When I say “specialty equipment” I mostly mean equipment that has a specific purpose. When you’re stocking your kitchen you should consider getting all-around useful items that can serve many purposes. Having specialty equipment is great (can’t have homemade waffles without a waffle iron) but it can take up some serious real estate in your pantry. Consider what you want to get the item for and think if you have something already you can use it place of it, or try to think of other uses for the specialty item so you’re not just buying it for one recipe.
Specialty items that you might want to have but are probably not necessary:
Some of the Filipino desserts (like puto and kutsinta) I made require a two-tiered steamer.
- Two tier steamer – Steamers are great especially when preparing Asian foods. Even frozen Chinese pork buns recommend being steamed. Two tiers means you can do more food at the same time. Steamers are also great for steaming vegetables, especially in large amounts – great for the holidays. However, you can also accomplish steaming vegetables by boiling an inch of water in a pot and throwing your vegetables in for a few minutes.
- Stove top tea pot – If you enjoy hot drinks like tea or hot cocoa this could be a great investment. However, boiling water can also be accomplished in a pot.
Immersion blenders are great for recovering creme anglais that has curdled a little by pureeing the little bits up
- Immersion blender – Also known as a burr mixer. This tool is like a portable blender. You can submerge the blades into any liquid and it will puree it up. Great for making soups, getting rid of lumps, and making sauces smoother. I hardly use mine, but I’m glad to have it when I need it. Mine is battery operated and charges directly in the wall. That’s handy so I don’t have to deal with cords around the stove but if the battery ever gets worn out I’ll have to buy a whole new immersion blender.
- Turkey Baster – This is a specialty item in terms of what you can do with it. It’s great for keeping your roasting birds moist and keep your hands a safe distance from hot liquid but other than that I never use my turkey baster. You could probably use it to transfer hot liquids from one pot to another, but a ladle would work just as well.
Coffee grinders are great for making spice blends out of whole spices. Rosemary, which is hard to find ground, is great to grind in a coffee grinder.
- Coffee Grinder – Coffee grinders are great for people who love to grind their own coffee beans. You can also use them to make your own spice blends from whole spices. Coffee grinders really grind your spices up fine and much better than any food processor can. They can also do small amounts, something a food processor cannot do. I use mine all the time when I toast black peppercorns on the stove with some salt.
- Blender – If you’re planning on making lots of mixed drinks and milkshakes you might want to invest in a blender. My college roommate loved her Magic Bullet for this purpose. Blenders can also puree solid foods like salsas. If you have an immersion blender, you can use it for the same purpose and you don’t have to wait for your food to cool down before using – don’t put hot soup in your blender as the glass could crack.
- Crock pots – Crock pots are great for cooking foods for long times safely even when you aren’t around. Crock pots are a must for busy people who love having fresh cooked foods ready for them at the end of a long work day. Smaller crock pots are great for dipping foods with chocolate, fondue, and keeping dips and sauces warm. There are even dessert recipes designed for crock pots. However, if you don’t plan on doing any of this crock pots can take up a huge amount of space in your cupboard.
- Chopsticks – I’m not really referring to them as an eating utensil in this sense. Some bakers like to use chopsticks to help them work on delicate items and to carefully transfer components onto a finished piece. You can also use large chopsticks for cooking – they are helpful in keeping noodles from sticking together. I know they have more uses, but that’s the extent of my knowledge.
- Griddle – If you like making pancakes and eggs you may benefit from having a griddle that you can put over your stove’s burners. They are easy to use, easy to clean, and give you two to three times as much work space as a skillet. Some have a ridged side on the opposite side for put those grill marks in your steaks and vegetables – though I think those lines are only decorative as the whole reason your steaks have grill marks is because you grilled them infusing them with a smoky flavor.
- Rice cooker – I personally could never live without my rice cooker. In fact, if you took it away from me I probably wouldn’t be able to cook rice since I’ve never cooked rice over the stove. If you love rice, this is the single greatest invention ever. Some models can even steam vegetables, dumplings, and pork buns.
Commerical kitchen use the heavy duty torches found in hardware stores and auto part stores. At home you don't really need one so big and bulky.
- Butane torch – You can use your torch to roast marshmallows, darken meringue, and caramelize your crème brulee. Another use is lightly torching your electric mixing bowl. This helps when you are making ganache and you have solid chips on the bottom and for helping warming up your refrigerated buttercream icings.
- Silicone molds – Some people swear by silicone molds. They can be used in
Professional bakeshops use silicone molds to produce differently shaped desserts.
the oven and frozen so they can make a myriad of foods. They are also flexible so it’s incredibly easy to get food out of them. They are non-stick so they are easy to clean. Silicone molds can be expensive though and if they get torn somehow they are instantly ruined. Bake shops love using ones with odd shapes to make fun looking desserts and hot side kitchens use the smaller sized ones to bake appetizers in.
- Restaurant style plates – If you’re a foodie you might really benefit from restaurant style plates. They help give your food a finished look and cater to your creative side. Just try to control yourself and avoid buying tons of different shaped plates that you’ll only use for one dish otherwise you’re wasting cabinet space.
If you want perfectly even slices of fruit or vegetable a mandoline is the tool you need.
- Madoline slicers – Madoline slicers are great for restaurants because they slice vegetables extremely quickly while cutting the slices equally thick. At home, you probably won’t really benefit from having one and they take up a lot of space. I only use mine when I make fruit chips in the oven and I want identical very thin slices.
