What Are the Most Important Homesteading Kitchen Supplies?
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The kitchen is where the magic happens. You cut, chop, bake, cook, boil and deep fry so that you can enjoy delicious masterpieces. Whether you decide to share your tasty treats is another story.
But in order to create your favorite meals, you need to have the proper equipment on hand first. Below, we’ll delve into the most important homesteading kitchen supplies you won’t want to skimp on buying.
Juice Press
What kind of fruits do you grow on your homestead? Whether you oversee extensive farmland or boast a tiny or a backyard garden, we’re betting you grow a few fruits that make their way into your kitchen.
While you may eat many of these fruits as a snack, you’ll likely want to juice them from time-to-time, too. Citrus juices are especially important in a mixture of recipes. And you may want to just quench your thirst with some freshly-squeezed juice, too. A juice press will take unnecessary stress out of the process.
Quality Knife Sets and Sharpeners
When you walk into any homesteading kitchen, you’ll almost always encounter a set of sharp and quality knives — and for good reason. Top-notch knives typically contain a high-quality steel composition and help ensure easy cutting in the kitchen. With safety in mind, all homesteader owners should purchase a quality set of knives for their safety standards alone. You’re more likely to slip your knife off any objective you’re cutting and cause an injury or accident when your knife is dull. With a quality knife set and sharpener, you’ll significantly lower your chances of confronting this issue.
Canning Jars
On a homestead, it’s easy to cultivate and grow your own daily dietary essentials. When fall or winter rolls around, you should can your food to prep for the winter. Not only will this cut the amount of waste you may experience from having an overflow of crops during the summer, but it will also make it easier to enjoy delicious meals during the cooler season, too. In order to can your key ingredients and various foods, you’ll need a sturdy supply of canning jars in your kitchen. As a general rule of thumb, your jars should have tight-sealing lids to prevent your food from spoiling. If you have special dietary concerns or are a vegan, there are tons of delicious pantry staples you can store in canning jars that will make meal prep easier.
Measuring Spoons and Cups
Some of the most overlooked kitchen staples include measuring cups and spoons. While you know how to prepare certain dishes by heart, you’ll likely want to explore new recipes, too.
Measuring your ingredients properly can make a world of difference in how your final meal turns out. To avoid throwing away a poorly-prepared meal and creating waste, invest in quality measuring spoons and cups with universal sizing options that let you prep recipes from across the globe with ease.
Food Processor
On a homestead, you’ll have a lot of ingredients on hand that require blending. From hearty vegetables to tasty herbs and spices, mixing is often a key action in the kitchen when crafting meals. That’s why, for many, food processors are a kitchen must-have.
Before you place your food into a processor, remove any rigid or hardshell vegetable and fruit ends or casings first. Consider composting food scraps, rather than tossing them out, to enrich and strengthen the soil on your land.
Food Dehydrator
Most homesteaders do not live in an area that experiences a dry and warm climate year-round. If you do, you can likely skip over this kitchen essential. If you don’t, you’ll want to immediately invest in one to transform your food preparation methods. Dehydrating certain foods gives them a significantly longer shelf-life — providing you with snacks and bites to eat when you don’t feel like firing up the oven or stove.
From herbs and spices to meat jerky, nuts and fruits, you can easily experiment with various ingredients to whip up in your food dehydrator.
Crock-Pot
When you’re busy taking care of your homestead, you won’t always have an abundance of spare time to dedicate to your meals. With a crockpot, you can easily throw a few key ingredients into the mix and let the device take care of the rest.
From soups and casseroles to beans and desserts, crockpots prepare a wide array of dishes — making this kitchen accessory a necessary part of any homestead kitchen.
Wooden Chopping Boards
Above, we stressed how important it is to have a quality set of knives in your homestead kitchen. But, having the proper accessory to chop your ingredients on is just as crucial, too.
But why wood? you may be asking yourself. Researchers examining the cleanliness of plastic cutting boards found that bacteria is much more rampant on these surfaces. Hardwoods are fine-grained and this design pulls back fluids, trapping bacteria until it dies during the drying process. Investing in a quality wooden cutting board benefits you twofold — you reduce your risk of illness, and you’ll find it easier to chop up food and sanitize your board afterward, too. While kitchen work can be time-consuming and foreboding, the kitchen accessories outlined above can quickly transform how you experience food preparation. If you can invest in tools that make your life easier and your meals more delicious, why wouldn’t you jump at the chance to make them a key tool in your home?
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About the author
Jane Marsh
Starting from an early age, Jane Marsh loved all animals and became a budding environmentalist. Now, Jane works as the Editor-in-Chief of Environment.co where she covers topics related to climate policy, renewable energy, the food industry, and more.