Question - does anyone like newer smalls?

[fan-of-fans]

This might get me in trouble, but just wondering. lol

Does anyone have an interest in newer small appliances? I do. I'm probably younger than a lot, but growing up in the 90s they always caught my eye. Still even then at least a few were still made in USA.

I kind of like the late 70s-80s Hamilton Beach/Dominion smalls. I have a little Dominion by Hamilton Beach Tall Fry, that appears to never be used. I never plan to use it but its cute. They also made a smaller Fry All version. They claimed they can fry, boil soup, or even cook burgers. Then there was the Little Mac Burger Machine.

For more recent stuff, I like most of the KitchenAid small appliances line.

For the cheaper stuff, and this sounds probably sacreligious, but I always liked the "GE" line that Walmart sold back in the early to late 2000s. I believe it was all rebadged, but the stainless steel and black with blue and green lights always caught my eye. A few pieces have even made it to my collection, most from thrift stores or flea market. But I did get my mom to buy me one of the waffle makers new for Christmas one year when they still sold them.

The fryer was probably my favorite. They started offering a commercial style fryer under the name, which was the first I had ever seen. I always liked commercial fryers so I thought that was too cool they made a little household version, and with the GE name on it too. Since GE had been out of the commercial equipment business for decades.

Some of them are still sold under the Farberware name I notice.

I've always liked the Kenmore smalls too. The mixers are pretty cool and I've had a few of the toasters with the LEDs. I'd like to have an autolift toaster also if I ever see one turn up here.

I know the quality is not there in newer stuff, and I won't claim it is. But I just like the techy look a lot of it has going with stainless steel and colored lights and LCD displays and such, along with the somewhat commercial kitchen look they give off.

 

[justjunque]

We had a Little Mac back in the 70s!
I have no idea what ever happened to it. Probably got sold at a yard sale, or donated to a thrift store.

As for newer smalls; I've liked the looks of some here and there, although I can't name an example off hand. And I usually avoid buying them, because of the quality issues that you mention.
I'll have to look around and see what we have for newer stuff. I can't even think of anything right now.
Our newest small appliances might be from around the time of our wedding, which would be 2002.
Those would include a Krups coffee maker, a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer, a corresponding hand mixer, etc.
Maybe I'll start paying more attention to modern smalls when I'm at the store. Although, that doesn't even happen very often any more.
I'm way overdue for a trip to the local thrift stores though!

Barry

 

[sudsomatic]

I'm fond of smalls

 

 

I have a few vintage small appliances. I have two early/mid 1960's Sunbeam electric can opener's one in pink and one in yellow with the 'Atomic' grill styling. I also have a Harvest Gold Seal-A-Meal from the 70's. Neither might be considered officially small appliances but I've always thought of anything that does a specific (kitchen) job and plugs in as an appliance.

 

For more recent gadgets I love my Ninja Blender. It's part blender, part food processor and is so handy. from quick burst chopping for making usable chunks of sliced onions and peppers, medium chopping to 'rice' cauliflower, fine grinding for turning ice cubes into "snow" or pureeing the crap out of something you want to liquefy.

 

And... I'd be lost without my Air Fryer. I know some manufacturers include air frying in their ovens now, but I love my countertop version. Perfect size for one to three people and I have to imagine it uses less power to cook something than firing up your main oven.

 

 

 

 

[dometicsavant]

I absolutely love my NuWave oven pro plus and I use it every single day and I also love my Mealthy multipot (electric pressure cooker) between the two I hardly ever use my stove or my oven (when I do need an oven for larger dishes I use my Oster extra large digital oven) but I also use them in conjunction with my vintage GE percolator and sunbeam automatic egg cooker every single morning.I use vintage hand mixers and stand mixers etc. I enjoy anything that makes the kitchen experience easier. I believe back in the 50s and 60s when all these electric appliances exploded onto the market homemakers wanted anything new and exciting that made things easier so I feel like I’m living the true vintage dream because I’m embracing stuff from now just like they embraced new things during their time.

 

[paulg]

I really had to think about this one.

Generally, I look at newer smalls with a jaundiced eye. The quality out of China can be good but can be really bad too. ( I used to monitor quality of Chinese appliances that were outsourced. I try to keep a balanced view but am super suspicious of quality shortcuts ). But then again, some vintage appliances were crap too.
That being said, I love my vintage appliances and generally only keep and use the good quality ones. As for newer smalls, I love my new microprocessor-controlled pressure cooker. Quality seems adequate and it has already paid for itself.
Our Zojirushi bread maker is a champ. Overall, I like the quality of their appliances and I do tend to favor Japanese brands.
Our Cuisinart food processor, electric chopper and buffet skillet are great.
We’ve had a few new duds. One brand (who shall remain nameless) markets “high quality” smalls. I have their super-duper coffee grinder which refuses to work reliably and I have their panini maker which is dreadful to clean. NEVER buy a panini maker without removable grids. I think both will go to the recycler as I don’t want to frustrate another soul with those badly designed products.

 

[kate1]

I think if someone is extraordinarily picky, there are excellent new small appliances to be had. Brands that I think still make quality small appliances are zojirushi, Kitchenaid, Panasonic, Braun, Bosch, and maybe a few others.

 

[foraloysius]

I love my Moccamaster coffeemaker, my Dualit toaster, my Magimix foodprocessor and my Panasonic microwave combo oven.

 

[norgeway]

I have

A few 1980s smalls But never use them Everything I use is 1960s or before with the exception of a 80s Kitchen Aid food processor and a 70s Burst of Power Mixmaster portable.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I picked up a KitchenAid mini chopper/food processor at Goodwill a few weeks ago. Seeems to be a very recent made unit, makes me wonder if perhaps it was donated because it doesn't do a good job? I've yet to try it.

Usually I like to look at the small appliances whenever I go to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Also do so when I'm at the mall or Walmart. Unfortunately Sears is now off the list of locations to see them.

I agree some of the higher end newer brands still seem to be pretty good.

Normally I never buy any brand new appliances. But if I happen to find something newer but high end at a thrift store or garage sale, I might get it if it's cheap.

A couple of years ago I saw a Kenmore Elite 4 slice toaster at a thrift shop here. Most people wouldn't have given it a second look since it was pretty dirty and full of crumbs, but I remembered when they sold new for almost $90. So I took it home and took it apart and cleaned and polished it up and it works great.

Normally I will only go through the trouble for vintage things though.

The KitchenAid mixers are great. I like the look of them but my 70s Mixmaster does just fine for me, otherwise I'd have one. But I get the feeling for me it would be more a decorative item than one that I would ever use.

 

[lordkenmore]

Depends on the kind of "like." Generally, the only kind of "like" I have for a modern appliance is if it functions properly. I can't think of much that interests me with newer appliances I've seen, past mere function. Modern styling leaves me cold, and there is no feeling of history. I have the top of a living room bookcase partly lined with old percolators, and there is no way I'd replace those with modern drip pots.

BUT I do get and use newer small appliances when they are cheap enough used. And they seem to function more or less OK for me. Two caveats: I don't do much that's ambitious with any appliance. I'm not cooking gourmet treats with my toaster oven (99 cents on clearance day at Goodwill). My modern iron (also a Goodwill clearance item) is only used to iron clothes sometimes--it seems to be OK, but it might not work as well if I were, say, sewing/quilting/doing crafts.

Other caveat: I don't think I'd count on a lifetime investment with a modern appliance. Then, again, some older appliances weren't that great, either. I can think of several small kitchen appliances that didn't last when I was growing up.

 

[iowabear]

I always enjoy looking at them whenever I go to the stores or thrift shops.  I never buy any of them though as I've learned through the years that only smalls I ever use on regular basis are coffee pots and slow cookers.  Nothing else I've owned got used often enough to justify keeping it.

 

I don't even have an electric can opener although we always had one in our house when I was growing up.

 

[sarahperdue]

Does the 80s count?

The new KitchenAid siphon coffee brewer really caught my eye. The looks aren't bad, and it seemed to be the first modern vacuum pot that might rival my daily driver, the Sunbeam C30. At almost $200, it is incredibly expensive. Still, I was considering taking the plunge until I read a CNet review that described the result as "lightly filtered." One of my favorite things about the C30 is the exceptionally clean brew.

I've been told that the older electric Bodum Santos brewers make excellent coffee, but they have some design issues that result in early failure. I sold one on eBay, and the buyer mentioned that he was collecting as many as he could because he loved the coffee but knew that they had a limited life span.

My two semi modern standbys are the Black & Decker Toast-r-Ovens from the eighties and the made in France version of Sunbeam Oskar food processor. It's small, but powerful and easy to use. Perhaps because the bowl is small, it does a great job of chopping evenly. The need to chop multiple batches is offset by the ease of use and cleaning. I have both of these items, and they tend to resell well on eBay. The Oskar seems virtually indestructible. My grandmother received one as a gift in the early 80s. She passed it on to me around 1986, and my husband and I used it until around 2000 when we upgraded to a Cuisinart because we wanted a larger model. Almost 20 years later, we finally went back to the Oskar and love it.

Sarah

 

[fan-of-fans]

I believe my grandmother had a Sunbeam Oskar.

Those Black and Decker toast-r-ovens used to be everywhere I remember.

I've always liked the looks of KitchenAid's small appliances, that sipho brewer also. The way they use the familiar silver band of the mixers on everything I think is what I like about them.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Sometimes I wonder if the majority of today's small appliances aren't all coming out of the same Chinese factory,

I know some manufacturers aren't but I feel like many probably just outsource. For example, I know KitchenAid's mixers are made by them, but the other appliances, I'm not sure.

Take toasters for example: many of them look so similar to each other that it would seem the same company is making them all but changing each one so it isn't clearly the same as another. Some of KitchenAid's toasters for example, look a lot like Kenmores have and also look similar to Cuisinart and Farberware.

Does anyone know who actually makes Kenmore's smalls? Some of their mixers look a lot like KitchenAids also, but the model numbers of most of their smalls is 100, which I'm not sure which manufacturer that is. It seems like some of them were made by Electrolux/Frigidaire.

 

[bradfordwhite]

 

As long as they are white and NOT designed to look like: fake "1950s" b.s. or "heavy duty commercial" b.s.

 

They also need to be cheap as in inexpensive because I've found the cheap stuff lasts longer and when it does break there's no disappointment because .....it was cheap.  So you end grateful and you buy another. 

 

Found the toaster used for $3 works perfect and didn't even look used much.  The stove top I use like everyday, have had for 3 years and bought for $14 on ebay.

 

 

[Ultramatic]

Chinese crap.

 

 

Most of my smalls have been replaced with vintage versions. However, I did purchase a Cuisinart TOA-60 Convection Toaster Oven Air Fryer last year. POS! Do not buy! The timer is off by about 5 minutes, the "Bake" option engages the fan. None of the accessories are dishwasher safe and are very hard, along with the interior, to keep clean. Boy am I sorry I didn't buy the Breville instead.

 

[Ultramatic]

Love it!

 

 

I replaced the trusty Sharp microwave early this year with a "<span id="productTitle" class="a-size-large"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Panasonic NN-SD664W Countertop Microwave with Inverter Technology, 1.2 Cu. Ft, 1200W". Very fast and spacious. Many cooking options. Because of it's speed, you always have to lessen the cooking time that was originally suggested. So far, it's been flawless.</span>
</span>

 

[Ultramatic]

Meh, OK.

 

 

Purchased last year, <span id="productTitle" class="a-size-large" style="font-size: 12pt;">LEVOIT Cool Mist Humidifier. I like the design, whisper quiet and works well enough. However the plastic sure feels flimsy, so the jury is still out on durability.</span>

 

[Ultramatic]

Well made, sturdy.

 

 

Purchased about 5 years ago. Air-O-Swiss humidifier. Model 7135. Works very well, superior construction. Pricey.  It goes by the brand name of Boneco currently.