Top Ten Kitchen Appliances Review

If I had to narrow my small kitchen appliances down to ten, that would be hard. Of course, I'd never be without some of the big appliances like the stove and refrigerator. Those don't count here. But the small ones. Which ten would I take to a desert island? Well, none. No electricity, but you get the drift.

I decided to limit my selections to small kitchen appliances - the ones that plug in. I have a lot of low tech kitchen gadgets I love too. Doesn't seem quite fair to compare. Apples and oranges.

Cyndi's Top Ten Small Kitchen Appliances (scrambled like eggs - all good)

1. Microwave - If you're of a certain age, you will know that kitchens were not born with microwave ovens. They haven't even been around ALL THAT LONG. I remember when we got our first one. Mom was not happy. She thought one of us kids would stick our hands in and instantly cook our fingers. They don't work that way of course. If they had, we probably would have cooked our fingers. For heating up leftovers and hot water to make tea, it's hard to beat a microwave. Nice for some of those frozen dinners too.

2. Crock Pot - Likewise, our family had one of the first - thanks to Dad. Mom worried that we would waste so much electricity, but the book said these didn't work that way. They don't. Throw food in. Hot dinner when you get home. I have three crock pots - and that doesn't count the ones I've worn out over the years.

3. Blender - I never even thought I wanted one until I got to college. My roommate told her Mom that she needed one to make tomato juice. Yuck. I hate that stuff. The Christmas blender was great for parties - as you might imagine. The old ones weren't so great with ice. We burned out three during college. Today I do use mine for cooking, and it will chop ice.

4. Smoothie Maker - My son loves smoothies. I got him the Hamilton Beach Personal Blender. OK. We have a blender, but it's not handy for making single smoothies. After we got this handy kitchen appliance, I became a smoothie fan too.

5. Muffin Magic - Do what? Yes. It's a machine for making muffins - perfect every time muffins. When I got my older son the smoothie maker, I thought I better get the little guy (who is actually bigger) a kitchen toy too. This was a random pick but turned out to be a kitchen favorite.

6. Hand Mixer - I used my Black & Decker ergo mixer for years and still do. Very handy. Unless it's a big mixing job, it's nice to pull out the hand mixer and be done with it. Quick and easy.

7. KitchenAid Mixer - I have arrived! OK. Not really. But I finally broke down and bought the KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer. I did this after trying to make yeast bread with the hand mixer. Not a good idea that. Quite a mess. The KitchenAid is a work horse. It will do bread dough and anything else I can dream up. A very impressive kitchen machine.

8. Electric Skillet - I've owned an electric skillet as long as I can remember. They really do come in handy. We even take our electric skillet outside and put it on the camp table when we cook something smelly like fish. Can't very well carry the whole stove outside. Thumbs up to electric skillets.

9. Toaster - This one I think was a wedding gift. Marriage didn't last. Toaster did. It's kind of hard to get excited about a toaster, but it's kind of hard to get along without one. I've tried some fancier ones, but I always go back to my basic toaster that simply toasts bread and does it well.

10. Electric Knife - Someone was telling me how to do something with "one of those old fashioned electric kitchen knives." They didn't think I'd have one. I didn't know they had gone out of style. I have one I've used for years and a second in the box waiting in case the old one ever dies. Not only do I carve the Thanksgiving turkey with the electric knife, I thin slice other meats like ham and even cut up our pineapples. I doubt we'd ever have fresh pineapple if I didn't own an electric knife. Those are a bugger to cut up but quite easy with an electric knife.

There you have it. My top ten list of small kitchen appliances.

Yes. There are some popular ones that I've not included. I'm not a coffee drinker. I have one of those, but it lives in the basement and gets trotted out when we have coffee drinking company. I loved my old plug in popcorn popper, but I've shifted over to Whirly Pop. Great popcorn popper. The George Foreman grill is nice but messy. The Oster steamer is handy but doesn't do rice all that well. The electric can opener. I hated it and every other one I've met. That one makes my top 10 worst kitchen appliances list. I use a handheld Oxo for cans. No reason to make things harder than they ought to be.

Feel free to add your favorite small kitchen appliance(s) to the list below in comments. Knowing me, I'll probably be buying it if you say it's great. I always hate to think I might be missing out.