top of page

A Well-Equipped Kitchen

Since the pastry arts can be broken down into various disciplines, such as baking, cake decorating, confections, chocolates, and so on, I’ve listed some basic tools and equipment you will need to get started. If you do any cooking or baking you should already have most of these items. This list includes equipment for all of the disciplines mentioned above. If you’re only interested in baking for example, you would need only a few of the items listed below.

I’ve been doing this for some time and I am still adding to my collection. I started out by buying an item every month or so. You’ll see just how fast your inventory will accumulate. I hope this helps.

Remember, life is as sweet as you make it.

Bowls

One set of stainless steel mixing bowls varying in size.

One set of small bowls for weighing and scaling ingredients. I like to use either glass or silicon bowls.

Containers

Sealed food grade containers for cereals, dried fruits, grains, flours, sugars, and other perishable ingredients

Cutting Boards

At least three different cutting boards to minimize cross contamination in your kitchen

One for breads, cakes, and other pastry

One for fruits and vegetables

One for raw meats, poultry, and seafood

Knives, Forks, and Scissors

3 or 4 inch paring knife – for trimming, peeling, scoring, and slicing

8-inch chef knife – for dicing, chopping, and slicing

10-inch cake knife – for cutting

12-inch serrated slicing knife – for slicing breads and chocolate

Variety of small metal spoons and forks

Light duty scissor – for cutting and slicing smaller items

Heavy-duty scissor – for cutting heavier items

Measuring Devices

Dry measuring cups and spoons

Liquid measuring cups

Scale – for measuring ingredients

Probe thermometer – for accurately checking the temperature of prepared items

Oven thermometer – for accurately checking the oven temperature

Candy Thermometer – for accurately checking temperatures for frying and candy making

Mixers and Whisks

Small and large whisk – for mixing and whipping ingredients

6-quart mixer – to handle bread dough

Pots and Pans

Frying pans – for frying, sautéing

Sauce pans – for deep-frying, poaching, and simmering

Stockpots – for sauces and jams

Roasting pan – for roasting

Sheet pans and cookie sheets

Spoons, Spatulas and Scrapers

Bench scraper – for cutting, moving, and cleaning up work surfaces

Bowl scrapper – for getting every last bit out of your bowl

Large metal spoon – for stirring

Large slotted metal spoon – for stirring and straining

Small silicon spatula – for adding ingredients

Large silicon spatula – for folding

Throw away spoons – for tasting

Large wooden spoon – great for checking thickness of your sauces

Miscellaneous Tools

Brushes – to egg was, glaze, remove access flour, and so on

Cheesecloth – for straining

Cherry pitter – for removing the pits from cherries

Cooling rack – for cooling hot or baked items

Parchment paper – for baking

Peeler – to peel fruits and vegetables

Sieve or Tamis – for sifting flours

Silicon mat – for lining baking pans

Strainer / Chinois – for straining sauces

Artisanal Bread Equipment

Baba molds – for baking baba

Benneton – for shaping certain hard crusted hearth breads

Brioche mold – pan with fluted sides for making brioche

Couche – an untreated natural fiber cloth used to proof dough

Loaf pan / Pullman pan – for making traditional soft crusted breads

Mister – for creating steam in the oven for breads requiring it

Roller cutter – a device used to efficiently and accurately cut shapes out of rolled dough

Docker – a device to prick holes in rolled dough to prevent bubbling

Rolling pin – to roll and shape dough

Cake, Assembling, and Decorating Equipment

Cake board – assorted cardboard bases used as a support for building, assembling, and decorating cakes

Cake comb – a multi faceted tool with serrated teeth of various designs used to decorate the sides of cakes

Cake pans – for baking various cakes shape and sizes

Fondant smoother – a plastic or metal tool used to smooth out rolling fondant

Cake ring – a bottomless stainless steel ring used to assemble, mold, or bake cakes and tarts, also known as an entremets ring.

Decorating tips – stainless steel or plastic tips of various shapes and sizes used in conjunction with a pastry bag to pipe decorations, specialty pastries

Pastry bag – varied sizes and materials used to decorate, fill, and pipe baked goods

Turntable – for frosting and decorating cakes

Silicon Baking Mats – for baking tuile, or cooling sugar, and candy items

Cookie, Pie, and Tart Equipment

Barquette mold – for baking small boat shaped petit four and tartlets

Cutters – made of a variety of materials sizes and shapes for cutting out cookies, fondant, pastillage, tarts, and to decorate tarts, pies, breads, and cakes