Some of you will already have most or all of this. If so, go and listen to some punk which I am posting in a bit. If not, and money is tight, like it has been for me, check out thrift stores, yard sales and used restaurant supply stores. I got my giant 10-gallon stock pot for 22 bucks at a used equipment store.

You need a knife. Get a good one. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should be forged steel. Don’t get some Ginsu serrated crap. Those knifes suck. You will want one with about an 8 inch blade. This is the typical chef’s knife. Go ahead and get the best one you can afford.

Wusfhof and Henkels make decent chef’s knives for under a hundred bucks.

You will need a paring knife for jobs where your chef’s knife is simply too big. You will probably want at least two of these. I recommend getting one good forged paring knife, and one or more of the stamped steel knives in a different shape. I have a bird beak or tourne knife with a plastic handle and sheath I picked up for less than 5 bucks and I use it very often.

That should be it, to start. As you do more complicated work, you may find you want a flexible boner (hee hee) or a large carver, but a Chef’s knife and a few small knives should do the trick.

You need a cutting board. DO NOT use the tempered glass boards. They will ruin the edge on your knife. I have fallen in love with the laminated bamboo boards available at most specialty cooking stores. Or here:

http://www.totallybamboo.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=44&CFID=13223809&CFTOKEN=bb1559dba1207da1-822BB978-26B9-7B27-ADB9AC6F4184FCE2

You can also get plastic cutting boards, but I really like using something from a renewable source. If you like plastic, try here: http://www.acemart.com/cutlery/plastic-cutting-boards/abc-valueline-white-plastic-cutting-board-aaacbp18/prod4577.html

End grain wood cutting boards are great and will last forever, but they are expensive. If you can afford one, great. Get back to me with your recommendations.

You need a stock pot. Actually, you will need two. The size will depend on a number of things. How much cooking are you looking to do? The more stuff that goes through your kitchen, the more scraps you will have for stock and the larger a stock pot you will need. Storage. Do you have room to store a bunch of stock? If so, get a big stock pot and make large batches. Making stock is time consuming even for a tiny amount. Making more saves time in the long run. I have a 4-gallon enamel, a 6-gallon and a 10-gallon. I often make stock in the big one and reduce it to save on storage space.

Decide how big you want and get one. Then get another at least half the capacity. You will need the second one to transfer the stock to while you strain it.

Speaking of straining, you will need some type of strainer. I have a couple of china caps 

like this one. These are great for straining the stock from the stuff you made the stock from. The perforated style is pretty inexpensive. There are strainers called Chinois that are much finer and have a mesh instead. They are better for straining sauces and stuff and are much more expensive. 

A good sturdy colander will work too, but will not strain as fine as either of the above. You will want a colander as well.

You will need some good spoons and ladles. Make sure you get at least one spoon that is long enough to stir the very bottom of your biggest stock pot when it is full. Trust me on this.

I’ll post my procedure for making stock soon. As a matter of fact I think I’ll make fish stock Friday. You should get a start by saving stuff for stock. Remember though. A stock pot is not a trash can. The only stuff that should go in there is stuff you would eat but don’t because it’s the trimmings or peels of stuff you did eat. I save all the skins from my onions, all the ends and peelings from my carrots (well washed!) The ends and greens of celery stalks. Put a gallon zipper bag in the freezer and every time you end up with scraps, toss ’em in the bag. It will add up quickly.