A Well-Stocked German Kitchen

A German kitchen differs slightly from an American one. Germans still cook more meals at home than we do and generally don’t eat or drink in their cars. Slightly different kitchen utensils and vegetables are found in their homes, which gives a markedly different cooking and taste experience.

Beer bottle opener and corkscrew. Okay, these are the no-brainers. Northerners drink more beer, Southerners more wine.

Shopping basket (Einkaufskorb). literally. Often made of wicker with a cloth lining. To be used for shopping trips, along with your own cloth bags. The store sells plastic and cloth bags if you do not have any.

Other baskets, for storing and serving bread, beer bottles, fruit, etc. are also common.

Cloth napkins and napkin rings which are often used for several meals and then washed. It is popular to have your own napkin ring with your initial to distinguish it from the rest of the family’s.

Breakfast boards (Frustucksbrett) are small cutting boards instead of plates for breakfast or snack. They are very practical because they do not break, are easy to clean, have no lip and are the right shape for a piece of bread.

Potato masher and / or ricer for creating mashed potatoes and pureed potatoes, respectively. Yes, the answer to your question is, there is a difference between the two, the first has lumps on purpose.

Pots and pans for various daily cooking. I suggest a minimum:

• Small pot for cooking potatoes in their jackets and boiling eggs.

• Frying pans, 2 sizes
• Stockpot
• Sauce pans with lids, 2 sizes
• Pressure cooker, but NO slow cooker

Baking Implements

• Loaf pan, or Konigskuchen pan. which is longer and narrower than our loaf pan.
• Springform pans, of one or more sizes, for baking cheesecake and other cakes.
• Gugelhupf pan, a type of bundt pan, for baking, what else, Gugelhupf cake.
• Lasagna pan, for casseroles.
• Sheet pan, for sheet cakes and Christmas cookies.

Egg timer. cups and spoons for the daily soft-boiled breakfast egg.

Scale for weighing ingredients. Ingredients are weighed using the metric scale, 1 gram being the usual increment.