Ultimate list of all the kitchen gadgets, utensils, and basic terminology, so you will not feel overwhelmed or lost, at any given time or day.
Being in the kitchen, cooking, baking, is extremely rewarding, but it can be quite overwhelming, especially when you just starting your kitchen adventures. Im here to help you, learn some terms, to make the kitchen navigation much easier, and a lot more fun. So, come with me today, on this learning journey.
A.
Al dente: referring to cooking pasta, so it is still tough inside when bitten
All-purpose flour: Used in homes for majority of baking, truly universal. The best to whip up: some yeast breads, quick breads, cakes, cookies, pastries and noodles. All-purpose flour may be bleached or unbleached. Both may be enriched with four vitamins (niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, and thiamin) and iron.
Aluminum Foil: it can be used in the kitchen for all types of different purposes. From cooking to cleaning, protecting, wrapping, baking or steaming, this is one true flexible kitchen essential.
Artificial sweeteners: Non-nutritive (contain no nutrients), high-intensity sugar substitutes. Only sucralose and stevia (a natural sweetener) work well in baking.
Ascorbic acid: The scientific name for vitamin C; it is used in bread flour for its gluten growing powers. It pushes the dough to achieve better loaf volume.
Au Gratin: t literally means “by grating” in French, or “with a crust”. Sprinkled with breadcrumbs and cheese, or both, and browned.
Au Jus: With its own juices from cooking, usually suggests steak or other meat.
Au Sec: Description of a liquid which has been reduced until it is almost nearly dry, a process often used in sauce making.
B.
Baking dish: A glass or ceramic dish, without the lid, used for cooking in the oven. A baking dish can be substituted for a metal baking pan of the same size.
Baking sheets: A baking sheet pan (or sheet pan, baking tray, baking sheet) is a flat, rectangular metal pan that is used for roasting and baking food in the oven.
Baking stone: A heavy, thick plate of beige or brown stone that can be placed in the oven to replicate the baking qualities of brick-floored commercial bread ovens. Baking stones can be round or rectangular and can be left in the oven when not in use. Mainly use for making pizza.
Baste: To keep the food moist while its cooking by spooning, brushing, or pouring a liquid over, such as meat drippings to stock, to add flavor and prevent it from drying out.
Batch: Amount of bread, cookies, etc. made from one bake.
Batter: A mixture of flour, eggs, dairy, or other ingredients that is liquid enough to pour.
Beat: To stir rapidly in a circular motion to make a smooth mixture, using a whisk, spoon, or mixer.
Blanch: A quick method of cooking food, usually green vegetables, whereby the item is basically dipped in boiling hot water for a short period of time and then refreshed in ice cold water. This ensures that the veggie retains its bright green color and a good firm texture.
Blender: If you are a fan of making smoothies, sauces, dips, or soups, you will likely want a powerful blender instead of using a food processor every time.
Blind bake: Baking the crust of a pie/tart without the filling. It can be done with a variety of methods. You should puncture the bottom of the crust with a fork before filling it with pie weights, rice, or beans prior to baking. I use ceramic beans, small heavy little balls, of multiple uses.
Bone: to bone means to separate the meat from its bones.
Boning knife: is a type of kitchen knife with a sharp point and a narrow blade. It is used for removing the bones of poultry, meat, and fish. … A stiff boning knife is good for boning beef and pork, but a very flexible boning knife is preferred for poultry and fish.
Box grater: A box grater is the most versatile with six different grate options to shred, shave, dust, and zest. Choose one with a sturdy handle.
Braise: To cook first by browning the food in butter or oil, then gently simmering in a small amount of liquid over low heat for a long period of time, until its tender.
Bread knife: A bread knife is a serrated knife, typically 8-inch blade, or longer, used for slicing bread. A high-quality bread knife can also be used for slicing delicate items like cakes or pastries.
Broil: To put the food into direct heat on a rack or spit, often used for melting food like cheese.
Broiler Pan: is a rectangular metal pan for use under the high-heat broiler in the oven. It is much thicker than a typical baking sheet pan, so it does not bend under the high heat. Usually have grooves and a draining pan that sits below to catch any fat that drips through.
Butterfly – Butterflying food refers to splitting it through the center to thin it out, but not cutting through it entirely. For example, chicken breast or fish filet.
C.
Can opener: A safe-cut, or smooth-edge, model cuts around the outside of the can, rather than the lid; produces smooth edges; and will never lower the lid into your food.
Caramelize: To heat sugar until it liquefies and becomes a syrup.
Casserole Dish: A casserole dish is a large, deep dish with high edges that is used for baking or serving. For all those one-dish meals into the oven (like lasagna or a casserole), a quality casserole dish is a must.
Cast iron skillet: undeniable staple in every kitchen. modern ones are made from heavy cast iron and pre-seasoned (so food does not stick); with impressive heat retention abilities these skillets are favored for use on both the stovetop and oven alike.
Chef’s knife: look for an 8- to 9-inch blade. This knife should feel comfortable in your hand. you will use a chef’s knife for all your cutting needs (and use it every time you cook), one high-quality purchase will serve you for years to come.
Chop: to cut into pieces. Chop usually just refers to the cutting. Sometimes other words are used in conjunction with chop: a rough chop would be larger pieces, or a fine chop would be smaller pieces.
Clarify: Traditionally refers to butter, where the milk solids and water are rendered from the butterfat. This is done by gently melting the butter, allowing the two to separate and then skimming off the solids.
Cleaver: large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed hatchet. It is largely used as a kitchen or butcher knife intended for hacking through bone.
Coddle: To coddle something is to cook it in water just below boiling point. More recently, the term specifically applies to eggs using a device called a coddler. The low cooking temperature produces a much softer egg than if you were to boil it.
Colander: kitchen utensil used to strain foods such as pasta or to rinse vegetables. The perforated nature of the colander allows liquid to drain through while retaining the solids inside. It is sometimes also called a pasta strainer or kitchen sieve.
Combine: Stir ingredients together just until well mixed.
Confectioners’ sugar: White sugar that has been ground to an exceptionally fine powder. It dissolves easily, and is used widely in candy making, for making frostings and icings, and for decorating or dusting the tops of cakes and other desserts.
Convection Cooking: Convection cooking is a method used to cook certain foods faster, and it also allows the baker to cook a larger quantity of food and use multiple baking racks all at the same time.
Convection Oven: The convection oven has a fan to circulate hot air around that which is being cooked on a continual basis, allowing the baking of several products on different racks all at once. A convection oven can be either gas or electric, may not need preheating, and the temperature required to cook a product in a conventional oven can often be reduced by 25 degrees in a convection oven.
Conventional oven: has two heating elements that heat air inside the oven to cook food. The heating element at the bottom of the oven is used for most cooking and baking, while the heating element at the top is mostly used for broiling.
Cookie Sheet: Varying in size from 10×8 inches to 20×15 inches, cookie sheets are flat, rectangular baking pans made of rigid aluminum or steel. Two of the four sides on a cookie sheet will have no raised edge in order to facilitate the removal of baked cookies.
Cool: To cool hot foods is to reduce their temperature until they are neither extremely hot nor very cold.
Cooling Rack: Baked goods are often cooled on a cooling rack, which is typically a rectangular grid made of thick wire with “feet” or “legs” to raise it off the countertop and allow cooler air to circulate all around the finished good.
Cream: To beat ingredients (usually sugar and a fat) until smooth and fluffy.
Creme fraiche: A French dairy product made from whipping cream and a bacterial culture. The culture causes the whipping cream to thicken and develop a sharp, tangy flavor.
Cube: Just like chopping, it is to cut food into small cubes, usually about 1/2 inch.
Cutting board: flat surface, used in every preparation, for safely chopping, or slicing off ingredients. Ost popular ones are made of bamboo wood or plastic.
D.
Dash: measurement that’s less than 1/8 teaspoon (but more than a pinch)
Deep fry: -To cook food in a deep layer of hot oil.
Defrost: To remove the ice or frost from something frozen by increasing its temperature.
Dice: To cut into small pieces, usually 1/4 to 1/8 chunks.
Dilute: Thinning a liquid by adding in water or another solvent.
Dissolve: To mix a dry ingredient into a liquid until the solids have all disappeared. For example, bakers can dissolve sugar into water, yeast into water, and more.
Dollop: A spoonful of a semi-solid food, like whipped cream or mashed potatoes, placed on top of another food.
Dredge: To lightly coat uncooked food with a dry mixture, usually with flour, cornmeal, or breadcrumbs, to be pan fried or sautéed.
Dress: To coat foods with a sauce, for example a salad.
Drizzle: To pour liquid back and forth over a dish in a fine stream, usually melted butter, oil, syrup, or melted chocolate.
Dry Ingredients: Are those ones in the recipe ingredients that might need to be blended before they are added to another kind of mixture in the recipe. Dry ingredients can include sugar, salt, baking cocoa, spices, flour, and herbs.
Dry Measuring Cups: Some of the standard home-baking measuring tools used in the United States are dry measuring cups. These cups have straight sides with a handle attached to them at the top, and they come in graduated sizes including ¼ cup, 1/3 cup, ½ cup, 1, and 2 cup measurements. Usually they nest within one another for more storage.
Dust: Dusting is the light sprinkling of a baked good or other surface with a dry ingredient like flour, meal, ice – cut into small uniform square pieces, usually bite size.
Dutch oven: thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens are usually made of seasoned cast iron. The thickness ensures, that the inside will cook in the same speed, and with the same temperature all the ay through. Personally, my go to pot.
E.
Emulsify: to convert (two or more immiscible liquids) into an emulsion.
Emulsion blender: (immersion blender) is a kitchen tool used for blending soups, sauces, and other liquids. An immersion blender is basically a stick with blender blades at the end of it.
Emulsion: A mixture containing liquids that are non-miscible such as oil and water.
Extract oils: Products based on the aromatic essential oils of plant materials that are distilled by various means. In extracts, the highly concentrated oils usually are suspended in alcohol to make them easier to combine with other foods in cooking and baking. Almond, anise, lemon, mint, orange, peppermint, and vanilla are some of the extracts available.
F.
Fermentation: The process in which yeast consume starches and sugars in bread dough and produce CO2 gas and alcohol.
Fillet: To cut the bones from a piece of meat, poultry, or fish.
Flambé: To drizzle a flammable spirit over a food while its cooking, to ignite the just before serving.
Fold: To combine light ingredients, such as whipped cream or beaten eggs whites, with a heavier mixture, using an over-and-under motion.
G.
Garlic press: A nice shortcut while chopping: one that works on unpeeled cloves and turn it into mush in seconds.
Garnish: To add visual appeal to a finished dish by decorating it with small pieces of food or edible flowers. The term also refers to the items used for decoration.
Glaze: To coat foods with mixtures such as jellies or sauces.
Grate: Creates tiny pieces of food, best for things like cheese to melt quickly or a vegetable used in a sauce.
Grease: to prepare your pans so they do not stick to the food. Greasing your pans can be done with nonstick cooking spray or butter, shortening or oil.
Griddle: Heavy weight flat, rimless pan for baking flatbreads using as little fat as possible; flipping is done halfway through baking; may be electric or set over stovetop het source.
Grill Pan: Usually cast iron, heavy square shaped pan that is creates tempting grill lines in your food, just like a barbecue does. But it is much easier than barbecuing because you do not have to leave the comfort of your kitchen and it only requires a stovetop fire.
H.
Honing / Sharpening Ceramic Rod: when you’re going to invest in a quality chef’s knife (it doesn’t need to be crazy expensive, just a good quality) you’ll want to take care of it so it lasts a lifetime, and this tool its very useful in keeping it sharp.
I.
Immersion Blender: (emulsion blender or stick blender) is used to blend or puree food in the container it is being prepared in. From blending soups and sauces directly in the pot, to whipping up homemade whipped cream for dessert, to easily making mayonnaise.
Incorporate: To add one substance to another and mix them together such that they are evenly distributed.
Infuse: To immerse/steep/soak something into a liquid to extract its flavors.
J.
Juicer: A kitchen tool that extracts juice from all kind of fruits and vegetables by shredding the flesh of the food item.
Julienne: Cutting vegetables until long, thin stripes, approximately 1/4-inch-thick and 1 inch long.
K.
Kitchen Scale: For accurately measuring raw food (and coffee beans, in my case) a small, lightweight, scale is needed.
Kitchen shears: Versatile kitchen tool. For cutting up a whole chicken and other meats, to vegetables, to stripping herbs, to even cutting the stems off flowers.
Knead: The process of mixing dough with the hands or a mixer
L.
Ladle: A ladle is essentially a large, long-handled spoon. It is used for serving liquid dishes like soups, stews, or sauces.
Large Pot: perfect for cooking pasta, large dishes, or even for making your own broth.
Lemon press: The best models are big enough for both a lime and a lemon and have ridges to grip fruit better.
M.
Macerate: The process of softening a food by soaking it in liquid.
Marinate: To soak in a sauce or flavored liquid for a long period of time, usually a meat, poultry or fish, to infuse the marinate flavor to the protein.
Mature: For food: taste has developed fully to produce a strong and rich flavor. Perfect example is the cheese needs time to mature.
Measuring Cups and Spoons: These are spoons and other containers of different, graduated sizes that can be used to measure liquid or dry ingredients accurately in the process of cooking and baking.
Meat thermometer: A quality meat thermometer is a must if you often cook meats and want to stop guessing at when they are done.
Melting: process in which a solid product is heated up to transform into liquid.
Mince: Using a knife to chop something very finely/into very Extract and oil
Mirepoix: it is a flavor base made from diced vegetables cooked—usually with butter, oil, or other fat—for a long time on low heat without coloring or browning. Usually the vegetable mixture is onions, carrots, and celery, with the traditional ratio being 2:1:1, two parts onion, one-part carrot, and one-part celery.
Mixing: the art of combining two or more separate ingredients until no one ingredient can be seen or identified. This is usually accomplished through stirring with a spoon.
Muffin cups: (muffin or cupcake liners) are papers used to contain batter poured into muffin tins. Made of paper or foil, they are usually corrugated and are often decorative.
Muffin Pans: Muffin pans are used for the baking of muffins, and they come in several different sizes and shapes. The muffin pan that is most popular in-home use for has 6 or 12 muffins cups that measure 2½ inches in diameter at the top, although there are also mini-muffin tins in 12- and 24-cup sizes.
N.
Nonstick: Nonstick coating is a coating applied to a pan to prevent baked goods from sticking to it. It can be applied via high-temperature coil-coating before the pan is formed, or it can be sprayed onto the pan after it has been constructed. Nonstick coatings are usually silicone-based or PTFE-based (polytetrafluorethylene or Teflon).
O.
Oven Mitts: Oven mitts are used in order to protect your hands from being burned when transferring hot food to and from the oven.
Oven: An enclosed space with parts that supply air flow and heat in order to cook. Electric elements or gas burners are used in conventional ovens for baking, broiling, or roasting, while convection ovens also include a fan to circulate heated air all around the food. Electric ovens usually have controls to cycle the temperatures of the upper and lower elements for consistent cooking temperatures. Some ovens are clean by hand (standard oven), while others are self-cleaning or continuous cleaning.
P.
Pan Fry: Cook larger chunks of food over medium heat, flipping once only.
Parchment Paper: is used in cooking as a disposable non-stick surface that greatly helps with avoiding messes in the kitchen.
Paring knife: A paring knife is a kitchen knife, used for a multitude of tasks. With a short blade, that should be between 3 to 4 inches. You can peel and chop with it, and the small tip is great for fine work like coring strawberries.
Pastry bag (piping bag ): is an often cone- or triangular-shaped bag made from cloth, paper, or plastic that is squeezed by hand to pipe semi-solid foods by pressing them through a narrow opening at one end often fitted with a shaped nozzle, for many purposes including in particular cake decoration and icing.
Peel: 1. the outer skin or covering of a food such as orange or lemon.2. Removing the outer layer or skin of something.
Peppermill: An easily adjustable grind setting will let you go from coarse to fine. A large hole allows easy refilling of the peppercorns.
Pinch: 1/16 teaspoon.
Poach: To cook gently over exceptionally low heat, in barely simmering water just to cover.
Potato masher: it is a great tool. You will soon discover how many different uses it can provide.
Preheat: To preheat an oven is to heat an empty oven to the proper temperature for the recipe before the food product is placed within it.
Purée: To mash or grind food until completely smooth.
R.
Ribbon stage: A stage that is reached after beating or whisking whole eggs or yolks with sugar until very thick and pale in color. The stage is reached when the mixture falls slowly back into the bowl creating “ribbons” that hold their shape for a few seconds on the surface of the batter.
Roast: Just like baking but concerning meat or poultry, it is to cook food in an oven using dry heat.
Rye flour: Made from finely ground rye, a cereal grain that has dark brown kernels and a distinctive, robust flavor. Light rye flour is sifted and contains less bran than dark rye flour.
S.
Salad spinner: your best friend when it comes to having a crisp salad. To prevent your greens from going soggy, you will need to dry them and “spinning” them is by far the easiest way to do it.
Santoku knife: is a general-purpose kitchen knife originating in Japan. Its blade is typically between 13 and 20 cm long, and has a flat edge and a sheepsfoot blade that curves down
Saturated Fats: Solid fats that at room temperature (70° F.) hold their shape; usually animal fats, though palm or coconut oil are also included.
Saucepan large: (saucepot), over 4 quarts capacity. t’s deep with high sides and straight edges, and usually features a long handle and, quite often, a lid.
Saucepan, medium: reaching 2.5 to 4 quarts capacity. It is made of solid stainless steel and aluminum and has been designed to pour easily (a big frustration saver!). It is dishwasher and oven safe and can even be put under the oven broiler.
Sauté Pan: A sauté pan is different from a skillet in a couple of important ways. It has a wide flat bottom and vertical sides that generally go up much higher than a skillet’s flared sides do. This makes it easier to cook sauces and sear and braise meat than a skillet.
Sauté: To cook small pieces of food over a medium-high heat with oil in a pan, usually to brown food.
Sauté: To sauté is to cook or brown food in a small amount of hot fat or oil. This softens the food and releases its flavors.
Scald: To heat liquid almost to a boil until bubbles begin forming just around the edge.
Scant: in terms of measurement, a scant cup of flour is measured just below the cup line (just less than the amount called for).
Sear: To brown the surface of meat by quick cooking over high heat into order to seal in the meat’s juices.
Section: A pulpy segment of citrus fruit with the membrane removed. Also refers to the process of removing those segments.
Shred: Done on a grater with larger holes, resulting in long, smooth stripes to cook or melt.
Simmer: Bring a pot to a boil, then reduce the heat until there are no bubbles.
Simmer: just before a mixture boils, after it scalds, is when it simmers: little bubbles form around the edge of the pan.
Skim: To remove fat or foam from the surface a liquid.
Slice: To cut vertically down, thickness sometimes specified by the recipe.
Slotted Spoon: This large spoon, featuring slots or holes for draining liquid, helps to make cooking easier and safer. It is perfect to use when removing something from a pan while leaving the yummy juices behind
Small Saucepan: reaching from 1 to 2.5 quarts, are great for portions of soup, sauces, oatmeal, and grains.
Smidgen: 1/32 teaspoon.
Softened butter: Butter that has been left at room temperature for a while until it is no longer hard and cold. It should still be cold to the touch and form an indentation when pressed.
Softened: when butter or cream cheese or another similar ingredient is no longer hard to the touch. Often called room temperature. Learn about how to soften butter.
Spatula: universal multitool. is a small cooking implement with a wide, flat, flexible blade that is used for mixing, spreading, and turning.
Stainless Steel Skillet: A stainless steel skillet will likely be the ultimate worker of your kitchen. Used for frying, searing, sautéing, and browning, among other functions. For this reason, it is important to pick a high-quality stainless-steel skillet that you can use for a lifetime.
Steam: To cook food on a rack or in a steamer set over boiling or simmering water.
Steep: To soak a dry ingredient in a liquid just under the boiling point to extract the flavor, such as with tea.
Stew: To cook covered over low heat in a liquid for a substantial period.
Stir: to combine ingredients in a circular motion.
Stir: To stir is to use a spoon to mix ingredients with a spoon using a figure-eight or circular motion.
Stockpot: A stockpot is an exceptionally large pot (usually 12 quarts) that is ideal for homemade broth or large portions of soups. Anytime you want to make an extra portions or meal for a crowd, is a great reason to use a stock pot.
T.
Texture: The appearance and feel of a cut part of a cake or bread.
Timer: Some digital models allow for multiple timekeeping, so you can track all your cooking processes at the same time.
Tongs: For easily flipping meats and vegetables, a good pair of tongs that can handle all kinds of different sized foods is a must. It is important for them to buy the ones with silicone tips to prevent scratching, and a high degree of heat-resistance so they do not melt away after frequent use.
Trivet: A trivet is a heat resistant pad that you place hot dishes on, so you will not burn your table.
U.
Unbleached Flour — An unbleached flour is one that has bleached naturally in its aging process without the addition of maturing agents. It is no different from bleached flour nutritionally, and it can be used interchangeably with its bleached counterpart in baking.
Under proofed Loaves or Rolls: These are rolls and breads that though they have been shaped, have not attained the volume or height that is desired before they are baked.
Unleavened: This term describes baked goods that do not use a leavening agent like baking soda, cream of tartar, baking powder, or yeast.
V.
Vegetable Shortening: Vegetable shortening is a soybean or cottonseed oil that has been hydrogenated in order to make it a solid. Being 100 percent fat with no additives like water,milk fat, or other solids, it is almost flavorless and good for making baked goods flaky and tender.
W.
Whip: To beat food with a whisk or mixer to incorporate air and increase volume.
Whisk: A solid rather than a wired handle will prevent food from getting stuck inside. Buy one with thin wires (not thick, heavy ones) to make sure it is well-balanced when whipping egg whites or cream.
Whisking: To beat ingredients with a fork or a whisk.
White Wheat: U.S. wheat is classified into six different classes, three of which have a bran coat that is “white” or pale to amber in its color. Such white wheats include soft white wheat, durum wheat, and hard white wheat.
Whole Grain: A whole grain food makes use of whole or ground kernels of grains like barley, corn, oat, wheat, and rye in its production.
Whole-Wheat Flour: Whole-wheat flour is made from the whole kernel of white or red wheat. Usually, whole-wheat flour is made in flour mills, but it can also be stone-ground in a mill. Another name for whole-wheat flour is graham flour.
Y.
Y-shaped vegetable peeler: This will give you a better grip than a traditional swivel model for hard-to-peel foods like mangoes and butternut squash.
Yield: is the amount of a baked good that results from the combination of a given amount of different baking ingredients.
Z.
Zest: The outer, colored peel of a citrus fruit.
