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Kitchen Finds: Smart Gadgets, Countertop Appliances & Culinary Must-Haves
16
items Kitchen finds that survive the month after the novelty: sixteen picks across three sections, chosen because they replace a job someone is already doing badly. Air fryers and multi-cookers for the counter, insulated bottles for a bag, and the small to...
Sections
3
Countertop Appliances
Hydration & Travel
Kitchen Tools & Gadgets
Countertop Appliances
The two appliances that justify the counter space: an air fryer that does chips and roast vegetables in twenty minutes, and a multi-cooker that takes over the slow cooking and the rice. Both are big, so measure the cupboard first. Buy one, not both, ...
Six and a half quarts, which is a chicken or a batch of chips for four. The basket wants shaking halfway or the top browns while the bottom stays pale. Leave space behind it for the vent.
Ninja Air Fryer XL (6.5 Qt)
Two slots in a slim body for a counter with no room to spare. Two slices at a time, so it suits a household that eats breakfast in shifts rather than together. The dial runs light to dark, and the middle is where most bread lands.
Bella Fits-Anywhere Slim Toaster (2-Slice)
A stick blender with five attachments and eleven hundred watts, more than soup asks for. It blends in the pot, so there is no jug to wash up. The shaft detaches, and the blade end still wants hand washing.
Turelar 5-in-1 Corded Immersion Hand Blender (1100W)
Seven quarts, which is chilli for eight or a shoulder of pork for four days. Manual dial, so no timer and no app to set. The insert is the heavy part, and it does not go from fridge to heat.
Crock-Pot 7-Quart Manual Oval Slow Cooker
A pressure cooker that also sautés, steams and slow cooks, in six quarts. The pressure stage is what saves the time on beans and stews. Coming up to pressure takes a few minutes, so it is not faster than a pan for rice.
Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker (6 Qt)
Hydration & Travel
Bottles and cups for someone who leaves the house with a bag: an insulated tumbler that fits a car holder, a leak-proof bottle for a gym bag, and a travel mug that survives a commute. Check the lid rather than the capacity, since a bottle that leaks ...
Forty ounces, two refills of a normal bottle and more than most cup holders take. The handle and straw lid make it a desk object rather than a gym one. It is a bottle to carry, not to pocket.
Stanley Quencher H2.0 FlowState Tumbler (40 oz)
A bottle with two ways to drink from one lid: a straw, or a sip from the wide opening. The button flips it open with one hand. Twenty-four ounces is a school bag size, and the lid comes apart for washing.
Owala FreeSip Stainless Steel Water Bottle (24 oz)
Thirty-two ounces with a handle and a straw, built for someone who forgets to drink. It is a bottle you keep in sight rather than in a bag. The straw is wide, so this is not a bottle to sip slowly.
HydroJug Traveler Insulated Water Bottle (32 oz)
Twenty ounces of coffee, sealed, with a slider that opens to a sip spout. Insulated, so it holds heat longer than a paper cup does. Coffee smell stays in the lid, so it wants washing the same day.
Owala SmoothSip Slider Insulated Coffee Tumbler (20 oz)
Kitchen Tools & Gadgets
The drawer tools, done properly: a can opener, oven mitts, a digital scale, a vegetable chopper, a meat thermometer, kitchen shears and an oil dispenser. None is exciting to unwrap, and each replaces something already in the kitchen and failing. Buy ...
A hand can opener with a smooth turn and a magnet that lifts the lid clear. It leaves a clean edge rather than a jagged one. The mechanism is the part that fails on cheap openers, so buy the name brand once.
KitchenAid Classic Can Opener
Silicone with a ribbed grip, which matters more than the pattern when a hot roasting tray is coming out. They are stiff at first and loosen at the thumb with use. Check the length against your forearm before trusting them.
KitchenAid Ribbed Soft Silicone Oven Mitt Set
Twenty-two pounds, which covers a bag of flour and a whole chicken. The platform takes a mixing bowl without hiding the display. It reads grams and pounds, and it wants a level surface or it drifts.
Etekcity Digital Kitchen Scale (22 lb)
Ten interchangeable blades and a catch container, so an onion is diced by a press instead of a board. It saves time and costs the counter space of a small appliance. The grid is fiddly to clean by hand.
Mueller Pro-Series 10-in-1 Vegetable Chopper
A digital probe that reads quickly enough to check a joint without losing the oven heat. It folds shut and lives in a drawer. It is not oven safe, so it goes in when the pan comes out.
Alpha Grillers Digital Meat Thermometer
Shears for spatchcocking a chicken and cutting herbs, with a notch that grips bone. Dishwasher safe, though the hinge lasts longer washed by hand. They do not replace a chef's knife for anything with resistance.
KitchenAid All-Purpose Kitchen Shears
A glass bottle that pours and sprays from the same vessel, sixteen ounces. The spray is for the pan, the pour is for the salad. Thin oils spray and the thick ones dribble, so keep the good oil for pouring.
Yarramate 2-in-1 Glass Olive Oil Dispenser & Sprayer (16 oz)