If you’re about to move into a shared house or flat for this first time this term and don’t plan on living on baked potatoes alone, then you’ll need to kit yourself out for your new life as a culinary genius.
We’ve teamed up with the guys at the Steamer Trading Cookshop to put together some suggestions to help you stand out from the beans-on-toast brigade…
Classy crockery
So we’re assuming that, along with your housemates, you’ve already sorted a kettle and toaster and have ‘borrowed’ some cutlery from home, but there’s nothing more disappointing than serving up your latest culinary creation onto old, mismatched plates full of chips and hairline cracks. Decent crockery that should see you through your time at uni (bar any mishaps or the staging of a Greek wedding in your kitchen) needn’t cost the earth.
For example, Maxwell & Williams produce a range of elegant off-white tableware that starts at just £3.50 for a tea plate, with a side and large dinner plate costing £4.50 and £4.95 respectively, and a high-quality pasta bowl setting you back just £5.95. They also offer a classy white ‘bullet’ mug, with slightly chamfered sides (hence the name) and a proper-sized handle that will help you through those caffeine-fuelled all-nighters when you’ve got a 9am essay deadline to hit.
Colourful cutting
As a budding cook, it’s worth splashing the cash on a decent set of sharp knives, and the Zyliss three-piece santoku knife set will also add a dash of colour to your kitchen.
Currently on offer at the Steamer Trading Cookshop for £9.99 (RRP £17.99), the set consists of a paring and a peeling knife, which are both perfect for basic food preparation tasks, and a mini santoku knife that makes light work out of chopping and slicing vegetables. All the knives have a soft-grip handle, non-stick coating for easy clean, a blade cover to protect both the blade and your fingers, and a high-quality stainless steel blade.
Stir it up
If you’re a bit of a newbie in the kitchen, then getting to grips with the art of stir-frying is a great place to start. Not only are stir-fries quick and easy, they’re a great way of meeting your five-a-day veg quota and also getting some lean protein into your diet. If you fancy rustling one up while you’re at uni, then the Pure Oriental non-stick 10.5″ coated wok at just £12.99 could prove a savvy investment.
The Pure Oriental wok is made from high-quality carbon steel – the traditional material used for making woks – and features deep sloped sides that allow quick and even heat distribution, with a flat base that helps the wok to stand more easily on the cooker top. The non-stick coating also helps to keep the wok easy to clean despite cooking at such high temperatures. And if you’re not already used to breaking out a wok for a spot of Asian cooking, it comes with a recipe card to inspire you (chopsticks optional!).
Poptastic
What better accompaniment to your student house’s weekly movie night than a big bowl of popcorn, salted or sweetened to order? Simply fill the Joie microwave popcorn maker with popping corn and ‘pop’ it in the microwave for a delicious snack in seconds.
With a 1.1 litre capacity and a dishwasher-safe casing, this popcorn maker should see you through all manner of romcoms, tearjerkers, superhero and horror movies!
Get grilling
The oven in a busy shared kitchen isn’t always available when you want it – or as clean it could be – so what if you could take your own personal grill to uni? Well, with the Cuisinart 2-in-1 Grill & Sandwich Maker, the dream of making quick and easy meals with no waiting around for the oven to be free could become a reality!
As the name suggests, the 2-in-1 Grill & Sandwich Maker comes with both grill plates (for delicious Paninis or perfectly grilled meat, fish or vegetables) and deep-fill sandwich plates that will accommodate even the thickest slices of bread and your favourite filling, browning and sealing the perfect toasted sandwich every time.
When using the grill plates, the floating hinge allows the top plate to rest gently and evenly over your food, cooking it from both sides for succulent results, and the variable temperature puts you in total control. The extra-deep pockets in the deep-fill sandwich plates are also perfect for omelettes, pastries, French toast, quesadillas and calzones.
At £89.95, the 2-in-1 Grill & Sandwich Maker may seem like a major initial outlay, but we were mightily impressed when we road-tested it. It looks great out on a worktop and is the perfect size for even the smallest kitchen. The grill and sandwich plates are easily interchangeable as they simply slot in and out, and they couldn’t be easier to clean as you can simply pop them in the dishwasher if you’re lucky enough to have one in your kitchen! It’s a lot easier to grill steaks compared to a griddling or frying them on a hob, as rather than having fat spitting all over your kitchen, it simply drains off into an easy-to-clean reservoir. It also has a high maximum temperature with fast heat recovery for professional cooking results, as well as variable temperature options for total control, whatever your recipe.
Inspirational spirals
If you want to cut back on carbs, hit your five-a-day target and sometimes swap pasta, potato and noodles with ribbons of fruit or vegetables, then the Gefu Spirelli Spiral Slicer could be for you.
The Spiral Slicer allows you to transform a carrot, courgette or cucumber (and all kinds of hard vegetables) into a nutritious and filling bowl of vegetable pasta! Top with a sauce of your choice and serve with a chicken breast or another source of protein and you’ve got a delicious meal in minutes.
You can choose between the Spiral Slicer’s two adjustable settings (2 x 3mm and 3.5 x 5mm) to create veggie pasta, stir-fries and salads – or simply use the spiralized veg to garnish your meals. The RRP is £25.95, but you can currently pick one up from the Steamer Kitchen Workshop for just £14.95.
Get enthused by infusing
We’re always being told we should drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, but it can be a bit, well, boring. The good news is that you can put an end to that with the Infruition Fruit Infusing Sport Water Bottle, which allows you to create your own natural, flavoured water by simply slicing your favourite fruits, veggies and herbs and adding water to make your own refreshing beverage – free from all the artificial sweeteners and additives found in some on-the-shelf drinks…
It’s available for £14.95 and comes in five cool colours with a dishwasher-safe bottle (although the chamber and caps need to be hand-washed).
You can check out all of these products and more at the Steamer Trading Cookshop. Happy cooking!