If you’re like many cooks, you probably take your small appliances for granted. Although they’re not nearly as impressive as your oven or dishwasher, it would be hard to prepare a meal without these essential appliances. Take a look at a few small appliances that every New Jersey kitchen should have.

Blender

If you only use your blender to make smoothies or whip up a batch of frozen drinks, you’re not taking full advantage of the appliance’s more advanced features. Thanks to an array of settings, today’s blenders can be used to make dips and frozen desserts, puree vegetables, and prepare soup. The worst part of using a blender is cleaning the small parts. Self-cleaning blenders take the mess out of clean up, which just may encourage you to use your blender more often.

Slow Cooker

Slow cooker are a boon to busy people. While you’re away from the home, the cooker does all the hard work. Have you ever worried that your meal would be overcooked because you encountered a delay on the way home? Smart slow cookers prevent the problem with remote access that allows you to change the temperature or turn the appliance off or on from your smartphone.

Coffeemaker

There’s nothing like the smell of coffee to wake you up in the morning. Although most coffeemakers offer time delay settings that allow you decide when to start brewing your morning pot of coffee, some go a step further. Wi-Fi-enabled coffeemakers offer remote access with a smartphone or digital device. Coffee makers that are plumbed-in to your water lines offer the ultimate in luxury and convenience. If you only drink coffee occasionally, you may prefer an appliance that makes single cups of coffee or tea.

Electric Pressure Cooker

You probably remember pressure cookers from your childhood. Back then, you knew when your meal was ready when the pressure regulator on top began to jiggle noisily. Today’s electric pressure cookers are much quieter and more efficient. They combine all the functions of rice cookers, slow cookers and traditional pressure cookers, plus cook food two to six times faster than other methods. Electric pressure cookers can be used to brown, sauté and warm foods; make yogurt; and create your favorite poultry, meat, chili, rice and soup recipes.

Toaster Oven

Toaster ovens are incredibly versatile appliances that aren’t just handy for making toast. They’re very convenient if you only need to prepare small quantities of food or need a place to keep food warm. Convection toaster ovens also offer broiling, roasting and baking capabilities. 

Stand Mixers

Stand mixers offer advantages that hand mixers don’t. You can’t leave your hand mixer unattended while you search the refrigerator for that carton of heavy cream you know you bought or use the mixers to knead dough, unlike stand mixers. High-end stand mixers offer a variety of attachments, allowing you to whip, grind, shred and juice foods, plus prepare pie crusts or make your own ravioli.

Wine Cooler

You could store your wine in the refrigerator, but when you’re planning a party, space can be limited in the refrigerator. Often, your only choice is to leave wine bottles on the counter, where they quickly become too warm. Adding a wine cooler to your kitchen is the perfect way to ensure that you always have a chilled bottle available. LED controls allow you to set the ideal temperature for your wine collection. Some upscale wine coolers even offer alarms that sound if you forget to close the door.

Food Processor

Have you ever noticed that the time it takes to chop vegetables and meat sometimes exceeds the time it actually takes to cook your meal? Food processors make cooking quicker and easier. In just seconds, the food processor blades chop, slice, puree or dice whole onions, carrots or other foods. Some newer models can even be used to knead bread.

Homeowners often forget about small appliances when stocking the kitchen in their new homes. Our design team can help you choose the best appliances for your kitchen when you purchase a Country Classics home. Simply fill out this form and we’ll schedule a tour of one of the state-of-the-art kitchens in our luxury homes.