ARTICLE

Winning Kitchen Combination: A Chef’s Choice

May 12, 2023 – 4 min read

In a chef’s kitchen, precision is everything. It doesn’t matter how good your knife skills are or how well you know your flavour profiles – if your oven doesn’t accurately roast at 220 degrees Celsius or the temperature on your cooktop isn’t right, you’re going to have a tough time executing dishes to your liking.

For acclaimed Brisbane chef Josh Lopez, director of the Monstera Group and former executive chef at The Wolfe and GOMA Restaurant, where he earned two chef’s hats, having reliable and efficient cooking appliances at home is a must. Discover what Josh considers to be the perfect home set-up for aspiring chefs or pros, to put a smile on your dial come service time for family and friends.

The Chef’s Oven

Whether roasting perfectly pink pork belly or baking a light and fluffy soufflé, a quality oven is absolutely essential in a chef’s kitchen. At home, Josh Lopez prefers using an electric fan-forced oven with good air circulation for cooking vegetables, pastries and puddings. “Ideally it would have a very accurate and visual thermostat that tells you when it’s reached your desired temperature,” he says. “Often they’re not pre-heated enough when you whack a cake in.”

A quality oven also ensures consistency. This is especially important for celebrations and special occasions like Christmas, when Josh knows he can rely on his oven to serve up the very best version of his seasonal cherry chocolate brownie. And when it comes to creating new dishes and experimenting in the kitchen, a reliable oven is critical to the process.

Our Recommended Chef’s Ovens

Bosch 90cm Built-in Pyrolyric Oven Series 6

Fisher & Paykel 90cm Electric Oven

ILVE 90cm Electric Oven

VE 90cm Electric Oven “You need to know you can get the same results every time. There’s nothing worse than practising a new recipe but you can’t replicate it. Knowing your equipment and trusting it puts your mind at ease.”

The Chef’s Cooktop

“Cooking with gas” might be a favourite saying among chefs, but for Josh Lopez there’s no going past an induction cooktop. “Induction is like the electric car – it doesn’t seem that intuitive to begin with, but once you’ve learnt how to use it, and it’s quick to master, it makes everything else seem archaic. Induction has reinvented cooking,” he says.

A master of contemporary Australian fine dining, it’s no wonder Josh has embraced the latest cooking style. “It’s the fastest and most efficient heat source available on the market at the moment,” he says.

One of its key benefits for Josh is being able to have four pots on the go without having to worry about the handles getting hot over the hobs. “When I cook a steak dinner, I go a bit more cheffy at home. I’ll have steak in a grill pan, hollandaise or béarnaise sauce in a saucepan, a big pot with beans or carrots blanching, and a pan for warming them through with mustard or truffle paste,” he says. “Multitasking is a big one for me in the kitchen and making sure everything is warm and hot all at the same time, so you need an efficient workflow. You have to think differently with induction, but it’s superior.”

Shop Chef’s Cooktops

Asko 90cm Induction Cooktop

Electrolux 90cm Induction Cooktop

Miele 93.6cm Zoned Induction Cooktop

The Chef’s Rangehood

No-one likes a kitchen full of smoke and steam. For Josh Lopez, a quiet rangehood with a strong extraction fan, as well as good lighting to easily see what you’re cooking, is paramount in a chef’s kitchen. “It’s great to have LED lighting if possible so you can really see what’s happening in the pan, especially at night,” he says.

Josh also prefers a hidden undermount rangehood for a clean and minimalist look. “I’m not a big fan of canopy rangehoods at home – for me, they’re more of a commercial kitchen thing,” he says.

Our Recommended Chef’s Rangehoods

Schweigen 90cm Silent Undermount Rangehood

Miele 90cm Integrated Rangehood

The Chef’s Microwave

The more power the better when it comes to the chef’s microwave. The higher the wattage, the faster the cook. “At home, our microwave gets used quite a bit,” says Josh. “You don’t want something that’s underpowered or it takes forever to heat up. It’s worth paying the extra money for something that’s at least 1200 watts.”

While he uses his home microwave to gently melt chocolate and butter for delicious desserts, he says its number one use is for popcorn. “It’s perfect for movie nights.”

Our Recommended Chef’s Microwaves

Breville 32L 1200W Combi Wave 3 in 1 Convection Oven

LG 56L 1200W NeoChef Smart Inverter Microwave

Sharp 32L 1200W Flatbed Microwave

If you’re passionate about food and bringing loved ones together around the dinner table, check out our full range of kitchen appliances. You can count on our trusted brands to help you serve up delicious meals every time. Visit us in-store or online today.