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The best kitchen appliances – spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your family
You’d like to think your family appreciates the time you spend in the kitchen. Manually preparing the ingredients for each meal – chopping, cutting, crushing and mincing – all without using any kitchen appliances.
And, you’re right, they’re probably grateful for all that you do.
But….
…. at the end of the day, they’re just happy
to eat the delicious food you’ve cooked 🙂
You’re not a failure if you use a kitchen appliance to speed up the preparation process. In fact, you’ve made a wise decision to prioritise what’s important to you.
Wouldn’t it be nice to spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your family, or have some much-needed “me time”?
Here are 12 of the best kitchen appliances to help speed up your food and drink preparation and free up your spare time.
Don’t waste another moment in the kitchen…
give the hard work to the kitchen appliance machines!
12 must-have kitchen appliances – perfect as a gift to yourself or to someone else
1. Food Processor
The Kenwood FPP225 Food Processor (approx £42) helps you prepare salads, soups, sauces, dips and purees. Its 750w motor has two speeds and a pulse setting for user control, with a fully interlocked bowl and liquidiser to ensure safe operation.
It includes several attachments such as a stainless steel knife blade, emulsifying disc and stainless steel reversible coarse slice/grating disc.
At the time of writing, it had over 500 Amazon reviews and scored 4.3/5.
2. Drinks blender
The Breville VBL096 Blend-Active Personal Blender (Family Pack)(approx £24) is an absolute bargain as it includes 2 x 600 ml and 2 x 300 ml BPA-free dishwasher-safe bottles for all the family! One touch blending with a 300w motor for smoothies, shakes, slushies and protein drinks – perfect for the gym, work, school and days out.
At the time of writing, it had over 2,000 Amazon reviews and scored 4.7/5.
The Breville Blend-Active Pro Blender (approx £25) is the up-market Blender in Breville’s range. It has a 500ml BPA-free bottle (with a super-seal leak-proof lid), a neoprene sleeve to keep your drinks cool and a rubber bottle band for improved grip.
It blends vegetables, fruit, ice and nuts with ease and its beautiful sleek black finish ensures it looks good on the kitchen counter.
The bottle fits inside a car drinks holder or your gym bag/handbag when you’re on the go. I love using the Breville blenders (yes, I have both…) but I prefer the Pro version as it looks nicer in the kitchen.
At the time of writing, it had over 85 Amazon reviews and scored 4.5/5.
3. Drinks Juicer
The Sage by Heston Blumenthal, Nutri Juicer (approx £125) is a high quality juicer with a large 84mm chute capable of juicing all your vegetables and fruit for a healthy lifestyle.
It extracts up to 70% of the nutrients with minimal heat transfer ensuring the goodness is retained. Dual speed for juicing fruit (slow speeds) and vegetables (fast speed) with the long-lasting titanium reinforced blades. After use, the Nutri Juicer can be easily taken apart and rinsed.
At the time of writing, it had over 407 Amazon reviews and scored 4.4/5.
4. Coffee machine
The Aerobie AeroPress Coffee Maker (approx £230) is a must-have if you love drinking coffee. It makes real, fresh, professional-tasting coffee in just one minute (actual press time is 20 seconds) using gentle air pressure to create a smooth rich coffee flavour with lower acidity and without bitterness. It’s easy to clean with no small, fiddly parts to wash.
At the time of writing it had over 1,375 Amazon reviews and scored 4.7/5 – with all those positive reviews, I don’t think it’s just the coffee connoisseurs who think it’s worth the price.
5. Hot Water Dispenser
The Breville VKJ142 Hot Cup (approx £35) looks amazing and certainly couldn’t be classed as just a “kettle” – hence the title for this section being Hot Water Dispenser.
Its fast boil technology means you only need boil the amount of water required. When full, the 1.5 litre illuminated tank holds enough to dispense five cups of water, with any drips being collected in the drip tray.
If you’re looking to make a statement in your kitchen and stand out from the crowd of kettle-users, then the Breville VKJ142 Hot Cup’s recommended.
At the time of writing it had over 1,775 Amazon reviews and scored 4.3/5.
6. Food Mixer
The Andrew James Electric Food Stand Mixer (approx £85) includes four beater attachments: dough hook, flexible beater, aluminium beater and balloon whisk, as well as a silicone spatula. Featuring six speeds and a pulse function for mixing in the 5.2L bowl, it’s capable of 1300W max power output to ensure many years of use, including a two-year warranty.
At the time of writing it had over 1,103 Amazon reviews and scored 4.3/5.
7. Can Opener
Ok, so this isn’t your usual item in a kitchen appliance list, but this isn’t your usual plain-looking can opener either – it’s the classy Kenwood 3-in-1 Can Opener with Knife Sharpener and Bottle Opener (approx £15).
This self-standing chrome can opener looks good on any kitchen surface and works with cans of most shapes and sizes up to 1.2kg. It operates hands-free using an automatic start/stop function – the can’s locked in place with a lid-retaining magnet and non-slip feet to improve stability. There’s also the added benefit of using this as a knife sharpener and bottle opener.
At the time of writing it had over 1,130 Amazon reviews and scored 4.6/5.
8. Pressure Cooker
The Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker (approx £130) is brushed stainless steel and, unlike other pressure cookers, there’s no need to adjust the heat to regulate the pressure as the Instant Pot Duo does it for you – whilst emitting hardly any noise, heat or steam.
Its good quality, multi-function features can be used as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, warmer and for saute and browning. It comes with a steam rack, manual and recipe book and has a large, easy to use control panel with 14 built-in programs, dual pressure, automatic keep-warm and three temperatures for saute and slow cook. Just imagine how much time that would save you in the kitchen?!
At the time of writing it had over 90 Amazon reviews and scored 4.9/5!
9. Toaster
The Morphy Richards Accents Four Slice Toaster (approx £32) has variable browning control for two slices (ie, you can toast four slices of bread at the same time but have two slices set at one heat, and the other two slices at a different heat), cancel, reheat and frozen settings so there’s no need to first defrost your bread.
The slots are wide enough for bread or muffins and long enough to fit a standard size slice of bread for all-over toasting (no more bread edges sticking out of your too-small toaster).
At the time of writing it had over 262 Amazon reviews and scored 4.4/5.
10. Ice cream maker
The Cuisinart ICE30 Ice Cream Maker (approx £65) is fully automatic for easy preparation. Place the 2 litre bowl in the freezer overnight, then turn the dial setting and fill the bowl with your ingredients to make delicious frozen desserts such as ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt and frozen drinks in just 20-25 minutes.
Ideal for a birthday party or a quick treat for the family.
At the time of writing it had over 265 Amazon reviews and scored 4.6/5.
11. Omelette Maker
The Quest Non-Stick Cool Touch Dual Omelette Maker (approx £12) cooks the perfect omelette in two individual omelet shaped servings. Mix and pour the ingredients on the non-stick plates and get ready to serve the omelets.
The Omelette Maker is cool-to-touch, has an automatic thermostat and is easy to clean.
At the time of writing it had over 65 Amazon reviews and scored 4.5/5.
12. Hot Tray
The Hostess Alficionado Large Hot Tray (approx £59) is one of those kitchen appliances you perhaps don’t appreciate, until you’ve used it.
Think of those times you’re cooking supper for late-running guests, or perhaps a celebration or Sunday lunch with many courses – wouldn’t it be handy to keep the food hot until the guests arrive, or until all your food is ready to serve?
The Hostess Alficionado Large Hot Tray keeps food hot for one hour on an 8 minute charge. It’s rechargeable, cordless (with a detachable 1.5m cord) and portable with stay-cool handles for safe carrying, and an indicator light with integral automatic temperature control.
At the time of writing it had over 240 Amazon reviews and scored 4.4/5.
What other kitchen appliances would you add to this list?
Note: this review is a general resource, not intended to be professional advice.
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