Smart Kitchen Gadgets for Simplifying Cooking from Scratch
Do you love the idea of replacing pre-made meals and store-bought snacks with healthier, homemade options, but think it takes too much effort to prepare foods from scratch? Here, we take a look at smart kitchen appliances that do the hard work for you, so you can enjoy homemade meals and snacks without having to spend hours in the kitchen preparing them.
There are many reasons why preparing meals and snacks from scratch is better for your health than buying the pre-made versions at the supermarket. First, you can have more control over the origin and quality of the ingredients that make up your meal or snack, and it is easy to support local food industries and organic agriculture when you cook at home. Second, you don't have to worry about excessive amounts of salt, sugar or fats because you are the one who determines how much goes in. Eating homemade food is also a great way to reduce your exposure to unnatural preservatives and other additives. Finally, you can use little tricks such as healthy ingredient swaps and superfood add-ins to improve the nutritional value of your homemade meals and snacks.
Health aspects aside, homemade food is often tastier and cheaper than pre-made dishes. In addition, preparing food yourself instead of buying processed and pre-made foods is a great way to reduce household waste. Processed and pre-made foods, by contrast, come with loads of packaging that typically end up in landfills.
However, despite all the benefits of preparing food from scratch, pre-made foods are still hugely popular because they are so convenient. The good news is that there are tons of smart gadgets that make preparing meals and snacks from scratch a breeze. From nut milk makers and ice cream makers to food dehydrators and electric pasta makers, these innovative kitchen appliances are perfect for anyone looking to create homemade versions of common store-bought meals and snacks with minimal effort.
Food Dehydrators
Typically loaded with added sugar, oil and preservatives, store-bought dried fruit snacks are not a smart choice if you care about your health. With a good food dehydrator, you can create your own tasty dried fruit snacks with minimal effort, while having full control over the ingredients you use. In this section, we provide tips, reviews and comparisons to help you pick the best dehydrator for your kitchen.
View Reviews & ComparisonsPasta Makers
By making your own pasta you'll have control over the quality of the ingredients that make up the dough. A pasta maker can also be a great investment if you have special dietary needs as you'll be able to create your own gluten-free and egg-free variations of classic pasta dishes. You'll also be able to experiment with specialty flours, such as spelt, rye and buckwheat flours, as well as with various healthy add-ins such as spinach and wheatgrass juice, carrot juice, turmeric powder, and more.
View Reviews & ComparisonsBread Machines
There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly-baked homemade bread. And, if you let a bread machine do the hard work, you won't have to spend much time in your kitchen to produce a beautiful loaf of bread. In addition, by making your own bread you'll have control over the nutritional quality of the finished product: if you use healthy ingredients that are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, your bread will be full of nutritional goodness.
View Reviews & ComparisonsNut & Soy Milk Makers
Store-bought non-dairy milks typically contain only small amounts of nuts, soy beans or grains, and they are often packed with sweeteners, thickening agents and other additives. The good news is that you can also make your own non-dairy milks, and you can even buy a gadget specifically designed to extract "milk" from nuts, beans and grains to make the process as effortless as possible.
View Reviews & ComparisonsMeat Processing Equipment
Everyone knows that additive-laden lunch meats and other highly processed meat products are not exactly healthy. So, what do you do if you love the taste and texture of thinly sliced lunch meats, or juicy meat balls, but you don't want to sacrifice your health? You equip your kitchen with meat processing tools so you can replace those store-bought products with healthier, home-made options!
View Reviews & ComparisonsIce Cream & Sorbet Makers
Packed with refined sugar, saturated fat and a cocktail of chemicals, regular store-bought ice cream is certainly not a healthy dessert. By making your own frozen treats in an ice cream or sorbet maker, you can control what goes into your dessert, and you'll be able to create all-natural, additive-free ice cream or sorbet with a reduced fat and sugar content.
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