't find any proper sharpeners! Recommendations are welcome :-). 

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@Quincy

This is one we have, small, efficient and easy to carry around - bought on-line.

http://tinyurl.com/y88wbof5

The other ones are something of the same, called Accusharp and we actually find then at sports outfitters offering fishing equipment and specialist shops for fishing equipment.  

http://tinyurl.com/ydd2f69d

 

 

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Marit-Anne0,

Thank you so much! I will add them to my wishlist on Amazon so that I can decide later. 

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@Quincy, Ikea has a good metal one with a nice wooden grip, that sharpens well. The purists use a stone, seems to be better for the blade, but only if you are good at it. My funny guest asked for a sharpener too, especially a stone one. As I had had my knives sharpened to a razorsharp state, for spite, he sharpened his ceramic knife with the stone and ruined it. You can do more harm with a stone. 

Over time we got a few tools, where a small stone is housed in plastic and you pull the knofe through. I leave one of those things for the tourists, as that protects the blade. But if you buy it for ypurself and will use it often, go for a long netal one - to be used in quick strokes , ideal for the hectic people, or a big stone, used in slower strokes. Less forcefull, more concentrated mouvements, very sharp result. 

If you have none at home, take a ceramic plate, a teacup saucer or small dish, turn it upside down on the table. It has a rough ridge, where it was standing in the kiln. You can sharpen a knife on that ridge rather well. 

My husband did that, swearing colourful about under-equipped pitiful apartments (my dister’s), sharpening the blade of a swiss knife to be able to clean kidneys. It needs to be really sharp for that. 

He considered that a simple dish, whilst my sister, at that time, considered heating sausages in water as cooking. 

That’s the problem with minimum requirements for “light cooking” 😉

AD04F5AA-E812-4B28-8C9A-5F3C7A5CCA52.jpegRight side a metal sharpener, sturdy, not fancy, in the middle a stone, which has usully two sides, fine and finer grain. Left side a knife I do not leave for guests. That is from a good Ikea series, which has a very nce sharpener too. I hav3 that in my other place.

 

Petrina3
Level 10
Sapphire Beach, Australia

For me a citrus juicer is essential. i like to juice fresh oranges each morning! My Villas all contain a variety of kitchen utensils and gadgets. I like staying in self contained accomodation when i travel so have stocked them with things that i frequently use. I also have electric skillet and sandwich toaster for those who want to make a quick snack.A lot of my guests are travelling between Sydney and Brisbane and are just wanting somewhere to rests their weary heads after driving for 5-6 hrs and although there is a lovely Thai restaurant on site ,most just want to unpack their bags and not leave the villa as they have another long drive the next day. In saying that i do get longer holiday bookings, ( as we are by the Beach) often with 2 children in tow so i provide plastic plates and cups as well.There are 2 pool areas where no glass is allowed. I also provide a BBQ basket, consisting of olive oil, tongs, apron ,torch and BBq cleaning wipes (hint, hint) as there are communal BBQs on site.

Oomesh-Kumarsingh0
Level 10
Pamplemousses, Mauritius

@Quincy I would advice all hosts to put a local cooking book in their kitchen. 

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Great discussion @Quincy, @Oomesh-Kumarsingh0, @Petrina3@Edwin57@Helga0@Branka-and-Silvia0@Cormac0@Marzena4@Graeme14@Gina158@Maureen116@Tim-and-Holly0@J-Renato0@Jessica-and-Henry0@Marit-Anne0@Annette76@Todd-and-Reese0@Evelyn86@Rose165@Marit-Anne0@Colleen47! Thanks everyone for sharing, it is definitely making me re-evaluate my kitchen equipment.

 

I agree with so many of the things you have mentioned here. I think like several of you have said, a must-have for me would be a bottle opener and a can opener. There are a lot of amazing tools you can get for the kitchen, but for a lot of them, there is usually an alternative you can use, however I feel if you don't have a bottle opener and a can opener there aren't very many "pretty" ways around this! Although you might be able to prove me wrong! 🙂

 

I speak from experience, I once stayed somewhere and I was cooking a nice wintery stew, which means lots of tins of tomatoes, beans etc. to open. I went to use the tin opener, to find that it was rather rusted and barely worked, it just moved around the rim of the can and didn't puncture it. I feel this happens quite a lot, so perhaps you too have experience this?! I did manage to get the cans open though and the stew did get made, but not without a lot of perseverence. So, my top tip would be to regularly check that kitchen utensils are all in good working order. 🙂

 

Do you find you have to update your kitchen equipment quite regularly?

 

Thanks everyone.

Lizzie


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@Lizzie I believe that update kitchen equipments is a must! But it would be preferable for hosts to buy good quality products and equipments that will have longer lifetime and be more economical on the long run unless guests steals them 🙂 .

Marzena4
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

Yes, @Lizzie. The most frequent update on teaspoons - in a mysterious way they disappear, especially the tiniest ones, so I started buying the cheapest. Then glasses of all sorts... Sharpening knives is a good idea, too. And of course all the usables like washing liquid, cloths, sponges.

// "The only person you can trust is yourself"