Best Homestead Kitchen Tools
We love making things from scratch here at our urban homestead and this is a short list of my best and favorite kitchen tools.
If you enjoy making food as much as we do, you need kitchen tools. And if you’re new to homemade food you might be wondering what the best ones are.
I am so happy to share my personal favorite kitchen essentials. Some of them might be pretty obvious while other might surprise you!
This list is not exhaustive or complete as there are many tools and appliances that we use a lot, as well.
And then there are some really old-fashioned ones that I use on a regular basis. Stay tuned for that blog post because it’s coming soon!
We certainly enjoy the process of making foods from scratch.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t ever buy pre-made or pre-cooked foods for those occasions when we have run out of time and need something on the table quick.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Here are my favorite and best homestead kitchen tools:
Knives:
Okay, this might be obvious.
But bear with me. I have 2 knives that I actually use all the time. So much so that they almost never go in the drawer.
The first one is a medium size knife that we bought in Japan. It has a carbon core sandwiches between two layers of stainless steel.
The other one is a smaller German pairing knife. You see, being German myself I might be a bit biased towards German products. What I love about this one is that the quality is really good for a more than reasonable price.

Honing steel:
My everyday knives are certainly not the most fancy or expensive ones out there. They are perfect, though, for everyday use and wear.
Of course, you can get them professionally sharpened or use wet stones to do it yourself.
I prefer having a honing steel in my drawer. Just moving the knife across the honing steel a few times at a shallow angle gives me super-quick results.
The honing steel is a hand-me-down from my grandparents but this is a similar one. I also have one that is ceramic. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you which one I like better. Therefore, I either alternate between them or sometimes even use both of them, one after another.
In any event, they sharpen my knives in almost no time and do a pretty good job.

Vegetable peeler:
There are a lot of vegetable peelers out there. However, my favorite one is -again- a German one. You might not find the exact one here in the US but this is very similar. I have two of those, just in case one is in the dishwasher or one breaks.
I just love how it lies in my hand and how I can hold it.
It makes peeling carrots, potatoes, asparagus a snap!

Vegetable steamer:
While we’re on the subject of vegetables, I need to mention my steamer basket.
This nifty little gadget gets a lot of use in our homestead kitchen. It is designed to fit different sized pots. Steaming foods is not only quicker but also healthier as the vitamins and nutrients don’t leech into the cooking water.
We even sometimes use it to quickly re-heat things!

Measuring cups & spoons:
By now, you can probably tell a theme here. Most of our best kitchen tools are stainless steel. We try to avoid plastic as much as we can.
This goes for our measuring cups and measuring spoons. I really like the heavy duty stainless steel ones that can go in the dishwasher and last forever. Here is a set that is very similar to mine.

Kitchen Aid stand mixer:
Everyone needs a workhorse in their kitchen. For us, that is the Kitchen Aid stand mixer that I have had for close to two decades. It is one of those multi-functional items that definitely earns its place in our homestead kitchen.

Grain mill attachment:
I have a separate post about this latest addition to our kitchen. This is the Mockmill attachment for the Kitchen Aid, making the latter even more multifunctional.
The Mockmill works great for grinding grains at home, perfect for our sourdough breads.
You see, when you buy white flour it keeps for quite a while.
However, whole grain flour will go rancid pretty quickly unless you store it in the refrigerator or freezer.
What you can do, though, is buy the whole grains (such as wheat, spelt, einkorn, rye etc) and grind them right before you bake. Fresh is best and the whole grains will last a long time if stored in a dry and cool place.

Enamel bowl:
While we do have some stainless steel bowls, I like and often use this enamel bowl.
You see with sourdough or sauerkraut you want to best use a non-reactive bowl. This enamel bowl is a generous size, very light weight, and has lasted me some good years already.

Cast Iron:
Okay, you knew this was coming.
Again, we do have a stainless steel pan or two but 95% of the time I use one of my cast iron skillets or dutch ovens. My husband built me a nice wall rack for my collection so that they are very accessible.
They are so heavy duty and will literally last forever. Should yours ever get rusty, you will find many good tutorials on how to bring them back.
I am particularly fond of my 3-in-1 cast iron combo cooker. It has a deeper skillet that I can use for braising and a shallower skillet that also works as lid.
This dutch oven is perfect for my easy sourdough bread.
And cast iron is the original non-stick, only getting better with lots of use.

Mason Jars:
These are also not surprising. I mean, who doesn’t love mason jars?
I prefer the wide-mouth jars so that I can interchange the lids. We use the half-gallon size for our raw milk.
The quart size is perfect for making sauerkraut, bone broth, or yogurt for example.
I like the pint size for smaller food storage or my sourdoughs (yes, I have two!).
And for my jams and canning I prefer the 8 oz size regular mouth.

Pouring Lids:
Another thing I love about mason jars is that you can get lids for so many different purposes.
For pouring milk, we like these tops. You can get fermenting lids, sprouting lids, drinking lids, dispensing lids, just to name a few.

Pasta Machine:
Homemade pasta is so much better than store-bought and well worth the extra effort, in my opinion.
Yes, you could roll out the pasta dough by hand but this pasta machine makes that a lot easier.
I have had mine for a long time. I simply attach it to my kitchen counter (I have to open the cabinet door underneath for the most stable fit). My Imperia came with all sorts of attachments for making spaghetti, linguini, fettuccini, and even ravioli.

High Speed Blender:
This is another work horse in our homestead kitchen that gets a lot of use.
While most people might think smoothies, it is perfect for making butter which only takes a few minutes with the Vitamix.
You can also blend soups to a super silky consistency that won’t make you miss dairy, if you’re trying to avoid it.
The Vitamix also turns stale bread into bread crumbs in no time.

Quality and longevity of my best kitchen tools:
What we really look for is quality and longevity. I don’t mind spending a bit more money up front to invest in tools and appliances that will last us a long time. It might not even be more economical if inexpensive stuff breaks or deteriorates and you have to replace it.
If you’re on a budget you will often find these kitchen essentials used. Places like your neighboor hood network, thrift stores, or ebay are good places to look.
Now, I’d like to hear from you! Have I missed anything? What are your best homestead kitchen tools? Let me know in the comments below!
Shop this post:
Knives: https://amzn.to/3bCcCbc
Honing steel: https://amzn.to/3jMk7yW
Vegetable peeler: https://amzn.to/331sxvL
Vegetable steamer: https://amzn.to/2GD0ifl
Measuring cups & spoons: https://amzn.to/324K9aD
Kitchen Aid: https://amzn.to/3i6HYZJ
Mockmill KitchenAid attachment: https://ourgabledhome.com/product/grain-mills/
Enamel bowl: https://amzn.to/2EVxhep
Cast iron dutch oven combo: https://amzn.to/3h1jkZ7
Mason jars: https://amzn.to/3253clp
Pouring lids: https://amzn.to/2F7Xy9b
Pasta machine: https://amzn.to/2R1q2E2
Vitamix: https://amzn.to/3h35BRx
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Thank you for all the great tips. Which food processor do you use/like the best?
I have an older Kitchenaid that they don’t make any more but Cuisinart is good, too ~ Anja
Great list! I have all but the Mockmill. I might add a crock pot to the list.
Yes, and thank you for sharing ~ Anja
Great list of Homestead kitchen tools!
Thanks for sharing and linking it up with us on the Embracing Home and Family link-up party. I hope you link-up with us again tomorrow!
-Cherelle
Thank you so much, Cherelle! See you tomorrow 🙂