I’m surprised you don’t have a boning knife on your list. I can’t imagine doing poultry without one.

+1 on the salad spinner. people who grow their own lettuce understand this ;)

trades i’d make:

- a santoku for the chef’s knife: easier on the wrists, and easier for chopping noobs.
- Joy of Cooking for How to Cook Everything: just personal preference.
- Saveur subscription for Cooks Illustrated: most everything on Cooks Illustrated will be in your reference cookbook, while Saveur will *inspire*.

also, instead of a $15 box grater (hello frustration), i’d recommend a plastic mandolin. go to any goodly sized Asian market, and you can get one for $20, usually with 3-4 blade attachments. i’ve had my cheapo mandolin for about 5 yrs. it’s awesome.

[*] See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRUYAgrsoLw

Now that I know that your stove isn’t compatible with cast iron (the horror!), your choices make more sense to me. That said, unless someone has a similar constraint, I’d suggest swapping the stainless steel skillet for a cast iron version (saving about $100 and providing a whole new range of tastes). Similarly, I’ve never found much use for a fancy dutch oven, so I’d suggest swapping the Le Creuset for a Lodge cast iron version and saving another $180.

I’d also suggest getting a lot of small glass bowls for holding ingredients. They’re also super-cheap and make a big difference in setting up an efficient kitchen.

– salad spinner
– microplane grater
– wire sieve
– all the electronics
– dutch oven
– pizza pan(keep the stone, though. They’re great for people with 90 year old ovens like me)
– Only keep the 10″ stainless fry pan, the others aren’t essential
– s/stainless ladle/ladle/
– roasting pan. If you’re just starting out, use a baking sheet until you realize you really need a roasting pan

That being said, I have all of these things and use them pretty regularly. Except the spice grinder. I like using the old mortar’n'pestle I got from my mom many years ago for that kind of thing; it’s very cathartic. However, none of them are actually essential. A decent salad spinner can go a long way towards easing the pain of washing veggies for a salad, though.

Other thoughts:

I’d recommend a pizza cutter and a 6″ chef’s knife before a 10″ chef’s knife . I use it to cut all kinds of stuff. With a little effort, you can sharpen a good pizza cutter like you wouldn’t believe. You should see me dice carrots and celery for soup with the “ninja wheel.”

If you get a can opener, get one of the new fangled ones that cuts through the side of the lip of the can. Sooooo much nicer and you can re-use the cans without fear of cuts.

Cheap welding gloves(I tend to get mine from Harbor Freight stores when they’re on sale) are great and usually only a couple of dollars. Plus, they have individual finger movement. Sounds crazy but it can be helpful.

Also you need to add an old school bottle opener with the little beak on the opposite end. Perfect for opening cans of stock when you’re making big batches of soup.

Find a local restaurant supply house that’s open to the to the public. You can get a great deal of this stuff there for less.

If you have a dish washer, make sure the cutting boards you get will fit in the lower rack vertically without impeding movement of the upper rack AND make sure that the boards aren’t “top rack only.” If you don’t have a dish washer, make sure that the cutting boards will fit in your sink. I speak from boneheaded experience.

for when you get a gas stove: you can get non-stick cast iron skillets. It’s all I own now.

When I get a gas range, cast iron is going back on the list.

Also, you can get unglazed terra cotta tiles at home depot for $5 and it’s better than the silly pizza stones.

Finally, where’s the 10″ cast iron skillet? :)