All products featured on Epicurious are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Quick, what's the one kitchen tool you couldn't live without? Yes, yes, you need more than one tool to cook anything, of course. But sometimes you get attached to a whisk—or, heck, a spurtle—and you know: if there's a kitchen fire, that's the one tool you're going to grab.
So I posed this question to my colleagues. Because they say you can tell a lot about a person by what weapon they would choose in a zombie apocalypse, but frankly, I think the stakes here are even higher.
Rhoda Boone, Food Director: Rimmed Baking Sheet
Quite simply, you can't have a sheet pan dinner without a rimmed baking sheet. But rimmed baking sheets can also be used to roast whole chickens and turkeys or make a batch of Our Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies. For Rhoda, it has to a be a restaurant-quality half sheet, and it has to be well-seasoned.
TrueCraftware Aluminium Commercial Baker's Half-Sheet Pan, $11 at Amazon.com.
Matt Duckor, Senior Editor: Chef's Knife
For Matt, it's a western-style chef's knife all the way. He noted that an 8-inch blade is the easiest to maneuver and the most versatile knife to have on hand. Especially for...a zombie apocalypse!
J.A. Henckels International Classic 8-inch Chef's Knife, $49.95 at Amazon.com.
Anya Hoffman, Senior Editor: Tongs
Salad server set? What's that? For Anya, utilitarian tongs will do just fine. A good set of locking tongs can be used to flip meat in a pan or on a grill, toss vegetables while sautéing, and, notes Anya, "occasionally—dangerously—get something down from a high shelf."
OXO Good Grips 12-Inch Stainless-Steel Locking Tongs, $12.95 at Amazon.com.
June Kim, Art Director: Glass Jar With a Screw-Top Lid
While pervasive use of mason jars has swept across American restaurants, give June any glass jar with a tight fitting lid and she will make it work. "Using old mustard or jam jars makes making your own salad dressing or marinade sooooo easy," June notes.
Ball 16-ounce Wide-Mouth Mason Jars, $9.26 for a pack of 12 at Amazon.com.
Abby Rand, Social Media Editor: Wooden Spoon
Wooden spoons may well be the original cooking implement, and its lasting popularity is for good reason. A wooden spoon won't scratch up non-stick cookware, and it won't burn your hand if you accidentally leave it in the pan. Specifically, Abby prefers the spoon have a blunt rather than rounded end—better for scraping up the crusty fond at the bottom of a developing stew.
Williams-Sonoma Open Kitchen Beechwood Angled Spatula, $5 at Williams-Sonoma.com.
Katherine Sacks, Assistant Food Editor: Paring Knife
Anything a chef's knife can do, a paring knife can do, well, slower. At least that's how Kat feels. But for intricate cuts and delicate knife work, only the smaller blade will do. Plus you can buy a four-pack of good quality paring knives for less that $10, so you always have a sharp one at the ready.
L'Econome Paring Knives, $9.99 for a set of 4 at Flotsamandfork.com.
Joe Sevier, Editorial Assistant (That's Me!): Cast-Iron Skillet
Biscuits! Cornbread! Fried chicken! Okra! Upside-down cake! The essential foods of the South, nay America, require cast iron for perfection. They last forever, and even on stove-tops and ovens with uneven heat, you can count on cast-iron to distribute that heat evenly.
Lodge 10 1/4" Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet, $21.74 at Amazon.com.
Adina Steiman, Special Projects Editor: Dutch Oven
For Adina, it's got to be a Le Creuset French oven (aka Dutch oven) and it's got to be their most iconic color: Flame. "I got it as a going-away present when I interned at Saveur a million years ago and still treasure it," she says. Talk about a fiery exit.
Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 5 1/2-Quart Round French Oven in Flame, $319.95 at Amazon.com.
Anna Stockwell, Associate Food Editor: Y-Peeler
We've extolled the virtues of a y-peeler before: Here, and here, and here, and likely we'll do it again, so stay tuned. Once you've peeled with one, there's no going back.
Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler, around $7 at Amazon.com.
David Tamarkin, Editor: Digital Thermometer
Straight from David's mouth: "I'm obsessed with my Thermapen thermometer. Perhaps too obsessed. I use it to fry chicken cutlets at the absolute perfect temp; to know when my cakes are done; and, when I'm not cooking anything, to, uh, see what the temperature in the air is."
ThermoWorks Thermapen, $79 at Thermoworks
Tommy Werner, Editorial Assistant: Cambro
You can't marinate without a vessel. You can't make punch without one either. Nor could you collect rain on a dessert island. For Tommy, that vessel is a cambro—a restaurant-grade storage container—with a green lid, please. What does he use it for, other than marinating and smuggling punch across state lines? "Holding stocks, ice baths for wine bottles, large quantities of leftover soup, infusions, storing reusable fry oil. Basically whenever I need something with a solid seal."
Cambro 4-quart Square Storage Container, $14.83 at Amazon.com.
Laura Wolfgang, Senior Product Manager: Chemex
No hesitation from Laura: "I would never leave my bed if it weren’t for my Chemex." For it's ability to brew (both hot and cold) coffee and unmatched elegance for serving, it's definitely worth getting out of bed for.
Chemex 6-Cup Classic Glass Coffee Maker, $41.32 at Amazon.com
Sam Worley, Senior Writer : Small Off-Set Spatula
Sam uses a small offset spatula for everything baking-related: smoothing batters so cakes cook evenly, transferring cookies from baking sheet to cooling rack, frosting cakes and pies, loosening baked goods from their pans, and more. Of our five favorite pastry tools it definitely tops the list.
Ateco 4 1/4-inch Small Offset Spatula, $6.25 at Amazon.com
