What To Buy When Stocking Your First Kitchen

So you’re moving into your first home. Congratulations! Perhaps you’ve just graduated from college, are moving out of your parents for the first time, are moving in with your significant other, or perhaps just want to upgrade your second-hand pots and pans. No matter what situation you’re in there’s one thing you’ve got in common: You’re probably wondering what the best way to stock your kitchen is. 

The good news is, you can stock a kitchen pretty thoroughly without buying too much. Egg poachers, stand mixers, fluted tart pans can all wait for the future. To begin with, you want the basics that can help you make everything from a perfectly seared steak to homemade sourdough to a skillet chocolate chip cookie. 

HERE'S THE ESSENTIAL GEAR TO STOCK YOUR FIRST KITCHEN:

Apartment bundle:

Whether you live in an apartment or a house, you will get a long way with the contents of this set, which includes our 10" Hybrid Pan + Lid, 2 Qt Hybrid Pot + Lid, 8" Damascus Steel Chef’s Knife and 3.5" Damascus Steel Paring Knife. With these, you can make everyday sautés, perfect omelets and scrambled eggs, small batch soups, and so much more. This is a great place to start for people who want high-quality kitchen gear but don’t know how often they’ll cook.

A sturdy cutting board:

A good knife is pretty useless without a surface to chop on. Opt for one of our heavy-duty wooden cutting boards. For small kitchens and small jobs, go for the medium HexClad Walnut Cutting Board, which is just 11¾-by-15¾ inches. Got a bit more room? The large HexClad Walnut Cutting Board is great for everyday slicing and measures 13-¾-by-19½ inches. Maybe you’ve lucked out with massive countertop space, in which case the Extra-Large HexClad Beechwood Cutting Board is your friend. This 18-by-24-inch cutting board is ideal for big batch meal prep or assembling a killer charcuterie board for your housewarming.

A set of mixing bowls:

Whether you’re whisking eggs, stirring together a batter, or resting a batch of homemade sourdough, you’re going to want a set of bowls. HexClad’s Stainless Mixing Bowl Set comes with vacuum seal lids, which means they can double as food storage containers, too.

A Dutch Oven:

If you’re going to invest in a single large pot, a Dutch oven is your best bet. It’s big enough to make soup, stew, and stock, turns out a roast chicken that can rival the best rotisserie, and can even bake sourdough bread. This versatile pot will tide you over until you’re ready to invest in more kitchen equipment.

A double-burner griddle:

Hear us out. While you might not think of a griddle as a beginner’s piece, its versatility will potentially win it a spot in your new home. If you love to make breakfast classics like pancakes or French toast, or want to make a smash burger and hash browns worthy of your favorite diner, this pan is the one. The double-burner griddles generous surface area makes it a great tool for big batch cooking, too. Use it to make meatballs, fried eggs for a crowd, or to cook off an entire pack of bacon at once. Yes, it’s that useful. If you’re into the griddle conceptually, but worried about stovetop space, go for a single-burner griddle like our 12-inch Hybrid Griddle Pan or 13-inch Hybrid Griddle Pan, which can do a lot of what the double-burner one can.

A serrated bread knife:

Nothing dulls a chef’s knife faster than using it to slice through bread. Avoid that by investing in a serrated knife, which can cut through crusty sourdough like butter (or, well, almost). It’s handy for slicing other things, too, like tomatoes and blocks of chocolate. Use a back-and-forth sawing motion to cut through tender pie crusts or choose your serrated knife as a carving knife in a pinch.

Though you can get by with the items listed above, there are some other kitchen tools you might want to consider adding when stocking your first kitchen:

• Hybrid Roasting Pan with Rack: A roasting pan is for so much more than Thanksgiving turkeys.
• Silicone Trivets: Protect your new furniture and countertops from hot pots and pans with our silicone trivets. They’re flexible, which means they can be used to pull things out of the oven.
• Magnetic Knife Block: Maximize countertop space with a sleek magnetic knife block.