Must-Have Kitchen Appliances and Gadgets
Did you know the average American spends 37 minutes a day in the kitchen? And while lots of people bemoan the “death of the home-cooked meal” we know plenty of Colliers Hillsters who love cooking at home and eating in. If that’s you, take a look at these kitchen trends and hacks that might just change your life – and your mealtimes!
Life-Changing Appliances
You know about The Instant Pot, right? But do you have one? Do you use it? It. Is. Life-Changing. These multi-use cookers can cook slow, super-fast, and whip up everything from chicken parm to strawberry cheesecake. The pressure cooker feature allows for higher heat and high pressure which forces liquid and moisture into the food to tenderize meat cuts very quickly. Pressure cookers drastically cut the cooking time – think three hours down to 30 minutes – and blogger Karen, at 365 Days of Pressure Cooking has recipes for every day of the week, every meal of the day, so you can dive right in with no fear. Karen also reveals things you didn’t know you could do with a pressure cooker – like make cough syrup and peel peaches!
If you’re not part of the juicing craze, just let us say that a juicer is a natural way to feed your body essential minerals, vitamins, and living enzymes. Almost all of the nutrients our bodies need can be found in the juice of raw fruits and vegetables. CNET has a quick video primer on the five things to consider before buying a juicer of your own – from what you want it to do to which juicers have dishwasher-safe parts for easy clean-up.
All-Purpose Bakeware, like these dishwasher-safe tempered glass nesting bowls and loaf pans, go from freezer, fridge, oven, and microwave to the dishwasher. Some look a little retro like these from Creo’s Smartglass collection at Bed Bath & Beyond on 16531 Washington Street in Thornton, and they come in a wide range of colors.
Go-To Gadgets
For homemade jam chefs, you can stir a boiling mixture with the Thermometer Spoon by Mastrad and read the handle’s digital display to see how hot things are getting, or you can slide the handle away, and this clever tool becomes a five-inch probe. Home chefs who love a good chuck roast will want their own handy Thermometer Spoon. The detachable thermometer probe makes monitoring food in a pot on the stovetop or inside the oven, a snap and will test cooking meats and pastries with accuracy to the nearest tenth of a degree.
This is the first we’ve heard of a silicon fat mat to help catch and remove fat while cooking. It uses a non-stick, silicone surface that effectively drains away fat from a cut of meat as it cooks. Place it on a cooking tray with your meat on top and bake it in the oven. The fat mat is dishwasher safe and hails from the Fish Pond – down under in Australia.
Better and Smarter
We love our step-on trash cans but they can be tricky for older people who find themselves on the wrong side of the step-on mechanism! The Simple Human trash bin with voice activation responds to the voice command “open can,” as well as to a wave of your hand. The motor on this bin is rated for more than 150,000 opening cycles, and the stainless steel is infused with antimicrobial particles to kill germs. The bin retails for about $200, but keep it on your list for upcoming Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales!
And finally, the iRobot Braava 380t Robot Mop. This square-shaped device is like a robot vacuum but this one motors around tiled surfaces in kitchens and bathrooms, navigating its way around chair legs, a kitchen island, toilet, and more. It has both dry sweeping and wet mopping functionality and comes with reusable microfiber cleaning cloths – one for wet and one for dry.
Kitchen-Clever in Colliers Hill
Colliers Hill makes it easy for home buyers to imagine themselves — and all their clever kitchen appliances and gadgets — in the brand new homes of this amazing master-planned community. You’ll be blown away by the features and architectural details presented by Colorado’s top home builders: Meritage Homes, Shea Homes and Richmond American Homes. Stop in to tour all 15 stunning model homes – in both ranch or two-story designs – priced from the upper $300s to the $600s.
