I remember the very moment that I decided to start traveling with knives. I was on assignment in Chile and tried dicing an onion with the incredibly dull chef’s knife that was all I’d have to use for the coming months. Instead of cutting, it created a line of bruised allium beneath the blade before smushing its way through.
At first, I’d just roll up my chef’s knife and maybe a paring knife in a dishtowel and toss it into the bottom of my rolling duffel. Soon after, I bought a modest knife roll, adding a few key items depending on where I was heading, how long I’d be there, and how much cooking I thought I’d do. Now, if I rely on what my hotel, AirBnB, or short-stay apartment might have for me, it always feels like a bad-odds roll of the dice. These places often have the kind of stuff that tends to put the junk in the junk drawer if they’re there at all. Even a weekend without a select favorite kitchen items can feel like too long, but by bringing a few key items along, cooking on a trip away can make you feel right at home.
Chef’s Knife:
My most essential on-the-road tool is a chef’s knife. Considering the possibility of lost luggage, theft, or damage, you don’t want to bring your fanciest or most sentimental blade. My wife Elisabeth and I bring either my tried-and-true Wusthöf Classic, or her 15 year-old Cuisinart with the stainless-steel handle and the blade that holds a wicked edge. Related pro tips: sharpen whatever you bring before you go, and remember that knives must go in your checked bag.
Paring knife:
A second, smaller knife is always welcome, whether it’s for detail work, carving a rotisserie chicken, or just something for a kitchen helper to use. My bottom-of-the-line, hard-to-sharpen-but-only-twenty-clams Wusthöf Gourmet Paring Knife fits the bill nicely, but I also love Kuhn Rikon’s Colori knives, with their colorful handles, matching painted blades and tiny sheaths to keep the blades sharp and protected. You could also cheat a bit here and bring a pocket knife, at which point I’d steer you toward an Opinel No. 9 with a carbon-steel blade.
Thermometer:
If you’re the kind of person who frequently ends up cooking the holiday turkey at your in-laws’, or manning the grill at your friend’s party, bring a thermometer to make sure your efforts will be as celebrated as they deserve to be. When in doubt, use ThermoWorks. I love my brand-new Thermapen MK4 (no surprise there, at $100 it’s spendy, fast, accurate, and pretty much everyone’s favorite), but I’ve also enjoyed their entry-level ThermoPop which both weighs and costs about a third as much as the MK4. If you really want to do it right with a bird (or roast) on the road, use a compact ChefAlarm Cooking Alarm Thermometer. Park the probe in the center of the thickest part of the turkey breast, set the alarm, then go raid your uncle’s Scotch collection.
Pocket Scraper:
I still remember when chef Larkin Young gave me a pocket scraper—the sheer usefulness of a “D”-shaped piece of flat plastic not much larger than a credit card blew my mind. Tuck yours in a pocket while you work, then marshal a pile of chopped parsley from the cutting board to the top of a finished dish, or use it to quickly clear stuff off your countertop. Mine is so generic that I don’t know who makes it, but you can confidently use chef Hugh Acheson’s favorite, the Ateco 1303, which costs a whopping two bucks.
