If you’re familiar with Alton Brown of the Food Network, you probably know about his stance on single-use kitchen tools and appliances. He argues that these “unitaskers” clog up your kitchen drawers and cupboards with junk you’ll rarely use. And he has a good point! Many of the handy kitchen and home gadgets you see in stores today perform simplistic tasks that can usually be done just as easily with more basic tools. But on the other hand, some “unitasker” tools and appliances actually have more uses than you might think!
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I scoured the web for interesting and surprising uses for the tools and appliances that many of us already own. Hopefully you find one or two ideas that will make your life easier! If you have a novel use for a tool or appliance that isn’t listed here, I’d love to hear about it! Leave your idea in a comment at the bottom of this post, and you and your idea could be featured in a future blog post!
15 Unexpected And Unique Uses For Your Appliances
Chop Herbs
Use your pizza cutter to chop or mince fresh herbs! This is a great option for people who don’t have a spice grinder or something similar. Using a pizza cutter to chop herbs is easy and fast! And it won’t bruise your herbs like a knife might.
Remove Stickers
The easiest method (by far!) for removing stubborn stickers from surfaces is to heat it up with a hair dryer. It sounds crazy, but the heat from the hair dryer melts the adhesive. When the adhesive is warm and pliable, the sticker should peel away easily with no sticker residue left behind.
Juicing Citrus
Make sure you’re getting the most juice possible out of your fresh citrus. Pop a lime, lemon, or orange into your microwave for about 10 seconds. This softens the pith and makes it much easier to get all the juice out of it.
Powdered & Crushed Toppings
Your coffee grinder is the perfect tool for making powdered or crushed toppings. Put a handful of nuts, crackers, or cookies into your coffee grinder, and pulse it a few times to achieve the perfect crumbly consistency. Use it for breaking down graham crackers for pie crusts, to break up crackers for topping casseroles, or just to make chopped nuts for an ice cream sundae.
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Steam Towels
Having a spa day at home? You can have warm, steamed towels at the ready, just like at your favorite spa! Get a few hand towels saturated with warm water, roll them up, and place them in your rice cooker. Turn the rice cooker on, and in a few minutes, your towels will be perfectly warm and steamy. Ahhh, so relaxing!
Rinse Quinoa
Quinoa is a delicious and healthy grain, but it’s a pain to work with. Because the grains are so small, it’s almost impossible to get all of it into a pan or bowl after rinsing it. But you can make it much easier on yourself by using your french press coffee maker! Just place your quinoa inside and pour some warm water over the top. Plunge the quinoa to the bottom and pour all the water out. Then remove the plunger and use a spoon or spatula to scoop the quinoa out. Much easier than using a sieve or colander!
Disinfect Sponges
Sponges are useful tools, but they’re also a magnet for bacteria. Disinfect your sponges regularly by microwaving them! Just get the sponge wet (but not dripping) and microwave it for 1-2 minutes. Simple as that!
Shred Meat
Shredding meat can be a time consuming task, but it doesn’t have to be. After cooking your meat (and while it’s still warm) just drop it into the bowl of your stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment and turn the mixer on a low or medium speed, and watch the meat fall apart before your eyes! This method works wonders for shredding brisket, pork, and chicken.
Read More: The Secret To Perfectly Shredded Chicken In Seconds!
Cook Fish and Veggies
Did you know your dishwasher can clean your dishes and cook food at the same time? Vacuum seal some fish or vegetables and toss the bag in the top rack of your dishwasher. Run the dishwasher on the hottest cycle, and voila! A delicious, steamy meal awaits!
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Read More: 10 Things Everyone With A Dishwasher Should Know
Cook (Just About) Anything
You can cook just about anything in your waffle maker! Make brownies, grilled cheese sandwiches, bacon, cinnamon rolls, quesadillas, cornbread, and even pizza. Everything cooks quickly, and it’s easy to clean up after yourself afterward.
Read More: Things You Can (And Can’t) Make In A Waffle Iron!
Make Single Servings
The freezer is great for storing food, but liquidy things usually get frozen into a big block and have to be used all at once. Break them down into smaller, single serving portions by freezing them in ice cube trays or silicone molds! Make frozen cubes of pesto, fresh herbs, and even baby food. Once the cubes are frozen, remove them from the tray or mold and store the cubes in a freezer bag. I love being able to grab a cube or two of pesto to flavor my sauces and soups!
Read More: 13 Super Smart Frugal Food Tips
Slice Soft Foods
You know that slicing tool you use to slice hardboiled eggs? You can use it to slice a variety of soft foods! Get perfectly uniform slices of mushrooms, soft cheeses, strawberries, and avocados in seconds!
Read More: “Why Didn’t I Think Of That?” – Part One
Steam Clean Everything
Your steam cleaner can be used for more than just cleaning your hardwood floors! Use it to clean your windows, curtains, upholstery, shower doors, grills, and more.
Read More: 30 Creative Uses For Your Steam Cleaner
Make Paper
Making your own beautiful, handmade paper is easy using your blender and a dehydrator. Make a fibrous pulp by blending junk mail and spare papers, then dry it out in flat sheets with a dehydrator.
Read More: How To Make Beautiful Handmade Paper
Make Your Home Smell Great
Your crockpot can double as a potpourri warmer. Fill it with fruits, flowers, herbs, or spices to fill your home with the scents of the season! Use a mini crockpot to save on counter space.
Read More: 10 Unusual Things You Didn’t Know You Could Make In Your Crockpot
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Just used my Kitchenmaid to shred up some chicken for my chicken tetrazzini, it worked like a charm. Wish I had known about this sooner. Thanks for all your great tips.
I bought a 1 inch hair straightener to get wrinkles out of clothes fast and easy. It works great.
I use my coffee grinder for my flax & chia seeds for smoothies & other recipes it is so fast & easy!
Putting a wet sponge in the microwave is also a GREAT way to loosen dried food. Then just wipe it right out of the microwave!
I used a hair drying once to remove the dealership sticker from the back of my car. I didn’t like where it was placed so just decided to remove it. Worked great!
Love the rice cooker hot twel trick,thanx, I just bought an herb cutter, but it was dull. I’m going to try your piZa cutter trick instead!
Love the hair dryer hack. Will try that next time. I’m sorry this post wasn’t out last week, really could have use it then. Two alternatives uses: I use my pizza cutter for brownies. Take them out of the tray and use the pizza cutter. Find it works better then a knife. Doesn’t “rip” the brownie pieces. Second hack is for my Danish dough whisk. This is usually used when making (DUH) bread dough. I also use it to mix my meatloaf. I have sensitive skin. Sometimes the enzymes in the meat will cause a rash. I use the Danish… Read more »
This is great. I remember using the hairdryer in college when we had cleaning checks for apartments. Anyway. It made it much faster to melt the ice for defrosting the freezer.
I love the waffle iron hacks. We actually tried Jillees breakfast Quesadillas in the waffle iron. They were delicious.
My egg slicer the metal part pops out I use that at Thanksgiving and Christmas to slice the jellied cranberry sauce. thanks for the awesome tips.
Being a guy, I doubted I would ever find things useful for me on Jillee’s website. However, having a desire to learn how to use more things and adapt what I know to different projects, I can honestly say I have been making her website a favorite stop!!! Keep up the good work…
I am a 73 year old man and Julie has made my lif a little rainier.
Thanks Ken!!