How Many Small Electrics?

Bingo. A neighbor has a 3-car garage and a huge 3-story house. He is single. He parks his car, pickup, boat & trailer, WaveRunners & trailer and snow machines & trailer on the street. Why? Well, the house if full, the garage is full (think “densepack”) and the driveway is blocked by the two rental “Pods” storage containers, also full. For all I know, he has off-site storage as well.

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Not only US, it’s a modern society thing.

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My list is a lot like the one from @biondanonima, so I’m starting with a copy and paste, then I’ll edit.

Technivorm Moccamaster ( are these popular? It’s a gift from husband )
Vitamix ( actually a Breville; very similar)
Kitchenaid stand mixer
Cuisinart food processor
A mini Kitchenaid attachment too, with it’s own blender base.
2 Sous vide set ups ( immersion and water oven)
Sodastream
Toaster
Coffee/spice grinder
Slow cooker
Fondue pot
KA Ice cream maker attachment
KA Ice grinder attachment
2 Immersion blenders (one is sons)
At least 3 variations on vacuum sealers
Instantpot
Combination microwave-convection oven.
Two digital scales
At least four digital thermometers, including a thermapen, an infrared, and a remote one form my electric smoker
An electric smoker- a bit bigger than my microwave and 9utside; does that count?

This is AFTER the occasional purge. Only the coffee machine, Sodastream and toaster are on the counter, as husband thinks things on counters are messy. I cannot add one more thing, but I can’t get the number down much. I’d probably give up the water oven, the KA mini FP and it’s blender bottom, and the Vacuvita vacuum sealer, which we use as an amazing bread box, to make room for the next thing. Just realized this is also on a counter.

Not electric, but I also have a HUGE chopping board from my sister that I should put in the garage until she comes.

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You may be the first person I have said had a cutting board too big.

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These lists could probably be used to categorize what level of cooks we are. In small electrics, I have a blender, a can opener, a vegetable steamer (which also does brown rice), a coffee maker, and a hand mixer I haven’t used in literally decades. The first two live on the counter; the last three in one of the kitchen cabinets except when in use. (The coffee maker gets used maybe a half dozen times in a year.)

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How so? I’d love to think my list meant something more about me than space, money, and maybe time.

People who do a lot of cooking, baking, etc., will probably have (and use) a lot more small electrics. Most people who cook seem to have a food processor, a bread maker, a pressure cooker, a crock pot, and a bunch of stuff I can’t even identify.

(I just remembered --I have a crock pot I haven’t used for over thirty years, but Mark insists we should keep. And I didn’t count my toaster-oven as a small electric.)

I can also add that at one point I had an electric knife and an electric skillet, both of which I got rid of.

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I had an electric knife years ago. Last used to cut foam rubber for cushions.
Had an electric frying pan and even a electric wok. All long gone. I never quite got the hang of stick blenders but since I might, someday, and they don’t take up much room there’s one in a kitchen drawer. Right next to the mini cuisinart which I’ve found pretty useless. Instapot was returned to its box. Too lazy to use coffee grinder and buy ground coffee now. In the garage is, believe it or not, an electric corkscrew. A gift. Oh, one of those knife sharpeners lives in the pantry.
The stand Kitchenaid mixer, the hand mixer, breville smart oven, Crock pot, food saver and a Ninja blender thing get used. That Ninja crushes ice nicely.
Bought it after I crushed ice for mint juleps with a bag and mallet. Crowd was thirstier than I expected. Wouldn’t be without my thermopen and the infrared thermometer.
I’ll add microwave but it’s almost In the major appliance category with cooktops, refrigerators, ovens and ranges.

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I’m not much of a baker, so you can’t judge by me, but I remember being so impressed by that young lady Ruby on the 2013 season of the great British baking show who seemed to be practicing in what I’d call a dormitory.

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I’m sticking up for electric frying pan Nation! I use mine all the time. Perfect for one person.

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Our kitchen has a wall cabinet just for small elec appliances, shared with pots pans, large kitchen tools so we own many and inherited giveaways from folks tired of theirs.

2 mixers
FP
a couple of milk frothers
a couple of spice grinders
Coffee grinder
4 blenders
2 crockpots
2 rice cookers
Air fryer/toaster oven
2 coffee pots
Ice cream maker
Popcorn maker
Juicer for citrus
Tea kettle
Juicer
Soda maker
Dehydrator
Slicing machine
Elec knife

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I feel much better after reading your list!

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Don’t think I could type out gadgets that fit in a drawer :shushing_face::wink:

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Not at all how I interpreted your previous comment. My personal experience is that my use of small electrics has declined as I cooked more and became more skilled, particularly with a knife.

We have a number. Two different sized food processors that might get used a couple of times each year; mostly I use a knife or a mandolin. I can’t remember when we last used our stand blender; knife, mortar & pestle, or stick blender. I do have a manual slow cooker that gets a fair bit of use. KitchenAid stand mixer is in long-term storage in the basement. There are a few other things kicking around that predate my wife and me merging households that have not seen the light of day in twelve years. The only small electrics that live on the counter are a coffeemaker and a kettle and a two-slot toaster. Oh - an iPad mini for streaming Netflix while I cook - does that count?

We do have a Sodastream but that isn’t electric. Foodsaver vacuum sealer I use for boat prep.

I was thinking someone might say that. For me, it depends a lot on what I’m making, and how many I’m cooking for. I’m thinking there are often “rate limiting steps” and “sweet spots” where a small electric pays it’s way. I can’t seem to find the expression I’m looking for.

…and I agree. We use a food processor when we make pickles. A LOT of pickles. Then the extra clean-up time is worth it. “Rate limiting steps” is indeed a good term if you include the extra setup (minimal) and cleaning (PITA) time. Economies of scale.

Sweet spots are a good term also. If I’m slicing cucumber for a salad I use a knife. If I’m making cucumber salad I use a mandolin. If I’m making cucumber salad for 20, or even 12, I’ll dig out a food processor. The better one’s knife skills the higher the tip-over point.

A friend of mine asked me last year to help cater an event for about 250 people. I was really there for service but I arrived early and he put me to work on prep. Now his knife skills make me look like a cub scout with a dull knife. Still, he was happy with the extra hands and in his experienced eyes the machine out in the van wasn’t merited. On the other hand my math and engineering are better than his and a process suggestion slightly increased my output and due to his skill significantly increased his. Maybe that’s why he likes me. grin

Hmm. I can work in a boat story. Customers who race often ask me what they should buy for their boat to win more races. My answer is always the same: “lessons.” This directly applies to cooking. One of my cooking mentors Cosmos Club Executive Chef Bernie Meehan said “a good chef can cook anything anywhere with anything.” The message there is that stuff is no substitute for skill. Compare the human Cuisinart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMA2SqaDgG8 to someone capable but more pedestrian like Alton Brown. Practice, attention to detail, ‘la technique’ make a bigger difference than stuff.

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I’m a simple cook. The less clean up the better. On my counter:
Microwave
Toaster
Can opener
1 cup coffeemaker (for him, I don’t drink it)

Under the counter: stuff he bought
Deep Fryer
Waffle maker
Food processor
Some kind of Bella nutritionist in one simple twist.
Meat slicer
And god only knows what else is down there.

One of these days I’d like to throw all that unwanted/unnecessary stuff out when he’s not looking. But we’re both retired and he’s always here.:slightly_smiling_face:

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Have you considered staying up late? That’s what my wife does. Or you could get up early. That’s what I do. grin

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This is why I try to take the hubs with me for conferences!

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Hmmmph. Don’t try me.

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