10 Countertop Kitchen Appliances That Every Home Cook Needs

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Every kitchen is equipped with the basics: a range with an oven and cooktop, a refrigerator, and usually a microwave. While these are essentials for the basics of cooking, there are a plethora of other small, countertop appliances that can make food preparation quicker and easier. In order to avoid excess clutter on the countertop or spending money unnecessarily, it's important to hone in on the most essential pieces of equipment to take your meal preparation to the next level. These types of appliances are so popular that nowadays some even offer multiple functions, reducing the footprint on precious countertop space.

With so many choices on the crowded marketplace for countertop appliances, it can be difficult to sort through the noise and hone in on exactly what is best for you and your family's needs. This comprehensive list covers all the tools of the trade for home cooks of every skill level. You might see several of your favorite go-to appliances as well as some ideas of new ones to add to your collection.

The only problem is, it can sometimes be a struggle to keep a kitchen looking neat and tidy with all of these appliances on hand. When cabinet and pantry space is at a premium, many kitchens are now being built with appliance garages to park all of these gadgets. Some are even designed with extra electrical outlets to keep the appliances plugged in and ready to use. Simply close the door and all the extra appliances are out of sight.

One of the most essential and useful appliances to add to your kitchen countertop is a stand mixer. These kitchen work horses can be used for so much more than just whipping up the occasional batch of cookies. Of course, you could probably get by with a hand mixer, but stand mixers are so much more robust and multi-functional. They are brilliantly designed to power a bunch of different attachments. Therefore this one appliance can end up replacing six or seven other appliances that could eat up space your kitchen; everything from a meat grinder and sausage maker, all the way to a juicer, pasta roller, grain mill, even an ice cream maker.

The classic KitchenAid stand mixer is an icon in the kitchen, with countless colors to choose from to match your decor. The original concept was invented over 100 years ago and was first described as a household eggbeater. Of course, we now know this genius invention reaches far and wide beyond just eggs.

Another option for cooks looking to add this appliance to their countertop is the elegant and powerful Ankarsrum stand mixer from Sweden. With an incredibly strong motor that won't overheat, and unique rotating bowl design, this is the go-to option for bread bakers working with heavy doughs. Both of these stand mixers will not only elevate your baking, but they both also have a full line incredibly useful attachments to put your upfront investment to good use.

Most home cooks agree: It's hard to work efficiently in the kitchen without a food processor. In fact, both Ina Garten and Julia Child have said they can't live without one. The original concept for a food processor was invented in France in the 1960s, and the Cuisinart brand introduced their powerful version to the American market in the 1970s. Today, countless manufacturers have their versions of a food processor, with a wide range of size capacities and blade options.

The primary cutting tool in a food processor is the s-shaped blade that spins at the bottom of the plastic bowl. This can be used for a wide variety of applications. A few pulses will chop food to perfection in a fraction of the time it would take to do by hand. It can even be used to make dough or crusts. The whirling action is also ideal for making smooth sauces or dips.

There are also blade options in the form of a disk, typically one for slicing and one for grating. These blades can cut potatoes faster and safer than a mandoline, and grate cheese in the blink of an eye. You can't go wrong with the 14-cup food processor from Cuisinart, since it is easy to operate.

Many home cooks like to grow their own herbs and produce in the summer months, but recently, indoor countertop gardens have made their way into home kitchens as a way to grow your own food all year round. The only thing closer to the source than farm-to-table would be harvesting your own ingredients just steps from the dining room. Even if you don't have a green thumb, the latest innovations make it easier than ever to feel like a successful gardener.

The hydroponic growing system from Click and Grow takes the guesswork out the indoor gardening. There is a timed grow light that provides your plants with just the right about of light for optimal growth. Plus, it is impossible to over water because the self-watering system keeps herbs, vegetables and flowers perfectly hydrated.

Lettuce Grow also offers a range of size options for starting an indoor garden. It doesn't hurt that the chic aesthetic looks like a designer inspired item on your countertop. Both brands offer easy to use pods to grow salad ingredients, herbs, fruits and vegetables, even flowers. With these kitchen countertop appliances, there's no need to sweat and get your hands dirty in the summertime, and in the wintertime fresh ingredients will be at your fingertips.

For consumers looking for the satisfying crispy, crunchy feeling of fried food without the mess and negative health impacts of deep frying, the invention of the air fryer is revolutionary. Now, not only can these appliances function to "fry" foods with hot convection air, but they have even replaced toasters and toaster ovens as essential countertop appliances. In fact, air fryers have become such an indispensable tool in many kitchens, they are now available in a plethora of different sizes, shapes, and functions to suit your space and needs.

There are budget-friendly basket-style air fryers options that are easy to fill, as well as oven-style air fryers that look just like the toaster oven you know and love. When choosing an air fryer, think about how you plan to use it, and where you intend to store it. The smaller ones with a basket are space saving, however, if you have a large family, you may need to air fry foods in several batches to make enough to serve a crowd. The ones that resemble a toaster oven might have a larger footprint, but the capabilities are also broader. Some can even cook an entire 12-inch pizza to restaurant-style perfection in minutes, or even handle an entire roast chicken.

These appliances end up being so much more than just an air fryer, and in fact, essentially become a second oven in your kitchen. This is particularly helpful on busy holidays when oven space is a premium.

From rich ice-cold smoothies, to velvety sauces, even warm, thick soups, every kitchen needs a blender. Depending on your needs, this can either be a high-powered blender like a Vitamix or a space-saving immersion blender. While the price tags can be eye-opening, the capabilities of this type of blender make it worth every penny in the long run. With a motor of up to 2 horsepower, the blades spin so quickly there's hardly time for ice to melt before it is ground into a perfectly sippable, even consistency for a restaurant-grade smoothie. Yet, this same horsepower can not only blend a soup, it can actually heat and cook the soup at the same time. Some models even have inter-changable attachments that all fit on the same high-powered base. Then, all of a sudden, this appliance is not just a blender, but can also function as a food processor, with various blades and slicing and grating disks. In fact, the motor goes one step further in that when the containers are filled with water and soap it whirls everything like a dishwasher and cleans the unit.

If this elite piece of machinery is beyond your needs, a stick-style immersion blender might be your speed. These take up about as much space as a rolling pin yet can serve a multitude of purposes. They are incredibly useful for making a blended soup right in the soup pot without transferring the ingredients. Some even come with small attachments to chop vegetables or whisk cream.

Slow cookers have made leaps and bounds since the single dial Crock-Pot that made the technology famous. For generations, busy parents have loved this appliance as a fix-it-and-forget-it option for mealtime, where you can do all the prep work for something like this four ingredient slow cooker potato soup, and then it's hands-off until dinner is ready. Today, slow cookers are often referred to as multi-cookers and models have elaborate timers, sear functions, and many offer sophisticated functions to replace other appliances.

Models like this one from Ninja can not only slow cook, but also braise, sear and saute, perfectly cook pasta or oats, and can even replace a rice cooker since there are functions to expertly prepare either white rice or brown rice with the touch of a button. Slow cookers also come in a range of size capacities, all the way from miniature 1.5 quart ones that are great for warm dips, to a standard more versatile 6-quart option, and even 10-quart capacity options for preparing extra large cuts of meat for a crowd. There's something for everyone in the wide world of slow cookers and every household should have one in their culinary arsenal.

Forget about the scary stovetop pressure cookers of previous generations that were a mess waiting to happen, once the electric pressure cooker entered the market, quick, one-touch pressure cooking became a reality for busy households and fears of an explosion were alleviated. Since then, this appliance has become indispensable in countless homes. The debut of the Instant Pot in 2010 changed the market and gained a cult following.

The concept behind the Instant Pot and other electric pressure cookers is the opposite of a slow cooker. Here, with the help of pressure, everything from tougher low-price cuts of meat, all the way to dried beans can be cooked to perfection in a fraction of the time by trapping steam and raising the boiling point of water.

Once again, this single, innovative appliance can function in ways to replace other single-purpose products. There are functions on the Instant Pot to make soup, chili with beans, sauté, and steam. It can even be used a slow cooker, yogurt maker, porridge maker, or rice cooker. No wonder so many households leaped on board with this innovative technology.

Home cooks are more conscious than ever of food waste, but the idea of a large, stinky outdoor compost bin is not practical for many households. Countertop, odor-free indoor composters are a great way to transform food waste into a usable material. These indoor composters are also referred to as food recyclers or food cyclers, and even the folks behind the high-powered motors at Vitamix have entered the game.

These appliances take a lot of the guesswork, time and mess out of composting and can quickly transform materials that would have been discarded in your trash into usable material for your lawn and gardening. With the push of a button a household can become its own self-nourishing ecosystem.

It is convenient to keep right on the kitchen countertop for directly depositing food scraps like potato peels as you work. When it is next to the dishwasher, dinner plates can be scraped into the canister during meal cleanup.

Who doesn't love waking up to the aroma homemade waffles on a Saturday morning? But at the same time it is hard to justify yet another appliance taking up space for just one use. That's when it's time to get creative with your waffle maker! It can be used for so much more than just waffles. The heat coming from the top and bottom simultaneously means a waffle maker is a lot like a sandwich press.

That's why it is a great tool for making a crispy grilled cheese. When you want more than just waffles for breakfast, a waffle iron can also be a genius, Ina Garten-approved hack for cooking hash browns.

You can even up your brunch game by cooking eggs in your waffle maker and creating a hassle-free omelette. Some models even have removable plates for easy cleaning and are even dishwasher-safe. They frequently are made with convenient non-stick surfaces, and some have an extra capacity moat surrounding the appliance to ensure a mess-free cooking experience.

Most kitchens have some way to make coffee in the morning. It might be a coffee maker, espresso machine, or even just a hot water kettle for a trendy cup of pour over coffee. Taking your coffee game one step further and Investing in a coffee grinder can also be very useful in more ways than one. Not only can it grid your coffee beans for the freshest experience, it is also useful for grinding spices and making your own spice blends. In fact, culinary guru Ina Garten uses a coffee grinder to whizz up her own spice blends for her signature recipes. However, it is important to properly clean your coffee grinder between uses.

Residual spices might ruin your morning brew and coffee notes might not be what you are looking for in a homemade spice rub. You can remove visible debris with a Q-tip, old toothbrush, compressed air frequently for cleaning electronics, or even a microfiber cloth often used for eyeglasses. Then, residual oils and other buildup can be removed by adding some grains of uncooked rice to the grinder and processing it a few times.