Whether you are fortunate enough to receive everything you need on the day you tie the knot, with abundant wedding presents and gifts from concerned parents who want to make sure that you get the best of everything, or whether you are gradually putting together your own home, it is important to know which appliances are the most practical and useful to buy.
Even when you already have your own established home, nothing remains in a vacuum and as time goes on, you will want to either replace what you have or get something better. So what are the appliances out there that will make your kitchen life easier (apart from the obvious ones of a refrigerator and stove)?
- A microwave oven. Consumers are divided over the usefulness of this appliance. On the one hand, its greatest advantage is speed. You can simply put the food inside, press the button, and in a few minutes you have hot food. However, most housewives would agree that “nuked” food is never as good as home baked food, and these days you can even buy microwaves with a function to brown the food and make it appear freshly cooked.
- The crock pot, otherwise known as the “slow cooker.” This is a winner in any kitchen because it combines convenience with creating healthy food. There are many crock pot recipes out there, from Irish stew to apple brown betty, and no one has ever complained of the ill effects of eating food cooked in this way.
Although this kind of food can’t exactly be whipped up in five minutes, it is a convenient way of cooking because little preparation is involved. All you need to do is essentially prepare the ingredients (several hours before the meal is to be eaten) and throw them into the pot. This saves a lot of washing up and fuss.
- A toaster oven. This has many advantages. Modern toaster ovens can be as large as a regular oven, but without the stove top, which means that you can fit it onto your kitchen counter if you have room, without having to make a major rearrangement of your kitchen. These days, these ovens come with a variety of functions, including rotisserie and grill.
- The food processor. These have also become more sophisticated, offering a variety of functions. Of course, this is only a necessary purchase if you are the kind of person that enjoys baking cakes, preparing desserts, and elaborate vegetable soups. The downside of a food processor is that you are left washing up lots of parts after use. But this is outweighed by the professional way that you can prepare home-cooked foods, saving hours of chopping and mixing by hand.
- A food dehydrator. This is an innovative and interesting way of making your own dried fruits, vegetables and herbs. It’s a great way to make healthful snacks for your family that will cost you much less than chocolate and is far more wholesome. This is not an expensive item, and though it’s not a “must have,” it is a useful luxury.