I’m generally not all that excited by kitchen appliances and this post is no exception. But in the past 3 years I have added three useful appliances to the tiny house “kitchen”.
In the first couple years of living here I had no fridge of any kind. And surprisingly, it is possible to get by without one. It’s easier without meat in the mix. In 2016 I added a small, mini fridge and at some point after that I started keeping a few things in the freezer that is in my sister’s cabin. This past year I decided to get my own fridge/freezer combination. I didn’t want a full size but I wanted something bigger than the normal mini fridge/freezer. After a bit of searching I found a 7.6 cubic foot “retro” Galanz refrigerator. And, for an appliance meant to keep your food cold/frozen, it’s kind of adorable. I’d never heard of the brand but it was the perfect size and I was lucky enough to get it on sale at Home Depot.
It’s the perfect size for my tiny cabin. Just a tad bigger than most other offerings which allows me to keep it full without feeling like I need more room. The reviews online have it at 4.5 stars and with 7 months of use it seems to work great. I have no complaint.
Next, is a small Air Fryer, the Cuisinart AFR-25. Generally my cooking is simple. I use a microwave or an induction (That’s next on the list). At some point in the past I also used a toaster oven with mixed results. After hearing my sister and her family rave about their toaster oven for months I finally bought one and it was a good choice. I use it almost daily. In the summer I use it outside on my deck to keep the cabin cooler. In the fall, winter and spring it fits perfectly on top of the fridge. Thus far I find it most useful for cooking veggie burgers, french fries and little pita pizzas. It’s like having a small oven. The french fries are just long-cut wedges, no oil needed so healthy. The pita pizzas are special treats, simple little pizzas made from pita bread, sauce and cheese. I still use the microwave but this is better for things that benefit from being crispy or for “baking”.
Last would be the induction countertop burner. Around $50 and it’s good. The one critique I have is that parts of the touch control labels wore off pretty quickly with cleaning. There’s enough still there that I can still use it but really, it would seem pretty important that those label indicators not wear off. In any case, it’s a simple, one burner induction stovetop that works very quickly. Great for making soup, pasta, or anything that requires a stove top. Easy to clean. Cooking goes much faster than using other methods and it’s pretty easy to control the temps. I’m sure there are better devices out there but this one has been fine in my experience. Glancing at the Amazon offerings, if I were buying today I’d possibly choose another though I’m not unhappy with this one. The point I’d make is that this type of stovetop is perfect for a tiny house.
