becoming a very keen cook, need to upgrade my equipment!! Recommendations

[CayKon]

I have enjoyed cooking for a while, but recently have been cooking everything from scratch and love being in the kitchen. I have however found a lot of my equipment is not really up for the job so would like some reccomendations.

Especially for knives, saucepans, baking trays etc plus anything you cant live without

We have Prestige knives - not the best but not too expensive and take an edge well. Get a steel and learn how to use it.

Also Tefal Privilege non-stick pans - these were a present and given the choice I might have gone for hard anodised ones as everyone I know who has them loves them, but they are still good.
The most useful one to have is a deep saute pan with a lid (in fact we have two) - we also have 3 saucepans and one large and one small frying pan.

Best baking tins I've ever had are also Tefal - their Patisserie Professional range but they are a bitch to get hold of so I treasure them. Lakeland do some good baking tins too - Mermaid (I think) have a good rep on MN.

thanks i will take a look at those

go to lakeland.co.uk for lots of necessities (ie you dont really need them but so practical)

Le Creuset cookware - I have a couple of the casserole type pots and I am slightly obsessed with how good they are.

aha, Anolon pans were the ones I was thinking of LL
the Tefal baking tins/trays are v heavy (and the swiss roll one is v good for oven fish etc )

other useful thing is enamel baking trays that fit in the oven-shelf grooves - good as extra shelves, for catching cheese drips from pizza cooked on shelf above etc as well as as normal baking trays. Think ours are Prestige again.

looks like i'm going to have fun shopping

I used to have cheap rubbishy Tesco baking trays and roasting tins - have recently replaced with Lakeland own brand bakeware/roasting dishes and the difference is REMARKABLE. Really solid, great to use and don't buckle if you look at them too hard. Would really recommend.

got a rubber spatula?

They're great.

littlelapin - how do you get your cakes out of the silicon cake moulds without them sticking?

I have a gorgeous heart shaped bun type one but sponge just sticks, leaving clumps in the bottom!

Le Creuset pans & casseroles

I always wanted a Kitchen Aid Mixer too

Check out your local TKMaxx for all this stuff - I get most of my cooking equipment from there.

I HATE my silicom baking 'tins'. I didn't even by the cheap ones and they are still cr*p

Are they the ones that are wobbly to make it easier to get the cake out?

I hated mine too ... needed a tray underneath cos it wobbled too much which sort of defeated the object for me.

It got charity shopped.

oh good - I might get rid of mine too!

I'd heard fab things about them but I wonder if they are better for more 'solid' type cakes than a sponge?

this hand blender is the best thing I have ever spent money on for my kitchen. I'm about to get rid of my bigger food processor asI just don't use it now

I'm a keen (and very good!) cook and can tell you that it is not really about equipment.Having said that,good saucepans are great and the best place to buy them is.......second hand shops.
Similar quality new would cost a fortune.

thanks littlelapin - ok so I'll give them one last stay of execution and try them again tomorrow.

if they still stick then they're curtains.

1.Sabatier knives
2. Tefal non-stick pans (privilege) - got mine from makro 1/2 price, also hammonds do some decent sales on cookware. If you go on the tefal site, I seem to remember it asks you questions about your lifestyle, then tell you which pans are for you.
3. Magimix
4. Breadmaker for fun - has to be the Panasonic though. Mind you, it's more fun making from scratch without one
5. Yes, Lakeland very good, but pricey
6. Personally, thought I have Le Creuset, I don't use them as are too heavy.
7. Preserving pan for jam?? Good fun - take the kids fruit picking etc, and you can try entering local shows if you have any near you.
8. Ditto rubber spatula - wouldn't be w/o one for cakes etc - bought mine on ebay after the last one melted

There you go - and all from a cordon bleu cook...many, many moons ago

Mix 'N Scraper from the Pampered Chef - Stir, scrape and fold in smaller containers. They won't burn, melt, crack or stain. Heads are heat-safe to 343oC (650oF).
I've got one and I do everything with it. So handy!
visit www.pamperedchef.com

which are better the kitchen aid mixers or kenwood chefs?

I think people divide into 2 camps on the Kitchen Aid v Kenwood - I love my Kitchen Aid, it looks so good too but my friend swears by her Kenwood. If your head rules your heart, the Kenwood actually comes with more attachments for your money, you can put a blender/liquidiser on top. But the Kitchen Aid is sooo retro chic!

Magimix make great food processors. You can get slicing attachments for a Chef or Kitchen Aid though.