I'd add a bakeing stone to the list and maybe a bread pan or two, myself.

A bottle of zinfandel.

A serrated knife (this set is for people who don't like tomatoes, obvs), a cake tin (or cake) and I'd swap one of the frypans for a cast iron one.

A good chef's knife is all you need in terms of knifes, but you need to sharpen it regularly.

Immersion blenders are really cool and useful too.

A nice, heavy dutch oven wouldn't go amiss. Also, monkey butlers to do the washing up.

On preview: good call on the serrated knife and cast-iron skillet, goo.

3rded on the seratted and cast-iron. Actually I use my cast-iron dutch oven for a lot of my cooking instead of using the fry pan.

(Monkey Bulers server Mechazens from the left and clear from the right.)

I prefer stainless steel pans. I'd also add a cast-iron griddle pan, a garlic press, a hand blender, a measuring jug, a lidded skillet (stainless steel), a square baking dish (lasagne, etc.), a mortar & pestle ... oooh, I could go on for ages. Lakeland is my second home.

Oh, and a corkscrew/bottleopener. And a can opener.

I have had terrible luck with non-stick. . .I never use them any more and would never consider using them anymore.

Cast iron and stainless steel, as jan says, are just fine.

Those aluminum pans look kind of thin to me. I'd personally prefer something heavier. Plus there are certain things you shouldn't cook in aluminum. See here.

And that knife selection is... well, it's not a selection. I have tiny hands, and a 2-1/2" paring knife is too small for me. I also prefer a 9" or 10" chef's knife to the 8". You also need a knife steel in addition to the sharpening stone.

That cutting board is small. Buy yourself a bigger (and thicker) one. With one that's so thin, there's almost zero clearance between your knuckles and the countertop, and that makes chopping a challenge.

The mixing bowls, collander, and strainer are nice.

A well-stocked kitchen needs more than one wooden spoon.

The vegetable peeler is crap. (It's one of those cheapo things they added in there so that they could count to 36.)

They don't specify what kind of non-stick "coating" is on the frying pans. I'd like to know that before purchase. I prefer anodyzed aluminum.

And there you have it. Have I thoroughly burst your bubble?

Nthing the cast iron.

A good garlic press.

It might be tough to justify it in a 36-piece set, but nothing cuts bread like a bread knife. And there's no can/bottle opener in there, presumably because they figure you already have one. I hope they also figure you have a colander. Nthing the cast-iron skillet. And, unless you're vegetarian, I think a second cutting board is very worthwhile. And there's a ton of baking-related stuff that could be included.

Definitely stuff I'm forgetting, but that's a start. (Also, their price estimates are a joke.)

Have I thoroughly burst your bubble?

Not mine. You learned me something, too, about reactive and non-reactive metals. Also, regarding the non-stick, Blah! Teflon coating leaches into the food. It's anodyzed at the top of the list.

Lose the scraper, the fork, and the ladle, add a microplane grater, a garlic press, and a bread knife, and upgrade the pots and pans. We have an assortment of non-stick and anodized aluminum pots and pans, and a few cast-iron pieces--each has its own pros and cons.

When my wife and I married, I was 38 and she was 32, and we're both avid cooks, so we'd had a long time to accumulate good cookware. We have probably $1000 worth of pots and pans (hell, at least).

Nthing the serrated knife and cast iron skillet. Things I use at least once or twice a week (usually more often) that I don't see there: an oil mister (SO great for grilling outside, which we do a lot), a pastry brush, a zester, a sifter, a garlic press, a funnel. These are definitely tools I use a lot.

And there's a ton of baking-related stuff that could be included.

That's for sure.

1. Those pans look OK (not great). I like frying pans with a rounder handle (easier to grip, won't drop it as you're transporting from the stove to the sink), and if you only have one large frying pan, you'll find you have to wash it nearly every night.

2. I prefer to have one very large stainless steel saucepot and then one medium-sized and one small-sized aluminum pot with non-stick coatings.

3. No lid for the smaller pot? I guess you could just use a dinner plate...

4. Hmm.. I've always used a glass baking pan. I like to have two sizes - a rectangular one (shown) and a small square one (I use it much more often, mostly for baking enchiladas).

5. More than one cutting board is essential. I keep a small one for veggies and a large one for meats. In a pinch, I suppose you could chop veggies on one side and meat on the other, but most food safety experts would very vigorously frown at that suggestion.

6. Besides a chef's knife, I like to have a good long serrated knife, for cutting crusty bread. I've never sharpened my own knives.

7. More spatulas, spoons, and flippers are definitely a necessity. Especially spoons - I like to mix wooden spoons and nylon ones, as the wooden ones tend to absorb sauces, while the nylon ones tend to melt!

8. A dough scraper? A ladle??? Replace the ladle with a good nylon spoon that can serve many purposes. Replace the dough scraper with a wide-faced spatula.

9. I like the tongs that can be locked a bit smaller, and released to open wider.

10. Not to mention grilling tools! And I find a rice cooker to be essential.

$275 seems a bit over-priced, unless those are really fine knives. A cheap aluminum pots-and-pans set can be had for around 50 bucks. A set of bowls like that has become very expensive, but not more than $50. Is the rest of that stuff worth $200?

I don't know, all the pans in that look kinda cheap and thin... You may do better getting things seperately.

also. banking stone, serrated knife, as said.

No fillet knife? How would I clean fresh salmon?

More wooden spoons, I never have enough.

And yes, a ton of missing baking stuff. Cake pan, pie pan, bread pan, dutch oven.

Anthony Bourdain wrote that for him the single most useful kitchen tool is a serrated knife with the handle parallel to the blade but offset back a few inches. I don't have one, but do want one. I can see how that would be handy.

Gotta have pans you can take off the burner and put in the oven. Cast iron preferred, obvs.

As to what's missing? A $5000 gift card to Williams Sonoma in my pocket, that's what.

Missing: stainless steel pans, for what middleclasstool says -- burner to oven for a pan-roast.

I deviate from the pack on the garlic press. I don't like 'em - they turn garlic to mush. I like to mince or shave garlic with the end of my chef's knife - you can adjust the mince, fine to coarse, or make long shavings.

3rding the microplane grater (when I bought mine I thought it was a vanity splurge item - turns out I use it all. the. time)! And adding a mandoline!

My latest addition is a stainless steel scissors. Also, a tea kettle.

When I'm waiting for the water to boil, I like to play 'Losing My Religion.'

Yeah, I don't like garlic presses, either. I usually crush garlic with the flat of my knife, when I want them crushed.

I've started making fruit pies recently, and I'm really jonesing for something that will slice my apples and peaches. after I core/pit them.

I'm not sure how well it would work for peaches, but for apples, at least, I really like the slicer that kinda looks like a Buddhist eight-spoke wheel, except with an extra-large hub. Oh, geez, I oughta just do a Google image search.

≡ Click to see image ≡

Here we go. Again, it's not a desert-island kitchen gadget or anything, but it's nice to have one around.

All i have is a big sharp knife, a sharpener and a pot.
i don't know what the hell you're all on about.

And a microplaner.

Missing: Pyrex glass measuring cups (I've got 1 cup, 2 quart, and 4 quart ones), a mixing/blending spoon (the type with the hole in the paddle, needs to be rigid enough to handle stiff bread dough [I suppose the wooden one on the list would work, but I wouldn't like it]), a serrated bread knife, and kitchen shears.

While more bread stuff would be nice (stone, loaf pan, etc.), you still could bake acceptable bread with the baking pan on their list. I'd go nuts without my 4 quart cup with a handle (important!) for mixing dough.

Like Miko, I can live without a garlic press. A girlfriend who was a prosumer chef ; ) taught me to use a knife; I've rarely used my press since.

Measuring cups! Of course! I'm always so envious of Alton Brown's graduated cylinders, though.

The carbon-steel peeler is crap - carbon steel will rust if you don't keep it dry and oiled and the handle looks uncomfortable. Buy a proper swiss peeler - those things are like razors and last forever. And I prefer a 6-inch chefs knife. But knife preference is really personal, so I think it's better to buy them outside of the standard kit. You'll be using it a lot and it's gotta be comfortable. Possibly add a cleaver.

Ditch the middle size mixing bowl and add a really huge stock pot. Ditch the dough-scraper and add in extra spoons. Ditch the meat fork and add extra tongs. Ditch the thermometer - you just don't need it.

The previous suggestions re cast-iron pan and serrated knife are heartily endorsed as are the baking-equipment suggestions.

I would only add a set of good skewers to that set.

And finally, I can't believe that you couldn't assemble that kit for less - dollar-shops and ethnic grocery stores are your friends. I mean, I SELL high-end cookware for a living and it seems over-priced to me by at least half.

Ditch the thermometer - you just don't need it.

For me, the meat thermometer is a really good thing, because I'm a novice at cooking meat. I'm learning to check doneness by eye and touch, but I'm using the thermometer as my teacher.

As always, YMMV.

(But mine sure as hell didn't cost $10.)

And I'm another anti-garlic-press cook. I find the press (yes, even the 'good' ones) waste too much of the garlic. I'd rather chop my own. Plus, it's funner that way.

*chop chop chop*

Microwave. Bottle opener.

I heart mandolines, but I really wonder how much I'd use one. Opinions?

Mandolines are good if you do a lot of salad and you're not good with your knife skills. I had one and gave it away. It was easy to use but as I get better with my knives, it was more of a hassle to get out and clean.

Re garlic press: I smash the garlic by putting the flat of my knive or cleaver against it and giving a hard whallop. Then I mince it as required. Fast and less washing up. I think I'd use more gadgets if I had a dishwasher.

...it was more of a hassle to get out and clean.

This is Concern the First for me, and I do have a dishwasher. Her name's Jennifer. I keed, I keed! No need to e-mail her!

Concern the Second is that a chef once told me that even pros cut themselves on them a lot more frequently than with knives. And I'm no pro, but I'm pretty good with a knife.

YES I WILL CUT YOU

"All i have is a big sharp knife, a sharpener and a pot.
i don't know what the hell you're all on about."-ethylene
excellent./
It's ALL about the gadgets./ I dare not walk into Nella's Cucina. Yikes.

What. No mango slicer¿ Hell!
That peeler isn't bad at all, mudpuppie, nice and light. I have something fancier [rubber handle, even potato eye picker at the end] and miss the one I had like that one. Sure you need to wash and dry, no big deal.

That is a nice set, but what came to my mind is a salamander, high powered 36,000 BTU broiler, dual burner piece of goodness when you mentioned Pro Kitchen.

A gas oven would be atop my wish list and plenty of counter space also. Love gas. sniff, I've electric.booHoo.

I'd ditch the aluminum also. Stainless steel, all the way. Just don't heat the aluminum too much... it'll gas off.
As for the non stick frying pans, as long as they're heavy, thick walled. I'm a sucker for these, because Canadian Tire always has $60.00 KitchenAid 12" pans for $20.00 on sale a lot. Soon as they look dodgy, I pitch them. I also only use wooden spatula's. Don't trust the plastic on Teflon. Anything requiring high heat, I use stainless steel.

That whisk is teeny tiny, it'll kill your arms, I prefer a much much larger one. Less work.
The knife is good for general duty, I'd back it up with a 10" for serious meat cutting. Definitely get a sharpening steel. Otherwise you'll really hurt yourself. Better it be sharp.
One needs more than one cutting board. You should use one exclusively for meat and the other for vegetables. Restaurant & Hospital rules.
I also would add a long serrated knife for bread cutting. Small one's just don't cut it. At least not those large Portuguese loafs.
Garlic presses are good for making dressings and those squeamish about chunks of garlic, otherwise, a lot of clean up and I'm faster with a knife.

Doesn't sound like a bad deal compared with this Kitchen Aid set, minus some of your goodies.

A good start, WTH.

I, too, am no fan of the garlic press, preferring the whack with the flat of the knife and the chopping. I have a small and a regular cast iron pan, and wouldn't have a nonstick one. Nthing the stovetop-to-oven dutch oven, too. My stepmother, may flights of angels sing her through her days, bought me a Le Creuset dutch oven for xmas one year, and I don't know how I lived without it. Nthing the sharpening steel, too, and a better (non-carbon steel) vegetable peeler. Also, aluminum pots? It's pretty good for an affordable just-moved-away-from-the-parents starting from scratch kit, though.

I have a couple of flat-ended wooden spatula-type things, one about 2" wide, one about 4", which are invaluable. I hardly use my wooden spoon any more. If I could only take two cooking tools with me when the apocalypse came, the wide one would be the second. (My beloved chef's knife would be the first.)

No fan of the garlic press either, but this one i was given, zylizz? or something, is incredibly easy and almost completely waste free. i use it for chunks of ginger as well and all sorts of things. i almost always whack the garlic anyway to peel it.

i could use a dutch oven.

Has anyone ever used those enameled cast iron pans? They always look so purty.

middleclasstool, I have some enameled cast iron pans that were my grandmothers. I love them for roasting vegetables, for baking bread, and for stovetop-to-oven use. They're also handsome enough to use as serving dishes, which is great since they retain heat beautifully.

Mine (well, Granny's) have perfectly flat lids with handles on the sides but not the top, which means I can use the inverted tops as baking dishes, too. Brilliant design.

No fan of the garlic press either, but this one i was given, zylizz? or something, is incredibly easy and almost completely waste free... i almost always whack the garlic anyway to peel it.

ethylene, with a good garlic press like that, if you leave the garlic's papery skin intact, you can press the garlic right through the skin. Then pull the whole husk out of the press; the little holes don't get clogged up with garlic pulp. It makes the garlic press much easier to clean.

I, too, use the chef's knife to chop, slice, or sliver garlic when appropriate. But sometimes I just want to bash in some microscopically smashed garlic and I don't wanna think about it. Then, the press is irreplaceable.

middleclasstool--the dutch oven I was raving about is enamelled cast iron. I also have a (cheaper but still good) shallow oval dish that gets heavy use. They conduct heat evenly and retain it for a long time, are pretty easy to clean, and are stove-to-oven-to-table safe. As you, say they look pretty, too. I'm finding that the inside gets discoloured with use, but that doesn't really bother me. Elsa, yours sound fantastic--the lid/baking dish idea is the sort of design that makes me want to applaud.

I'd really like to have a mandoline. And a big mixing bowl--I've got a few bowls, but no really big one. I don't like the aluminum ones (except as a double-boiler stand-in)--they're too light, and move around too easily.

elizard, when my third-generation enamel & cast iron pans get discolored, I scrub them with a damp sponge dipped in baking soda. disclaimer: I don't know how this will affect the surface in the long run. But it works a treat to bring back the fresh white surface. It even cleans out beet stains!

I bought a mandoline during my girlhood in the 80s, when julienned whatever was the garnish of choice. I use it much less frequently now, but I do love it for making zucchini fritters with shreds of zucchini (much less watery than grated zucchini).

Have you tried putting a damp kitchen towel under an aluminum bowl? It's supposed to keep the bowl in place. I've never tried it myself.

I like to think my knife skills are pretty good, but there are things that I really prefer the mandoline for. For instance, I make this salad that involves radicchio, watercress, fennel and parmesan. It's very hard for me to get the fennel paper-thin for this salad using a chef's knife, while the mandoline does it quickly and consistently.

The mandoline also does fancy cuts. Since I end up going to like 1 or 2 potlucks every month, I play around with presentation and like to use it for the waffle or ridgy cuts on root veg and the like.

Baking soda is the bestest, and it doesn't scratch--used it today to get tea stains from a white cup. I've tried it on the enamel, though, and it doesn't get rid of all the discolouration on mine for some reason. Miko, that's exactly why I want a mandoline--fast, easy thin slicing and different cuts with less hassle. I've heard of the damp tea towel trick, but I just like the weight and solid feeling of pottery bowls, plus they're non-reactive. Thanks for mentioning it, though.

Have you tried putting a damp kitchen towel under an aluminum bowl?

Yep. Works good if you're doing something like emulsifying a salad dressing with a whisk, slowly drizzling in oil with one hand and whisking madly with the other. Saw it on a cooking show once, or maybe it was Queer Eye, and it worked as advertised.

I find it works best, btw, if you wrap the towel around the base of the bowl, rather than just laying the towel out flat and setting the bowl on top.