Cooking & Kitchen Equipment

Let’s face it – if you’ve spent any amount of time learning how to cook, writing about food or preparing recipes for family and friends, there was most likely a time when you wanted to try your hand at making your own pasta. Chances are, you’ve tried fresh pasta at a restaurant, wondered why it tasted so good and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Wait a second – I’m describing myself here. Well, this may have happened to you as well, but I can promise you, this is exactly what happened to me.

Years ago, Laura and I frequented an Italian restaurant that made all their own pasta. It was a treat to eat there. Not only did they make fresh pasta, but they threw handfuls of garlic cloves in almost every dish. That’s a story for another day, but for some reason or another, for me, the pasta thing stuck. I actually placed this endeavor on my culinary bucket list.

Today, I’d like to announce my new pasta machine. I purchased the “Marcato Atlas Wellness 150 Pasta Maker” a few days ago from Amazon for $69.95. I’ve had this machine sitting in my cart for over a year. It used to cost over $100, but it went on sale. Since I’m now taking the “Italian Cooking” course at America’s Test Kitchen, it was time to make the leap. I have a feeling that my life will never be the same.

Since it’s become tradition around these parts for me to take a bunch of photographs of almost every new piece of kitchen gear I buy, I held to that today. I just finished with my photo shoot and picked out nine good ones. My intent with taking these photos was to get up close. I wanted to show off the details for any of you who are interested in such a machine. After looking through the shots, please let me know if you have any questions. I’d be happy to answer any and all for you.

This is the machine looking down from above. It’s made almost totally of stainless steel and is fairly heavy. I think it also looks great.

This knob controls how thick the pasta will be. When making pasta, you start off thick and incrementally reduce the thickness as you pass the pasta through over and over again. This knob has numbers imprinted into it so you know at what thickness you were and where you currently are.

People are often interested in how the handle inserts into the machine. To allay the concern, I’ll tell you that it simply slips inside. You can remove it just as easily. The hole has teeth all around while the handle only has two.

The clamp works similarly to the handle. There is a groove at the end of the clamp so you sort of hear a click as you attach the clamp to the machine. It holds the pasta maker to the table or counter very firmly.

This is the machine maker logo, which I think looks really cool. I had to take a photo of it.

Same thing here. Way too shiny and pretty not to photograph.

The handle for this machine is plastic. It’s not any plastic though – it’s pretty tough stuff. I don’t think I’ll ever have an issue with it.

This is a photo of the bottom of the clamp as it’s attached to the butcher’s block. If I had to guess, I’d say it could handle a thickness of about two inches. Maybe a little more. If you are interested, please let me know and I’ll grab the tape measure for exact numbers.

These are the cutting blades. They’re made from anodized aluminum and appear to be precision instruments.

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Recently, I purchased a Bellemain colander along with some Bellemain strainers. I’ve been needing these pieces of kitchen equipment, well, forever. I believe the last time I used a proper colander was when I was living with my parents. That was 20 years ago. While I can’t be certain of the exact time frame, I do know that I’ve been using our steamer to strain the liquid from any and everything we make that requires straining. The problem is, now that I’m cooking more than I ever have, the steamer is turning out to be too small.

Another issue I’ve been running into has to do with rinsing various ingredients. I prepared two recipes in the past week that required some sort of rinsing. The first one said that I needed to wash all the starch off of a few cups of rice and the next said that I needed to rinse some capers. Well, let me tell you that putting the rice in a bowl and holding a splatter screen over it while filling, dumping, re-filling and dumping again is no fun. And losing capers down the sink drain because they slipped through my fingers isn’t fun either. I’m pretty sure I don’t need to justify the expense of this gear I purchased any further. You get the gist.

Today, I was prepared to take a few photos of the colander and one of the strainers for a post on this site. The strainers came as a pack of three. Well, what began as a few regular old photos quickly turned into a photo shoot. The sun was shining and I had some spectacular light streaming through the kitchen window. A few hours later, after some editing in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop, I’m happy to show off my photos below. Who knew taking pictures of kitchen equipment could be so fun?

Before I show you the photos, I’d like to talk a bit about the gear. First up is the colander.

The primary reason I purchased this particular colander is the construction. It’s made of stainless steel. Since I began cooking, I’ve fallen in love with this material. It’s strong, doesn’t rust and it looks really good. With much of the focus of this blog falling on photography, the last fact doesn’t hurt.

I picked the colander up for $16.95 on Amazon, which was about half the price of the others I was considering. After looking through the specs of a pretty good number of colanders, I couldn’t find a reason to not go with the less expensive one. And any fears were allayed the moment I opened the package when it arrived. I picked the colander up and felt it. It’s light, but very strong. I tried to push the sides in to see if they were flexible and they weren’t. It doesn’t appear that this colander will lose its shape over time. The holes are fairly small and very close together, which is good because smaller pieces of food won’t find their way through and there will be minimal back splash when dumping large quantities of liquid into it.

The base of the colander looks to be made of stainless as well. It sits very sturdily on the counter top and is very attractive. As attractive as colander bases can be.

Lastly, I appreciate the fact that the handles are strong, yet thin. I recently installed some hooks in one of the beams that runs across our kitchen ceiling to hang pots from and the handles of this piece fit perfectly. Any larger and I think I may have had some issues.

Now, I want you to know that much of what I did below, regarding the photography, was to practice my method. I’m fairly new to this up-close and personal style and since posts on kitchen gear can get a bit tedious, I decided to spice things up a bit. I used Camera Raw to its fullest. Enjoy the first group of photos. The best looking colander I ever saw.

I have to say, we had a lot of fun taking these pics. I decided to use RAW format on my camera because of the flexibility when it comes to editing. There’s a much larger color space in this mode, which really paid off.

Next, I’d like to talk about the Bellemain strainers. These are made of stainless steel as well and look to be of high quality. The set comes in three sizes – 3-1/8″, 5-1/2″ and 7-7/8″ and cost me $9.95. Again, more than half the price of comparable products. Actually, I saw single pieces for double the price of these three. I had to take a chance and purchase these. Even if they turned out not be be to my liking, I wouldn’t lose out that much.

The strainers look good. I haven’t tried them yet, but the handles feel comfortable in my hand and the mesh is tightly woven as to not let larger pieces of ingredients through. Also, the screening feels as though it’ll hold it’s shape through some abuse, but I’ll have to let you know more about that after I used them for a while. I’m not one to give reviews on product attributes I haven’t experienced.

Again, I took a few photos of one of the strainers. The first two photos were taken using nothing but the morning sun and the last one was direct sunlight on the kitchen table. We didn’t use any artificial light. All we used for some of the brighter photos was a reflector board that I made out of cardboard and aluminum foil last week. That’s been working wonders for us.

Please let me know what you think of these photos. Food photography isn’t the easiest thing in the world to get right, but every bit of practice helps.

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I recently began the “Stewing & Braising” section of my online cooking classes over at “America’s Test Kitchen.” Before I began, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this style of food preparation, but the more I learned, the more I realized that it’s actually a very economical and fun way to put food on the table. And even better than that, it appears that Laura and I live in the middle of what can be described at stewing and braising country. Here in Maine, long cold winters are very conducive to a nice, hot bowl of something delicious.

One of the pieces of equipment that’s called for when performing this type of cooking is a Dutch oven, which is basically another name for a really heavy pot. Back in the day, these were used all over the place to feed large families, but are still quite popular in many kitchens. They are versatile and can work wonders for those long, drawn out meal creations.

I never intended to purchase one of these things. I already have quite a few large pots that I thought I could get away with using. The thing is, the further my instructor traveled down the stewing and braising road, the faster I realized that I wasn’t going to enjoy the full benefit of a slow cooked meal if I didn’t follow her instructions. And the more I explored online, the more I learned of all the recipes I could prepare with such a tool. For instance, did you know that you could cook a loaf of bread in a Dutch oven? No? Well, neither did I. When I discovered this little tidbit of information, I had no choice but to delve into the depths of the internet to find my new piece of kitchen equipment.

It really was a toss-up between the Lodge “Enameled” Cast Iron Dutch Oven and the regular Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven. The enameled versions cost twice as much, but really look spectacular. It wasn’t until I remembered that I have yet to bring any of my pots to a fashion show that I settled on the regular cast iron.

There’s a small minority of folks out there who like to talk about how cast iron kitchen equipment may have the propensity to rust. I’ve even seen photographs that tell the same story. I’ve got my own story, though, which helped me decide real, raw cast iron was the way to go.

Here’s my story – About a year ago, I burned my last fried egg in a stainless steel skillet. I had been using stainless steel to prepare these types of eggs for years with varying luck. For some odd reason, one day my eggs wouldn’t stick a bit and another day, I found myself scraping their remnants off with a grinder out in the garage. To this day, I have no idea what I was doing wrong – or right. It can’t be simple pan temperature because I’ve focused on that element more times that I care to remember.

Anyway, the moment my face turned red for the last time, I hopped on the internet to search for the right skillet for the job. More often than not, I was led toward cast iron, which was strange because I had always heard that those non-stick pans work best to fry up eggs. Since I had endeavored through my share of non-stick pans as well, I decided to give the cast iron a shot. I haven’t look back since.

Since I received my 12″ cast iron skillet, I haven’t burned one single egg. I also haven’t had any stick to the pan. It’s like it’s magic. After a few breakfasts, I realized that I’m not as horrible of a cook as I thought I was – I was simply using the wrong equipment. Eggs aren’t meant to cook in stainless steel and those non-stick skillets wear out way too fast. Cast iron has been used for a very long time and there’s a reason it’s still around. It just works.

Regarding the rust – I have encountered it once in my pan. I accidentally left it sitting in the sink overnight with a bit of water puddled up inside. When I woke up, I realized what I had done and I quickly scrubbed the rust out with a sponge and everything went back to normal. Just to be sure, I rubbed some olive oil on the spot and honestly, I forgot all about it. As long as pots and pans made of this type of material are properly cared for, everything should be okay.

Let’s get down to business. The Dutch oven I received today is, again, manufactured by Lodge. Since I already have experience with this company and I’ve been happy, I thought I shouldn’t rock the boat. They’re also very fairly priced.

I purchased the 7 quart Dutch oven from Amazon for around $55. It weighs about 10 pounds (the web page says 17 pounds – could it really weigh that much?), but once you get used to lugging it around, it’s not that bad. I just finished up a photo shoot and I still have energy to spare. Speaking of photo shoots, please allow me to show off a bit below. I’ll offer some commentary below each photo.

The dimensions of the Dutch oven are 12 inches across and 4-3/4 inch deep, which is perfect, because the lid of this pot fits perfectly on my skillet. More on that below.

I took this photo because I wanted you to see how thick the walls are. Imagine the heat consistency of this thing. No more ups and down with temperature.

It was fun to watch folks try to figure out what these little bumps are on the underside of the lid. These are for “self-basting,” which means that as moisture evaporates and condenses on the inside of the lid, the droplets will find a bump and fall from that, back onto the food, instead of running down the inside of the walls. This is handy and helps keep food from drying out.

As I mentioned above, the lid that came with the Dutch oven also fits on my cast iron skillet. I can’t tell you how much I like this fact.

Believe it or not, as I was looking at this brand of Dutch oven, I wasn’t able to find one picture of the bottom of it. It was important for me to see it because I wanted to know if it was flat, as opposed to inset like so many others, because of our glass top stove. If the bottom was inset, we wouldn’t be able to use the pot. Since it’s flat, we can use it both to brown food on the stove top as well as to simmer on the wood stove.

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I suppose you can look at this either of two ways – you can view spending money on kitchen tools and equipment as fun or you can dread the idea. I think I’m somewhere in the middle. For me, the tools that are used in the kitchen represent something that I “use,” therefore they have to be of good quality. And as long and I’m purchasing something of quality, I don’t mind it all that much. It’s the disposable and consumable items I don’t like paying for, such as soda, fuel and chlorine for the pool. I know those were completely random products, but the point is that as long as I’m able to hold something in my hand and keep it forever, I’m okay with it. I’m not happy when things simply evaporate before my eyes.

This introduction brings me to today’s post on a few tools I picked up last week. Yes, I had to shell out some cash for them, but what I’m beginning to learn is that if one buys the proper equipment right off the bat, they may never pay for that same equipment again. I’ve failed in this respect. I’ve been through this two or three times already. I blame my effort of saving money on this failure. I’m cheap. Unfortunately, the first rule of cooking is to not be cheap.

I’m going to show you which items I purchased below. Along with each one, I’ll give some short commentary on why I purchased it and why I think it’s so important for every aspiring home cook or chef own what it is I’m displaying.

Condiment Bottles

Without knowing it, I’ve needed these bottles very badly since I was around 20 years old. For years and years, I’ve been struggling with overusing oils and condiments to quite an excessive degree. If you’re familiar with the “gulp, gulp” sound of pouring olive oil out of those huge bottles it comes in, you know what I’m referring to. As a society, I think we’re consuming way too much of the stuff.

To be clear, my priority is to save oil, not to skimp on flavor. The thing is, since about a year ago, I’ve exclusively used extra virgin olive oil on my nightly salad as a dressing – and virtually every time I get to the bottom of my salad, I find a puddle of oil. It’s not huge, but I’d rather add only the amount I need to flavor what I’m eating. I don’t like to waste and I don’t like to end up attempting to soak up the excess oil with something else.

Gordon Ramsay turned me onto these bottles. As I was watching him go over his crispy salmon recipe, I heard him mention that practically every restaurant in the country now uses them. I saw how he took advantage of their efficiency to drizzle olive oil in his pan to cook a few things and I also saw how he used them to store a vinaigrette dressing. He had such an easy time. I knew I had to have them.

If you take a look at the picture above, you can see how small the hole is in the cap of the bottle. It’s this small hole that prevents “over oiling” things, such as hot pans and food. And now that I’ve used these bottles a few times, I can smell a sweet, sweet future in the kitchen. If you don’t already have these, I suggest you get them. They cost around $11 on Amazon for a pack of six.

Basting Brushes

Let’s be honest here. How many times have you needed a basting brush and haven’t had one available? How many times have you been tempted to buy a paint brush to use as a basting brush? Finally, how many times have you found a bristle from one of your 30 year old brushes in your food? I know. I’ve been down this road as well. The funny thing is, being a guy, I know all too well about the paint brush idea. Stop laughing.

I finally bit the bullet and bought some basting brushes. From what I’ve gathered, the new “hip” thing to do is to get some silicone ones. They’re all the rage these days. What I’m particularly excited about is that if I find a bristle in my food, it’ll be big and orange and I’ll most likely see it before I ingest it.

Since I began learning how to cook a few months ago, I’ve been seeing pictures of the silicone versions of the brushes on all sorts of culinary websites and blogs. So when it came time to take out my wallet, I decided to join the crowd. I purchased the Mahal brand. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to use them yet, but I can see Laura circling them like a shark. Any time now, any time. How much is a set of two? Around $7. Not bad for something that will hopefully last a long, long time.

Measuring Spoons

I think there’s a real problem out there when it comes to measuring spoons. One of the problems is that many of these types of tools some in plastic. I don’t like the idea of that. The way the spoons are stored in a good majority of kitchens is to have them thrown in a kitchen drawer. When mixed among other utensils and junk, they can break. That’s not fun. The other problem is, if they’re metal, they’re thin metal. Thin metal bends and twists and gets all cruddy over time. Cooking is no fun when the tools you use don’t please you anymore.

Enter the heavyweight, stainless steel Cuisipro measuring spoon set. You’ve got to feel these things – they’re heavy. Just the way I like them.

Besides being constructed of thick stainless steel, each spoon is marked with, not only the regular capacity, such as a teaspoon or tablespoon, but with its metric conversion as well. For a teaspoon, that would be 5mls and for a tablespoon, it would be 15 mls. Remember, three teaspoons in a tablespoon.

If you’re going to pick up some measuring spoons, I suggest you get some good ones. Do it once and they’ll last forever. I got my set for $10, so I wouldn’t say it’s a big investment. Oh yeah, if you’ll notice in my photos, the spoons I bought are elongated. That’s helpful for scooping out of spice and herb jars.

Measuring Cups

If you want to know the problems of the good ol’ measuring cup, all you need to do is re-read the section I just wrote on measuring spoons. They’re virtually the same thing. If I really wanted to, I could head into the kitchen right now and take a few photos to show you how half of our current measuring cups have no handles. Ask me how those handles fell off and I’ll answer that I have absolutely no idea. What I do know is that they were only tack welded on as opposed to being constructed of all one piece. Here, take a look at this picture below.

If you’ll notice above, each cup handle is bent right out of the cup itself. There’s no gap. It’s continuous. That, coupled with the fact that these Bellemain measuring cups are constructed with thick stainless steel (it says 18/8 SS on the back), is comforting. I probably couldn’t bend these cups if I tried. I just tried. I couldn’t.

This item was the most expensive of the bunch. At $19, I’d still say they were worth it. I’m willing to bet, if I don’t lose them, they’ll last for the duration.

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I thought we better get some photos of our new All-Clad skillet while we had the chance – meaning – before we begin using it. Right now, it’s perfectly spotless. In about twenty four hours, that will change. Laura and I used a bit of yesterday and this morning to capture the essence of this pan’s magnificence. I’m pretty thrilled at how good looking this skillet really is. Just wait until you see our photos towards the bottom of this post. I’d say we got what we were looking for.

Say Hello To Sautéing

The courses in my online cooking school have taken a turn away from cooking basics and knife skills and towards sautéing, which is sort of a pain in the neck because now, when I write posts on the topic, I’ve got to copy and paste the word “Sauté,” just to get that little mark over the “e.” Trust me, I’d rather type a regular “e,” but I’ll get through. Actually, I think that from this point on, the regular “e” it is. I just took a look around the internet and I believe the large majority of folks are fine with either spelling.

This is an exciting time in my culinary journey because I’ve been looking forward to learning how to saute for a very long time. My track record isn’t strong in this area and I’m eager to begin absorbing information and practicing in earnest. I’ve actually already dabbled online for a few minutes, checking out the lessons and videos and have picked up a few good nuggets of genius. If you’re curious as to what I’ll be learning, I’ll give you a short list here:

1. We’re going to learn what exactly sauteing is and what happens to the food you cook while using this method.

2. We’ll discuss how important sauteing is when it comes to preparing some common recipes that are used every day.

3. We’ll learn how to go about sauteing properly while using the most appropriate techniques.

4. We’re going to focus on which ingredients are used and are most popular with sauteing. We’ll also go over which equipment has the highest success rate for offering the best dishes.

5. We’ll practice sauteing. In my case, it’s going to be on fish and vegetables.

6. Finally, I’m going to cook a dish that uses sauteing as the method of preparation.

Purchasing a Skillet

There is one item I had to take care of before I dove into this area of cooking. That was to purchase a 12″ skillet to saute with. The only skillets I had were too small and while I’m certain they are of very good quality, I wanted to stay ahead of the ball when it comes to equipment. It was time to get a larger skillet anyway. I’m always looking for one.

The skillet I decided upon has been highly recommended in many culinary circles. It’s the “All-Clad Stainless Steel Fry Pan with Lid.” I purchased it from Amazon for $119. As I just mentioned, it came with the lid, which was nice. The same exact pan was sold without the lid for $20 more, which is odd. From what I read, the pan and lid combination was a special sale. I must confess, I thought the price was still a bit high at $119, but who am I to price these sorts of things?

Anyway, as you may have already guessed, I’ll be writing a lot about sauteing in the next few posts and hopefully thereafter. There is so much that can be done with this method of cooking that I think it’ll fit well with how I like to currently spend my time in the kitchen.

Introducing Our New All-Clad Skillet

As promised, I’ve got some photos to show off this piece of wonder. Please let me know what you think of it in the comments below and also be sure to tell me about your own experiences with cookware in general. Thanks!

NOTE: If you’d like a larger view of any example image in this post, simply right click on it and choose “Open Image In New Tab.”

Additional Resources

Staying with tradition, I’m adding some additional resources below. They’ve got some great information about purchasing a new skillet, a few cookware reviews as well as some discussion about various types of cookware in general. Enjoy!

The Best Skillet | The Sweethome

Stovetop Pots, Pans and Cookware – What Should I Buy?

Good Question: Why Are All-Clad Pots and Pans So Expensive?

A Buyers Guide to Stainless Steel Cookware | Rebecca Wood

Buying And Cooking Tips For Stainless Steel Pans

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If you’ve enjoyed today’s post and found it helpful, please share it with a friend. Also, if you’d like to continue reading and would like our posts sent directly to your email inbox, simply sign up for our newsletter. We’ll send each and every post directly to you. Thanks!

As I mentioned in my previous post, a gentleman, who lives up the road from Laura and me, graciously gave us a rather large cutting board.

Now, I’m going to try to avoid the fray when it comes to defining a cutting board. As you may be aware, there is a bit of a discrepancy when it comes to the whole “Cutting Board vs. Butcher’s Block” debate. Some say everything is a cutting board, while others claim anything can be used as a butcher’s block. I did find a good site that explained the three rules to identifying a butcher’s block. They are:

1. The board is constructed using only end grain.
2. The board is constructed to a thickness of at least 1.5 inches.
3. The board consists of enough surface area to adequately handle any meat you may wish to butcher (we say a minimum 12″ x 12″ surface).

Since our new cutting board wasn’t created using end grain, it only meets two of the three requirements to be considered a butcher’s block. It is one and a half inches thick though and has a surface area of 25 inches by 48 inches, so I’m willing to wager it’s original intended use was to butcher. Either that, or it was to be (or actually was) used as a counter top. I think I’d like to simply call it our giant cutting board. It’s great for prepping vegetables in the kitchen as well as using as a background for our culinary related photo shoots.

Our cutting board was stored in a woodworking shop for…I’m not sure how long. Most likely years and years. When we took possession of it about a week ago, it was in great shape, except for a few finger prints. I’d also say time has taken its toll on it, as the surface looked a bit dull. I’d love to show you some photos of the surface before I sanded it, but all I’m able to offer is some photos of the edges. I haven’t touched those yet.

Before Sanding & Finishing

Now that I think about it, I’m going to pretend that I haven’t sanded the surface yet. Since I only did a quick once-over with some 100 grit sandpaper, it’s almost like nothing has been done. I did manage to remove most blemishes from the surface though, so I am a bit of a fibber when I make this claim.

I just took a few shots of the edges and some of the surface of the board. These should give you an idea of what we’re working with.

NOTE: If you’d like a larger view of any example image in this post, simply right click on it and choose “Open Image In New Tab.”

Refinishing one of these boards really isn’t all too difficult. All that needs to be done is some sanding, followed by a coat or two of some food grade mineral oil. Initially, my idea was to limit the sanding to just the surface. The surface is all we need. But, after some consideration and after realizing I’m only going to get one shot at this, I decided that the surface as well as the edges need sanding. I’m not going near the bottom because no amount of sanding is going to help that side. And even with that said, I’m not going to go nuts with the edge sanding. I simply want to clean the board up a bit so it’s presentable.

Sanding the Board

I just went outside in my makeshift wood shop and did a bit of work. While I did smooth over the cutting surface once or twice, I primarily focused on the edges. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with the edges – it’s just that they were dirty and old looking. As long as I’m busy sprucing up the rest of the board, I found time to clean them up as well.

In this photo, you can see the board resting with a hand sander on top, just waiting to be groomed.

As you can see from this next photo, just a bit of sanding can really make a difference in cleaning up a dirty edge.

This is my attempt at being artistic. I saw some nice lighting and some saw dust, so I had at it. Those elements, along with some very narrow photographic depth of field, made for an elegant photograph.

Uh oh. We’ve got problems. I actually noticed the ends of our board splitting during the earlier photo shoot. Looks like this post is going to be a bit longer, with a section dedicated specifically to repairing splits (or cracks) in a cutting board. These are most likely caused by age, lack of care and a sharp change in humidity. I brought the board inside a warm house from an unheated workshop.

Repairing the Split Ends

I took a closer look at the board and noticed quite a few seams that are apparently coming undone. I’m not sure why this is, but I’ve devised a plan to repair the splits. First, let’s see what I’m up against.

As you can see, things are getting a bit loose.

This morning, I took a trip over to the hardware store in town and picked up some “Titebond 3” wood glue. According to the woodworking world, this is the glue to use to construct or repair a wooden cutting board. There are a few reasons for this. First, it’s water proof. Second, it’s as strong as all get out. Third, it’s non-toxic and safe for indirect food contact and fourth, it’s fairly thin, meaning, it’ll settle into cracks nicely. As a matter of fact, as I write this post, I’m checking on the backside of the board and continuously filling any splits that I see the glue has seeped into. I’d like it to get in as deeply as possible and for each split to hold as much material as possible.

The glue cost $9.99 for a 16 fluid ounce bottle.

Since I wasn’t sure of the best way to go about getting as much glue as I could into all the tiny crevices, I thought a nice, liberal application was in order.

I did have an idea though. I thought that by using a drywall spackle, I’d be able to really press the glue into the cracks. I tried it and it worked. I got as much glue in there as I could.

I debated with myself over whether or not I wanted to clamp the board in an effort to press each strip of wood back together again. I decided against it because, in the past, I’ve attempted stunts like this and only ended up with more damage than I began with. I simply wiped off the excess glue with a wet towel instead.

In the photo above, you can see that the glue hasn’t dried yet, but I think it looks pretty good. My only alternative was to pull the entire board apart, re-plane each piece and glue it all back together again, as if I was initially constructing it. In the future, I may do that, but for now, it’s fine.

Oiling the Board

After letting the glue in the cutting board dry overnight, it was ripe to be oiled. In case you aren’t aware, massaging oil into the wood is the final step in my repairing and refinishing of this work of wonder. Good thing too, because this little project has turned into a three day ordeal. I just hope everything stays together for years to come. I’ve gotten somewhat attached.

Anyway, a few days ago, I picked up a bottle of “Howard Cutting Board Oil.” It consists of food grade mineral oil. I did some research on what types of oils are recommended for reconditioning wood like this and food grade mineral oil is pretty much the only way to go. Olive oil and other vegetable oils are out because they become rancid. Other types of oils are also out because they’re toxic. Even less refined mineral oils can’t be used because they aren’t processed to the point of being safe around food.

I think I paid around $8.99 for 12 fluid ounces of this oil.

And as you can see from the photo above, I’m using an old cotton polishing rag to apply it.

Basically, I just drizzled the oil onto the board and rubbed it in. If some spots needed more, I applied more. It didn’t take much at all to complete everything. Once the rag gets enough oil in it, I didn’t need to drizzle any more onto the board.

Once that was finished, I had my final product. Wood looks so much better after the finish is applied. Now, I can begin practicing my knife skills on it and Laura can begin using it as a set for some food photography.

This is an interesting topic, so I know you’re going to be interested in browsing some other sites that discuss cutting boards and conditioning wooden kitchen tools in general. Since that’s the case, take a look at these blogs below.

Wooden Things | Susan Branch Blog

Cutting Board Cleaning Tips | Blain’s Farm & Fleet Blog

5 Easy Steps to Disinfect a Cutting Board – Improvements Blog

Wood Vs. Plastic Cutting Boards: The Great Culinary Debate

How to Restore an Old Cutting Board | HGTV Design Blog

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The first step any aspiring chef, or talented home cook, takes is to purchase a quality culinary knife set. I’d say the knife set, along with a good cutting board or butchers block, tops the list of items to acquire. Even if a skillet is out of reach for the time being, we can, at the very least, practice our knife skills.

I had almost nothing. The knife set I’ve been working with for the past ten years is stainless and serrated, meaning, I have no idea how to sharpen any of the pieces. And trust me when I say this – the knives cut like I’ve been out in the back yard sawing down a tree. Needless to say, they aren’t “professional” in any sense of the word.

The thing is, I’m just beginning this journey of learning how to cook. I’m not even sure I like it yet. What if I were to head out and pick up one of those really expensive knife sets and, in a few weeks, discover I’ve moved away from the whole idea? I suppose it wouldn’t be the first time a few hundred dollars worth of metal were to sit on someone’s countertop for eternity.

My cutting board is another story. I do have a white plastic board that Laura and I picked up some time along the way. It’s not photo-worthy or anything, but it works well for day to day use. Luckily, a gentleman who lives right up the road from us handed me a full size butcher block just a few days ago. I’m in the midst of sanding and oiling it, so that should be ready to go in no time at all. In fact, the photos that were taken for this very post were taken using the butcher block I’m referring to. I’m excited to have found something like this and the timing couldn’t have been better.

Since I knew I needed a chef’s knife to get this ball rolling, I began poking around on Amazon. I was initially attracted to the Victorinox brand because of its very reasonable pricing and great recommendations, but eventually gravitated toward J.A. Henckels for similar reasons. I knew this would happen – that I’d quickly get sucked into the world of “cooking equipment.” You know, when you walk in wanting to purchase a toothpick and walk out with a wheelbarrow full of stuff you never knew you needed.

I’m not sure when it happened – possibly after I began adding up the prices for a chef’s knife, a paring knife, a sharpener (honer) and a holder. It sort of got out of control. Good thing a light bulb went off in my head and I asked myself why I wasn’t looking into sets as opposed to individual pieces. After I recognized my mistake, I quickly found a knife set that made perfect sense. And it’s put out by Amazon.

It’s a gamble when we purchase something that’s the equivalent to a no-name brand. Not that Amazon puts out sub-par equipment or anything, but I suppose we’re somewhat addicted to marketing. As consumers, we prefer to have heard of something before we purchase it. And we don’t often hear of “AmazonBasics.” Let me tell you though, I’ve bought AmazonBasics products in the past and have never had issue with any of them. All that’s missing is the label.

After browsing around for a while, I decided to purchase the “AmazonBasics Premium 18-Piece Knife Block Set.” I received it yesterday and after I opened it, my jaw almost hit the floor. Now, I’m no expert or anything like that, but I’m telling you, I have no idea what more I need. The set has all the pieces I was looking for and each of the knives is extremely sharp. I already did the “paper” test, where I held up a piece of copy paper and slid the knife down it until it was sliced in half. They’re sharp. And after a few swipes down the honer, they get even sharper.

NOTE: If you’d like a larger view of any example image in this post, simply right click on it and choose “Open Image In New Tab.”

I tested out the chef’s knife last night when I chopped up some cabbage. It works well and after ten seconds of use, I noticed that my knuckles were no longer hitting the cutting board as I chopped. My previous chef’s knife – the one I mentioned above – has a handle that’s far too close to the blade, meaning that any time I attempted to slice or dice in the past, my fingers would knock the plate, countertop or board – whatever I was working on. I may have gotten used to it through the years, but after last night’s spoiling, I don’t think I’ll be going back to it.

The set only cost a few cents over $64. Not bad, considering the individual chef’s knives I was considering were in the range between $36 and $150. And since everything is now made in China (even some of the better brands), it didn’t make and sense to look much further.

It includes the following knives:

8-inch Chef’s
7-inch Santoku
8-inch Slicing (which is a bit unnerving when you look at it)
8-inch Bread
5.5-inch Utility
6-inch Boning
3.5-inch Paring
(8) 4.5-inch Steak Knives

and:

8-inch Kitchen Shears

and an:

8-inch Sharpener

and finally a:

Wood Block.

You simply can’t beat all this for $64, especially when any professional chef would agree it’s a good value for a beginner. I’m certain they would agree.

One of the goals of this post is to give you an up-close look at a few parts of these knives. Laura and I took some photos and after going through them, I feel like the follow give a decent representation of what you can expect if you were to purchase something like this. I’m attempting to show off the blade edge, the bolster and the handle.

This is a photo of one of the steak knife’s bolsters. “Bolster” is a word I recently learned and is defined as “…the thick junction between the handle and the knife blade which provides a smooth transition from the blade to the handle.”

This is the serrated edge of one of the steak knives. If you look closely, you’ll find that it’s not perfect. There are a few imperfections along the blade, but I’m not sure I’d concern myself with any of them.

Since the handle of any knife is one of the more intimate parts, I thought it would be a good idea to get a nice, close-up shot of one of them. As you can see, the construction is tight and it looks “weighty.” It’s also nice that these are “full tang” knives, meaning, the metal of the blade extends all the way through the handle.

This is the bolster of the chef’s knife. I think the goal here was to capture the “stainless steel” branding.

And finally, since the bread knife has somewhat of a unique blade, I thought I’d show that to you as well. Don’t let the fact that it’s serrated give you the impression that it’s not as sharp as the other straight edges.

I think that’s it. If you have any questions about these knives, please feel free to ask in the comment section below. I know that some folks are concerned with weight and other factors, so if you’re curious, I’m sure I can find a small scale somewhere.

Are you interested in learning more about kitchen knives? I think I’ve got some good resources for you below. Enjoy!

Best Chef Knife — Don’t Overrate the Factory Edge

How to Pick Out a Chef’s Knife That’s Right For You

Check Out Our New Collection of Japanese Knives

Best Chef Kitchen Knives

Making The Cut: Your Guide To Essential Kitchen Knives

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If you’ve enjoyed today’s post and found it helpful, please share it with a friend. Also, if you’d like to continue reading and would like our posts sent directly to your email inbox, simply sign up for our newsletter. We’ll send each and every post directly to you. Thanks!