Vitamix Pro Series. This is what every professional kitchen
I’ve ever worked in has used, and with good reason. It’s
crazy powerful, has a very large capacity, and is built like a
rock. They clock in at around $450 and up, placing them
firmly out of the reach of most home cooks. Nearly as good
and way cooler looking is the BlendTec, which, for around
$400, will turn everything from a carrot to a full-sized
Alpine ski into dust. (Don’t believe me? Just Google it.
Seriously, it’s a great video.)
For a blender that won’t break the bank, I’d go with the
KitchenAid Vortex 5-Speed Blender (around $150). It has
an easy to clean wide polycarbonate pitcher and a blade that
creates a big enough vortex that I can blend a full batch of
cheese sauce for Cheesy Broccoli Casserole (here) in one go
without it gumming up.
- Rice Cooker
There’s no easier, more foolproof way to cook rice and
other grains than in a rice cooker. Sure, you can cook rice in
a pot, carefully monitoring the flame, hoping that you’ve
added the right amount of water and that your rice isn’t
burning on the bottom, and taking it off the heat at just the
right moment, but if you’re anything like me, you’ve burnt
one too many batches to fuss with that method any more.
With a rice cooker, you just add your rice and water, shut
the lid, flip the switch, and go, with the added advantage
that it’ll keep the cooked rice (or other grain) hot for hours.
Even the cheapest rice cooker will do—I had a $25 model
I picked up in Chinatown that lasted me all through college
and a good five years afterward. When I got married, I