Top 10 Tools for Personal and Private Chefs
Are you starting a personal chef or private chef business and wondering what kind of tools and equipment you'll need to purchase? Maybe you're an experienced chef looking to refine your current private chef toolkit. Check out my list of must-have tools for owning and running your private chef business.
As a personal or private chef, you need to be adaptable, flexible, and creative. You must be able to adapt common household equipment to meet your needs, otherwise you’ll be traveling with 100 pounds of equipment plus carrying heavy grocery bags. Lugging around excessive equipment is just not sustainable or good for your body long-term. In fact, many of the personal chef tools I've included in my list take into consideration the impact that a personal chef career has on my body and maintaining my health for the long-term.
If you’re just starting out as a private chef, you can save lots of unnecessary start-up costs by purchasing only the essentials I've listed here and buying other tools as needed.
When I started my personal chef business over 8 years ago, I brought many unnecessary tools with me to my client’s homes as a precaution. I really needed a personal chef equipment list. After cooking a variety of dishes for dozens of clients in dozens of home kitchens, I can tell you what you truly need in your personal or private chef toolkit. You might be surprised how little you actually need! Continue reading to learn my comprehensive personal chef equipment list -- these are tools I simply cannot live without in my personal chef business.
**Don't forget to check out my expert tips on How to Find and *Keep* Personal Chef Clients.
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#1 Instant Read Digital Thermometer
I am adamant about keeping the food I cook for my private chef clients safe. My worst nightmare is getting someone sick because I made a careless mistake or didn’t take the time to ensure meat was properly cooked. That’s why I never let that happen! In over 7 years I've proud to say I have never gotten one of my personal chef clients sick. An instant read digital thermometer is critical for food safety.
I don’t care how many meals you’ve cooked professionally; it is important to stay vigilant about food safety. You can “eyeball” if food is done and risk getting someone sick, or you can simply temp the meat that you’re serving to your client to know that it’s safe.
It’s important to keep food safe so your private chef clients are free to enjoy their weekly meal prep without fear of illness. If you haven't already, make sure you are ServSafe Certified to provide the best, safest weekly meal prep or private dinners possible.
#2 Can Opener
You’d be surprised how many times I’ve been in a private chef client’s kitchen without a can opener or I had to make do with a can opener that barely works. There are no alternatives to a can opener, so yes, this is an essential item for your private chef toolkit!
The last factor of bringing my own can opener is to protect my hands from cranking on an inefficient can opener. Ouch! Anything I can do to protect my body’s longevity as a personal chef is critical. A quality can opener is a must on your personal chef equipment list.
#3 Chef's Knife
If you want an essential investment that lasts nearly forever, invest in a high-quality chef’s knife and maintain it well. I use the Miyabi Kaizen II 8" Chefs Knife and it has held up for 7 years with much more life left.
I purchased this mini Wusthof knife sharpener that I bring with me to every personal chef client's home so I can quickly sharpen my blade as needed. For just over $5.00, this sharpener works like a charm and is well-worth the investment.
#4 Honing Steel
Maintain your chef’s knife between sharpenings by using a honing steel. I find this especially important when I breakdown a whole chicken or when I’m cutting thick winter squash. You don’t want to over sharpen your knife as this can unnecessarily reduce the lifetime of your tool, so use a honing steel between sharpenings instead.
Never used a honing steel before? Now's a great time to start! Check out this video to learn how to use a honing steel.
#5 Measuring Spoons
This might seem silly, but it can be frustrating to not have a solid set of measuring spoons when I’m working for my personal chef clients. When I am cooking meals for my personal chef clients I can usually eyeball measurements. However, for baked goods I need precision and accuracy.
You definitely want to include a stainless steel measuring spoon set in your personal chef equipment list.
#6 Reusable Grocery Bags
My private chef clients care about the sustainability of my service, and I care about the environmental impact of my business. Something I do that makes my clients and me feel great is using reusable grocery bags and re-using the plastic bags that I put produce and bulk ingredients in while shopping.
As personal chefs, we are shopping for many families each week and can make a positive impact on the environment by reducing the number of plastic bags that get thrown away each day.
Once my brand was established, I invested in high-quality, re-useable cotton grocery bags with my logo printed on the bags. This adds a professional touch to my chef service, and the bags make for a great gift or raffle item.
#7 Immersion Blender
It would be ideal to have a professional grade Ninja Blender in every home that I cook in. But it’s certainly not a requirement to make amazing meals for my clients. A great portable alternative to a blender is an immersion blender. Do your research before buying because the quality of immersion blenders can vary greatly.
This is the Breville immersion blender I purchased and it’s held up pretty well so far but it honestly doesn’t get much use. I don’t use all the attachments that are included so if I had to go back I would buy a less expensive immersion blender.
An immersion blender is not ideal for smoothies or silky sauces and soups, so keep that in mind.
I also have a lightweight ninja blender set at home that I can bring for those sessions that I absolutely cannot get by without a blender and my private chef client doesn’t have one in their home.
#8 Plastic Pan Scraper
This is my most recent discovery that now I absolutely must carry with me to my personal chef client’s homes! Usually my personal chef clients have nice, high-end cookware that I don’t want to damage or leave scuffed. I stumbled across these plastic pan scrapers in my local Food Coop and I am so happy I bought one. Get one for your personal chef tool kit and save your clients pans and save your hands from tough scrubbing.
#9 Citrus Juicer
Once again, save your precious hands! And make the most of the citrus you buy. A lot of my clients do not have a citrus juicer and I use mine every single day. Citrus juicers are affordable and last forever.
If you try my recipe for Butter Rum Apples, a citrus juicer will come in handy at the end when you add fresh orange juice.
Add a citrus juicer to your personal chef toolkit and you won't regret it.
#10 Microplane
A Microplane has been a part of my private chef toolkit since the beginning. There is not much of an alternative tool for a microplane. Many of my personal chef clients do not have a microplane in their kitchen.
If you buy a larger microplane like this one, it can be good in a pinch for a backup cheese grater! Especially for parmesan.
That's the last tool on my personal chef equipment list! I hope you've found this post helpful in your journey to becoming a personal chef or growing your private chef business. Keep reading to see how we can work together to make your business even more successful.
