My Top 5 Kitchen Appliances

 I am a bit of a gadget freak and consequently have owned many many appliances that were advertised to make my life easier or more enjoyable. Not all have them have lived up to their promise,  I'll confess.

I was helping my son set up his first home recently and it made me think carefully about which of my appliances I could live without and which have genuinely improved my existence.

I decided to list my top five faves in no particular order:

  1. Washing machine. I almost didn't include this as I think of it as an essential but it occurred to me that I am lucky to have my own machine. It's one of the most used appliances in my house and laundry is one of my favourite chores if that's not an oxymoron. I love loading washing, I love handing it out or piling it into the dryer and I love the smell of freshly laundered stuff. I dont do ironing unless it's absolutely necessary.
  2. Microwave. These are the Marmite of the kitchen appliances. It seems people either love them or hate them. Put me in the first camp. From reheating leftovers to making perfect baked potatoes I could not be without my microwave.
  3. Electric can opener. Previously my late Gran's gadget I rescued it when we were clearing her kitchen. I dont actually use a lot of canned food but I am slightly obsessed with baked potatoes (made in my microwave) and my favourite filling is tuna mayo with some finely diced red onion. Opening the tuna using the electric can opener is so easy. 
  4. Sandwich toaster. My sandwich toaster is much more to me than just a gadget to create tasty toasted. It was given to me by my great grandad in the 1980's when I was going off to university. It was over ten years old then. It featured in a national newspaper as part of a collection of vintage appliances still in use. Every time I use it I remember my lovely great granddad with a smile.
    vintage sandwich toaster

  5. Plate warming cabinet. Another vintage find this tabletop cabinet is perfect for when I'm catering for my entire family. It lives permanently on my kitchen worktop for plate and dish warming and keeping meals warm. It's invaluable for when commitments mean family members have to eat at different times and it really comes into it's own when I serve a roast dinner.
So there we have it - my top five. I'd be gutted if any of them died and think I'd have to attempt repair rather than ditch them.

It can seem like the easy option to just buy new but if you have a gadget you love it's worth seeing if a talented repairer can fix them. Type "appliance repair Brampton" (substitute Brampton with the name of your own town or city obviously unless you live in or near Brampton) into your fave search engine and ask an expert if your appliance can be saved.

There are still a few appliances I would love. A soup maker and a dehydrater to name a couple. Although I suspect like my food smoker they might be a brief distraction before being relegated to the cupboard.

So. What are your favourite appliances? Or what gadget would you like to own?