Your Starter Kitchen: The Definitive Beginner's Guide to Stocking, Organizing, and Cooking in Your Kitchen

by Lisa Chernick

A practical and essential guide to organizing and setting up a kitchen of any size—including advice on gear and ingredient essentials, fundamental cooking techniques, and easy beginner recipes for the culinary-challenged.

Do you want to become proficient in the kitchen but have no idea where to start? Are you overwhelmed by the amount of options for utensils and gear? Your Starter Kitchen is a highly practical, introductory guide for beginners that shows how to equip, stock, and cook in your kitchen—without breaking the bank.

Featuring advice on gear and ingredient essentials (as well as nonessentials), easy yet fundamental cooking techniques, and more than a dozen simple recipes, this book provides you with all the information you need to be in command of your kitchen.

Learn how to:
–Use all of the essential utensils everyone should have in their kitchen
–Determine which gadgets and high-end items you should splurge on—and which ones you shouldn’t
–Effectively split the cost of kitchen necessities when living with roommates
–Buy budget-friendly and healthy ingredients that have a long shelf life
–Get creative with your kitchen storage and organization if you have limited space
–Host a food-centered gathering without breaking a sweat
–And so much more!

So, whether you have a tiny kitchen or are moving into your forever home and want to pick up any cookbook with confidence, Your Starter Kitchen is the perfect book for you.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, How To

208 pages, Paperback

Published April 21, 2020

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative book for anyone starting out on their own. My granddaughter loves it!

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

A valuable resource for those that don't know a lot about cooking, and need to know what is required to get started.

Great advice.

[Robbin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“Your Starter Kitchen” bills itself as the ultimate guide to stocking your kitchen for all of the different phases of life: your first kitchen (maybe with roommates), your first “grown-up” kitchen, and your forever kitchen. Author Lisa Chernick is undoubtedly qualified to make these recommendations with decades of experience working with and writing about food, even garnering James Beard attention.

As a pretty competent home cook who has a well-stocked kitchen that meets my needs, I was excited about “Your Starter Kitchen” but was honestly a bit skeptical. How could you possibly cover the necessary ground in such a slim volume? I should’ve had a bit more faith in Ms. Chernick, though, because this guide is everything that it claims to be and more.

The first section, for your first kitchen, is an all-star. It focuses on building the basics of a kitchen that is totally functional, and will allow a new home cook to learn how to learn their way around their own kitchen. As a person who had numerous roommates, I found Ms. Chernick’s suggestions to be especially helpful. The second section, dedicated to your first “grown-up” kitchen is doubly excellent. This particular chapter would have been helpful for me when I moved in with my now-husband and was building a wedding registry. The third section, dedicated to the kitchen in your forever home, is aspirational but still wholly realistic. Ms. Chernick hones in on the equipment and ingredients that are worth space in even the largest kitchen, and that are deserving of your hard-earned money. Recipes scattered throughout the book scale in difficulty as the sections progress, yet are interesting and just a bit unfamiliar. Lemon Pistachio Waffles? Yum.

All in all, “Your Starter Kitchen” is a hit, and would be a great gift for your friend or family member who is getting ready to really go out in the world; it would also be a great addition to the home collection of someone who has decided that they want to become a person who likes to cook. Even as a comfortable home cook, I found myself picking up tips and tricks (how to make perfect rice, the best way to organize casserole dishes) and making a list of items that I’d like to think about adding to my cooking arsenal. This is a great, if unassuming, buy for any home or library. Highly recommended.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Your Starter Kitchen is an accessible, clear, and fairly comprehensive guide to getting comfortable with cooking and setting up a kitchen. Due out 2nd Sept 2020 from Simon & Schuster on their Tiller Press imprint, it's 224 pages (paperback) and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
I didn't grow up in a family with any sort of culinary tradition. The facility with cooking and the recipes I've acquired over time have come unevenly and unexpectedly. I definitely would've benefited from a book like this one. It's a basic guide to equipping and using a kitchen. The layout is logical and understandable.

The three main sections have different focus. They are: 1) For a small or first time kitchen, 2) For a more grown up kitchen, and 3) For a large and/or forever home kitchen. The sections are self explanatory and suit the focus quite well. They build on one another, with the first covering the most essential and basic equipment and pantry staples, moving to more comprehensive items and finally to the most comprehensive list of gear with additional info about involving kids in the kitchen process, arranging the kitchen efficiently and other tips. All three of the sections include techniques and primers, recipes, and checklists.

Ingredient measurements are supplied in American measurements only. There's no included conversion chart for metric measures. Descriptions are contained in the header for each recipe. The nutritional information is not included. Extra tips or recipe alternatives are listed in sidebars with the recipes. The recipes themselves are fairly straightforward and are made with easily sourced ingredients. Many are very simple, none of them are overly complex. The book contains almost no graphics, illustrations, or photography. For a book on basic kitchen setup and cooking, this could be an important consideration for some readers.

Four stars. Worthwhile (general) information to be gleaned here.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Johanna Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice novice book on what you need on hand for a starter kitchen. Despite lack of pictures it was a detailed guide on what you need basics wise to your first kitchen all the way to your dream kitchen.

What did I like? While I already have enough to fill my dream kitchen, this was a book I picked up out of curiosity and if you love cooking.... so will you. The book concentrates on items you need and pantry staples you should have on hand in three different phases of having a kitchen. Small, Medium, and Big kitchens have different needs and versatility of what you should own for kitchen ware. Mostly this book is designed for space, and how much of it you have.

Would I recommend or buy? It’s a toss up for who this book is geared towards. Novice style but with zero pictures. It has a few recipes but no pictures of that either. I picked it up out of curiosity but most cookbooks you buy have a pantry staple list included. So this book was a nice thought, just not really sure who needs a kitchen checklist. Millennials?

I received a complimentary copy to read. Three stars for basic needs.

[Lydia Corona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still consider myself a novice in the kitchen and was pleasantly shocked to see that I had purchased (& used) quite a few of the appliances and tools recommended in this book. She does an excellent job of explaining the purpose of each item and even includes some recipes you can use in them. After finishing this book I realized I already knew a lot of the things she had mentioned. I guess I’m not such a novice after all. I do like the concept of the book! I think the people who are just moving out of their parent’s home/college kids would benefit from the contents provided. I learned much of this stuff on my own but I would’ve loved a book like this when I first moved out.

[roxi Net · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never thought about the needs for a 'first kitchen' or 'starter kitchen' and I really liked the idea. This book is something I could give my younger sibling (not trusting they'd read it), and while the information was great, I had hoped there'd be more of an illustration on techniques. Even though I'm a bit past the 'first kitchen' phase of life, I'm more of a visual learner and would prefer numbered instructions for recipes along with photos/illustrations. It's a good resource for first timers.

[Leanetta Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this as a starter guide and it’s also good for more experienced cooks that need to re-do their kitchens. I like how everything is laid out simply and easy to follow, there is also some food guides and pantry essentials as well. There’s also a few recipes included at the end of each chapter. It has literally everything you need to make your house a home. It’d make a great gift for the person just moving into his first apartment or a wedding gift.

[Barbara Waloven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for those starting to plan getting out on their own. Everything from spices to gear and even some recipes. Tips and tricks and what you don’t need. Cooking techniques and descriptions defined. This book has it all.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this charming how-to guide as a Goodreads giveaway and found it to the informative and relevant for today’s cook.

[Zakiyyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish i read this book when i had my first kitchen in an empty rental apartment.

[Fiona Whelan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple book, nice layout. Would be nice with some pictures.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I'd had this when I was starting out. Great, practical, real suggestions.

[Lysa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free as a part of a GoodReads Giveaway.

This is a good book for starters. Not only does the book breakdown stages of kitchens from your first apartment kitchen to a full home kitchen, but it details the stages with tools, pantry items, and recipes. While everything in the book wasn’t new information to me, I found the book will be very useful to my college level patrons in the library just starting off on their own paths.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

A useful and somewhat informative book on what you may or may not need in your kitchen and pantry at various stages of your life, but at only 200 pages long, at least 20 of which are dedicated to blank paper, I don’t think it’s worth $17 paperback price tag. I, at least, would probably use this once to stock my kitchen, and then hand it off to a friend for them to use and similarly hand on; not the kind of book you’d reread unless it’s for the recipes scattered throughout.

I received a free copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great information book for a starter kitchen right up through your forever kitchen. It's loaded with lots of helpful information, recipes and hints throughout the book. Definitely a handy little book to have on your shelf.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

More informational and tips, things to start off with and grow your tools. Some recipes and how to bring kids into the kitchen