A useful GAPS kitchen starts with the meals you are going to make. A pot for stock, a jar for a ferment and somewhere to cool and store the food usually matter before another countertop appliance. You may already have much of what you need.
In our house, the morning pot of meat stock is one of the routines that made GAPS doable. What goes into it changes with the budget, the time, what is in the fridge and what is on sale. I’m a homeschooling mother of six, and I cook before my second-shift job, so equipment needs to help with the work already in the day.
Start With Four Kitchen Jobs
Think about the equipment in four groups: making stock and soup, fermenting suitable foods, cooling and storing what you cook, and preparing the foods in your current GAPS route. The six-stage Intro and Full GAPS have different menus, and some people begin directly with Full GAPS. The Intro versus Full guide explains that starting choice.
- A suitable pot and lid, knife, stable board and strainer for the stock and soup you plan to make.
- A food-grade fermentation vessel, with a way to keep vegetables submerged and manage gas.
- Containers and cold-storage space for the batch you can realistically use.
- Preparation tools chosen for the actual recipe, such as a blender, skillet, baking pan or juicer.
Choose the Pot and Cooking Materials
Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s 2020 book recommends glass or stainless-steel pots and also permits enamel, clay, earthenware and cast iron, particularly enameled cast iron. It advises avoiding aluminum, nonstick cookware and plastic food-contact items, and recommends wooden or stainless utensils and glass storage.[1]
Our cookware includes Le Creuset in Artichaut. The useful buying question is the size and shape that fits your food and stove: enough space for the meat or fish and liquid in the recipe, enough room to handle the pot comfortably and enough storage capacity afterward. I would not choose a large stockpot simply because it looks like the most serious piece of GAPS equipment.
A covered pot, fine strainer and stable preparation tools handle several recurring jobs. Ask the butcher to prepare large bones as your recipe requires rather than trying to split them with an unsuitable kitchen tool. When straining, use a setup you can handle steadily with the batch in front of you.
Keep Meat Stock and Bone Broth Distinct
The GAPS book focuses on meat stock and does not recommend bone broth for at least one year, with some people needing longer, including several years. A cooker’s “stock” or “broth” button does not identify the ingredients or the GAPS role of the preparation.[1]
Rachael Mamane’s Mastering Stocks and Broths describes stovetop equipment and separate pressure-cooker and slow-cooker techniques. Use a complete appropriate recipe for the chosen appliance, including its ingredients, settings and finish cues. A new appliance is a convenience choice, not something you must buy to begin making stovetop stock.[3]
Our tools include a Ninja 11-in-1 pressure cooker, along with a Ninja blender and food processor, and the Ninja JC151 juicer. Those are parts of our kitchen, not a requirement to buy all four. Check the food-contact pot, insert and attachments as well as the brand name when choosing equipment.
Choose Fermentation Jars for the Method
I make sauerkraut, kimchi and fermented kimchi hot sauce at home. On busy stretches I also buy ferments from Firefly in Seattle. A fermentation setup should suit the amount you can prepare and use, rather than making every batch a large project.
Sandor Ellix Katz’s The Art of Fermentation explains the equipment roles clearly: the vessel holds the vegetables and liquid, while a weight or suitable plug helps keep the vegetables submerged. Glass jars and food-safe ceramic crocks are useful options. The lid and pressure-management arrangement need to suit the vessel and the complete method.[2]
For a sealed jar without an airlock, Katz describes releasing pressure briefly each day during the first active days. An airlock manages gas; it does not keep floating vegetables below the liquid. Use the whole method for salt, packing, temperature, time and assessment rather than treating one accessory as the method.[2]
A knife is enough for chopping. A shredding attachment can make repeated batches easier, and a room thermometer helps you understand the actual conditions where the jar sits. A large crock, airlock collection and dedicated shredding tool can wait until they solve a regular job.
Where My Luvele Yogurt Maker Fits
I use the Luvele Pure Plus yogurt maker. My Luvele Pure Plus review explains its glass container, setup, and the GAPS yogurt method I use. A controlled-temperature maker can help with the long culture used in homemade GAPS yogurt.[5]
Dairy still follows its own introduction guidance and the person’s tolerance. Choose the milk, starter, temperature and culture time from the complete appropriate recipe; the machine’s brand does not make every yogurt preparation the same. A thermometer, suitable jars and a way to hold the required temperature steadily are the practical questions to settle.[1]
Plan Cooling and Storage Before the Batch
Mamane emphasizes looking at refrigerator and freezer space before building a stock supply. A large bowl or container for rapid cooling, suitable storage containers and portions you can use are part of the equipment plan, not an afterthought once the pot is full.[3]
For freezing in glass, use freezer-suitable containers, cool the stock before filling and allow expansion space. Mamane freezes the jars without lids, then seals them once the stock is frozen. Follow the container maker’s instructions as well as the recipe’s storage method. Small portions make it easier to thaw what a meal needs; a second freezer is useful only if your actual storage needs justify it.[3]
A food thermometer is useful for checking the cooked meats and reheated foods a recipe calls for. Choose a readable instrument with a suitable probe and temperature range. FoodSafety.gov’s cooked-food temperature chart is a practical reference for those jobs.[4]
Campbell-McBride’s kitchen guidance uses a conventional gas, electric, wood or oil stove and excludes microwave ovens and induction hobs. The GAPS microwave guide explains that part of the book’s kitchen instructions.[1]
Tools That Become Useful Through Intro
This table follows the standard six-stage Intro examples in the book. It shows food-preparation jobs, not a rule about when a household is allowed to own a tool. A blender, for example, can help with an earlier suitable soup as well as a later recipe.
| Intro Stage | Preparation Job | Useful Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Stock, soup and introduced fermented-vegetable juice | Lidded pot, strainer, board, knife, suitable jars and storage |
| Stage 2 | Covered stews and the appropriate introduced egg preparations | Covered cooking vessel and the basic tools already in use |
| Stage 3 | The book’s nut-butter and squash pancakes, scrambled eggs and introduced whole fermented vegetables | Suitable skillet; food processor where the complete recipe calls for it; fermentation vessel |
| Stage 4 | Roasted or grilled meat (not barbecued or fried), bread made with fermented nut or seed flour and introduced filtered vegetable juice | Oven and appropriate baking vessel; juicer and fine strainer |
| Stage 5 | Cooked apple purée and the next juice additions | Saucepan, masher and the juicing setup |
| Stage 6 | Introduced peeled raw fruit | The preparation tools you already use |
The Stage 1 guide and the food-list guide keep the food detail beside the equipment planning. A person beginning with Full GAPS may use a juicer or other later-Intro tool earlier in their own schedule. The meal and route determine the job. The Stage 4 meat guidance also excludes burned or very browned parts.[1]
Choose a Blender for Its Actual Job
Blending soup, processing squash for a pancake recipe and grinding nuts into flour are different tasks. Check what the appliance is designed to do, including its hot-liquid instructions. An immersion blender’s reach and vessel requirements differ from a countertop blender’s jar and lid arrangement.
A dedicated nut grinder or another machine can wait if you can already make the recipe with suitable existing equipment.
What Can Wait
Convenience equipment becomes worthwhile when you can name the repeated job it will make easier. That may be a pressure cooker, larger fermentation vessel, yogurt maker, juicer, dehydrator or extra freezer. It does not all need to arrive before the first pot of soup.
A useful short list names the job alongside the tool: “a jar that fits this ferment and weight,” “a pot I can lift and cool in this space,” or “a juicer for the stage-appropriate juice we are ready to introduce.” That is easier to shop from than a long list of appliances with no immediate use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Every Tool Belong to One GAPS Stage?
No. The stages describe food introductions and preparations. A tool can serve several jobs. The table shows when particular Intro examples make it useful; it does not prohibit using a blender or pan for another suitable recipe earlier.
Do I Need a Juicer Before Starting Intro?
The standard Intro introduces freshly pressed, well-filtered carrot juice at Stage 4. If that is the only job you need the juicer for, you have time to choose it. That timing is different from buying equipment for a Full GAPS recipe you plan to use from your own starting point.[1]
What Should I Check Before Buying Fermentation Weights?
Check that the weight fits your jar or crock and can keep the vegetables below the liquid. Also check how the lid or airlock manages gas. Those are separate equipment jobs in Katz’s method.[2]
Start With the Next Meal
Choose the next complete recipe you plan to make and check the tools and storage it needs against what is already in your kitchen. For more help with these kitchen skills, The Stock Pot Course and Intro Stage 1–6 Batch-Cooking Guides are among my resources in the WFLI Shop. The recipe collection gives you concrete meals to work from.
References
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), GAPS Introduction Diet; Dairy Introduction Structure; What We Shall Eat and Why, With Some Recipes, kitchenware guidance and Meat Stock and Soups.
- Katz, S. E. The Art of Fermentation, vegetable-fermentation vessels, packing, submersion and pressure release.
- Mamane, R. Mastering Stocks and Broths, equipment, cold storage, cooling and Simplified Methods.
- FoodSafety.gov. Cooked-food minimum internal temperatures.
- Luvele US. Pure Plus yogurt maker and its SCD/GAPS use.
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