[0 - 6] Cooking is harder than ordering takeout, or microwaving a frozen entree, or having your parents cook for you.
[6 - 7] It takes a financial investment,
[7 - 9] lots of practice, time, and patience.
[10 - 12] Well, first off, and this is gonna sound simple-minded
[12 - 15] but stick with me: cooking is attractive.
[15 - 18] Like playing guitar, it demonstrates your prowess with your hands,
[18 - 21] your sophisticated knowledge of an art form
[21 - 23] and is a demonstrable value to look for in a partner.
[23 - 24] But it goes deeper than that.
[24 - 25] Cooking is a shared experience,
[26 - 28] a way to express yourself to someone you care about.
[28 - 30] That someone could even be yourself.
[30 - 34] Cooking is a physically and mentally healthy outlet and hobby.
[34 - 37] Just like learning guitar, you're not going to be a rockstar right out of the gate;
[37 - 40] you need to learn the how and why of what makes a great meal,
[41 - 45] why one flavor works when another fails, why food behaves the way it does.
[47 - 48] Welcome to Basics With Babish,
[48 - 51] a new series designed to help grow your confidence in the kitchen
[52 - 54] with a collection of strategically chosen recipes.
[55 - 58] Every other week, I'll be examining a different category of food
[58 - 61] and showing you a few ways that you can master that food at home.
[61 - 65] Then each following week, I'll conduct a live cook-along on Twitch,
[65 - 69] where you can make last week's episode right alongside me.
[69 - 74] You can ask me questions, shoot the breeze, and make some delicious meals with one of your favorite beards on the Internet.
[74 - 77] Then, you can take a picture of your creation,
[77 - 78] and post it on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter
[78 - 81] for a chance to win prizes every episode.
[81 - 83] It's a new kind of interactive cooking experience,
[83 - 86] one that I hope will help ratchet up your skills
[86 - 88] whether it's your first time in the kitchen or your fiftieth.
[88 - 90] I'm very honored to be in your kitchen today
[90 - 93] and can't wait to start making some delicious meals with you.
[93 - 95] Now, let's get down to basics.
[110 - 112] Basics with Babish and the all-new basicswithbabish.com
[112 - 114] are brought to you by Squarespace.
[114 - 116] Head there now to check out recipes from the show,
[116 - 120] kitchen equipment lists, my personal blog posts, and more.
[120 - 124] Get 10% off your first Squarespace order with offer code BABISH.
[124 - 126] Whether you need a domain, website, or online store,
[126 - 128] make your next move with Squarespace.
[128 - 132] Okay guys, before we get cooking I want to walk you through a few essential tools
[132 - 135] that are going to make cooking in any kitchen a whole lot easier.
[135 - 140] The first and most important tool you should outfit your kitchen with is a good chef's knife.
[140 - 143] This is an eight inch Wüsthof Ikon Classic.
[143 - 147] The brand and price matter less than how the knife feels in your hand;
[147 - 150] you want something that's comfortable, well balanced, something that feels natural
[150 - 153] and when you see how balanced a knife feels you need to hold it correctly:
[153 - 156] you want to wrap your finger around one side of the knife
[156 - 158] and grip it on the other side with your thumb.
[158 - 160] Now often your first instinct is, understandably,
[160 - 163] to grip it by the handle, I mean, why else would there be a handle there?
[163 - 167] But look at how much effort it takes in my wrist and how little accuracy I have,
[167 - 172] but if I grip it by the heel like this, you can see I have a lot more control and I'm using a lot less effort.
[172 - 176] The Wüsthof Ikon Classic is very expensive, around $140.
[176 - 178] This is a much more reasonable starting point,
[178 - 180] the Wüsthof Pro Line. This is a new line
[180 - 182] that is razor sharp, well balanced,
[182 - 184] and it has this great shaped
[184 - 186] handle that actually guides your hand
[186 - 190] to where it should go. It's not going to be as durable or as long lasting as a forged,
[190 - 192] high-end blade like the Ikon,
[192 - 194] but it's a great place to start.
[194 - 196] I also want to point out that I'm not like a paid spokesperson,
[196 - 200] these are the tools that I use in my kitchen and that I wholeheartedly recommend to you.
[200 - 204] Next up, we have the pan that strikes fear into the hearts of many burgeoning young chefs:
[204 - 205] The stainless steel sauté pan.
[205 - 210] Why? Because it is universally known as the pan that food sticks to, but that's actually what you want,
[210 - 215] we'll touch on that later, but when you're shopping for one of these pans you want something that's heavy
[215 - 219] 18-10 stainless steel, something that feels balanced and comfortable in your hand.
[219 - 223] All-Clad is sort of the "gold standard" for home chefs, but it is very expensive,
[224 - 227] ranging between $699 to $1200 for a ten-piece set.
[227 - 233] A less expensive but high-quality alternative is Tramontina, which will run you more like $60 per pan.
[233 - 235] I know stainless steel cookware is a little bit scary,
[235 - 238] but trust me, it's an essential addition to your kitchen arsenal
[238 - 241] and you're going to make some really delicious food with it.
[241 - 245] But of course we can't only cook on stainless, we also need non-stick.
[245 - 248] This is the T-fal Professional 12-inch Nonstick Skillet,
[248 - 251] it is oven safe to 400 degrees Fahrenheit,
[251 - 255] and is so slippery you can practically cook eggs in it without any butter or oil.
[255 - 259] It's also got a great built-in feature if you're just starting out in the kitchen this little thermo
[259 - 263] spot indicator. You can see some letters and symbols in there but it turns solid
[263 - 267] red when it's been properly preheated so it's a great way to learn about the
[267 - 270] subtleties of your stove and in no time you will have a sixth sense for knowing
[270 - 272] when your pan is preheated.
[272 - 275] And now maybe the most underappreciated tool in the
[275 - 279] modern kitchen today: the instant-read thermometer. This is a Thermapen which is
[279 - 283] expensive it's about a hundred dollars but it reads very very quickly and, like
[283 - 287] the red indicator in the pan, is going to help teach you to know and understand
[287 - 290] when your steak is done when your chicken is done. There are plenty of
[290 - 294] inexpensive alternatives like this one just make sure that it has a read time
[294 - 297] of under four seconds. Forget all the poking your palm with
[297 - 301] your finger tricks, this is the best way to get consistently cooked steaks.
[301 - 305] When you're shopping for oven mitts look for something that has individual fingers.
[305 - 309] Not only so you can better manipulate hot pots and pans, but so you can do this
[309 - 312] every time you put them on. You're of course going to need a saucepan for
[312 - 316] sauces. Nonstick has its place but generally stainless steel is the way to
[316 - 320] go. You can see that this is a very high-walled saucepan. This can be very handy
[320 - 324] when you're cooking something that you don't want to reduce too much. There's
[324 - 327] less surface area and therefore less evaporation. For thick sauces and
[327 - 332] reductions we'll go with something wider: sturdy dishwasher safe mixing bowls with
[332 - 337] a pouring spout obviously have a wide variety of uses. These bowls are by OXO
[337 - 340] Good Grips and they might be the oldest thing that I have in the kitchen they've
[340 - 343] given me ten years of reliable service. Now for it's got to be the most
[343 - 348] misunderstood kitchen utensil known to man: the cutting board I know you got a
[348 - 351] great deal on three of these from Ikea but these are absolute garbage an
[351 - 355] undersized cutting surface is one of the most frustrating inadequacies that you
[355 - 359] can have the displeasure to experience they're unstable foods like carrots just
[359 - 363] roll off and get lodged under the refrigerator, attracts a family of mice, a
[363 - 366] mouse bites you in the night, and the next thing you know you're responsible
[366 - 370] for the second Bubonic plague. Get rid of this thing and get as large a cutting
[370 - 373] surface as your kitchen can handle. This is a 15 by 21 inch
[373 - 378] carving and utility board OXO Good Grips. At around $25 it's just about the
[378 - 383] least expensive major life upgrade that you can find in a cruel and indifferent
[383 - 387] world. For basic seasoning you cannot substitute a pinch bowl of kosher salt
[387 - 392] and a pepper mill. Why kosher salt? Well because it is pinchable you can feel and
[392 - 396] see how much seasoning is going into your food and because it's coarser it is
[396 - 400] more forgiving than table salt and why does every recipe always call for fresh
[400 - 404] cracked pepper well it just tastes better smells better it looks better and
[404 - 408] with an adjustable grinder like this one you can control the size of the grounds
[408 - 411] from coarse to very very fine. So if you're just getting started
[411 - 415] those are some essential tools to help change your kitchen game.
[415 - 420] Next week we're gonna put these tools to good use trying our hand at sauces. Then the week after
[420 - 424] that the first live stream on Twitch where you can cook along with me happy
[424 - 426] cooking and I'll see you guys next week.
[426 - 430] Hey guys so I just want to talk a little bit about designing my new website with Squarespace.
[430 - 433] They have this really intuitive easy-to-use platform that made it super easy,
[433 - 437] even for somebody like me who's never done web design ever.
[437 - 440] They have templates, they do domains, they have really good customer service,
[440 - 444] it's really an all-in-one one-stop shop for building a really slick website
[444 - 447] and I was really happy with the way mine came out.
[447 - 450] If you want to try it for yourself you can start your free trial today at squarespace.com
[450 - 454] and enter offer code BABISH to get 10% off your first purchase.
[454 - 457] Thanks for listening guys, I hope you liked the new site, the new show,
[457 - 459] and I can't wait to cook with you next week.