Real life is always more interesting than the polished version, don’t you think?
Which is why I can’t help but smile when I look at this very real life shot of my kitchen… Flour on the counter, dishes drying by the sink, and baskets everywhere… (always too many baskets and bowls).
Mine is a working homestead kitchen… that means we do battle together on a regular basis as we ferment, can, sauté, bake, roast, and preserve. It’s the most-used room in our entire house, and it shows in the ever-present crusty bits of who-knows-what that lives on the cabinet doors and behind the sink faucet.
It’s also a small space, which means I’m pretty picky when it comes to the kitchen tools I keep. I love timeless, durable stuff– items I can maybe even pass down to my kids.
So I’m taking you inside our homestead kitchen in this video and showing you my absolute favorite homestead kitchen tools.
Listen to the Old Fashioned On Purpose podcast episode #32 on this topic HERE.
The Top 5 Homestead Kitchen Tools I Can’t Live Without
Pssst. Anything trendy or plastic? It didn’t make the list. 😉
Definitely can’t live without my glass baking dishes ?
Amen sister!! I love my glass baking dishes. Any size & color just to spice up the dinner table decor.
I second this! 🙂
That ? was supposed to be a smiley face. Not sure why it won’t show 🙂
Sometimes the comments here are weird! 🙂
I have one stainless steel bowl, a dutch oven and pots that my mother received as a wedding gift about sixty years ago. They are the best items to have and still work perfectly to this day.
It’s my iron skillets that do it for me- we keep a set of four that have been in the family for generations, from our great dutch oven to the daily bacon/franks and beans/grilled cheese fryer.
We run an off grid homestead in New Hampshire, and the kitchen is essential to our lifestyle. Everything seems to pass through or congregate there. We wouldn’t have it any other way:)
Now that I think about it more, a close second are the hand carved spoons my wife is getting into- each one is a gem that will pass down through our kids.
Cheers on a great read!
Knives, cutting board, SS bowls, cast iron everything, sifters, jars. :))
Love this! I couldn’t agree more! Cast iron everything at my house! And everybody ‘decorates’ their kitchen and house … I only want to display what is useful and functional. This was all very said. Ditto!
Thank goodness you said it. FAT is good for you! I just had this argument the other day when a friend of mine said it was bad to cook with lard. SMH. I just looked at her and said, “So real butter is evil too?” I googled the ingredients in her brown tub of margarine and showed her the number of chemicals she was feeding her family just to avoid that awful fat. I can’t feed them chemicals AND sacrifice taste just because we’ve been lied to for so long.
Lard, cast iron, wooden spoons, and my mom’s enamel cookware for canning are the most important things in my kitchen. The freezer space out in the garage and my FoodSaver are important too, but I’m sure I could live without those if I got in a pinch.
Thank you so much for your post and video! I really enjoyed seeing your kitchen!
I loved these tips! What I cannot live without in my kitchen…my Dutch oven and cast iron pans! Can’t wait to check out the Old World Kitchen tools! Thank you!
Can’t live without my cast iron and wooden spoons. I use them everyday.
I can’t live without my simple enamel stock pot. I’ve boiled a lot of bones for delicious stock!
Jill- how do I get the ebook without using a card? I no longer have one due to some fraudulent charges and I don’t plan on getting another.
Everything you listed Jill plus a few really good knives!
I can’t live without my kitchen aid and electronic digital scales!
Loved the tour of your kitchen. I am 90 plus years old and when I started cooking as a bride everything was from scratch. Still have some of my cast iron pans and still use them. Right now I am planning my vegetable garden. Hope to be canning soon.
Beautiful home! I’m curious how you feel about your copper farmhouse sink after using it for awhile? We are building a new home and love the look. We have a copper sink in our guest bathroom but i’m worried how it would hold up with the constant use in a kitchen.
I can’t live without my good wooden utensils. They just feel better in my hands than the plastic and stainless stuff does. There was only one spoon I ever remember my grandmother using when I was a kid in the 60s and I always wanted a spoon like she had and every time I see one that reminds me of her I have to buy it..
I use my cast iron regularly. I also hate the non-stick stuff that flakes off in your food – and I’ve never seen non-stick stuff that doesn’t eventually do that. I also use the stainless steel bowls – my husband gave me a set before we were married 47 years ago. A dehydrator is another thing I use, as I dry foods in addition to canning them. My butter churn and mold stay in my kitchen. I recently discovered an electric pressure cooker which I use frequently. It and my mixer and blender make cooking a lot easier. As I’m getting older, it helps to make cooking easy, but I’ve always cooked from scratch – hate boxed stuff! The blender is used for grinding coffee and grains and herbs as well as making smoothies and many other things.
Love, love, love what you are doing! It also goes along with Scandinavian Hygge! Making your own comfort! Blessings to you! Bina
I have all those tools and now also your cookbook in order! ?
I cannot live without my wooden spoons and mixing bowls.
I can’t live without drawer organizer and green cleaning products for my kitchen! It’s my favorite kitchen tools. The drawer helps me to keep everything I need in hand, while eco friendly cleaners allows me to safe my family from harmful chemicals 🙂
My cast iron skillet is definitely my must have kitchen tool! I also love my wok. The hubby bought me a really nice once last year and I love making Chinese food at home in it. I swear I could cook just about everything in those two alone. Originally being from the south one of the best tips I got from more seasoned southern ladies was to go to an antique store to buy your cast iron skillets. You can find really good ones that are well seasoned and it just goes to show you they really do last forever!
I love that you left trendy and plastic our of the list! 🙂
We have cast iron from my Mom and from my husband’s Mom, as well as what we have purchased. My red enameled cast iron Dutch oven stays on my counter as it’s heavy and every time I decide to put it in the cabinet, I turn around and am getting it back out. We have been renovating our home and the one thing I’m stressing since we turned 60 is convenience. I think my kitchen aid stand mixer and my food processor would be added to must items for us. Yes, I’ve chopped, shredded, etc. by hand but those two items sure make life easier for me when I’m processing lots of veggies. Love your videos.
LeCreuest also has lead ??
My collection of LeCreuset! If my old self (62) could give my young self one bit of advice in the kitchen would be: invest in the best! Buy once! There are many stores that have discounts and outlet malls. Shop wisely. I cooked through 8 sets of cookware including a Caphlon set. My husband ended up with a brain tumor that he has survived! Do diligence and research! Cast iron is the way to go. Enameled cast iron too. I would’ve bought Lodge but they are enameled in China. China is known for lead in its glazes. In my youth I was know at school as “Martha!” I’m a retired principal’s secretary. And back in the day went Martha Stewart was starting out I was doing the exact same things. Sewing, canning, herbs etc winning many blue, red, and honorable mention ribbons along the way. Now I’m back at it. Canning up a storm much to the delight of my kids (8), grandkids(12), and husband. My neighbors are also benefitting.
I looked at the Old World Kitchen page. Nice pieces. I have ordered from Earlywood Utensils and been very pleased with the product and customer service.
I have a very large old collection of cast iron skillets, pots, 3 legged Dutch ovens, corn bread pans, muffin, corn stick pans, griddles, etc some belonged to my great grandmother born in the late 1700’s. I also have a large collection of homemade wooden spoons, utensils, butter paddles, kraut cutter, corn cutter, dough bowls, and rolling pins made by my father and grandfather, I have been collecting for the last 48 years. I also have a 16 qt stainless steel bowl and all sizes down 2 cup. Canning jars, glass jars, jugs, crocks, pottery . Our homestead kitchen has always been a working kitchen with buttermilk and sour cream , sour dough, pickles, poolish, cheeses be drained, weighted and waxed, herbs, medicinals hanging to dry never a completely clear countertop like you have. You must have a room for it all
Roasting pans are a must.
I’ve come to realize that your kitchen should contain items you use on a daily basis. I strive to keep and or find manual items. I have been collecting these for years and find that because I use these items my hands and fingers don’t hurt or cramp up. I do have a food processor and vita mix plus other electrical products but I feel I enjoy using the manual items most. So, yes, cast iron, wooden spoon, rolling bins, cutting boards, storing everything I buy in glass containers is a must for me. I purchase oxygen absorbers in my long term storage. Going to look into “Old World Kitchen Tools” as you suggested. Thanks again for your great input.
I treasure my glass containers, wooden items, stainless Steel and of course cast iron. Will try searching at Old World Kitchen Tools for manual items. Thanks
I love my huge nesting set of heavy gauge stainless bowls I bought at an estate sale for $1. They are lighter than glass or ceramic, indestructible and look better with age. They also have a nice little ring on one side to hang or hold while wisking. I also love my Weck jars that I use for canning, as refrigerator jars and general food storage. Glass lids mean no plastic hardly ever, and they stack!