Kitchen Appliances I Actually Own — And the One Still on My Wish List

I have a complicated relationship with small kitchen appliances. If you’re trying to decide whether another kitchen appliance is worth the money and cabinet space, here’s what has earned its place in mine—and why

I love something that makes cooking easier, but I also don’t want every cabinet in my kitchen filled with appliances I used twice and then forgot about.

Over the years, though, a handful of them have earned a permanent place in our kitchen. Some get used constantly. Some have a very specific job. A few only come out when we’re making something particular — but I’m still glad I have them.

And then there’s one appliance I don’t own yet but keep looking at.

These aren’t necessarily the newest or fanciest kitchen appliances available. They’re simply the ones I actually own, use, and have decided are worth the space they take up.

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Electric Can Opener

This might be the least glamorous appliance on this entire list, but that’s also why I wanted to include it.

I bought our electric can opener several years ago, and it has quietly stayed in the kitchen ever since.

A can opener isn’t something I want to think about. I just want to put a can in it, push the button and have it work.

And sometimes those are the products that end up earning their space the longest.

Would I keep one in my kitchen? Absolutely.

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Ninja PossibleCooker

This is one of the bigger appliances on the list, so it has to justify the amount of space it takes up.

What I like about a multi-cooker like this is that it can handle the kind of meals where I don’t necessarily want several pots going at once. It’s useful for slow-cooked meals, soups, sauces and bigger batches of food where having one large cooking vessel makes life easier.

This is also the kind of appliance I think is worth evaluating based on how you cook. If you never make large meals or slow-cooked dishes, you may not need one. But if you regularly cook for several people or like meals that can simmer without much babysitting, it can earn its cabinet space pretty quickly.

Immersion Blender

This one earns its place because it’s so much easier than pulling out a full-size blender for a small job.

Mine also came with attachments for chopping and whisking, so it’s more versatile than a basic stick blender.

I like appliances like this because they solve one of my biggest kitchen annoyances: I don’t want to dirty a giant appliance and six pieces just to blend something small.

It’s especially handy for sauces, soups, dressings and anything that needs a quick blend directly in the container I’m already using.

Immersion Blender

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Ninja Blender and Food Processor

And yes, I also own a full-size blender/food processor.

That probably sounds redundant immediately after telling you how much I like my immersion blender. 😂

But they serve different purposes.

The immersion blender is what I want when I need something quick and small. The larger Ninja comes out when I actually need the power and capacity of a full blender or food processor.

That’s really how I decide whether seemingly similar appliances deserve to stay: do they solve different problems?

If the answer is yes, I’m much less bothered by owning both.

Ninja Blender and Food Processor

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Electric Fondue Pot

Does anyone need a fondue pot?

Probably not.

Am I still keeping mine?

Yes.

This falls firmly into my category of appliances that don’t get used every week but are worth keeping because they’re perfect for one particular thing.

Fondue is fun. It’s dinner and entertainment at the same time, and having an actual fondue pot makes the whole thing easier than trying to improvise with something else.

I don’t think every appliance has to be an everyday workhorse. Sometimes earning its space means being really good at the one thing you bought it to do.

Cuisinart Double Belgian Waffle Maker

This is another fairly specialized appliance, but a waffle maker has one enormous advantage:

There really isn’t a good substitute for a waffle maker when you want waffles.

Ours makes two Belgian waffles at once, which is much more practical when you’re cooking for more than one person. Instead of making one waffle and watching everybody stare at it while the next one cooks, you can actually move breakfast along.

It’s definitely not an everyday appliance in our house, but it’s one I would rather have than try to replace with pancakes every time somebody wants waffles.

Cuisinart Double Belgian Waffle Maker

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T-fal Deep Fryer

I know air fryers have taken over the world, but sometimes you want something actually fried.

That’s why I still like having a real deep fryer.

This isn’t an appliance I pull out constantly, and honestly, that’s probably a good thing. But for certain foods, there is a difference between air frying and deep frying.

When that’s what I’m making, I’d rather have an appliance designed to control the temperature and contain the oil than try to deep-fry something in a pot on the stove.

It’s another appliance that falls into my “not frequent, but worth having when I need it” category.

T-fal Deep Fryer with Basket

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The Kitchen Appliance You Can’t See: Our Under-Sink Water Heater

This may actually be one of the kitchen appliances I appreciate most — and it isn’t sitting on the counter at all.

Our main water heater is far enough away from the kitchen that during the winter, we could sometimes wait close to three minutes for hot water to reach the kitchen sink.

Three minutes.

That meant turning on the faucet and letting perfectly good water run straight down the drain while we stood there waiting for it to finally get hot.

Eventually, we installed a small water heater under the kitchen sink.

It isn’t exciting. Nobody walks into the kitchen and compliments it. You can’t even see it unless you open the cabinet.

But it solved an annoying problem we dealt with constantly.

And honestly, those are some of my favorite home purchases.

Under-Sink Water Heater

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The One I Still Want: Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro

And now we get to the appliance that isn’t actually in my kitchen.

Yet. 😂

The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro has been sitting on my wish list.

What appeals to me is that it isn’t only an air fryer. It’s a countertop oven that can handle several different types of cooking, which makes it feel a little easier to justify than buying another appliance with one very specific purpose.

But I haven’t bought it yet.

And I think that’s worth saying because I don’t want this to become one of those lists where I recommend ten appliances I’ve never actually lived with.

Everything else in this post is something I own.

The Breville is simply the one I’m currently considering.

If I eventually buy it, I’ll come back and tell you whether it earned its space.

Which Kitchen Appliances Are Actually Worth the Space?

I’ve realized that I don’t judge every appliance by how often I use it.

Some have to work constantly to justify staying in my kitchen. Others can be occasional-use appliances as long as they’re really useful when I need them.

My rough categories look something like this:

Everyday/easy-access appliances: things I reach for regularly and don’t want buried in the back of a cabinet.

Useful multi-purpose appliances: things like the Ninja appliances that can handle several different cooking jobs.

Special occasion appliances: the fondue pot, waffle maker and fryer. They don’t have to work every Tuesday to earn their place.

Problem-solving appliances: our under-sink water heater may be the best example. It exists because something about our kitchen drove me crazy, and it fixed it.

That’s really my test now.

I don’t need every kitchen appliance.

I just want the ones I own to make our kitchen work better.