Bread Machines For Dummies
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You don’t need to own every small kitchen appliance on the market, but you may find that some small appliances can benefit your cooking efforts and make cooking fun! Small appliances are an investment, so make sure you’ll actually use any of these you decide to purchase:

  • Toasters and toaster ovens: Everybody needs a toaster or toaster oven. You probably don’t need both, and a toaster oven is more versatile but takes up more counter space.

  • Electric griddles: An electric griddle, which plugs into an outlet and heats up without the need for the stove, makes certain jobs easier, but it also takes up space and means extra cleaning.

  • Mixers, beaters, and blenders: Stand mixers are stand-alone contraptions that hold a bowl and also hold a beater, wire whisk, or dough hook over the bowl. Beaters, or hand mixers, are like manual stand mixers. You hold the mixer in your hand, insert the two beaters or whips into the mixer, and hold it into whatever you’re mixing. You use your blender for many kitchen chores, from chopping a cup of walnuts to making homemade salsa or magaritas.

    Use a blender to crush ice, make frozen drinks, chop food, and blend ingredients. [Credit: <i>Photo
    Credit: PhotoDisc/Getty Images
    Use a blender to crush ice, make frozen drinks, chop food, and blend ingredients.
  • Food processors and choppers: Food processors can whip, grate, slice, chop mince, and purée. Small choppers (for small amounts of ingredients) are almost more trouble to clean than just chopping by hand with your chef’s knife.

  • Coffee makers and coffee grinders: If you’re a coffee drinker, you’ll want to have a coffee maker. Because coffee brewed from freshly ground beans is far superior, especially to the coffee aficionado with the refined java palate, anybody really serious about her cup o’ joe also needs a coffee grinder.

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