Cooking can be intimidating enough without a recipe telling you that you need a special tool, gadget, or appliance to make a delicious dish. For beginner cooks, that’s enough to make them turn away! For the home cooks who know they like to cook and want to do a better job at cooking, this can be your catalyst to take your cooking skills to the next level.

Cooking techniques can only get you so far if you’re not willing to spend on key kitchen helpers that will and should make your job easier. That’s why appliances were created in the first place: to be your handy kitchen helper and make tasks in the kitchen easier and faster, too.

Let these small kitchen appliances change the way you cook! Here are tips and tricks to make these appliances be extra helpful when you use them:

1 Heat water off the stove using electric kettles.

How many burners do you have? If you’re in a kitchen that has two burners or even just one burner, that’s prime culinary real estate that needs to be used for the tasks that can’t be done elsewhere. So, if you have to heat up water for any reason, these electric kettles make hot water instantly available without using the stove.

The best reason to have one of these may be for your morning coffee and tea but don’t be afraid to use it beyond that basic need! You can make it extra useful by not only heating up water but also other liquids that you need hot. If you need an instant broth, heat water, add a bouillon cube or granules into the kettle, and let it heat up while you saute the other ingredients needed. All you have to do is remember to clean it out well before you use it for your morning brew.

Asahi Electric Kettle Wood Design, P1,789, and Union 1.8L Electric Glass Kettle, P1,259, The SM Store

2 Cook and tenderize your meat off the stove.

If you have more than one dish to cook, having another cooking vessel that’s not on the stove can be the key to making it easier on yourself. This is especially true if you have beef or pork that needs to be tenderized before you can finish the meal!

Enter the slow cooker. The beauty of an electric cooker like this is that it doesn’t need you or your stove to do its job! Plus, since it’s an electric cooker with its own heating element, you can basically do all the things you can do on a stove. Leave it to slow cook beef and pork until it’s so tender you don’t need a fork. You can steam food in it, too, with the handy steamer insert and since it’s a deep 3-liter pot, you can even use this to deep fry a whole fried chicken Pinoy style!

Union Stainless Steel Multi-Cooker 12-in-1, P1,259, The SM Store

3 Keep food hot while you cook your other dishes.

Do you hate it when your food gets cold before you’re ready to eat? If you’re one of those people, you should know this useful trick that chefs use all the time in the kitchens: keep food warm in the oven. This oven doesn’t have to be a big one. It just needs to be big enough to hold the food you leave sitting on the table while you finish cooking the rest of your meal.

You can even use this little oven toaster instead of an air fryer to force excess oil to drip off and out your fried chicken!

Asahi Oven Toaster Wood Design, P2,629, The SM Store

4 Make anything golden brown and delicious.

Who said that a torch is just for crème brûlée? It’s not! In fact, anything that you want to have a golden brown and delicious exterior can be made so in a few seconds under this handy kitchen gadget. You can brown and char marshmallows for S’mores and anything topped with meringue. You can instantly melt cheese on top of anything without placing it in an oven or using the stove. You can even melt and caramelize the sugar on the Christmas ham!

There are many uses for this handy flame, and you may just find a unique use for it when you get your hands on one.

Konice Gas Torch, P699, The SM Store

5 Have a Korean barbecue and even steaks at the table.

A panini maker used to be a popular kitchen appliance and can actually be used to make more than just sandwiches. The good news is that you can definitely use it on the table since it has its own heating element. This means you have a “grill” for samgyupsal nights even if you don’t have that fancy Korean barbecue grill.

This may even be better than that K-BBQ grill! Just add the meat and other ingredients to the grill and then press for a few seconds and release. Since it can close with both heating elements on, it instantly sears both sides! You can do the same for a steak, too!

Asahi Waffle and Panini Maker Wood Design, P2,269, The SM Store

6 Keep the kitchen (and you!) cool enough to work no matter what.

The kitchen can be overwhelmingly hot without a little help. When the hot dry season is upon us or even just days when the heat is just too bearable for you to stand in a hot kitchen, a fan may not be enough. For these days, you need a cooler that’s not for food. A mini cooler that won’t break your electricity bill is exactly what you may need. Plus, since it’s a little box, it can be placed exactly where you need it to help you stay cool while you work to put food on the table.

Dowell Mini Portable Air Cooler, P1,299.75, The SM Store

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