When looking at kitchen appliances there is so much choice it can be overwhelming, so today I thought I’d share my top 5 appliances that I couldn’t live without and my honest options on whether you should buy them or not!

1. Kitchen Aid (4.8l Artisan)

One of the most asked questions from people that walk into my kitchen is the Kitchen Aid worth the hefty price tag? To that I would say yes and no. It really depends who is asking the question and what you plan to use it for.

We received our 4.8l Artisan Kitchen Aid in Almond Cream as a wedding gift two years ago. Currently they are about £350 to £500 to buy new, bit I think ours was slightly cheaper though a QVC deal at the time.

Prior to receiving it as a gift I looked at these mixers and talked myself in and out of buying one depending on the day, the price tag really held me back. So when it came in the post I almost cried happy tears and had to test it out that evening.

As myself and my husband are both avid bakers, myself on the sweet side and my husband on the savoury, this appliance has got a lot of use over the last two years. We use it at least once a week and it makes baking so much simpler, particularly if you want to make bread or large batches of batter or dough.

I love how easy it is to just dump in ingredients and walk away, so I can get another task done while baking. It’s nice and powerful so I feel I can make all types of dough with very little worry that it’s going to struggle or I’ll break the mechanism. It’s easy to take everything apart to wipe down and clean.

On the negative side it is pricey and so are attachments. Although we have several mixing blades, we currently have just the one mixing bowl for it so if I am having a heavy baking day I have to clean the bowl out between bakes, which can be quite frustrating. I keep looking at buying a second bowl but the £70 price tag keeps putting me off.

If you are not a huge baker and just want the aesthetic, I wouldn’t recommend the Kitchen Aid as at the end of the day it’s just a stand mixer. However if you’re baking more than once a week, like we do yes I think it’s worth the price tag for the time and effort you’d save compared to using a hand mixer!

2. Vitamix Explorian E320

When my husband told me he wanted us to spend almost £400 on a blender I thought he was nuts. I didn’t understand how any blender could be worth that much, however after almost a month of my husband singing it’s praises (he’s a chef and has used them in several kitchens he’s worked in), I thought if it’s going to make him as happy as he said I may as well go along with it.

So we bought it and I can’t believe I’m saying it but it is worth every penny we spent.

The powerful 2.2 HP motor has handled everything we have thrown into it over the last year and a half, we use it to make everything from pesto and soups to smoothies and frozen margaritas.

The container can hold about 64-ounce so is ideal for blending medium to large batches, which makes meal prepping a dream. I also love how easy it is to clean as we use it several times a week.

I think if you aren’t an avid cook or don’t need to make big batches, the price tag will outweigh the benefits. It is also a fairly bulky appliance, I keep it out on the counter at all times luckily we have an appliances corner which means it’s not too visible to most people that walk through our kitchen, but if you don’t have a big space this may not be the blender for you.

All in all I am so happy my husband talked me into this and I would definitely replace it with another if something were to happen to it!

3. Air Fryer

I’ve been looking at purchasing an air fryer for almost a year now and was about to cave and buy one when my sister very kindly let us borrow theirs. The air fryer itself is a Gourmia. In the few short weeks it’s been in our kitchen I’ve been amazed with how much we use it.

From baked goods to chips I've enjoyed playing around with it and so far I don’t think we’ve had anything bad come from it. I’ve also found as I’m progressing through my pregnancy it is definitely becoming a big substitute for our main oven as I don’t have to bend to lift things in and out of it, everything is at countertop height.

There haven’t been many downsides to adding it to our collection kitchen appliances, the only thing I would mention are the tray size, obviously there isn’t as much space as a normal oven tray so it can limit how much food you can make at once, so for couples or individuals it’s great but I’m not convinced you could make a family meal in it. The second thing is it really doesn’t cut down on oven times like I thought it might, so you're still waiting a normal amount of time for your food to cook.

However, in this season of life it is coming in really handy and I can definitely see us getting a lot of use out of in in the upcoming months.

4. Stoves Sterling Deluxe

The one thing I had my heart set on when we decided to renovation the kitchen last year was a duel fuel range. Originally we had planned to buy a Rangemaster, however the pandemic meant we would have to wait over six months to get one or we could find one from an alternative brand, which we thought was more reasonable.

Instead we bought the Stoves Sterling Deluxe Duel Fuel 110cm range. It has 7 gas hobs, 2 electric fan ovens, a grill oven and a warming drawer. As a couple that lives to cook and can’t wait to host now we are allowed more than six people in our home, this range is exactly what I was looking for.

I love that I can make dinner in one oven, prove a loaf in the warming drawer and bake cookies simultaneously. It gives me so much joy to finally have the space and opportunity to cook like I have been over the last year. I can’t wait to teach our children how to cook using it like my mum did with us at her range.

I had never really heard of the brand before we had to look for option number 2 and I’ve been really impressed with our range so far, so if you’re in the same boat I hope this helps!

5. Dualit Milk Frother

Lastly I have to share my Dualit Milk Frother. Pre pregnancy I used this daily, if not several times a day. Unfortunately I have gone off coffee while being pregnant so it’s been sat staring at me for months unused.

I'm always amazed how something so small can become so useful. The Dualit has three settings, one for heating and whisking milk simultaneously so you can have warm frothy milk for a cappuccino, one for just heating milk and the last whisks the milk cool for iced coffee.

Do you need it in my life no, do I love how easy it is to make a hot chocolate or a mocha through the cooler months yes and for that reason I’m grateful we have it!

So those were my top 5 used kitchen appliances, I would love to hear what you think and what yours are?

Ju xx