I’ve been busy compiling “The Ultimate List of B&B Kitchen Equipment” as a bonus for the  B&B Course,  trying to list everything someone running a bed and breakfast might possibly need and recommending my own favourites. 

It’s one of those tasks that you think is going to take a couple of hours and then, a few days later, you’ll still knee deep in writing it. And everytime you go into the kitchen you spot another B&B must-have kitchen essential that you missed off.

I’m up to page 17 and I’ve yet to get serious about utensils.

It doesn’t really help that I am a confirmed kitchen gadget/equipment addict and I have more mixing bowls, knives, electrical stuff and kilner jars than I’m ever going to need.

Of course what this means is that I’ve tested A LOT OF STUFF and I know what works, what doesn’t work and what’s probably not worth your money - giant juicer, impossible to clean, takes up a whole cupboard anyone?

For this week’s blog post I’ve pulled out my top 11 “Used every day in the B&B” favourites from the list! It was meant to be a top 10 - but I couldn't whittle it down to only 10!

Click on the photo to be taken to the item on Amazon. Note that I'm an Amazon affiliate so if you purchase an item from my link, I receive a small commission at no cost to you. This goes towards paying for the software to host this blog! I recommend products that I love and use myself.

#1 Kitchenaid Mini Processor

In a previous blog I recommended the Kenwood mini chopper. I still love and use that a lot, but it’s been slightly surpassed by my Kitchenaid mini processor. It’s a bit bigger than the Kenwood and has 2 speeds.

I use this for chopping herbs ( herby mushrooms ), making hollandaise ( eggs Benedict ), mashing avocados with herbs and seasoning ( avocado toast ). You can check out the recipes here → 5 easy vegetarian breakfast recipes and Hollandaise without the tears

I’ve also made small 2 person size portions of pastry and scones!

It’s also just the right size for hummus if you’re putting together a guest platter and making up the chopped celery, parsley and garlic dressing for my favourite bean salad!

In the evening it gets to work chopping onions, garlic, ginger and coriander…

It also works really well at creating small quantities of breadcrumbs for using up leftover bread. Find out more tips on How to reduce food waste at your bed and breakfast 

#2 Panasonic Breadmaker

I’ve mentioned this breadmaker in a couple of blog posts but it has been a must-have kitchen item during my B&B career, used daily at least once a day. I use it to make the dough and then prove and bake the bread separately.

I’ve owned 2 of these breadmakers in my B&B career and I’m pretty sure this one must be about 10 years old...I’m probably tempting fate here.

Find it in these recipes → How to have freshly baked bread every morning , Honey oat bread recipe and vegan hot cross bun recipe

#3 Moccamaster Filter Coffee Maker

We’ve been through a few filter coffee makers over the years. But we’ve finally settled on one that we like that makes great coffee. This one was recommended by the people who roasted the coffee beans I used for the B&B, so it must be good!

#4 For Life STUMP teapot

Just so the tea drinkers amongst you don’t feel left out, I’ve included my favourite teapot.

I started using Trumpers Loose leaf tea a few years ago at the B&B, and now it’s the only tea we drink. Owner of Trumpers tea, Claire, is lovely and will supply wholesale to B&Bs if you’re interested.

It’s one of those little extras that guests always commented on.

These STUMP teapots hold the tea leaves in the infuser without the need for a tea strainer and hold enough 2 tea for 2 mugs using 1 teaspoon of tea.

As well as teapot and loose leaf tea in the room, I also left teabags as, whilst some guests enjoyed the ceremony of preparing their own loose leaf teas, others preferred the convenience of a tea bag!

#5 Judge Vista Pan for poaching eggs

I have lots of different pans and frying pans for lots of different kitchen tasks. I find that my favourite pan for scrambling eggs and making omelettes - cheap as chips supermarket frying pan - will just not do for frying eggs or cooking sausages slowly!

With pans you also need to make sure you have enough to cover everyone ordering the same thing at the same time e.g. 2 large pans for cooking pancakes or enough pans for poaching eggs!

This isn’t only just for poaching eggs. It’s just a saucepan but it’s been my favourite over the years for poaching eggs. In my experience you need a pan with a good heavy base. It’s also our favourite for cooking cheese sauce!

Here’s my recipe with video for How to poach an egg

By the way, I was once told by a professional chef that the best pot for poaching eggs was a tall pasta pot. The egg falls down through the water and creates that lovely oval shape. I confess I did buy one but it’s so big and holds an awful lot of water which takes an age to boil. So it’s probably only for those of you that have a lot of eggs to poach → Pasta pot

#6 Mini Whisk

I love these mini whisks. They are perfect for scrambling eggs and making pancake or waffle mix. It’s useful to have 2 or 3 on hand!

#7 Ninja 9-in-1 Foodi

I wasn’t going to include this in this list as I still feel quite guilty about buying it. But today we cooked our bacon for our lunchtime bacon sarnie in the air fryer - no more standing by the grill making sure the bacon doesn’t burn or set fire to the grill. It’s also perfect for quickly cooking sausages. And then I made a beef in ale stew in the pressure cook bit,  ready for beef in ale pie. Because it has a bake function, I’ll just pop the pastry on top and there we have one pot used for cooking both lunch and dinner!

#8 Pyrex Bowls

I do have a weird addiction to mixing bowls - the smaller the better. I have to avoid a certain aisle in our local supermarket otherwise another bowl and kilner jar will jump into my shopping trolley.

I used about 4 of these on each breakfast service - think scrambling eggs, omelettes, making up pancake and waffle mix, chilling poached egg etc.

#9 Kitchenaid Stand Mixer

An electric mixer is a must have to save time if you’re doing a lot of baking for guests. Mine got daily use for both lemon drizzle cake - awaiting the guests in their room on arrival - and cinnamon swirl banana bread  - a really quick sweet bread for the breakfast buffet.

I’ve had my Kitchenaid for a lot of years and have been happy with it. Bits have worn out on it, but it has the advantage that you can buy these separately rather than having to chuck the whole machine and buy new.

#10 Loaf tins and liners

I don’t usually bake my bread in these loaf tins. I prefer to prove and bake them freeform on a baking tray. But these 1lb loaf tins have seen a tremendous amount of use a couple of times a day for both the lemon drizzle cake and banana bread. They’ll make 3 lemon drizzle loaf cakes from one mix, which cuts down the amount of time you need to spend baking. This means you’ll need at least 3 tins - I have 6.

I love these loaf tin liners for baking cakes in. You don’t have to worry about the cakes sticking and it’s a nice way to present the cakes, particularly if you’re leaving a whole cake in the room or selling/giving them to guests to take a way

#11 Tongs

Tongs are used several times a day in my kitchen. Ideal for turning sausages, especially if you're using the Ninja! When you're cooking in a commercial kitchen, having colour coded ones will mean you don't accidentally turn your vegan sausages with the ones you've just used to flip the bacon!

I hope you've found this top 11 useful.

And don't forget to check out the course if you want to grab the bonus Ultimate B&B Kitchen Equipment List when it's ready! --->> Check out the B&B Course here