In this age and day when we’re more conscious about our nutritional choices, everyone is a fan of delicious home-cooked meals. Unfortunately, we also live in a busy world where at the end of the day, most people are exhausted and all they want is to put anything in their belly and hit the covers. Especially at the thought of how long it takes to prepare a great meal, grabbing a “to go” or ordering food seems like the most practical choice.
Thanks to innovation and advancement in technology, however, meal preparation no longer has to be an overly time-consuming chore. With the right cooking appliances and tools in your kitchen, you can even prepare meals in bulk that will last you the entire week. Want to save time and effort on meal prep? Here are a few cooking –and kitchen– appliances you probably didn’t know you needed as far as saving time on meal preparation is concerned.
1. Programmable Pressure Cooker
A pressure cooker is one of the best cooking appliances you can have in your kitchen. In addition to cooking food faster than most conventional cooking methods, pressure cooking also saves energy, allows your food to retain nutrients, and can be used literally anywhere. There are various types of pressure cookers, including 1st generation, 2nd generation, and electric pressure cookers.
Additionally, modern electric pressure cookers come with programmable settings that allow you to tackle other household chores while your food is cooking so you don’t have to keep checking it.
Nonetheless, different types and brands of electric pressure cookers exist on the market. According to Mark Weir from https://www.howtohome.com/best-electric-pressure-cooker/, depending on type and brand, electric pressure cookers may vary in terms of energy consumption, safety features, quart capacity, and the number of appliances the unit comes with.
This is why it’s important to take a look at trusted pressure cooker reviews before heading to the stores, so you can make an informed purchase decision.
2. Electric Kettle
Apart from making tea or hot chocolate, when preparing meals, some recipes require hot water. But boiling water using conventional methods is often an annoying task, especially if time is not on your side. With an electric kettle, you can get hot water in seconds, making meal prep easier, time-efficient, and even more enjoyable. Modern ones even come with a keep-warm setting so the water can stay warm all day if you like.
3. Slow Cooker
Well, don’t judge this one by its name yet. Also known as a crockpot, a can slow cooker saves you a lot of time on meal prep. It allows you to utilize those leftover veggies, meats, and other groceries to make a huge meal that you can store in the refrigerator and use in bits all week long.
It is especially ideal for making soups and broth. Yes, the meal will take hours to cook, but the beautiful thing is that for the next few days or even weeks, all you’ll need is to defrost and reheat it in your oven or microwave (another great kitchen appliance). You also don’t have to cook multiple times if you’re a family whose members eat at different times of the day.
4. Immersion Blender
Do you enjoy your meals with sauce? Well, nothing is more delicious than homemade sauce and having an immersion blender is the way to go. Apart from sauces, this handy appliance makes it easier and faster to beat eggs, make smoothies, mix salad dressings, purée soup, make mayonnaise, and much more. It also helps you with cooking, doesn’t it?
5. Mandoline Slicer
Put the actual cooking process aside for a while, preparing the ingredients is one of the most time-consuming tasks of the cooking process. This is especially the case when it comes to chopping, cutting, and slicing.
The mandoline slicer is just as it sounds… it allows you to slice literally anything that goes to your kitchen pot or bowl in half the time you’ have spent doing it manually or less. From fruits to veggies, potatoes, and ingredients like ginger, this handy appliance to make even slices so your meal can be tastier and more presentable.
6. Food Processor
This is another kitchen appliance that makes your meal preparation a breeze. It’s a big time-saver that has various uses around the kitchen. For instance, you could use it to chop food products like meats and veggies, making emulsion sauces, making potato chips, making juice and milkshake, as well as crushing, mixing, and grinding ingredients to make gravies, chutney, and curries.
To be honest, meal preparation can be very demanding. When it comes to kitchen appliances and tools that make the job easier, the list is endless. The above is a list of a few kitchen appliances that can help save a huge chunk of time on meal prep, making it easier for you and your family to stick to healthier diet routines.
