17 Appliances Chefs Actually Keep on Their Kitchen Counters

Farberware 3-L Deep Fryer

$75 at Target $44 at Walmart

The 3-liter capacity deep fryer from Farberware has features like an oil filtration and storage system, a charcoal filter that keeps the “fried food” odor down, and user-friendly temperature controls. Chef and owner of the eponymous Jeffrey Lampkin's Country Boy Kitchen in Sumter, South Carolina, keeps this fryer on his countertop because, “whether frying for the family or just for yourself, this is a fool-proof, easy-to-use appliance,” he says. Lampkin appreciates the quality of the food it produces with consistent results.

Cosori Electric Gooseneck Kettle

$70 at Amazon $101 at Walmart $75 at Kohls.com

This stylish gooseneck kettle has a rapid boil setting and five presets for various styles of tea, such as green or oolong, and even coffee brewing. Chef Derick Wade of The Darling Oyster Bar in Charleston, South Carolina, finds uses for his kettle outside of a quick cuppa. That’s not to say it doesn’t get frequent use for its intended purpose, but he also uses it as a fast source of boiling water for making pasta or his kid’s ramen on the fly.

Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker

$110 at Amazon $118 at Walmart View on Anovaculinary.com

Cooking at home without being tethered to the stove has a special allure for someone who cooks for a living. While it’s “not your typical ‘countertop appliance,” Wade says, he often reaches for an Anova Precision Cooker immersion circulator, which topped our sous vide cooker tests as our best overall pick. “I love using a sous vide to achieve an easily cooked meal without a mess,” he says, adding that you can “set your circulator to the temperature you want without worrying about overcooking your foods.” You can use the Anova’s onboard and app-based controls to monitor your cooking in another room or across town, and a low-water alarm will automatically turn the cooker off when the water in your cooking vessel falls below a certain level.

Cuisinart Compact Automatic Bread Maker

$129 at Amazon $130 at Target $130 at Williams-Sonoma

A common theme in the appliances Wade keeps on his countertop: they require little interaction. With “no real time commitment on your end” to get a fresh loaf, he says, this automatic bread maker “takes the hassle out of going through the time-consuming process of kneading, proofing, and baking.” The Cuisinart has 12 preprogrammed breadmaking options, a 13-hour delay timer, and can make loaves in three different sizes, features that made it stand out in our tests.

Avid Armor Ultra Series USV20 Chamber Vacuum Sealer

$349 at Amazon $331 at Walmart View on Avidarmor.com

Detroit-based chef Maxcel Hardy of COOP and Jed’s is one of a few chefs we spoke with who keep a vacuum sealer at the ready. Hardy’s choice is the USV20 from Avid Armor: “a perfect kitchen staple for someone who makes too much of a recipe or purchases too much at the grocery store,” he says. The Avid Armor is a chamber-style sealer that also seals many alternative containers, such as Mason jars. Hardy also likes the marinade function of the sealer, which helps infuse foods with flavors faster.

Aroma Housewares 8-Cup Rice Cooker

$30 at Amazon $30 at Walmart View on Kohls.com

“This is my all-time favorite rice cooker because it's easy to use and clean and offers a variety of cooking methods,” says Hardy. The Aroma earned the title of Best Value in our rice cooker tests thanks to its clear display and versatile features. These features are “essential if you choose to make different grains a staple item in your meals,” according to Hardy, who is particularly fond of the steaming option that allows you to cook meat or vegetables above the rice while it cooks.

Nespresso Coffee and Espresso Maker

$169 at Amazon $200 at Target $180 at Wayfair

Scott Crawford, chef and owner of Crawford & Son, Jolie, and Crawford Cookshop in Raliegh, North Carolina, enjoys espresso, and the Vertuo is “a quick way to enjoy surprisingly good coffee,” he says. I, too, have dedicated counter space for a Vertuo, finding the convenience of inserting a Nespresso pod and pressing a button superior to my former espresso maker. Aside from a single or double espresso, the Vertuo Plus makes a 5- or 8-ounce cup of coffee with a rich crema and full flavor. Precision measurements require more routine maintenance, such as descaling, which, along with the reliance on pods, are the machine’s biggest drawbacks.

KitchenAid 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer

$350 at Amazon $350 at Target $350 at Williams-Sonoma

The KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer is another appliance enjoying countertop occupancy in Crawford’s kitchen. “My wife and daughter love to bake, so this is their go-to appliance,” he says. KitchenAid has been at the forefront of home-use stand mixers for years because of their durability, speed settings, and capacity. The Artisan series mixers feature a 5-quart bowl, 10 speeds, and a tilt-head for easy access to the bowl. One of KitchenAid’s strengths in the mixer market is the availability of accessories for separate purchases, such as meat grinders, shredders, and pasta rollers.

Vitamix Propel Series 750 Blender

$630 at Amazon $700 at Williams-Sonoma View on Vitamix.com

Crawford’s final countertop essential is the VitaMix Propel Series 750 Blender. In our tests, we found its large 64-ounce capacity suitable for most home uses, and VitaMix introduced five presets for blending smoothies, hot soups, frozen desserts, and more. There’s even a self-cleaning setting that allows you to walk away. The Propel 750 still has pulse controls that allow you to fine-tune your settings as you blend. Crawford says this blender gets used more than any other appliance in his kitchen: “My family loves soup, smoothies, and protein shakes. This appliance is a great tool for our family's healthy lifestyle.”

Ninja Specialty Coffee Maker

$160 at Amazon $170 at Wayfair $170 at Jcpenney.com

This high-capacity coffee maker brews six sizes, from a cup to a travel mug to a full carafe. It also has multiple style settings, from regular strength to pour-over to iced. It also allows you to create specialty strengths for espresso-based drinks. Ryan and Geri-Martha O’Hara, owners of Big Spoon Creamery in Birmingham, Alabama, even make it a family affair: “Our kids really enjoy having frothed milk as an at-home treat.”

OXO Stainless Steel Food Scale

$56 at Amazon $56 at Williams-Sonoma $63 at Walmart

The O’Haras use this digital food scale for baking at home so often that it lives on their counter. With its pull-out display, OXO solves one of the great problems of small-format scales. When reaching the upper limits of a scale’s capacity, the food or the container it's in often blocks your view of the display, which is frustrating and can lead to inaccurate measurements. The ability to move the display where you can view it better goes a long way toward alleviating those issues. This OXO is at the high end of kitchen scale pricing, earning it Best Splurge in our tests, but the price shouldn’t give too many people sticker shock when weighing its features.

Nespresso Pixie

$200 at Amazon View on Nespresso.com

The Nespresso Pixie is a top choice for coffee with minimal countertop commitment. Steven Satterfield, chef and co-owner of Atlanta’s Miller Union, keeps one on his countertop. “I'm also a very lazy home barista. And I mean lazy,” he says. The Pixie “produces perfect espresso shots with a very nice crema,” he says, adding that the variable dilution settings allow you to adjust the strength to your liking. As for sustainability, you can bag used pods and return them to retailers that sell Nespresso for recycling, according to Satterfield.

Breville Combi Wave Microwave 3-in-1

$500 at Amazon $500 at Williams-Sonoma $621 at Walmart

Satterfield also dedicates counter space to a Breville Combi Wave 3-in-1 Oven. “If I don't want to turn on my big oven in my Viking range, this is my go-to for breakfast or lunch when I'm home,” he says. The Combi Wave covers most of the bases of multiple popular appliances: a microwave, air fryer, and convection oven in one form factor. (Another Breville model is one of our favorite air fryer toaster ovens.) One of the features Satterfield likes is the adjustable power setting for the microwave, which he uses for “defrosting something from the freezer or gently cooking eggs,” he says.

Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer

$350 at Amazon $350 at Target $350 at Williams-Sonoma

“For the longest time, the coffee maker was the only thing we had on the counter,” says Rob McDaniel, chef of Helen in Birmingham, Alabama. “In the last few years, I gave in to the air fryer madness, and I will have to say that I have found myself using it more and more, as it's basically a mini convection oven.” When we tested air fryer toaster ovens, we found this Breville very versatile, with 11 specialized settings. There’s also a “frozen foods” setting that adjusts time and temperature to accommodate.

KitchenAid Hand Blender

$45 at Amazon $45 at Target $45 at Wayfair

Micah Pearson, chef of Harold’s Cabin in Charleston, South Carolina, is a fan of this corded blender. “The versatility of the hand blender is unmatched. I mostly use it for purées, vinaigrettes and sauces, smoothies, and the occasional foam,” he says. In our tests, the KitchenAid tackled ice and frozen foods fast, without splattering or creating suction at the bottom of the mixing container. Pearson prefers his hand blender for making small batches at home instead of breaking out a bulky food processor.

Cuisinart Compact Plastic 2-Slice Toaster

$30 at Amazon $30 at Target $30 at Walmart

Chicago baker Martin Sorge is unabashed in his opinions about toast. “Toast is one of man's greatest inventions. I mean, whoever thought, ‘let's cook this bread again’?” To that end, he likes the small-scale Cuisinart Compact toaster, claiming it “does the trick every time.” As the name implies, this toaster from Cuisinart is small and uncomplicated. The toaster has special settings for defrosting frozen foods or reheating certain items, but it’s at its best when dealing with toast or bagels, for which it has seven settings for your particular shade of doneness.

Dolce and Gabbana x Smeg Citrus Juicer

$992 at Amazon $700 at Williams-Sonoma $880 at Neiman Marcus

Elizabeth Blau, who operates restaurants such as Honey Salt in Las Vegas and Crown Block in Dallas, keeps this collaboration between appliance maker Smeg and designer Dolce and Gabanna on her countertop. “It is super bright and colorful and always makes me smile when I come into the kitchen,” she says. But looks aren’t everything. After testing juicers, we named Smeg the best splurge for an electric model because of its easy use, drip-free spout, and pressure-sensitive reamer.