12 Must Have Home Kitchen Appliances

The kitchen is always the hub of any family, where everyone gathers to chat and take part in preparing meals together. I always find it interesting how all the women usually gather in the kitchen and the men huddle around the braai (barbecue) whenever there is a social event.

I spend a lot of time in my kitchen, especially during the week since I make the kids school lunches and breakfast every morning, make lunch for my kids and myself in the afternoon and every week evening I make a home cooked meal for the family. On the weekends I have trained my husband to braai (barbecue) for us so I get time out.

For me this means that having the right home kitchen appliances an absolute must, anything that can save me time and energy in the kitchen makes such a difference to my life!

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Fridge

Let’s face it, a fridge is probably the most important appliance in your kitchen. Without it you would have to stop at the shop every single day! I try and plan my shopping and keep my shopping trips to an absolute minimum. This saves me time and money, plus if I plan my meals and shopping it means that I spend less time figuring out what I will make every meal time.

Chest Freezer

Ok so the truth is that I don’t actually have a chest freezer yet, but oh how I would love one and I am saving up to buy one. The reason for this is that you can freeze so many things that will make your life easier and cut down even more on shopping trips. The biggest reasons I have to make so many shopping trips is that I need to get fresh bread and milk.

Bread, milk, butter, margarine and many more things can be frozen so you can buy all these items once a month and freeze them. My problem is that my freezer section in my fridge is not big enough to accommodate for so many items.

Here’s hoping I will get to buy a chest freezer soon!

Stove/ Oven

I use my oven and stove most days, while I have other appliances that I often use for cooking I still find that I make use of my oven and stove regularly, mostly my stove.

Dishwasher

Once again, I actually don’t have one yet and I never have had one. I dream of having a dishwasher, since at the moment I am the dishwasher. I detest doing the dishes, in fact I detest doing most household chores and getting a dishwasher would eliminate the daily grind of washing up after every meal.

While I would love to get one, there is nowhere in my kitchen to fit one at this stage anyway so I will have to wait until we move to consider getting one.

Microwave

Microwaves are so useful and until quite recently I only ever used my microwave to defrost food, to heat up things (mostly my cold coffee) and maybe to cook some peas or other veggies.

Then I got the LG Neochef smart inverter microwave and how I love cooking in the microwave now. I have now figured out how to cook full meals in my microwave and even made a 3 layer microwave cake!

Using the microwave is way quicker than using my oven and it uses less electricity which is a bonus.

Instapot

The instapot is also on my list of things to buy. I have a slow cooker which I love and use regularly but the reason why I put the instapot on this list is because it is also a slow cooker. The instapot is highly versatile and can be used in many ways including as a slow cooker, pressure cooker and rice cooker.

Coffee Machine

My coffee machine is another item I just can’t do without. I love my coffee and instant coffee just doesn’t really do it for me anymore. I have a very basic coffee machine which does a good job, but I would love to one day get a Nespresso machine or one that is really fancy that grinds coffee beans and froths milk for cappuccinos.

Of course if you are not a coffee fanatic then this wouldn’t need to be on your list but hey this is my list of essentials!

Kettle

If you are not a coffee drinker then you will certainly need a kettle for your tea. I also make use of my kettle to boil water to cook my veggies and pasta. Sometimes if I am in a rush of just making one cup of coffee for myself I will use the kettle and my coffee plunger rather than my coffee machine.

Toaster

I love toast and it is very handy in the mornings to make myself and my kids a quick breakfast. A toaster is a small expense and in my opinion a necessity for any household. You can also toast ready made pancakes, waffles and other tasty goodies in your toaster.

Blender

I use my blender every single day to make smoothies for myself and I often use it for making soups too. I know some people have a smoothie maker, a food processor and many other nifty little gadgets but I manage to get by with my blender just fine.

Hand Blender

My blender does most of the things that I need it to do but there are some cases where I just need to give something a quick go and popping my hand blender into a bowl of veggies to puree them or into a pot of hot soup to blend it is so much easier and quicker.

I bought my hand blender when my daughter was a few months old so I could easily make her homemade baby food when I was making supper and it is such a useful appliance that I still use regularly.

Electric Beater

Another appliance I love is my electric beater. I really enjoy baking and making yummy things for my family to eat. I need it for making pancakes, lemon meringue pie and cupcakes. Without my electric beater I wouldn’t be able to make all these tasty things.

What home kitchen appliances are on your list of must haves?