Here is a handy list of the equipment I use in my Raw Food Kitchen

Chef’s Knife*

Uses

You will be doing a lot more slicing of fruit and vegetables compared to ever before so you want to have a sharp, reliable knife, as it will be the most used piece of equipment in your kitchen. Select wisely (usually go for German or Japanese).

I have the Japanese chef knife, Misono, that was given to me in my culinary school pack but I also favour the Mac knives and that will be my next purchase. 

You can find them online at Amazon here

Cleaver

Uses

Opening young Thai coconuts

I have a no name brand from the Asian supermarket.

These can be purchased from an Asian supermarket very inexpensively – just try get a model which the handle forms part of the knife to ensure no accidents occur with the handle separating from the blade when hacking at a coconut.

High Speed Blender

Uses

Green smoothies, milk shakes, fruit soft serve, nut milks, nut butters, nut cheeses, salad dressings, ice cream bases, grinding/milling nuts/seeds into flours, margaritas!

I have two Vitamix’s both 110v however they can be purchased in 220v as well. I have the TNC5200 variable speed and the TurboBlend 4500 2 speed – both get used frequently in our household and are by far the best purchases we have made in our kitchen, there is very little difference between the two except the 5200 is great for the few times i need to blend very slowly (emulsifying etc).

I purchased mine online from Vitamix in the USA but have also purchase 220V Aussie versions for my family here

Blendtecs are also very popular in the raw food world.

- used to puree not usually chop

- you can get away with cheaper blenders in the beginning as you may need to add more liquid to the recipes if making nutcheeses etc as the motors and blades are less powerful but as you progress you may want to look into saving up for the vitamix.

- you DO NOT need to purchase the separate DRY JUG to grind/mill nut and seeds into flours, the standard jug will do this as I demonstrate here, so don’t be fooled into parting with more money to get the extra jug.

Travel Blender 

Uses

[When travelling] Green smoothies, nut milks, pestos, salad dressings, guacamole [When at home] salad dressings, grinding/milling nuts/seeds into flour.

I have the Tribest Personal Blender 250PB purchased in the UK from here but can also be found in the US here and Australia here

The Tribest comes with a standard of 2 small and 2 large cups with 2 blades (dry and wet) 3 lids and 1 travel drinking lid. I purchased the extra large cups and lids separately as we often use our blender when we are abroad in hotel rooms to make a large green smoothie to take with us out for the day, so a large size was a must.

Champion Juicer                                Breville Juice Fountain

Juicers/Juice Machines

Uses

Making green juices and other fruit & vegetable juices.

I have both a masticating Champion juicer and a centrifugal Kenwood (similar to the Breville Juice Fountain) juicer. I purchased my 220V Champion online here and the Kenwood in an electronic store.

The Champion is the one we use the most (daily) to make our green juices and other mixed juices like carrot/apple/ginger etc. We purchased the Kenwood centrifugal juicer  when I was doing Jason Vales 7lbs in 7days juice fast as the volume of juicing warranted a juicer which required less pre prep and cleanup. The Kenwood (and Breville) will take whole fruits like apples/pears, and the juice was ready faster. however the volume of juice still left in the pulp is not economical long term as you get so much more juice for same volume of produce with the Champion. The Champion juicer is also recommended to cancer patients following the Gerson regime if they cannot afford the grandaddy of all juicers, the Norwalk.  (Breville or Champion are good models)*

Food Processor*

Uses

To chop but not usually blend – macaroons, fitness fudge, grawnola & nutcheese

I use a standard Kenwood that I purchased from a kitchen store.

It’s not necessary to spend a fortune on a food processor but something fitted with an S blade is sufficient. Shop around if you are looking for a food processor and save your $ for your high speed blender which will really make a difference with it comes to making smoothies, puree’s, ice creams, nut cheeses etc.

Mini Food Processor

Uses

Same as the larger food processor but for smaller batches like pesto, energy balls etc

I use a Cuisinart Mini Chopper 3 cup 220v that I purchased in Australia here or my 110v version that I purchased in the USA here

Dehydrator

Uses

Replicates cooking and takes away moisture content of foods without cooking and raising the temperature to damage or destroy nutrients and enzymes. Can make desserts, pizza bases, ferment yoghurts & cheeses, crackers, wraps, kale chips, vegetable chips, or tart/pastry shells,fruit leather,gluten free wraps & cakes

I have the Excalibur 9 tray with 26 hour timer – it looks like the design hasn’t changed in it’s 30 years but it works well. I purchased my 220v in the UK from here but you can also purchase in the US here or Australia here

When i was shopping around for my dehydrator, the best advice given to me by raw food friends was to go ahead and purchase the 9 tray and not the 5 tray, as anyone who has bought the 5 tray has eventually upgraded to the 9 tray. Whilst it’s not used daily in my household (and few raw food households for that matter) usually once a week or fortnight is usually where it’s at, every tray will be full with desserts, crackers, wraps, kale chips or tart shells. As most items require minimum of 8 hours in the dehydrator, it’s helpful to have a kitchen prep day once a week where you prepare food for the following week and load up the dehydrator. Also the trays are removable so for larger items like cakes, you may be using up to 3 trays and with a 5 tray you only have 2 trays left. You will need to purchase the tefflex sheets also, for wet recipes. This model only comes standard with the mesh sheets, but the tefflex sheets are great for wet crackers, fruit leather and anything they may slip through the mesh when dehydrating. I purchased 9 tefflex sheets.

Other suggested model: The Tribest Sedona is a more up to date version of the Excalibur, with a glass door and digital temperature gauge. 

Tribest Sedona Food Dehydrator.

Spiraliser

Uses

Makes vegetable pasta strands our of produce like zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, beetroot, jicama etc.

I started with the Joyce Chen spirliser purchased in the UK from here and upgraded to the World Cuisine Spiraliser purchased in the US from here (both approximately the same price) however the World Cuisine Spiraliser takes the middle piece of the produce away which allows for a longer shelf life on your noodles as they are less moist. I had to eat the noodles immediately upon making with the Joyce Chen however the World Cuisine Spiraliser the noodles (usually zucchini) tend to last a few days in the fridge.

Mandoline

Uses

slices thinly for things like rawvioli and sweet potato chips, julienne’s thick and think matchsticks for salads and sushi filings, etc

I own the Benriner mandoline which I purchased online in the US from here

Any mandoline will do, however i do prefer the compact Joyce Chen version. Mandolines can be found in most kitchen/department stores and the julienne blades can make a julienne matchstick noodle substitution if you don’t have a spiraliser.

Julienne Peeler*

Uses

can be used to peel long julienne slices of carrots, cucumbers and zucchini etc when you don’t have a mandoline or a spirlaiser. Great for travel. Many versions available and they look just like a vegetable peeler but with jagged blades available from most kitchen/department stores.

Nutmilk Bag/Cheesecloth*-

Uses

Makes nut/seed milks and can be used for sprouting and nut cheese making.

I don’t favour any bags in particular, however the specialised nut milk bags available from raw food suppliers online are usually more expensive than just making your own with cheesecloth or muslin or else purchasing cheap paint strainer bags from a hardware store. You can also use a knee high stocking or cut up some hosiery to use in place.

Ice Cream maker

Uses

making ice cream with cashews, young Thai coconut meat, or fresh fruit.

I have the ICE-50BC Cusiinart Ice Cream Maker which is what we used in culinary school, and it does not require freezing the tub before use for 24hours like their cheaper model Cuisinart ICE-30BC Ice Cream Maker (both can be purchased in the USA from here or Australia from here) which means it’s more convenient for making ice cream at the last minute. Usually my ice cream is done within 45minutes. However the ice cream maker is nearing 3 years old and is not used frequently but has begun to make a lot more noise when in use. I contacted Cuisinart to look at finding a registered repairer locally, but they were not helpful as the maker was purchased in the US but I use it Saudi Arabia. Weird. I am happy to pay for the repairs, but they were not able to provide me with any repairers. I will continue to use it until it doesn’t work any longer.

*Most important tools for a Raw Food Beginner

Do you have any other raw food gadgets that you use that I’ve not included here?

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