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Not all small appliances are unitaskers
In a prior post, I labeled The Panini Press as a Unitasker. It did one thing: make paninis.
Today, I want to talk about small appliances that aren’t unitaskers. For example, the Cuisinart Griddler offers more options than your regular panini press. This is a mulit-functional unit that serves as contact grill, panini press, open grill, and griddle.
When and if you decide to purchase a small appliance, take a few moments to consider its functionality. Can it do more than one, specific task?
Cuisinart has a dual Blender-Food Processor that makes space-saving sense, Kitchen Aid has an Ice Cream Maker attachment for its mixers, an Egg and Toaster unit makes both eggs and toast, and the Hamilton Beach Toast Oven is a toaster and a toaster oven in one appliance. You obviously aren’t obligated to have any of these small appliances in your home, but if you want to buy one, we encourage you to consider ones that aren’t unitaskers.
22 comments posted
Posted by Karen - 12/13/2007
Sometimes multitaskers are great. Sometimes they do several things badly instead of one thing well. I use my stick blender quite often, and my 10 year old workhorse died not long ago. When I went to the store, I was tempted by a unit that combined a stick blender, hand-held mixer and small food processor. (All things I use.) Unfortunately, I found that although the unit works, it doesn’t do as good a job at any of these tasks than my old single-use items (and with all the accessories, it doesn’t even save that much space).
Posted by Marie - 12/13/2007
This one is definitely going on my wedding registry.
Posted by Erin Doland - 12/13/2007
@Karen — You make a good point. I doubt that I will ever own an espresso machine that also doubles as a vacuum cleaner, or something wacky along those lines. We’re not suggesting that multi-functionality be your only consideration, but something that should at least be considered.
Posted by CM - 12/13/2007
I’ve also seen a Black & Decker waffle iron where the iron part slides out and you can use it as a grill or panini press.
Posted by Jenny - 12/13/2007
I have the Cuisinart Griddler, myself, and as a renter of a small apartment, it’s wonderful. It takes up a bit of space on the counter but the parts are minimal and can be stored easily — just a couple sets of plates, a couple grease-catchers, and a scraper. It heats up and cleans up quickly, doesn’t use a ton of energy, and the accessories are all dishwasher safe. I’ve had mine for a couple years now and it still works well even after near daily use.
I’ve never been a fan of kitchen gadgets and in general I’ve always considered Cuisinart to be an overpriced brand. The Griddler, though, is changing my mind and I’m a little more open to spending a bit more on something that works and spares me grief in the kitchen.
Posted by Carmen - 12/13/2007
I have both the blender/food processor and the griddle/panini press. We use both of them all the time. You can cook almost everything on the grill/griddle and do it very quickly. My only complaint is that it is hard to find a good storage spot for the extra components you are not using.
Posted by Kendra - 12/13/2007
The Griddler is a great appliance. Ours was a Christmas gift (for our first married Christmas) and we use it often. The best thing about it is that it makes our apartment kitchen more interactive… we can griddle on the counter overlooking the dining table, and actually talk to the kids while we work, instead of huddling over the stove. I would say, definitely put it on your registry!
Posted by Tom - 12/13/2007
Alton Brown on Good Eats is similarly against unitaskers. He advocates multi use gadgets where they work and less expensive substitutes. For instance this stone/clay trasy for baking can be replaced with unglazed quarry tiles that cost 50 cents each.
Posted by Hayden Tompkins - 12/13/2007
I freaking LOVE that toaster.
Posted by Hayden Tompkins - 12/13/2007
I should have mentioned, I have owned one for a year.
Posted by karen - 12/13/2007
i REALLY want one of these but i just bought a new electric skillet & i’ve got not one, but two george foreman grills. oh, well … i was going to have a garage sale anyway. maybe i can use the proceeds for a griddler.
Posted by Ferdzy - 12/13/2007
Nobody’s mentioned a rice cooker yet. I love mine: in the morning I use it to cook our oatmeal. Next it may be called out to cook barley for soup, or lentils. It even cooks rice! There are cookbooks dedicated to the ricecooker, with recipes for casseroles, soups and puddings but even without having such a book it is not uncommon for my rice cooker to be used 2 or 3 times a day. If I had to pare my kitchen down to 3 electric appliances it would be one of the three for sure.
Posted by FatLady - 12/14/2007
I just found a new unitasker for you. Check this thing:
http://www.cooking.com/product.....=cknw05570
I always though the salad shooter was the dumbest thing ever but this thing wins for sure!
Posted by Erin Doland - 12/14/2007
@Ferdzy — I steam veggies in my rice cooker. Excellent point!
Posted by Chris Rasco - 12/14/2007
I have one of these and it ROCKS.
Posted by George K. - 12/14/2007
ditto @ Ferdzy
I’ve had the same breakfast–steel-cut oats–for 2 years now. Not only is there money being saved, but one container of oats takes us less room than 3 boxes of cereal. Plus the time you save not having to think about which cereal you want, the recycling savings from not using the cereal packaging, etc. A rice cooker brings a wonderful element of simplicity into your life. It’s also nice to have a hot breakfast automatically made every morning.
Posted by ckc - 12/15/2007
This replaced my old George Foreman grill which was impossible to clean. Now we use this Griddler a few times a week for everything from chicken to burgers to pancakes and more.
Posted by Ruthie - 12/20/2007
umm, but aren’t MANY of these things multi-taskers, even if they’re not labeled as such?
If my toaster oven is not both an oven and a toaster, please inform me what the browned slices of bread I have been making in it for 4 years are. I’ve made many a smoothie in my Cuisenart food processor, which is also frequently used to make homemade peanut butter as well as traditional functions My coffee grinder was just cleansed of its coffee grounds and used this evening to grind cardamom. My George Foreman grill was used for paninis more often than as a grill. Crockpots can be very easily used to make rice. The Kitchenaid stand mixer has a doohickey in the front of it where you can put on attachments that do everything from an ice cream maker to a grain mill to a pasta maker (even ravioli) to a sausage stuffer.
Why are we buying into advertised versatility instead of using our brains to think of how the appliances we have can be used?? That seems just as bad as to buying into the marketing campaign for unitaskers.
Posted by Matt - 12/21/2007
I am also a happy owner of a Cuisinart Griddler, and I agree with some of the previous comments. It IS a pain in the ass to store the grill and it’s components when it’s not in use, but the benefit I get out of it make it well worth it.
Posted by Oliver - 12/15/2008
Whether something is a “unitasker” or not, is not the only factor in my decision-making.
There are many things that are unitaskers. A can opener is a unitasker. A toaster is a unitasker. A tea kettle is a unitasker.
Three other very important variables, that can be lost in the mix are: 1) how often does the item get used? 2) how much space is needed to store the item? and 3) how much labor does it save or require, compared to the alternatives?
A large, infrequently used, unitasker is pretty much worthless clutter.
A small, item you use daily may be a wonderful unitasker.
Posted by Stephanie - 12/13/2009
Ha! This is the argument I used to convince my husband to let me register for a toaster oven instead of just a regular toaster when we were getting married. He can make toast or tuna melts (his favorite) with the same appliance. You can’t do that with a toaster. Also, it helps to not have to heat the whole oven for one or two items (since there are just the two of us) that we can just pop in the toaster oven. Tortillas? Warm! A couple cookies? Baked! Quesadilla? Ready! I love my toaster oven … it’s one of my best friends in the kitchen.
Posted by WilliamB - 12/14/2009
I have several of these items. I wouldn’t be without my toaster-oven. Its really useful to have a small oven so you don’t have to waste all that energy to fire up the big one just to crisp a piece of pizza. (That said, it’s true that toaster-ovens don’t make great toast. I accept the trade-off happily but when my current t-o dies I’m looking into the ones that have both appliances.) I don’t use a food processer very often, so the blender/processor is just right for me. I got the rice cooker as a gift for my roommate because I can cook lovely rice on the stovetop, thank you very much, but I find I use it a lot and, like the toaster oven, it saves energy as well. (Does that make it a multi-tasker: cooks rice and saves energy?)
I also agree with Oliver that a gadget should be evaluated by several criteria, of which unitasking is only one.
The KA ice cream bowls aren’t a no-brainer. I looked into getting one. They’re more expensive than a Cuisinart ice cream maker ($70 vs $50), the bowl takes up just as much space as the whole Cuisinart machine, and the bowl takes up *more* space in your freezer that the Cuisinart bowl. Much as I adore my KA I got the Cuisinart. PS: my Cuisinart came with a second bowl for my $50; this may not be an advantage for this site’s readers: more clutter! Well, you don’t have to keep it.
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