Probably, no one will argue with a rather obvious fact: household devices (first of all, of course, electronic ones) are assistants that simplify our lives and save time. At least that’s how it was originally intended. However, we all know that gadgets can “start up” on the farm, the use of which is only a couple of times a year, and some devices are immediately sent to the far shelf, where they spend almost their entire sad life. It will be useful to remember this both when visiting the store and when thinking about what gift to give to a loved one.

We decided to take a fresh look at popular kitchen appliances and assess how rational it would be to purchase them, depending on the various use cases and the number of people who are expected to cook.

At the beginning of the conversation, I would like to recall how we all fell into a simple trap that makes us think that with the purchase of the next gadget, our life will finally blossom with new colors, and the amount of free time will increase rapidly.

Not surprisingly, this is the merit of marketers. True, not modern, but those who lived and created their “creatives” a hundred years ago. It was then (in the 1920s) that the Electric Power Development Association began to actively promote the idea that the main advantage of electricity is that it simplifies household chores.

Given that electrical appliances were then very expensive, advertising campaigns to promote many gadgets were aimed primarily at wealthy people, many of whom had domestic workers.

Accordingly, it was assumed that it was the maid who would use the vacuum cleaner or blender in the first place, as a result of which the first household appliances were focused exclusively on utilitarian use and, in fact, were adapted versions of industrial models. This is very clearly seen in the characteristic appearance of such devices.

However, after a couple of decades, many began to pay attention to the fact that the number of household appliances is increasing, and there is no more free time. Moreover, sometimes it becomes even less. How did it happen?

Here is a quote from Adrian Forti’s book “Objects of Desire”, dedicated to the interaction of design and society.

The fact that household appliances, designed to reduce labor costs, on the contrary, increase them, was also noticed in the United States in the 1930s. An article in the Ladies Home Journal stated:
“Since we, modern housewives, are armed with all means to fight dirt, we find it even in places where it has remained since grandmother’s time. We no longer have nine children who take a bath once a week, but two or three, and we bathe them daily. Let our conscience not bother us about empty cookie jars, but we try too hard to cook something more healthy or nutritious.

Economists also noted the increase in labor costs associated with the use of household appliances. Hazel Kirk, author of The Economic Problems of the Family, published in 1935, wrote:

“In the household, as elsewhere, there is a tendency to use the free time that has been created through the use of technology, not for recreation, but for doing more work. With the invention of sewing machines, people began to sew more, in particular, clothes that require laborious work – with many darts, frills and the like. The invention of washing machines led to more frequent washing, the spread of vacuum cleaners led to more frequent cleaning, and new stoves led to more menus and more complex recipes.”

We think that the main trend is clear: instead of using household appliances “for their intended purpose” (that is, saving our time with it), we often began to use it in order to set ourselves and successfully solve new, more complex tasks.

This is especially noticeable in the field of highly specialized kitchen gadgets: first, we purchase some new appliance for preparing an exotic dish (which is often not only not included in our daily diet, but even occasionally does not end up on the dining table), then we “put it in front of is a task” — we prepare an exotic dish a couple of times, and, finally, we come to an understanding of the fact that we are not going to do this regularly. The device is sent to the far shelf, and we go to the store in search of a new device that will “save us time and effort” even better.

The cycle is closed.

While compiling our small list, we decided to exclude from it the most strange devices, such as an automatic egg counter for a refrigerator with synchronization with a smartphone (so that you can check how many eggs are left at home right from the store and at the same time find the oldest egg in the refrigerator).

Or a special marshmallow toaster (for those who want to feel like an American teenager on a picnic without leaving home).

We will take a look at appliances that are still of some value in the kitchen, but for one reason or another are often excluded from regular use.

Fondue pot

The leader in the list of rarely used kitchen gadgets is the most common fondue maker. We do not know who and how managed to make it so popular in our country that you can buy it in almost every store selling kitchen utensils or appliances.

However, the fact remains: a heavy (cast-iron) fondue maker, equipped with a massive (often stone) stand, a set of skewers and containers for sauces, most often ends up on the mezzanine.

Either the Swiss mentality turned out to be not close to the domestic user, or the quality of the cheese (in which bread, potatoes, olives and other products are supposed to be dipped) does not correspond to what we want, but the chance to get a visit and see fondue among the proposed dishes, in our opinion , tends to zero.

rice cooker

If the mention of the Swiss mentality in the previous paragraph was a joke, then the difference between the Asian and Russian mentality has led to the rice cooker becoming the most popular kitchen appliance in Asia (after the refrigerator). It is her who is bought into the house in the first place. In Russia, its more advanced version, the multicooker, has recently taken root.

Despite the structural similarity, the difference between these devices is very significant. The rice cooker cooks rice first and allows you to cook additional dishes (soups, meat, pastries, etc.) in the second place. A key feature of the right rice cooker is a thick-walled bowl with marks for cooking portions of different sizes and the presence of special programs designed for different varieties of rice.

The slow cooker is primarily intended for stewing and languishing (meat, vegetables, etc.), but it often copes mediocrely with cereals and cereals. It is enough to compare rice from a rice cooker and rice from a multicooker once to understand once and for all how these devices differ.

One way or another, the statistics clearly show that in Russia meat and vegetables are cooked more often than rice, so for most users the choice is obvious.

If you are fond of Chinese or Korean cuisine, and you can’t go anywhere without rice, then it will not be superfluous to fork out for a rice cooker even if there is already a slow cooker in the house. Believe me, it’s worth it.

air grill

Another good, in fact, device that too often turns out to be out of work is the usual, well-known aerogrill. It is difficult to give an unambiguous answer to the question “why does this happen?”: after all, an air grill is a full-fledged kitchen appliance in which you can easily and simply cook relatively simple dishes such as meat or french fries.

We can, perhaps, assume that the average home user becomes too lazy to bother with washing the bowl, and the air grill usually takes up a lot of space. In addition, it has two strongest competitors with much more functionality: an oven and a convection microwave.

fryer

Following the aerogrill, we will mention the deep fryer. If the goal of an air grill is to provide us with healthy and healthy food cooked without a drop of oil, then the task of an air fryer is exactly the opposite – to feed us harmful and fatty (but what can we hide – delicious) food.

The problems of the owners of the deep fryer are the same as those of the owners of the air grill – the need to allocate a large amount of space in the kitchen and the difficulty of cleaning. Let’s add here a considerable consumption of oil and remorse from eating the next portion of chicken wings. In addition, fatty foods are not only of little use, but also quickly become boring. Here are the main reasons why the deep fryer gets bored and begins to be used less and less.

Electric barbecue

The idea of cooking shish kebab at home is not new in principle and, at first glance, it looks very tempting (after all, you don’t even need to go anywhere!) This is exactly what manufacturers of electric barbecue grills use – devices consisting of a heating element and a motor that rotates skewers with strung meat.

Kebabs in such a device are quite edible (albeit without the characteristic smell of haze). That’s just messing around with the preparation and cleaning of the device will have to be not so little. As a result, many come to the logical conclusion that it is easier to fry meat in the most ordinary frying pan, and the “taste of barbecue” is not worth bothering with cutting meat and stringing it on skewers. In general, shish kebabs from an electric barbecue grill are like photo wallpapers instead of a real beach.

Microwave with advanced features

Having a microwave at home has long been a standard, just like having a washing machine or vacuum cleaner. However, despite the fact that many microwaves have grill and convection functions and are equipped with thick books with recipes that tell us how easy and simple it is to cook simple dishes in the microwave or cook porridge in the microwave, the vast majority of users use this device exclusively for heating ready-made dishes. dishes. At best, hot sandwiches are cooked in the microwave or small portions of drinks are heated.

So if you are going to buy a microwave and are thinking about which model to choose, then you should think carefully about whether you need additional features and options. Maybe you (like most) will only heat up food, and the grill and convection will be idle?

If you already have a microwave with convection, we advise you to try cooking hot sandwiches on convection once. With a high degree of probability, after that you will never cook them in the microwave again.

All for baking

Baking is a traditionally difficult topic that many chefs approach with apprehension. The reasons are clear: fiddling with the dough takes time, the baking process itself requires accuracy and control, and minor (in the opinion of an inexperienced cook) mistakes often lead to the fact that the result is not only not pleasing, but frankly frustrating. Still, cooking completely inedible meat is something you need to try, but baking inedible bread is very easy.

Accordingly, don’t be fooled into thinking that special kneading or baking tools will make your life easier and magically change the quality of your pies and buns.

In general, you need to approach the purchase of such devices responsibly: with a clear understanding of what exactly you are going to do with them and why you do not want to do the same with a traditional stove.

For example, compact devices for baking waffles, donuts or cookies will allow you to cook a small portion for breakfast or dinner, but they will not save you money, but on the contrary, they will waste your time if the device has to be started more than a couple of times in a row.

Pizza makers equipped with a baking stone will allow you to cook pizza at high temperatures (which are often unattainable in conventional stoves), but the advantages of pizza makers, in fact, end there. If you are not sure that pizza is your love once and for all, then be prepared for the fact that another box will start up at home, and not the smallest dimensions.

We won’t even comment on churros baking equipment, pancake makers, all kinds of mini-omelettes and other versions of devices that heat something that is under the lid: it’s clear that their scope is so narrow that you need to be a real fan of the same pancakes, to, for example, buy a special crepe maker.

Food processors, slicers and electric graters

I would not want to be one size fits all and discuss all such devices together (after all, they differ very much both in their capabilities and in the quality of the final result), however, we will not lie too much if we say that many of the “multifunctional” devices, in fact, they cope with all the stated tasks approximately equally mediocre.

In particular, this applies to all kinds of graters and shredders, which are made in the form of nozzles for meat grinders or juicers.

This rule, by the way, applies to most “multifunctional” gadgets: usually the more functions they perform, the worse the result will be.

Specially designed food processors and more specialized devices (such as separate electric graters) perform better, but require significant time and effort to assemble / disassemble and clean the device. Well, if there is not much space in the kitchen, then it is also worth adding the time that we will spend on removing the combine from the box and packing it back upon completion of work.

It is not surprising that many people prefer to use an ordinary knife and a hand grater instead of such inventions.

Freezer

Electric ice cream makers (with or without active cooling) are quite convenient and thoughtful devices that allow you to easily prepare several kilograms of homemade ice cream. True, systems with active cooling will cost a pretty penny. But the usual “pots” with refrigerant and a whisk for mixing, which need to be cooled in the freezer, are quite affordable for everyone (which is what bribes).

However, as our experience shows, after a couple of weeks the freezer is half full of all kinds of ice cream and sorbets, and the consumption of these desserts in the family begins to plummet.

We would recommend anyone who wants to buy an ice cream maker to go to the supermarket and buy ten kilograms of regular (high-quality) ice cream. Then put a mark on the calendar and see how long the stock will run out.

Based on the results of the experiment, return to thinking about the question of whether an ice cream maker is needed in the house.

egg cooker

An electric egg cooker looks both very useful and rather stupid device. On the one hand, such a gadget frees the chef from having to stand next to the stove with a stopwatch, measuring the required number of minutes (especially true for lovers of soft-boiled or bagged eggs).

On the other hand, whatever one may say, this is an additional appliance that requires either its own dedicated space in the kitchen, or a place for permanent storage with easy and convenient access. Yes, and you still have to remove the eggs from the egg cooker manually and on time (otherwise they will continue to cook).

Finally, our experiments have shown that egg cookers are sometimes not very good at determining the appropriate cooking modes to achieve the desired result. The fact is that the duration of the device depends on how much water was poured into the bowl (the eggs will boil until the water boils away). But the degree of boiling of eggs depends not only on the volume of water, but also on their size, and even on the number of eggs that we are going to cook at a time. The smaller the eggs and / or their number, the “cooler” they will cook, and vice versa.

Thus, if we are going to cook the same number of eggs every day, then after a couple of experiments, we will surely be able to choose the optimal amount of water corresponding to the desired degree of cooking. But if the number of eggs changes, then the result is likely to “float”.

yogurt maker

The principle of operation of the yogurt maker is extremely simple: its only task is to heat the contents of the bowl to the desired temperature (optimally suitable for the reproduction of lactic acid bacteria) and maintain it for a long time.

It is strange that some yogurt makers cannot even cope with this simple task: we came across appliances that noticeably overheated milk. As a result, the bacteria died, and the result was frankly unsatisfactory.

If the device is calibrated correctly, then no problems should arise: pour milk with a small amount of yogurt (or sourdough) and after a few hours we get a large amount of yogurt. Simple and convenient. Especially for those who are used to consuming yogurt in large quantities. In the presence of individual jars – we get the finished portioned product. If there are no jars, then pour the yogurt into suitable containers and cool in the refrigerator.

The main disadvantage of the yogurt maker, in our opinion, is that it can be easily replaced by the most ordinary multicooker with a temperature control function (which many people already have at home), or sous-vide (which can be found in the kitchen much less often).

Thus, if you already have a slow cooker, then buying a yogurt maker (similar to the one shown in the illustration above) is equivalent to buying a set of cups (which, by the way, will have to be washed later).

And, of course, before you get a device that is so necessary in everyday life, we would recommend conducting an experiment similar to that suggested in the section on ice cream makers: start maintaining a “strategic stock” of yogurt in your home refrigerator for at least a month and see how much it useful product you are really ready to use during this time.

findings

When thinking about buying a particular kitchen gadget, it is important not to fall into the trap of marketers and not be convinced that a new appliance should definitely save you time or effort: in fact, in many cases this turns out to be far from the case.

It would be much more correct to say that the new appliance will (perhaps) open up new culinary possibilities for you. And for sure, in return, he will demand that you allocate a place for storing it (with convenient access) and take care of it carefully (at a minimum, wash and wipe it after each use).

If we approach the assessment of kitchen appliances from this position, it becomes clear that many of them do not deserve attention for the simple reason that they do not open up any special opportunities. Others will be a bad buy, because they do not open up the opportunities that interest you.

Accordingly, the need for a particular device is very easily determined by answering three simple questions:

• What opportunities does this device open up for me?
• Do I need these features personally?
• Am I prepared to service and maintain this appliance on a regular basis?

Based on these simple principles, we propose to evaluate the usefulness of kitchen appliances in particular and household appliances in general.