KITCHEN ESSENTIALS
Looking to buy what you see in our videos? Here is a list of all the equipment we use in our kitchen and our reasons why we recommend it. We will continue to add to this list as we release new stories and episodes.
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APPLIANCES
Mixer & Accessories
We got our Kitchen-Aid mixer as a wedding gift in 2005. It's an extremely reliable piece of equipment and once you have one, you'll never want to live without one.
Make sure you buy an extra mixing bowl and scraper attachment - very handy. And if you want to make pasta, buy the pasta attachment - cheaper than buying a separate pasta machine and motor.
Food Processor, Blender & Ice Cream Maker
Here are the latest food processor, blender, and ice cream maker appliances I recommend. They unfortunately do not make the same ones I have anymore, but I love these brands so you really cannot go wrong. These are the latest versions that I hand-picked out for you.
POTS & PANS
We've had our Circulon pots and pans since we got married in 2005. They are great sturdy pots. I prefer the pots with the bar handle because they are attached to the pot and lid in two places. I have had other pots in the past that had round knobs for handles and they always seem to spin off. We highly recommend these.
The dutch oven is essential for braising, casseroles, and can even can be used to bake bread. The large stock pot is great for pasta. Mine has a straining lid on it, but honestly I never use it.
HAND TOOLS & MISCELLANEOUS
Here you will find a collection of hand tools that we have purchased over the years. All of these tools have been used repeatedly in our kitchen, are proven quality materials, and are highly recommended. Some of the tools we use aren't available anymore, so we chose appropriate replacements for you based upon our brand preferences.
A note on knives - we got the knives shown here as a wedding gift and they are amazing. Never need sharpening, economical, and have lasted 15 years. I highly recommend these.
A note on a thermometer - a digital instant-read thermometer is a must in every kitchen. You should always cook to temperature instead of timing how long you should cook things. This will insure that your food is cooked perfectly every time and avoid having to cut into your food to check it, which not only destroys the presentation, but allows all of those juices to run out of whatever you are cooking and can dry out your food.
Our current list of recommendations includes: knives, pasta cutters, dough cutters, mixing bowls, glass bowls, spice holders, strainers, baking racks, a zester micro-blade, skimmer spoons, a pepper mill, digital instant-read thermometer, and kids tools.
You'll find miscellaneous items like the Wild Diet book, which I highly recommend if you want to eat healthy. It will change your life.
Lastly, you are probably wondering why I have a pet food container on this page. Honestly, we use this for storing homemade ice cream. It's the perfect size and really is no different than the other OXO airtight containers (and cheaper).
STUDIO EQUIPMENT
Interested in the equipment we use to film our episodes? Well, here it is. The only thing not listed here is our iPhone which we use for recording, and our iMac which we use iMovie to edit our videos. We film in our very own home kitchen.
The lights we keep fully assembled and store them in our spare bedroom. The camera apparatus (consisting of the mic arm, tripod mount with remote, and swivel mount) we attached to a bar stool so we can easily move it around the kitchen while filming. We had to build a custom brace to attach the swing arm to the top of the bar stool.
The kids stand on foot stools so they can see what they are doing. I would recommend these for kids cooking - it helps them see over the counter.
The lightning splitter lets me keep the phone plugged in along with the wireless mic at the same time.
We mirror our screen into our TV in our living room using our Amazon Fire box to line up our shots, which is visible from our kitchen.