UTENSILS FOR FURNISHING A KITCHEN
As a guide in purchasing equipment for a kitchen, a list of utensils is here presented. This list is divided into utensils that are necessary and those that are convenient and only at times necessary. In any case, however, the number of utensils and the size must be determined by the quantity of food that is to be prepared.
NECESSARY EQUIPMENT
Baking dish with cover
Bread box
Bread knife
Bread pans
Can opener
Cake knife
Chopping bowl and knife or food chopper
Coffee mill
Coffee pot
Colander
Cookie cutter
Corer, Apple
Cutting board
Dishpan
Double boiler
Egg beater
Flour sifter
Forks
Frying pan, large
Frying pan, small
Garbage can
Grater
Kettle covers
Kettles, two or more
Knife sharpener
Knives
Lemon squeezer
Long-handled fork
Measuring cup
Meat board
Meat knife
Mixing bowls
Mixing spoons
Molding board
Muffin pan
Paring knife
Pepper shaker
Pie pans
Potato masher
Rinsing, or draining, pan
Roasting pan
Rolling pin
Salt box
Saucepans
Spatula
Tablespoons
Teakettle
Teapot
Teaspoons
Toaster
Wire strainer
Wooden spoon
CONVENIENT EQUIPMENT
Bread mixer
Cake coolers
Cake mixer
Cake turner
Casseroles
Clock
Coffee percolator
Containers for spices and dry groceries
Cookie sheets
Cream whip Egg whip
Fireless cooker
Frying kettle and basket
Funnel Glass jars for canning
Griddle
Ice-cream freezer
Ice pick
Jelly molds
Nest of bowls
Pan for baking fish
Potato knife
Potato ricer
Ramekins
Quart measure
Scales
Scissors
Set of skewers
Steamer
Waffle iron
Wheel cart
GETTING FOODS READY FOR COOKING
PRELIMINARY PREPARATION
Before foods that require cooking are cooked or before foods that are to be eaten raw are served, they must be properly prepared, for their palatability and their value as food depend considerably on the way in which they are made ready for cooking or for eating. Of course, the way in which food should be prepared will depend on how it is to be served, but in any event all foods, for the sake of cleanliness, must first be washed with water or wiped with a clean, damp cloth.
The ways in which vegetables and fruits are made ready for cooking vary. Sometimes such foods
are cooked with the skins on, and sometimes certain vegetables, such as new potatoes, young carrots and parsnips, vegetable oysters, etc., are made ready in an economical way by scraping off their skins with a knife.
Vegetables are also peeled, and when this is done a very sharp knife with a thin blade should be used and as little of the food removed as possible. Still another way of removing the skins of such foods as tomatoes, nuts, and some fruits is by blanching. In this process, the skins are loosened so that they may be removed easily, either by immersing the foods in boiling water or by pouring boiling water over them and allowing them to stand in the water for a few minutes, but not long enough to soften them.
Blanching used in this sense should not be confused with the same word when it means "to take color out" and has reference to a process of bleaching. Only when the word means "to remove the covering of" can it be applied to the peeling of tomatoes, fruits, and nuts. Vegetables and fruits may be cooked whole or they may be cut into chunks, or pieces, or into slices.
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