The right kitchen appliances will they make healthy eating easy and practical.
Here is a list of the most essential kitchen appliances that will simplify work in the kitchen and make your life easier.
1. Rice Cookers
Rice cookers are designed to make rice without supervision. They take the guesswork out of making rice.
You simply add rice and adequate water to the cooking pot and leave it to do the cooking.
Both simple and complex multi-grain rice cooker options are available. However, you can use it to cook much more than just rice.
You can also prepare other grains, lentils, porridge, and a variety of other ingredients.
Another benefit is that most rice cookers keep food warm for an extended time, making it easy to serve when you choose.
2. Deep Fryers (Quart Fryers)
A deep fryer or quart fryer is used to deep fry different ingredients in oil. Here’s how a deep fryer works.
It consists of a large metal container with a heating element and a removable basket. These devices work on electricity.
They have temperature controls to adjust the frying temperature. Advanced models come with oil filtration systems to clean the oil after frying.
You can use deep fryers to make French fries, deep-fried chicken, onion rings, fish fingers, and a variety of ingredients conveniently without the mess associated with stovetop frying.
3. Microwave Ovens
Microwave ovens use electromagnetic waves to cook food quickly. Apart from cooking, they can also be used for baking, reheating, and defrosting. Here’s how they work.
There is a cooking compartment with a door in these appliances, where you place the cooking ingredients.
The control panel allows for customizing the settings according to the recipe and ingredients.
Microwave ovens cook food quickly and efficiently. However, you must use only special microwave-safe bowls and utensils in these devices.
It’s also not safe to use the microwave to cook certain ingredients like whole eggs and grapes.
4. Blenders
The blender is a versatile kitchen appliance used to liquefy and puree ingredients. It consists of a glass bowl with sharp blades and a lid. Here’s how a blender works.
This bowl sits on top of a motorized base with controls to adjust the blending speed. You can use it to make juices, smoothies, and sauces.
After adding the ingredients to the bowl, you can switch on the blender using the control switches.
It will combine the ingredients and pulverize them by creating a vortex where they are pulled toward the blades.
5. Juicers
Juicers extract juice from vegetables and fruits by separating liquid from the pulp.
There are different types of juicers, like centrifugal, citrus, and masticating juicers, with different modes of operation.
They also come in different capacities and price ranges.
Juicers are used to prepare fresh, nutrient-rich juice that can be consumed directly or used as an ingredient in other recipes.
6. Toasters
Toasters are kitchen appliances that toast bread, bagels, waffles, and more. They offer a quick way to heat and brown bread without supervision.
Here’s how toasters work.
These devices look like metal boxes with slots on the top and a heating element at the base.
The slots hold the bread while the heating element radiates heat to evenly brown it. Toasting bread makes it crunchy and more enjoyable.
7. Food Processors
Food processors are multi-functional gadgets that make food preparation a breeze. These devices consist of a motorized base and a bowl.
The bowl comes with various blades that are capable of chopping, shredding, grinding, kneading dough, pureeing, blitzing, and performing other food prep tasks.
Food processors can work with large amounts of food at a time. This reduces the effort in the kitchen and makes cooking much easier.
8. Pasta Makers
Pasta makers allow you to prepare pasta from scratch with pasta dough.
This device has a roller mechanism with adjustable settings, so you can roll the pasta dough in the desired thickness and shape.
Pasta dough is passed through the roller to flatten it. Attachment accessories help to cut the pasta into the desired shapes.
It’s a good option to make pasta from scratch at home using high-quality flour or special ingredients.
9. Percolators
Percolators are coffee-brewing devices that were popular before automatic coffee makers became available.
They can be of two types—electric or stovetop. Both percolators work on the same principle.
Fresh coffee grounds are added to the base of the percolator. Water is then added to the bottom chamber and heated.
As the water heats up, it rises through the internal tubes running across the coffee grounds.
This process repeats several times till the coffee infuses into the water.
It finally drips into the bottom chamber, from where you can retrieve the concentrated coffee.
10. Induction Stove
Induction stoves use electromagnetic induction to heat cookware directly.
It creates a magnetic field between the cooking surface and the base of the container, generating a current that heats and cooks the contents.
Induction cooktops are highly efficient and faster than regular stovetops.
However, you must use induction-friendly cookware itself since it can’t operate on non-ferromagnetic material.
11. Electric Stove
An electric cooktop or range uses electricity to generate heat for cooking. It’s a practical and better alternative to traditional gas stoves.
This stove has a heating element beneath a flat surface or base, on which you place the cooking utensils.
The temperature can be varied from low to high according to your cooking needs.
The coils in electric stoves retain heat for several minutes after switching off the stove.
So you can continue to cook in the residual heat for a few extra minutes.
12. Refrigerators
Refrigerators keep foods fresh and cool, thereby extending their lifespan.
This allows you to buy food in bulk and store it for longer at a reduced temperature.
It also ensures food safety as storing food at a lower temperature prevents the growth of bacteria and other microbes that cause food poisoning.
Refrigerators come in all sizes and shapes, with single and multi-door options.
Some of them also have adjustable controls for customizing the settings.
13. Ovens
Ovens offer an enclosed, small space for controlled cooking. They are of different types, like wall ovens, toaster ovens, or double ovens.
These appliances generate and maintain a consistent temperature. So, they are typically used for baking, roasting, and broiling food.
Ovens use gas or electricity for operation. They also come with temperature knobs to adjust the temperature setting.
Some ovens have a fan feature to distribute heat faster and speed up cooking.
They can be used to prepare a variety of dishes, including cakes, casseroles, desserts, pies, and much more.
14. Freezers
Freezers store food at sub-zero temperatures, extending their lifespan significantly.
They consist of an insulated compartment with a refrigeration system that creates very low temperatures.
At these low temperatures, bacteria and other microbes that cause food spoilage can’t survive.
They are widely used for the bulk storage of perishable ingredients like meat, readymade food, milk products, and more.
Freezers can either be attached to refrigerators or be stand-alone units.
15. Mixers
As the name suggests, mixers mix different ingredients to create a batter or dough.
There are two main types of mixers—stand mixers and hand mixers.
Stand mixers are standalone units that can mix a large amount of ingredients at a time.
They are typically used to prepare cake batter, bread dough, and other types of batter.
They come with different attachments for different types of dough or batter.
Meanwhile, hand mixers are handheld devices that you can run through a bowl of ingredients to mix them.
Hand mixers are better suited for small quantities of ingredients.
They also come with different types of attachments to prepare different types of dough or batter.
16. Crock Pots
Crock pots, also known as slow cookers, are kitchen appliances used for slow-cooking ingredients.
These devices have a ceramic pot into which you add all ingredients. This pot sits inside a metal casing with a heating element.
Crock pots use gentle heat to slowly mix and integrate ingredients.
They are ideal for cooking soups, stews, and other recipes that taste best when the ingredients blend slowly and amalgamate perfectly.
17. Garbage Disposals
Garbage disposals break down food waste into smaller particles, making it easy to flow through the plumbing system.
This reduces the chances of drain blocks and food rotting before it reaches the drainage.
Garbage disposals are connected to the kitchen sink, where pots and pans are washed after cooking.
They are powered by an electric motor with blades that crush any food residue in a grinding chamber.
18. Dishwashers
Dishwashers are automatic electrical appliances that wash and dry pots, pans, plates, and other kitchen vessels and utensils. Here’s how they work.
They are water-efficient, and energy efficient and don’t need manual supervision.
They come in different sizes and have different functionalities based on the model and brand.
Dishwashers optimize water usage while removing even tough stains. However, these devices run for a long time.
Certain vessels like Teflon and glazed ceramic pans, as well as those with plastic handles, are best kept out of the dishwasher.
The rigorous washing cycle and use of hot water can damage them.
