Whether you love to get creative or prefer simple recipes that work with your busy lifestyle, these small appliances add inspiration and time-saving convenience in the kitchen.
- Slow cooker: Slow cookers let you simply prepare your ingredients and leave your food simmering while you get on with your day. They are great for making soups, stews and a number of exotic and tasty dishes without fuss or mess. They come in different sizes, with different programmable features like timers, adjustable temperature controls and removable inserts for easy cleaning.
- Food steamer: From tender veggies to flaky salmon, food steamers make it easy to create healthy, delicious meals. They save on counter space and time as the multiple baskets or chambers allow for several foods to be prepared at once. You can find bamboo steamers that stack in your cooking pot, electric steamers or ones that are safe to use in the microwave. Consider capacity, digital control and cleaning convenience when looking at buying a food steamer.
- Indoor grills: Perfect for cooking vegetables, fish and meats, indoor grills let you enjoy grilled food during any season. Contact grills have a lid for cooking food simultaneously on bottom and top, while open grills require that you flip food when cooking. When considering electric grills, look at size, surface style, adjustable temperature controls and cleaning convenience.
- Deep fryer: Deep fryers are great for making quick-and-easy favourites like chicken wings, French fries, onion rings or battered fish. They're available in different sizes and some come with more than one cooking basket for convenience. Some models offer rotating baskets that automatically dip food in oil, others have flipping baskets that are great for donuts and desserts. Consider capacity, temperature control and safety features when looking at purchasing a deep fryer.
- Food processor: Food processors let you chop, dice, slice, shred and puree to make preparing ingredients for your meals quicker and less labour intensive. They're available in different sizes, with variable speed settings. When looking at food processors, consider volume capacity, variety of interchangeable blades, touchpad controls, feed tube size and cleaning convenience.
- Immersion blender: Smoothies, sauces, soups and baby food are easy to make with these hand-held blenders. They can come in electric or cordless models. Some feature a removable wand that can be easily cleaned in the dishwasher. Higher-end hand blenders may include a variety of attachments that let you whisk, beat, chop or mince. Check out immersion blenders that fit comfortably in your hand and offer variable speed settings.
Adding a few small appliances to your kitchen arsenal can go a long way to saving you time, while helping you prepare delicious meals the whole family will love. Remember to think about the number of people you’re feeding, the types of meals you like to prepare, cleaning convenience and cost when considering which small appliances will make the best addition to your kitchen.
