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March 18, 2019 by Joy Kincaid 12 Comments

9 Must-Have Real Food Kitchen Tools

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9 must-have real food kitchen tools to help you cook healthy food from scratch!

real food kitchen tools

I’ve had an interest in real food cooking ever since my teen years. It all started with a book about whole foods that my dad gave me. That, and the weekly trips to the health food store with my mom.

One of the first skills I acquired was learning how to make my own bone broth (which I now make in the Instant Pot).

From there, I moved on to grinding my own grain, making whole grain bread, fermenting food, and other from scratch cooking.

Real Food Kitchen Tools

Cooking from scratch and making nourishing, traditional food requires some special tools. Today I wanted to share my 9 must-have real food kitchen tools.

Some of these tools are newer additions to our kitchen, and others have been around for almost 20 years.

Here are my favorite kitchen tools.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission at no cost to you. Read my full disclosure here. 

Berkey Water Filter

One of my main must-have tools would be our Berkey Water Filter. We’ve been using a Berkey for over 10 years (maybe closer to 15, I can’t remember).

To me, having clean and safe water to drink makes this a non-negotiable item in our kitchen. With seven people in our home, our Berkey sees a ton of use! We have the Royal Berkey size, which works well for our family of seven.

Vitamix Blender

We bought our Vitamix around 7 or 8 years ago during a time when my husband was dealing with some health issues.

In an effort to heal his gut, we bought the Vitamix, and it’s been seeing daily use ever since!

Our whole family uses the blender to make smoothies and other healthy concoctions, so it often is used daily, if not several times a day. It’s one of the best purchases we’ve ever made.

Grain Mill

Out of all the kitchen tools mentioned in this post, our grain mill has been with us the longest. We bought it when I was pregnant with my second oldest daughter, and she’ll be 18 soon!

Early in our marriage, I had read that grains lose many nutrients and become rancid shortly after being ground into flour. Therefore, to preserve the freshness and potency of the grains, a grain mill was necessary.

We didn’t have a lot of money in those days, so my husband looked around and found a used grain mill for about $70. It was owned by a family who ran a mail-order health business, and it had been gently used.

We buy wheat berries and other grains from our food co-op (currently Azure Standard) and grind our own flour whenever we need it.

This is the grain mill we have, and it has served us well for almost 20 years (although our older model was manufactured by K-Tec and now the company is called Blendtec, so I’m not sure how the two compare).

real food kitchen tools

Bosch Mixer

We’ve had our Bosch Universal mixer for 16 years, and it’s still going strong! It’s made so many loaves of whole grain homemade bread through the years! I love that I can make 6 loaves of this recipe at a time with this mixer to knead all that dough.

Since my mixer is close to 20 years old, it looks slightly different than the updated design of the Bosch Universal here, but it’s the same one.

Stainless Steel Cookware

Years ago we switched out all our non-stick pots and pans with stainless steel ones. We bought a basic set of high-quality stainless steel cookware (similar to this one), and they are in use on a daily basis.

My favorite piece of stainless steel cookware is my 12-quart stock pot. I love it and use it often for making homemade, nourishing soups and stews.

Cast Iron Skillet

Our cast iron skillet is another item that’s been with us for many years, and it will probably be here forever. I just love the durability of cast iron.

Instant Pot

I’ve only had my Instant Pot for a few years, but it has quickly become one of my favorite real food kitchen tools.

With this one piece of equipment I can make boiled eggs, bone broth, a whole chicken, apple butter, elderberry syrup, and so much more! We have this one.

real food kitchen tools

Mason Jars

I use Mason jars for everything! My mom gave me several boxes of the half-gallon size and I love using them to organize the pantry.

In addition to organizing, I also use Mason jars to store bone broth in the freezer, for fermenting, and so many other things. We even use the smaller 8 ounce jars as drinking glasses!

These are definitely essential in my kitchen.

Fermenting Accessories

When I first started making sauerkraut, I didn’t even use any weights. I just followed the instructions in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. And it worked fine.

But since then I’ve discovered a few fermenting accessories that make the whole process simpler.

I love these fermenting weights and these airlock lids for making all sorts of fermented foods.

A Few More Must-Haves

I didn’t list these above, but I still love having access to them in my kitchen!

Ice Cream Maker: We’ve had this Cuisinart ice cream maker for almost 8 years now, and it makes homemade healthy ice cream so much easier!

Food Processor: My mother-in-law blessed me with the food processor we have. It was one she had in her kitchen and decided she didn’t need it anymore.

Glass Food Storage Containers

I’d love to hear what your list of must-have real food kitchen tools would include!

Shop Real Food Kitchen Tools

Berkey Water Filter

Vitamix Blender

Grain Mill

Bosch Mixer

Stainless Steel Cookware Set

Cast Iron Skillet

Instant Pot

Mason Jars

8 oz Mason Jars for Glasses

Fermenting Weights

Airlock Fermenting Lids

Ice Cream Maker

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Real Food Kitchen Tools

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here. Sharing here.

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Comments

  1. Clearissa Coward says

    August 8, 2019 at 9:43 am

    Nice list. I use the mason jars, cast iron skillet and stainless steel cookware. I will have to catch up on some of the others. TFS with #omhgww

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      August 8, 2019 at 8:12 pm

      Mason jars, cast iron, and stainless steel are definitely so useful! Thanks for stopping by, Clearissa!

      Reply
  2. mireille says

    August 7, 2019 at 12:03 pm

    I didn’t think of mason jars to organize the pantry but I like that idea! My favorite things in my kitchen are my instant pot (One month old and I love that thing!!), my stainless steel pans and my ninja!
    http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      August 8, 2019 at 8:11 pm

      Thanks for sharing your favorite kitchen tools, Mireille!

      Reply
  3. Michele Morin says

    March 28, 2019 at 10:01 am

    You have quite the arsenal here.
    I do love my canning jars, and I also use them for everything!

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      March 30, 2019 at 3:32 pm

      Canning jars are the best and most versatile!

      Reply
  4. Calleen Petersen says

    March 25, 2019 at 12:51 pm

    Vitamix, InstaPot and mason jars are staples at my house. Love them!

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      March 26, 2019 at 6:50 pm

      They’re so useful to have around!

      Reply
  5. Margy says

    March 22, 2019 at 11:30 am

    Living off the grid my list is a bit shorter, but cast iron and stainless steel pots and pans, and mason jars are on my shelf. – Margy

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      March 26, 2019 at 6:41 pm

      Awesome that you live off the grid!

      Reply
  6. Katie @ This Domestic Life says

    March 18, 2019 at 7:48 am

    Great post! 🙂
    We love our Berkey water filter too. A dear friend gave it to us 7 or so years ago and it has seen daily use since. One of the things I love best about it (other than great tasting water), is because it holds so much, you don’t have to constantly refill it like the smaller filtered pitchers. We used those for several years before we go the Berkey and boy, was it a pain to always be filling it everytime you wanted a drink.

    Reply
    • Joy Kincaid says

      March 20, 2019 at 12:15 am

      Thank you, Katie! How nice that your friend gave you a Berkey! I agree, it’s so convenient to not have to be constantly refilling it.

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Joy. I'm so glad you're here! I believe creating a beautiful and nurturing home is an art worth cultivating. Read more here...

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