Costs money, doesn't have any type of coating, isn't being sold door-to-door.
Any of the 3+ ply stainless cookware from any brand these days is damn near indestructible. Same goes for cast iron if you're willing to take care of it.
Nonstick cookware is, functionally, disposable cookware. It's gonna last a few years with great care, but will need to be replaced after X number of uses.
Non-pan/knife kitchenware: stainless steel or glass, generally. Nylon or silicone for nonstick cookware.
Knives: people have opinions about knives. For an average chef/not-knife-nerd, most of those opinions aren't going to make enough difference to be relevant. Decent steel for knives isn't particularly hard to come by. If you know how to chop veg and such, and find a knife that feels like it fits your hand well, you'll probably be fine. Find somewhere to have it sharpened periodically, learn to use a honing rod. Restaurant brands like victorinox, mercer culinary, dexter russell will do just fine if you know how to use a honing rod, and are very cheap at restaurant supply stores. Mid-range consumer-focused brands like Zwilling/Henckels or any cookware brand are generally fine. Fancy-pants knives like global/wusthof/shun are $$$$ and worthy of actual research and thought and hands-on time before buying.
Nobody really needs a "knife set", at least not as seen on big box store shelves. Get a big honkin' chef's knife and a little paring knife and go from there.
Stay away from serrated blades except for bread and maybe tomatoes; you're not gonna be able to do your own maintenance on them or really get them properly sharpened anywhere so they're in the same category as nonstick cookware.
I like your takes. Regarding knives, best thing I ever did was take a knife skills class. Probably could have also watched a bunch of YouTube. But my cooking satisfaction went way up after learning to be competent with knives.
Also I'd add a Dutch oven to your equipment list. Beyond braising and stews, I use mine a lot for making bread.
Any cheap ass carbon steel skillet from a restaurant supply store will be completely fine and very durable. You don't need to buy 5-ply allclad stainless steel for everything, only for recipes that use the fond for a pan sauce really, or maybe recipes that require adding acidic ingredients early in cooking.
If I had no pans I would get a carbon steel comal and a regular old stainless steel saucepan as my #1 and #2 and then probably get an Instant Pot for #3 so I can get those tasty tasty beans.
solid knives and pots/pans for cooking. Good, big ones that will survive the fucking apocalypse.
a duffel or backpack that's tough as nails
How do you tell if kitchenware is good quality?
Costs money, doesn't have any type of coating, isn't being sold door-to-door.
Any of the 3+ ply stainless cookware from any brand these days is damn near indestructible. Same goes for cast iron if you're willing to take care of it.
Nonstick cookware is, functionally, disposable cookware. It's gonna last a few years with great care, but will need to be replaced after X number of uses.
Non-pan/knife kitchenware: stainless steel or glass, generally. Nylon or silicone for nonstick cookware.
Knives: people have opinions about knives. For an average chef/not-knife-nerd, most of those opinions aren't going to make enough difference to be relevant. Decent steel for knives isn't particularly hard to come by. If you know how to chop veg and such, and find a knife that feels like it fits your hand well, you'll probably be fine. Find somewhere to have it sharpened periodically, learn to use a honing rod. Restaurant brands like victorinox, mercer culinary, dexter russell will do just fine if you know how to use a honing rod, and are very cheap at restaurant supply stores. Mid-range consumer-focused brands like Zwilling/Henckels or any cookware brand are generally fine. Fancy-pants knives like global/wusthof/shun are $$$$ and worthy of actual research and thought and hands-on time before buying.
Nobody really needs a "knife set", at least not as seen on big box store shelves. Get a big honkin' chef's knife and a little paring knife and go from there.
Stay away from serrated blades except for bread and maybe tomatoes; you're not gonna be able to do your own maintenance on them or really get them properly sharpened anywhere so they're in the same category as nonstick cookware.
I like your takes. Regarding knives, best thing I ever did was take a knife skills class. Probably could have also watched a bunch of YouTube. But my cooking satisfaction went way up after learning to be competent with knives.
Also I'd add a Dutch oven to your equipment list. Beyond braising and stews, I use mine a lot for making bread.
Or just ask me, I have a lot of opinions and like to speak authoritatively about things.
Look for brands that top restaurants use everyday like Made In
Any cheap ass carbon steel skillet from a restaurant supply store will be completely fine and very durable. You don't need to buy 5-ply allclad stainless steel for everything, only for recipes that use the fond for a pan sauce really, or maybe recipes that require adding acidic ingredients early in cooking.
If I had no pans I would get a carbon steel comal and a regular old stainless steel saucepan as my #1 and #2 and then probably get an Instant Pot for #3 so I can get those tasty tasty beans.
We're stretching the budget now, but good sleeping bag too.