cooking supplies

Buying Cooking Supplies For Your First Apartment

Moving into your first apartment or home is so exciting! You want everything to be perfect, but you're on a limited budget. It's important that you buy the right cooking supplies without overspending and without buying things you don't really need.

Let's go over the basic cooking supplies you need to set up your new kitchen. Then, you can get what you need at your local cooking supplies store and budget for the cooking supplies you can't afford right now.

Dinnerware And Flatware

Nobody really thinks of dinnerware as cooking supplies, but you have to have something to eat on. If your style is distinctively casual, you can shop at thrift stores for mismatched plates, or choose a dinnerware theme of your own. A blue-and-white color scheme is a classic choice, and if you choose different patterns that are all blue and white, they will work together on your dining table.

If you like vintage dinnerware, look for estate sales or auctions in your area. You can get some great bargains on weekend estate sales on Sunday mornings, when all the merchandise is priced at 50% off the original price. If you discover a well-stocked kitchen at an estate sale, look for other cooking supplies you need while you are there.

You also need to purchase a good set of flatware. Again, you can find perfectly good flatware along with other cooking supplies at secondhand at estate sales and thrift stores. However, if you want perfect, pristine, unscratched flatware, buy it new. You will find flatware is quite reasonably priced.

Cookware

All cooks agree on one thing: you should buy the very best cooking supplies you can afford, and cookware is no exception. At a minimum, you will need a small sauté pan, a large sauté pan, a saucepan, and a large pot so you can boil noodles or cook rice. Nonstick pans are generally best, but be sure never to touch them with metal utensils.

Cooking Utensils

Cooked food is hot, and you need utensils to go with your other cooking supplies so you can stir and turn your food. Look for an assortment of wooden, plastic and metal spoons; a spatula; measuring spoons and cups; a whisk; and a ladle. You will also need a set of knives: a large butcher knife or cleaver, a small paring knife, and a long bread knife with a serrated blade.

Small Appliances

These cooking supplies are mostly a matter of convenience. You can toast bread under the broiler, but it's so much easier if you have a toaster. Besides a toaster, you should consider getting a coffeemaker, a blender or food processor, and an electric grinder for grinding coffee beans and spices.

Setting up cooking supplies for your new kitchen is fun, and when you finish you can cook yourself a wonderful, home-cooked meal.