Kitchen (2024)

Written By Matt Manhattan

My kitchen case is filled with everything I need to make myself the few meals and snacks I will actually cook while traveling, along with the tools that I have found essential to save time and sanity in someone else's kitchen.

The largest and most important part of this kit is my water filter which I happily lug around with me to ensure that the water I drink is as free as possible from anything that could cause me harm. It also makes the water taste better which is just a universal win. I then store at least one gallon of filtered 'emergency water' in a collapsible jug and always keep my water bottle in the home and car topped off along with the collapsible water bottle in my backpack.

The weight of a single-serving blender, collapsible electric kettle and rice maker are all negated by the routine comfort I get from my morning smoothie and tea with perfectly cooked rice that is ready when I am.

Using a cooking thermometer and scale have really helped develop my overall consistency when cooking. And while I got my temperature gun to use around the house I found it had more uses in and around the kitchen. My measuring cups collapse to save space and the measuring spoons all nest within one another. If I need to measure something a little larger I use the silicone measuring cup which is a great travel item since it isn't rigid.

In order to improve my knife skills and ensure I'm always chopping with a sharp blade I have created my own mini knife set consisting of kitchen shears, a bread knife, chef's knife, paring knife and peeling knife each with a blade guard. I also set a reminder to sharpen them every two weeks.

For super thin cucumber slices I cheat and use a mini mandoline which also doubles as a veggie peeler. And in addition to drying salad the salad spinner triples as a colander and mixing bowl. I use a garlic press to make short work out of garlic cloves and if I encounter a can without a pull-tab I use a teeny-tiny can opener.

I'm a bowl person. And based on the one person survey I have been conducting, most people do not own large enough bowls. So, I bring my own collapsible bowl to deal with this routine issue. Branching off of that, I also bring my own prep cups that nest and hold a decent amount of stuff. Branching even further from that, I also bring reusable lids so I can save leftovers or prepped ingredients in whatever bowls are available without dipping into my precious plastic wrap.

I don't like using large cooking utensils since I'm rarely making a lot of food and found these mini-spatulas to be the perfect size for me. And when I need to flip something a little larger I use this cookie spatula. I will admit that I don't use the grater very often, but when I do need it there is nothing that compares. The same goes for my my collapsible funnel, wine key and pot holder.

I love drinking Spindrift sparkling water and other canned beverages, so it is not uncommon for me to accrue several empty cans in a day which adds up fast. Three crushed cans take up one empty cans volume, and I found and made a compact 3D printed can crusher that is smaller and unlike any other that is commercially available. Travel can crushers just aren't a thing, apparently.

And finally, I have a specific preference for sponges and I like to cut them in half because I prefer the smaller size. So I 3D printed a sponge holder that was the same size so it barely takes up any space on the counter. I also bring my own dish soap for the times it is not provided or only provided in a comically large bottle.

The smaller items all get Tetris'ed into a tool box that I modified to better fit all my tools, and that goes into a larger travel case which holds all the big stuff with hardly an inch to spare. I installed a mesh organizer into the lid of the travel case and that is where you will find sauce packets, extra sponges, dishwasher pods, garbage bags, my backup tea stash and the essentials; aluminum foil, plastic wrap, parchment paper and ziploc bags in gallon and sandwich size.

This kitchen kit, at its core, is less about making lots of different kinds of food and is instead hyper-focused on creating a consistent experience around food based on what I enjoy day to day. Additionally, the three appliances all use less than 1000w and can be powered from my Power Station which was done with intention. This way, should the power ever go out, I can still make tea and prepare a few things.

 

Cases

Water

Appliances

Measuring

Cutting

Kitchen Tools

Consumables (Mesh Organizer)

Exterior Kitchen Tool Box Storage

Other

 
Matt Manhattan
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