Buying the same equipment as a Michelin-star chef probably won’t help you cook like one.
That’s according to chef Gabriel Kreuther, whose eponymous two-star restaurant is one of the best dining experiences New York City has to offer.
Speaking with CNBC Make It while promoting his new partnership with stainless steel cookware brand Cristel, Kreuther says one of the biggest mistakes he sees home cooks making is outfitting their kitchen as if they were running a restaurant.
While it may be tempting to purchase similar pieces of equipment found in professional kitchens, Kreuther says that these specialized machines often don’t fit a home cook’s needs. Indeed, if you aren’t making restaurant-sized portions, the machines might be more hassle than help.
“If the production is not big enough, you’ll find yourself cleaning for hours because you didn’t have enough product and everything is just hanging on the sides of that food processor or machine,” he says. “Because the recipe isn’t big enough unless you cook for six or eight people.”
Time and time again, Kreuther sees home cooks shelling out hundreds of dollars for high-end kitchen tools that far exceed their needs.
Chef Gabriel Kreuther’s New York City restaurant has two Michelin stars.
Neilson Barnard | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
“What I see a lot when I cook things for people in private kitchens is you can find all kinds of food processors and machines, and a lot of them are barely used or not used at all,” he says. “They become pieces of furniture.”
“Those machine are really sometimes just a vanity in the kitchen,” he adds.
If you’re looking to upgrade your kitchen, he recommends starting with a good, wooden cutting board and some quality knives. Instead of looking for a pricey knife block that comes with a half dozen blades, he suggests investing in “one or two very good knives.”
“I will tell you from experience, after so many years in the kitchen, people tend to work 80% of the time with the same knife,” he says.
Go for a medium-sized knife and a smaller knife. If you really want to splurge, he says, buy yourself a steel to keep your blades sharp.
“At the beginning of your career when you’re a cook, your tendency is to have many knives because you think that more knives is better,” he says. “And as you go into your career you see, like many times in life, that less is more.”
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