Essential Cooking Video Equipment for Quality Content
For anyone passionate about creating cooking videos, starting with the right gear can significantly enhance your content quality. In this guide, I share my personal recommendations for essential equipment, from cameras to microphones, that I've tested and found valuable in my culinary storytelling. Whether you're a food blogger, YouTuber, or just love filming your recipes at home, this list covers everything you need to produce engaging cooking videos.Join me as we explore the gear that has supported my journey in filmmaking, helping me capture everything from delicious meals to the fine details of the cooking process. Let's dive into the essentials that will take your cooking videos to the next level!
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Cooking Video Equipment - Camera Gear
Camera Body
A lightweight yet powerful mirrorless camera with fast autofocus and 4K video support — perfect for crisp cooking footage. This is my first full body camera and for the longest time I was shooting videos on my smartphone. A much needed upgraded especially for longer shooting sessions since I would frequently run into my iPhone overheating while filming. This camera has a small learning curve and after 1-2 months of experimentation I definitely have learned how to properly incorporate this into my workflow. There are definitely lots of aspects with steeper learning curves which I am discovering on the fly - so any feedback from you, the viewer is welcome to help me master the camera and the footage I am capturing for my content.
Lens
This compact zoom lens gives me flexibility for wide kitchen shots and close-ups of dishes. This lens came standard as part of the content created kit I purchased and has been great for all of my use cases. I am sure there are a number of other types of lenses and filters but for someone just starting out with their first full body DSLR camera, this is more than enough.
Camera Cage
Protects the camera and adds mounting points for accessories like a mic, lights, and monitor. I ended up optimizing my video shooting workflow to easily position the camera or the tripod to shoot different angles. This cage provided much a needed cold shoe slot and expandability to add a side handle to make shooting cinematic shots easier. My light attaches to the camera’s hot shoe slot while my Rode Video Mic II attaches to the camera cages’ cold shoe so I can easily remove the camera from the tripod for handheld shots and flexibility.
Side Handle
Helps stabilize handheld shots when I want a more cinematic feel.
Cooking Video Equipment - Tripods & Mounts
Main Tripod
Strong and tall enough for overhead shots and stable angles while filming on counters. On most days I use the tripod to establish static shots during preparation, cooking and final B-roll.
Boom Arm for Mic
Easy way to get the mic off the counter and closer to the action. I used to use this all the time for my audio, however, currently I am using my Rode mic attached directly to the camera to capture food sounds, as well as my spoken audio with minimal disruption. I found it annoying with the limited space to have to move the boom arm, as well as the tripod in a way to capture audio effectively, while also ensuring the boom was out of the camera shots of the food preparation.
Cooking Video Equipment - Lighting
LED Video Light
Compact, powerful, and adjustable — adds perfect fill light when natural lighting isn’t enough. Helps to highlight my face during A-roll and I can adjust the temperature of the light to fit the natural lighting of the room.
Cooking VIdeo Equipment - Audio
Microphone
Lightweight and excellent quality — this mic captures clear voiceover and ambient kitchen sounds. It definitely is not the most premium mic available out there, there are several other RODE models that can likely record richer quality audio. As the channel grows, we will explore an upgrade but for now any support from you is a blessing.
Cooking Video Equipment - Phone Setup
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Often used for vertical content like Instagram Reels and TikToks. The camera is incredible and often times I use a combination of the DSLR and the iPhone camera to produce videos.
iPhone 14 Pro (backup/secondary cam)
I do all my video editing on a 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip, and honestly, it’s been a total game-changer. It handles everything I throw at it—whether I’m editing long YouTube videos or quick Shorts, the whole process is super smooth and fast.
I love that I don’t have to deal with lag or crashes, even when working with high-res footage and lots of layers. The screen is also amazing for color accuracy, which is super important when I want the food to pop on camera.
It’s quiet, powerful, and lets me edit from anywhere without slowing me down. It’s become a huge part of how I’m able to create and share content consistently.
Studio Workhorse
While I edit on the go with my MacBook Pro, my M2 Mac Mini is the heart of my home setup. It’s small, quiet, and super powerful—perfect for organizing footage, backing up projects, and handling heavy tasks like exporting big video files or managing my Plex server in the background.
It’s also great for multitasking—I often have multiple apps open for scripting, editing, file transfers, and running backups without it ever slowing down. Paired with my external storage and monitor, it gives me a smooth and reliable desktop experience that helps keep my workflow efficient and stress-free.
Monitor
When I’m editing at my desk, I plug my MacBook Pro into the Dell U2723QE monitor—and it makes a huge difference. It’s a beautiful 27-inch 4K display with super sharp detail and vibrant colors, which is perfect for video editing and color grading.
The USB-C connection is super convenient—just one cable powers the MacBook and connects everything else. I also love the extra ports built into the monitor, so I can plug in my hard drives and accessories without cluttering my desk.
It gives me the screen space I need to comfortably work on timelines, thumbnails, and even do some web design or writing when I’m not editing video.
Cooking Video Equipment - Peripherals & Accessories
Mouse
This thing just works when I’m editing video. It’s big, comfy, and built to handle marathon sessions without straining my hand . The buttons are whisper-quiet—no loud clicks disturbing the flow—and the scroll wheel is magic: it switches between precise and super-fast modes depending on how hard I flick it.
What really makes it a video editor’s best friend is the extra horizontal wheel and customizable buttons.
Keyboards
Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
For my main editing setup, I use the Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Touch ID. It’s sleek, super responsive, and I love how easily it unlocks my MacBook Pro and authorizes app installs with just a tap. The full-size layout with the number pad is great for shortcuts and organizing files quickly.
At our workstation with the M2 Mac Mini, my wife uses the Logitech MX Keys, and it’s a solid choice too. The keys feel smooth and comfortable for long typing sessions, and it pairs perfectly with the MX Master 3S mouse. Plus, the backlighting and multi-device switching make it a great fit for our shared creative space.
External SSD
I use the SanDisk 1TB Extreme Portable SSD whenever I need fast, rugged, and reliable storage on the go. It’s compact enough to toss in my bag, has a built-in loop if I want to clip it to something, and it can handle drops up to ~3 meters with its IP‑65 durability—great for shooting in unpredictable environments
SD Card
Fast write speeds to keep up with 4K shooting.
Mac Mini Hub & SSD
Satechi Mac Mini Hub with M.2 Slot
I recently added the Satechi Stand & Hub under my Mac Mini—and it’s been a total game-changer for keeping things streamlined and efficient.
It acts as a sleek stand that elevates the Mini, with neat front-facing USB-A ports and an SD card slot—great for quick plugin and unplug action during shoots .
Best part? It hides an M.2 SSD slot underneath (supports up to 4 TB SATA or NVMe), so I can boost storage without adding clutter—perfect for video files .
Read/write speeds hit around 850–900 MB/s, which is awesome for editing and backups—just don’t expect Thunderbolt-level speed since it’s limited by USB‑C bandwidth
It’s made of solid aluminum, matches the Mac Mini’s look, and keeps it ventilated and powered through one cable .
A few quirks to know:
All the expansion runs off a single USB‑C cable, so if you overload the ports and SSD, things can slow down .
There’s no locking mechanism—your Mini might shift slightly if you’re tugging on cables .
And it slightly limits Wi‑Fi if it’s stacked on certain desk surfaces
Boosts Mac Mini with ports and extra fast internal SSD storage.
🖥️ Editing & Software
Video Editor: Final Cut Pro
I do all my video editing in Final Cut Pro, and it’s honestly been the smoothest, most efficient tool for my workflow. It runs incredibly fast on my M1 Pro MacBook and M2 Mac Mini—even with 4K footage, multi-cam edits, and layered effects.
The magnetic timeline is super intuitive, and I love how fast I can cut, rearrange, and fine-tune clips without any lag. Built-in tools like color grading, audio cleanup, and titles are more than enough for most of my content, and when I need something extra, I’ve got a few plugins that add pro-level polish.
It also works great with my SanDisk SSD and external drives, so I can keep my projects portable and organized. Whether I’m editing YouTube videos, Shorts, or Reels, Final Cut Pro keeps things fast and fun, letting me focus more on the creative side and less on technical hiccups.
Music: YouTube Audio Library
Royalty-free tracks for background vibes.