Chef and co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, The Nomad, and Made Nice, Daniel Humm shared what he believes to be the most important kitchen utensils he uses daily.

I’m Daniel Humm. I’m the chef and co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, The Nomad, and Made Nice. I think a really good pan is important. Sounds simple, but a really good pan with a super flat bottom. We use copper pans here because they have really great heat distribution. 

I think you need a sharp knife and I use Victorinox Knives. It’s a knife that I grew up with. It’s a Swiss brand so I had it all my life so the knife is a very big part of a chef. But then there’s maybe also one other tool that’s maybe a little bit unusual that every one of us uses and it’s a cake tester. And with a cake tester, as you cook you can check the doneness, you can check the temperature, but that’s really a super valuable tool and it costs about $0.75 or so.

So it’s a great tool. But I’m not a chef of, you know, really fancy equipment. I — we’re pretty basic with what we work with. We just want a good pan, a good knife, cake tester, good cutting board — that’s pretty much it.