How to Save Money on Kitchen Appliances
Kitchen appliances range from small and affordable, single-function hand blenders to over-the-top ovens and stovetops with hefty price tags. Sure, you can save money when kitting out your kitchen by purchasing pre-loved goods, items with small scratches and faults, or store demo pieces, but why sell yourself short on having new items with in-tact warranties when there’s a better way to save bucks?
Combo appliances such as all-in-one blenders, graters, and mixers are nothing new. The concept has, however, expanded with new cooking technologies to offer home cooks a range of multi-purpose equipment at a lower cost than purchasing all the appliances separately.
Here are three ways to save big money without foregoing the luxury of having brand new appliances. These combination appliances will probably offer more features than you ever dreamed of using in your kitchen.
1. Microwave Toaster Oven Combo
A microwave toaster oven combo combines the features of a microwave, a toaster, and a small oven. Look for something with a convection oven functionality as this ensures food is heated uniformly on the inside and outside with a heating element and convection fan that circulates the air.
This multifunctional appliance can generally bake, toast, warm food, and broil. Depending on the model you get, it may also have a rotisserie function and other features. The cost of a regular oven and microwave can be significantly reduced by getting a microwave toaster oven combo and it can cook food in 30 to 50% less time than a regular oven. In addition, if you are tight on space, this is the ideal option since it is compact and can sit on a countertop.
2. Instant Pots
Our next fabulous kitchen budget saver is a multi-purpose pressure cooker. There are a few models on the market, with some combining up to nine appliance functions into one compact machine. These include a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, warmer, sterilizer, sous vide machine, yogurt maker, and saute pan. Additionally, they feature a selection of smart programs for effortless operation with a digital control panel.
This type of appliance allows you to cook an extravagant array of foods at the press of a button. Having all these appliances separately will take a ton of storage space and will be time-consuming to get ready, clean, and pack away. For just a little more spend than a pressure cooker only, you gain eight additional appliances.
3. Air Fryer
Air fryers are very versatile cooking appliances on their own, although many newer models are available integrated with multi-appliance functions. Whichever you choose, it is still a great option for fast and easy cooking, with a big bonus that it is much better for your health than frying foods in oil.
Air fryers circulate hot air in a sealed cooking chamber. This makes for faster cooking, easier cleaning, and locks in juicy flavors while yielding crispy coatings. It can therefore take the place of an oven for roasting a chicken, a fryer for making fries, and you can cook vegetables, potatoes, meats, thaw frozen food, heat leftovers, and mimic stir fry in record time. You also conserve electricity and cleaning is much easier than washing an entire roasting pan full of stuck-on grease.
We’ve only looked into three money-savers for cooking here, however, there are a whole lot more options out there that can help you get chef-ready without breaking the bank. Modern food processors especially are known for coming with a variety of attachments that make them double up as blenders, graters, juicers, and mixers. Additionally, they come with a whisk attachment that replaces a handheld whisk and they make for easy chopping, grinding, and mincing.
When choosing any kitchen appliances, ensure that it is made from BPA-free and food-grade materials. You’ll also want to check the warranty. This should cover at least a year of use. There is no point in saving money on your multi-appliance purchase if it breaks after two months and there’s nothing you can do about it.