It’s time we started asking more of our kitchen appliances.
When it comes to kitchen tools, even I’m guilty of having a few “one hit wonders” in my cabinets and drawers. These would be appliances or kitchen gadgets that only serve one purpose. Tools that come to mind include garlic presses, spiralizers, avocado slicers, and strawberry hullers.
Sure, these gadgets are certainly fun to use and are convenient for some kitchen tasks. But they certainly don’t help us to consume less. This is where the idea of sustainable kitchen appliances come into play.
Every kitchen tool (and any other household item you can think of) has a carbon footprint associated with it. This is due to the emissions needed to create the materials for it, run the production facility the actual gadget was made in, and transport the materials and product to manufacturers, retailers, and consumers (just to name a few).
So, with every new gizmo I bring into my kitchen, I want to make sure it will serve multiple purposes and is great quality so that it will last a long time. These criteria help me feel the purchase and emissions tied to that purchase are “worth it.”
How Sustainable Kitchen Appliances Help Us Consume Less
The best kitchen gadgets or appliances, in my opinion, should help us to consume less generally. For example, with a good quality blender I can skirt so many food purchases including juices, smoothies, flour, premade sauces, nut butters, and so much more. While a nice standing mixer can eliminate the need to purchase bread, baked goods, bread crumbs, granola, ground meat (with the right attachment), and more.
Through making these common ingredients at home, you can avoid some of the emissions associated with each product while saving so much money. Plus, you reclaim full quality control of these homemade goodies, helping you to providing extra-nourishing options for yourself and your loved ones.
Instant Brands
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.
When it comes to brands producing multi-purpose kitchen tools, Instant Brands might be the GOAT. You may be well aware of the Instant Pot, which sent shockwaves through kitchens across the country when it was first released back in 2010. The, ahem, instant success of this electric pressure cooker was largely due to the massive amount of convenience it brought to the home cook. Dried beans could be cooked start to finish in a fraction of the time. Tough cuts of meat could be braised tender in minutes. Frozen foods…defrosted and cooked to perfection in the blink of an eye.
But the brand has since evolved beyond their initial whirlwind success, now offering even more appliance options that make life in the kitchen easier and help you consume less. Maybe the king of the multi-purpose cooker is their Instant Pot® Duo™.
This appliance is ultimate multitasker. As a 13-in-1 it serves as a pressure cooker, air fryer, slow cooker, steamer, sauté pan, food warmer, roaster, mini oven, broiler, dehydrator, yogurt maker, sous vide, and bread proofer. It is also linked to wifi, giving you access to thousands of recipes as well as remote controls to your cooker while on the go. I mean come ON!
Something else I really love about electric appliances like this is that there is so much emission-reduction potential through their use of energy. If I’m making a stew that needs to be simmered all day on a gas stove, that is using a large amount of direct fossil fuels which are in limited supply. Plus, gas stoves can have some questionable health impacts, of which you can read all about in this story I wrote for Better Home and Gardens.
But when we are using electric kitchen appliances, they can be as green as our energy sources. So, for example, if your house runs fully off of solar electricity, the only emissions associated with running your appliances are those used to initially create the solar panels themselves — and that’s pretty incredible.
If you’d like to try the Instant Pot® Duo™ for yourself, click here!
Instant Brands also offers many other multi-purpose kitchen appliances including air fryers, other styles of multi-cookers, coffee makers, stand mixers, and so much more. The brand is also committed to sustainable practices through their sustainable development program focused on global equity, clean air, and brand-wide carbon neutrality by 2040.
Plus, they have an incredible Black Friday sale through November 27th, offering 40 to 50 percent off of all products, no questions asked!
New Year, New Savings! Save up to 40% Off at Instant!So, while Instant Brands may be showing us exactly how kitchen appliances should be serving multiple roles, there are many other brands out there on the same admirable path. And in time we’ll get to explore more of these companies championing sustainable kitchen appliances together here on Sustain + Nourish!
