I’ve been doing this and that in the kitchen tonight and as I put away my Instant Pot it dawned on me that while for some people a fad, I still use mine enough for it to earn it’s keep in a cupboard.
Small appliances can get a bad rap. We sometimes get sucked in only to have them take up space, take our money and then get donated or a prime spot in a garage sale or passed onto a family member.
But if I look at just today (a weekend day, so home more to USE small appliances) what small appliances did I put into action:
Breakfast
Toaster - toasted my sourdough for a tomato sandwich
Ninja Blender - made a matcha/kale frappe
Mid afternoon snack
Coffee Maker - love my electric pour over pot for a mid afternoon warm drink
Toaster oven - to warm up leftover homemade pizza for H.
Dinner/Future Dinner
Instant Pot - made chicken broth for this week from rotisserie chicken
Rice Cooker - rice for the base for Korean ground chicken dish
(Guess I could have made my rice in the instant pot - didn’t think about that!)
That’s 6 small appliance uses in one day. And the day is not over! Make life delicious and easier.
Mr. Coffee drip coffee maker (about 30 years old?) - used it this morning.
Breville tea kettle - ditto.
Instant pot - a game changer and a keeper for HBE and stuff.
Kitchenaid mixer - ditto; can’t say enough good things about it when it comes to dumpling dough making.
Handheld Sunbeam mixer (about 30 years old?) - use it occasionally to make batter or whip cream.
Breville toaster - gets its action every now and then when we get some bread.
Bamix immersion blender - sits in the drawer but gets out every T-giving.
Vitamix… maybe it is time for it to find a new home.
I use my instant pot almost every day. My kitchen aide mixer gets a ton of use. Toaster, Keurig with steamer, bean grinder, rice cooker, immersion blender… that probably rounds out my most used small appliances.
Coffee from a Nespresso coffee maker and also used the Nespresso frother. Toaster to toast Dave’s Killer Bread. H uses the Vitamix for the protein drink he has almost every morning. I made a vegetable fritatta for dinner and used an immersion blender for the eggs and milk. So—5 in total. Those are the small appliances we use the most.
Keurig
Instant Pot
Lobster pot (Ok, not an appliance)
What sits on my counters at both our home and our cabin for easy access and constant use:
Keurig*
Cuisinart
Instant Pot
Kitchen Aid
Juicer
*DH keeps a Nespresso on the counter at home, foregoes one at the cabin.
I don’t have a kettle. I make tea in the Keurig as it doesn’t care whether coffee or tea is in the reusable pods.
Not an electric appliance, but I use my chopper box almost every day, and have a backup at both places just in case the primary one breaks. I cannot be without this thing.
I’ll play - I have a few I keep on the counter and use almost daily…
2 coffee pots, mine for real coffee, the other for my love who drinks brewed Teeccino (both used every morning)
4 slice toaster - my love uses it more than I do - but I use it a lot
Ninja blender - used daily for my lunch protein smoothies
Toaster oven - used often, this morning to toast bagels, tonight to heat naan
Tea kettle is always on the stovetop ready, willing & able
We use our toaster oven, coffee maker and coffee grinder daily.
The instapot is on the corner of counter (I have a lot of counter space), but we have only used it a few times. The crockpot is out too, but I don’t use it in the summer.
A few times a week we use our rice cooker / veggie steamer device.
Coincidentally today I did use a slicer/shredder tool that does not get used very much. It’s zucchini season, and it was just the thing I needed shredding zuc or zuc bread (and more for the freezer).
Coffee grinder, Cuisineart drip coffee maker and toaster get used daily. Keurig is also on the counter & gets used when one of us needs a coffee pick-me-up after breakfast.
Other small appliances that get used, but not daily: Sunbeam electric mixer, Magic Bullet (for smoothies & grinding whole spices), crockpot. I don’t have a lot of counter or cabinet space in my kitchen, so I’ve never purchased appliances I don’t feel truly compelled to bring home.
Ugh, have 4 large zucchini on the table, want to make zucchini bread, but hate to manually shred it.
On the counter is a keurig (has a pot and a cup fir single serve), ice machine (fill it a dozen times a day), electric kettle, toaster over/air fryer that gets used many times a day. The magic bullet is used daily (I think this is our 3rd), rice cooker and slow cooker used almost once a week. I love my immersion blender for soup (summer gazpacho once a week). I’ll sous vide a few times a month.
I mean, I get that people use their coffee maker and toaster daily for the most part. But throughout the day, it’s interesting to note how many small appliances your hands touch.
Because honestly it’s not just in the kitchen.
Would you consider a hair dryer a small appliance? An electric toothbrush?? Maybe not.
Does it matter if you’re someone who likes to cook or bake? Or do small appliances help a non cook or baker get food on the plate??
Electric griddle—since retirement MADad (moi) makes breakfast for MAMom every day, and the griddle is indispensable, whether the menu is pancakes, french toast, or egg sandwiches, etc. SO much easier than using a skillet with its rounded edges.
The griddle is put away but comes out just about every morning. What sits out on the counter are the drip coffee maker, can opener, toaster (small 2-slicer), and KitchenAid mixer. Microwave hangs from under a cabinet, out of the way. Food processor, coffee bean grinder, waffle iron, only come out when needed (we have a small pantry to store such things)
We’re up at our little shack on Cape Cod. Today we used microwave to warm up milk for coffee, and some people warmed up yesterday’s pancakes. Since the kids are here I broke out the electric pour over coffee maker that makes coffee in quantity. Until they arrived I’d been using the little stovetop espresso maker which I love when it’s just me. We have a toaster here, but don’t expect to use it today.
I can’t begin to list all the small appliances we have and use as needed but, on a daily basis, it’s mostly the short list I posted above. @mathmom made me think about the microwave. I guess I overlooked that as I don’t think of it as a small appliance as ours is built-in and is also a convection oven. Our main oven is also an air fryer. We use both almost every day, but I think of them as permanent fixtures.
At our main home, DH uses the sous vide for every form of meat and fish we eat, and I use an immersion blender and steamer frequently. We do cook almost every meal every day, so the variety of appliances and gadgets we have gets constant use and are stored either right on the countertop or in a drawer or cabinet convenient to where they get used.
For us, it’s not so much that we cook and bake, it’s WHAT we do or don’t cook and bake. For example, several posts list a toaster and rice cooker. We never eat rice so no rice cooker, and we rarely eat toast or muffins, so our toaster lives on high shelf in a cabinet. On an old thread, someone asked what we used our Cuisinart for that it needed to be handy on the counter. Because of what and the frequency with which we cook/bake, I use the Cuisinart constantly, but this poster cooks and eats differently, so it wouldn’t make her small appliance roll call.
I definitely think, though, that small appliances and handy gadgets are a big help to those who don’t prioritize cooking or baking as they make the “chore” easier when they do make the attempt.
The only appliances we have on the counter are the juicer and the toaster. DH uses the juicer daily. The toaster gets used a couple times a week. I use the microwave daily but it is built in. DH also uses the built-in gas bbq in the backyard most days.
Very little counter space here, plus I did a big cleanout of the pantry and got rid of lots of small appliances and other kitchenware we weren’t using regularly, including the bread maker, huge crockpot (kept the smaller one), wok etc.
In active almost-daily use are the microwave, toaster oven, and replacement Mr Coffee (our marriage has lasted longer than the wedding gift, although we’re happier with the marriage than we are with the replacement coffeemaker).
The only small appliances on the counter are the blender, toaster, and electric kettle. H usually them daily. I rarely do. Never the blender. The electric kettle if I’m sick and making hot chocolate. Never the toaster.
I use the microwave daily, but it’s built in. When the kids were home, I’d use the griddle all the time. With only 2, I just use a skillet. I use the waffle maker a couple of times a month. I have used our crock pot <5 times ever. H might use it a few times a year. No instant pot or rice cooker or air fryer. We have an egg cooker that I used daily for years, but I also haven’t used it in years. H has though.
I don’t drink coffee. H does, but does instant. I’m not sure if we have a coffee pot anymore or not.
