The other day DVO’s Barbara asked me how I come up with ideas for my articles. After all, I’ve been at this for 10+ years now.

I just smiled and said, “But we’re talking all things FOOD! If my topic was vacuuming, or weight lifting, or hair styles, I’d be in trouble. But FOOD…I love thinking about it, preparing it, eating it, and talking about it. It’s just not hard because there’s so much to say and so many angles to explore.” I bet you, as a Cook’n subscriber, likely agree?

And speaking of an angle to explore, have you wandered around a restaurant supply house? Oh my heck, talk about exploring! Kitchen products made for commercial use are so much more durable, and you’ll seldom find them in a typical retail kitchen store.

I do admit—they're huge stores, often confusingly organized, and tend to have the type of customer service you'd expect from a place that mostly deals with professionals who know exactly what they want...which is to say, very little. Despite this, I highly recommend you visit your local restaurant supply store—you're likely to find some incredible deals on workhorse equipment that can take a beating and then some.

So with that said, let me tell you about a few durable things I’ve gotten from our local restaurant supply store (for much less than I’d pay at a retail kitchen store) that I just love and can’t imagine doing without:

First, a foldable pizza peel. If you bake your own pizzas, this is an important tool. But most with adequately long handles take up lots of space, unless it’s foldable. And another reason a pizza peel is a good tool to own—it’s a superb cake lifter! These can get pricey, but you’ll find affordable choices at a restaurant supply house.

Next, dependable cutting boards. There are two things you want your primary cutting boards to be: really big and really thick. Smaller boards might work for slicing a lemon into wedges for a drink, but the cutting and chopping necessary for most recipes requires surface area, and plenty of it, lest all your handiwork go spilling off onto the countertop.

Thickness, meanwhile, is important because thin boards—both wood and plastic—are more prone to warping over time. You can find big and thick cutting boards at most home kitchenware stores, but they are expensive and choice is often minimal. So for a huge selection of sizeable cutting boards that won't break the bank, the restaurant supply store is your source.

Good storage containers are some of the hardest things to find for your home kitchen. Those food-safe plastic pint and quart containers, while fine for holding wet foods and for freezing liquids like stock, break down, warp, and crack over time. The alternatives at most fancy kitchenware stores are either clunky glass vessels which don't nest well, or expensive plastic ones that'll bankrupt you if you actually buy as many as you need.

My favorite solution for smaller storage containers are the rectangular stainless steel ones that are sometimes sold as steam-table inserts. They come in a variety of useful depths and sizes (I find that the "sixth" and "ninth" sizes are the most handy), nest extremely well, and are sturdy enough to live through years and years of use.
They come with heavy-duty lids, so food stays fresh and containers can be stacked nicely in the fridge. I label the contents using a water-based marker prior to refrigerating the food.

If you’re still not sure as to why to go to a restaurant supply store, at the very least, consider the durable, very affordable, stainless steel spoons (slotted and solid) and whisks they offer. The variety of sizes is mind boggling.

And you’ll quickly notice their whisks are so heavy-duty that you can even roughly mash potatoes with them if you don't have a dedicated potato masher.

I could go on, but I’ll close with one last love—commercial kitchen linens. I totally get the visual appeal of spendy kitchen towels (who doesn't want to pretend they live in a Kinfolk photo spread). But real-life kitchens and cooks get messy, and when it's messy, you don't want to soak up grease and beet juices with something that costs more than the food itself. You need kitchen towels that you can abuse without worrying about how much you'll have to pay to replace them. Once again, turn to the restaurant supply store...Mecca for every serious cook!

Oh, one more thing: For those of you who don’t live near a restaurant supply store, there are some good ones online. Two good sites are www.webstaurantstore.com, and www.uline.com.