What is the one must have item in your kitchen?

Good old-fashioned cast iron skillet. Non-reactive and can go from stove top to oven. The drawback is it's very heavy.

• Cast iron skillets are NOT non-reactive.

• I never put acidic foods in my cast iron pans. It's the fastest way to destroy all the work I've done seasoning them. Agree with R1. Cast iron is reactive.

• A refrigerator. Meat and dairy items stay fresh for days inside, and chilled beverages are a decadent treat.

• Yeah, unless OP's skillet is Le Creuset or another enameled cast iron brand.

• Since R3 has provided us with a fridge, I'll go with my well-sharpened 8" chef's knife.

• It is an absolute necessity to me that I have food in my kitchen ALL THE TIME!

• Toilet paper

  Scat%20Cat

• A cordon bleu chef, naked.

• R8 has it right. In recent years, I've come to rely on my water filtration system because I can't stomach the taste of our local water.

• Have to have menus from delivery restaurants taped to the refigerator because I hate cooking.

  Anonymous

• R10 do you also hate spellcheck? I adore my food processor.

• microwave

• the thing that takes the cork our of the bottle

• Tin - or steel - lined copper saute pan, the 5 liter size. Preferably from Dehillerin.

• R8, yes, by the name of Benoit, definitely.

• My little window sill herb garden

• Jamie Oliver. Naked.

• Ant combats

• The one item (for anyone who enjoys cooking) is a superior set of good knives . . .

  Steve%20K.

• A cast iron, enameled Dutch oven.

  Not%20John%20Waters

• Kitchenaid mixer

• r21 Mmmmm...cake.

• Chef's knife

  Julia

• It's a toss-up between a blender & a mixer (hand-held is fine for what I do, though a stand model would be wonderful). I only recently got a processor & I do love it, but I learned how to do without it for years so it's a luxury rather than a necessity. I use the blender daily to make smoothies for breakfast, & it chopped/ground nuts & made breadcrumbs before I had a processor. The primary job for the mixer is creaming butter & sugar for baking -- but that can be done by hand, or even in a blender if necessary. So I guess a blender is the one thing that I must have. (Though women who didn't even have electricity probably did a better job in the kitchen than I do now, so "must have" is a relative term.) WWDBMD (what would Daniel Boone's mom do)?

  thinking%20aloud

• Good quality sharp knives. And scissors.

• What's a good brand of that knife that's also affordable.

  Getting%20by%20with%20an%20Ikea%20set

• Sink

• red cowgirl boots

• Cook.

  Karen%20Walker

• Tongs

• Dongs

• My bamboo steamer, big colander & stock pot

• Vitamix

• Dishwasher.

  I%20win.%20

• Microwave

  cooks%20anything

• My Breville Smart Oven. For all I use it for daily, it was well worth the $250.

• My coffee maker and my Cutco knives.

• R26 Cook's Illustrated frequently recommends Victorinox Fibrox.

• R26 Ginsu Knives. Got my set at Walgreens. Still Sharp almost 20 years later. They were maybe $40. They sell them online too.

• An inexpensive, portable induction cooler has pretty much taken the place of my old electric stove...it's very controlled, fast and gas range-like. Mine's a Fagor, and I love it! I'd recommend you stay away from that sold-on-TV infomercial one, and prepare to deal with not using aluminum cookware, really a minor issue. Also a vote for crock pots in general, and the tiny Procter-Silex one specifically. Great way to do no-fuss steel cut oats overnight.

• Calaphon no stick wok.

• a hot juicy pussy

• Dreaded auto-correct: cooler=cooker.

  R40%2C%20boilin%27%20hot%21

• My coffee pot.

• Ipecac

  Kelly%20Osbourne

• A fridge.

• R26, I bought a couple of pieces of Victorinox through Amazon.com before CI recommended them. I liked them so much I bought more. They're cheap enough to buy multiples. So far I haven't found a downside to them. Agree with R36 about the Breville Smart Oven. I don't use my regular ovens all that often now.

• R26 A third vote for Victorinox. I give them as gifts from time to time. The most important thing with knives, though, is to keep them sharpened. A steel does not sharpen; it hones the (hopefully sharp) edge. You need to either have this done or get a sharpening stone. Depending on where you live, you might be able to get a better knife on sale at Sur La Table. It's helpful to go to a store and see which knife fits best in your hand. Most people work with 8" or 10" chef's knives, and there are many brands. Victorinox is generally considered to be one of the best cheap knives.

• A Negro and a Mexican or Puerto Rican.

  Ann%20R.

• Another vote for Breville Smart Oven. I bake artisan bread in it, toast bagels, cook roasts. Great appliance.

• Since I eat mostly raw I couldn't live without a Vitamix and a Cuisinart food processor.

• Colored gal.

  PDeen

• tyler florence

• My copper stock pot

• cocaine

• Ok. What r55 said

• The only thing I have that most people don't have is a Mouli Grater, which is very fun.