Daily Cheapskate: Your Basic Four Pesach Small Kitchen Appliances for around $100 total

3/22/2017

Your Basic Four Pesach Small Kitchen Appliances for around $100 total

When it comes to purchasing small kitchen appliances for Passover/Pesach, there is an ongoing debate between two schools of thought:

You don't need top-of-the-line, best-brand expensive appliances because Pesach is only one week out of a year.

You still want to get top-brand appliances because even though Pesach is only one week, these appliances will get a ton of use with all the enormous meals (i.e. Seders), extra guests and family, etc. Also, you don't want to be replacing appliances from year to year. And you certainly don't want to buy off-brand junk.

I think both of these opinions have strong merit. I don't recommend getting top-of-the-line appliances for Pesach, but I don't believe in getting junk that will do half the job either.

For example, why drop $400 on a Passover Kitchen Aid mixer? You're not going to be using it for heavy duty challah dough. You are, however, going to probably be making twice as many cakes as you normally do. That's why for Pesach, I opt for middle-of the-road brands like Hamilton Beach and Oster. These are solid name brands that have been around forever, with very well-priced appliances that are warrantied and tested.

So many of you have emailed me saying that you are making a seder at home for the first time, or you're finally stocking your very first Pesach kitchen, or you're just getting tired of grating 20 lbs. of potatoes by hand year after year. I hear you. I also hear that you've got supertight budgets for Pesach. I'm right there with you, believe me.

All that said, here's my list of what I think are the four most basic Pesach kitchen small appliances, all told totaling $98.49. All of these were rated 4 stars or higher on Amazon. Remember that online prices, especially on Amazon, can change very easily, and these prices are good NOW.

This Oster 4-slice toaster oven is perfect for quick dairy Pesach meals (hello, matzoh pizza!) and is priced at $23.99 with free Prime/SuperSaver shipping from Amazon. It got 4.0 out of 5 stars over 575 customer reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JB049C?tag=clickdesignco-20

This Hamilton Beach 6-quart Stay or Go slow cooker is priced at $24.99 with free Prime/SuperSaver shipping and will be perfect for your Shabbos quinoa and pot roast chulent. This slow cooker received 4.5 out of 5 stars over 927 customer reviews.

Process those potatoes with this full-size 10-cup Hamilton Beach food processor for $33.74 with free Prime/SuperSaver shipping at Amazon. It's got a 525 watt motor with 2 shredding discs and an S-blade. It received 4.4 out of 5 stars over 1,007 customer reviews.