Hello friends,
In the first two parts, we have already covered the food items, so now it’s time to walk you through some basic kitchen equipment that will support you in zero-waste cooking.
And again, what better way to do this than by describing what equipment I personally use in my kitchen at home.
Before you start visualizing fancy multi-thousand $$$ pro-chef equipment, I will stop you right there. I put a great emphasis on simplicity, and my cooking style reflects that. In all my cooking, I like to use as little equipment as possible. And that’s even more true when I cook at home.
This was reflected in my restaurant as well, where I didn’t have any pricey equipment, and there probably wasn’t any equipment that you wouldn’t be familiar with. The tools I use most are time and imagination. Time is the ultimate luxury, and I used some very time-consuming techniques in my restaurant. Combine this with imagination, and you will be fine with a knife, chopping board and a pan.
With that being said, here is the said list of equipment:
I assume you have the obvious knife/chopping board/pan/baking tray/spoon/etc. that are the most basic in every kitchen. If my assumptions are wrong and you would like a full list of recommended kitchen equipment, you can let me know in the comments.
On to the list:
Silicone spatula - My favourite piece of equipment in the whole kitchen. I use it for EVERYTHING. Need to taste something? Spatula. Stirring? Spatula. Turning fried celeriac on the pan? Spatula. Emptying a container of any food? Yes, spatula.
A silicone spatula is the ultimate time-saving and food-saving tool that costs very little and helps a lot. Any kitchen I walk into and does not use a silicone spatula, I am ordering it on the next order. How else do you wipe clean a bowl of mayonnaise? Fiddling with a metal spoon or trying to clean it with a wooden spatula and leaving a bunch of mayo behind? No, you clean it with a silicone spatula. Scraping guacamole out of a bowl with a spoon leaving a bunch behind? Forget it.
I get every little bit of my porridge from a pot with it. Every drop of sauce from a saucepan. Nothing left behind. And I do that with every single food item that is in some type of container. The return on investment is probably one million % over a year. Go and get some right now.
Hand blender - Ideally with attachments for whipping and chopping. At home, I prefer hand blender over jug blender. In a professional setup, I prefer Thermomix over any other blender in the world, but at home I find hand blender to be more practical. It does not always produce the same results as usually the food in jug blender will end up being smoother, but I don’t like the rather large size of the jugs and the fact that it’s an equipment that will live on your kitchen counter. I like my space clutter-free.
I also like to blend small amounts of food, which is perfectly possible with a hand blender, assuming you are using a tall container that usually comes with the blender. Having the attachments allows you to use it for whipping and chopping too, which is super handy for things like making salsa, pesto, dressings, chop nuts or even onion and veggies. I found that blenders with at least 600W of power are the best.
I will tell you a top-secret. One famous three Michelin star restaurant in France is using a 20€ hand blender from the supermarket as the only blender in the kitchen :)
Dehydrator - This is kinda optional, but still preferred over using the oven for dehydrating as the dehydrator gives you more control over the temperatures. Dehydrator allows you to make all those tasty powders such as beetroot powder, herb powders, tomato powder, or simple dehydrated fruit for snacking.
Dehydrating is a passive technique. It might take overnight, but your only job is to chop up anything that goes in there and turn the thing on. Veggie trimmings, herb stalks, that veg/fruit that is overripe and don’t know what to do with it, or anything that needs extending its shelf life. A dehydrator is an inexpensive piece of equipment and even the cheapest one will do the job.
Kilner jars - My favourite way to store ingredients and food. It’s plastic-free, it lasts long (or until you drop it) and best of all - it’s airtight, so it helps keep your food fresh for longer. Back in the days of my restaurant, I have even used them to keep purees in the fridge. At home, I use them for anything from keeping dry food in my cupboard, to keeping soup and liquid food in the fridge, or pickling and fermentation. Versatile and another inexpensive item that can be used in multiple ways.
Kitchen scale - If you are into baking or prefer to follow recipes, it’s essential to own a kitchen scale. (You can do without it though if you are an experienced cook.) I would discourage you from buying the cheapest available as they tend to be less accurate. I prefer to use a scale that is sensitive enough to measure in 0.1g increments so I can measure things like xanthan gum or agar-agar, from which you use very small quantity. This is the one I am using and I like it more than the expensive branded scale I was using before. (this is an affiliate link)
Silicone baking mat - Way better than parchment paper. In most of the professional kitchens, parchment paper isn’t even used for baking anymor. It’s all silicone baking mats a.k.a Silpats. Silpat is fairly expensive, but assuming you only use one tray at a time, you will be fine with having only one. There are some cheaper versions of the original Silpat that are perfectly fine for use at home as a replacement for parchment paper.
Just don’t get those ‘teflon’ baking mats as they are a nightmare to wash and ineffective as the fat soaks through them. Silicone mat will last for long years and save a lot of money and parchment paper.
I do not have particular recommendations for products (apart from the scale) as there are many options with everything but let me know if this is of your interest (just reply ‘yes’) and I might add some quality products to my website.
This wraps up the series on the zero-waste cooking setup at home. By creating a zero-waste friendly environment around you, you make it easier for yourself to reduce food waste at home. We have to look at the bigger picture first as it’s not all about eating banana peels and pickling herb stems. Those things are cool and fun, but they become a gimmick if you waste a dinner-worth amount of food during a week by not being able to upcycle it.
Eat the food you buy.
Until next time,
Vojtech