I mentioned earlier that I only had a small kitchen area to work in. I had about 9 feet by 4 feet at a rough guess. That might sound a bit small but with careful planning it worked fine. No long walks to and from the fridge for a cold beer or a glass of wine. A must while I'm cooking. Gin and tonic or a Pimms does just as well. I'll tell you how I make them later.
You just have to be tidy and put things away as you use finish with them. Shelving can be a blessing. No cupboard doors to bang your head on.
To be honest I didn't just use a Wok, but the Wok was my major piece of equipment.
As I've already said, get the biggest best non-stick Wok you can get. They're great for making big pots of soup. You can't beat home made soup. Cheaper and healthier than the commercial variety. Recipes later.
A Slow cooker, again the biggest and best you can get. You can cook more than just stews in a slow cooker. Steamed fish to lemon curd. Take care of it the lids are easy to break. I must have had mine at least 15 Years.
You don't need some great big oven taking up lots of space and making the kitchen unbearably hot. This goes for a normal kitchen too. Who really needs all that wasted energy that goes with a big cooker.
A small grill oven preferably with a rotisserie that can roast (broil for our USA cousins) most things. Spit roast a chicken or small leg of lamb or large lamb shank. They're not so good at roast beef. The spit through the middle cooks the inside too much and they don't really get hot enough to cook the outside too well. You can cook roast beef fine with the Wok and slow cooker. Even just the Wok. Potatoes and other root vegtables roast fine in a good small oven. Just pre-boil them in the micro-wave first. Again get the best oven you can find. When I first got one it was some cheapo version. That was soon ditched so I went out and found the best available.
A Microwave is a big must. A great time saver. Great for boiling stuff you'd usually cook on a hob. Saves all that steam and humidity in the kitchen area. Boil rice, potatoes and vegetables. Milk for coffee and drinking chocolate. Baked beans for breakfast, defrosting frozen stuff.
A TIP FOR YOUR MICRO WAVE.
Your Micro-Wave will have a rotating plate, usually made of glass. You will have to take this out (yes you will) now and again to clean it. I keep a big micro-wave safe (not everything is**) plate in the oven. This helps keep the rotating plate clean and protects it when you put stuff in. It's easier to take out to wash as well.
** Micro-wave safe? Not everything is! Especially some plastic products. I had a hard plastic plate in the micro-wave, probably cooking rice or potatoes, and I nearly set fire to the plate. This was through heat generated from the boiling dish. So beware!!
Yes you have to have a freezer. My freezer was in the sitting room, with my drinks (booze) fridge.
A TIP FOR YOUR MICRO WAVE.
Your Micro-Wave will have a rotating plate, usually made of glass. You will have to take this out (yes you will) now and again to clean it. I keep a big micro-wave safe (not everything is**) plate in the oven. This helps keep the rotating plate clean and protects it when you put stuff in. It's easier to take out to wash as well.
** Micro-wave safe? Not everything is! Especially some plastic products. I had a hard plastic plate in the micro-wave, probably cooking rice or potatoes, and I nearly set fire to the plate. This was through heat generated from the boiling dish. So beware!!
Yes you have to have a freezer. My freezer was in the sitting room, with my drinks (booze) fridge.
A blender comes in handy for all sorts of jobs, not just for smoothies. Blending your soups!
Utensils. Knives. Again the best you can get. If you don't have much space, get knives that can do more than one job.
Spatulas and egg slices, spoons for stirring and turning over. Plastic or wooden are a must. I prefer wooden they don't melt when you forget them left in a hot pan.
I could serve up presentable dinner parties for up to eight people using just this equipment.
SETTING UP A KITCHEN FROM SCRATCH
If you have to start your kitchen from scratch, buying a normal cooker will set back somewhere between $700 and a $1000. To us Brits, that’s somewhere between 500 and 800 GB pounds. Never mind the cost of saucepans and frying pans.
A Wok and the other items I use will cost you nothing like that. A good micro wave $150 (100 pounds), a grill rotisserie oven $80 (50 pounds), top of the range a Waring $350 to $400, slow cooker $50. The major item, the Wok, $100 to $120 (my Rosemary Conley cost me 80 GB pounds). The biggest best you can find. So for around $400 you can equip your kitchen. The Waring does just about everything even scratches your a... nose.
