Clearly you must be thinking of the infamous hot dog toaster

I actually love my rice cooker and I don't think of it as a single use object. I make all sorts of things in there like jambalaya, steel cut oats, and quinoa. Though I did spring for a super nice and expensive fuzzy logic one. For me it's an essential and I use it several times a week. Another one use item I use (I use it every day practically) is the Sunbeam Hot Shot water boiler. I love that thing.

I'm in the same boat with the rice cooker. Use it all the time and for more than just rice.

I agree, What are you talking about? Disposable coffee makers? Those Toasters that also poach eggs? I think the Hairwush isn't an actual product as much as an idea. Can you give a better example of your contrasting product?

The right tool for the right job. I could pound a nail using a screwdriver, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have a hammer.

Just because Alton Brown disdains unitaskers in the kitchen doesn't mean we all have to forgo their convenience and utility.

What other unitaskers will we get rid of in our quest for the multitasking wonder? The electric mixer? The hand blender? The George Foreman Grill?

I agree, I'm not getting this. I find most of my kitchen appliances verge on single use to some extent. I'm not really sure why we're talking about normal appliances. How else are you supposed to make coffee? And the last time I saw a coffee maker/toaster combo it was some POS at Target that was $12. I'm not sure why I would want to buy that over a good quality coffee maker just because it only makes coffee. Personally if I came upon a combo rice cooker/bread maker/ice cream maker....I don't know that I would really trust it could do any of those things well.

I do understand the discussion for things like the hot dog toaster, the corn-butterers, etc. - the goofy things that are simply novelties that perform a function there's no reason the average person can't do manually and easily and don't somehow improve how and what you're doing. I don't think most of these fit into that category.

I love (and use the bejesus out of) my "single use" things like the (Cuisinart) coffee maker, espresso machine and my toaster.

However I rarely use my generally-thought-to-be-more-useful toaster oven so it sits in a cabinet, I would never buy a bread maker or a rice cooker, and I don't even own a crock pot.

To each their own, I guess.

Awsome. A device that does more than one thing is a device that has more than one way to fail.

My experience is like a lot of other commenters here: Most of my tools are single use. I imagine I could make coffee in a saucepan on the stove, but it would be pretty terrible and making toast in the oven is just wasteful and slow.

I've never understood rice cookers myself, but I know people who have them and love them. If you eat a lot of rice or rice dishes and don't like cooking it on the stove, I can certainly see the value in that.

My most single use activity is probably making coffe. I use a moka (stovetop "espresso" maker). I grew up with that, and it just happens to be the style of coffee I prefer. I have considered an electric espresso maker, but the counter space doesn't seem all the justified.

The one thing I don't understand is having a single use device when a general use tool will do the job and you don't do the job very often. For instance, I use potatoes and pasta more than rice, so a rice cooker would be a silly investment. When I see a kitchen full of single use appliances going unused I tend to pick up a bit of that "single use disdain" that is common among lofty discussions of kitchen tools and technique.

I believe coffee maker and fire extinguisher should be the only single-purpose items in a kitchen.

As an Asian girl who grew up in Hawaii, a rice cooker to me (as well as many many others here) is not some applicance we only pull out of the cupboard once in awhile. It is the most frequent used appliance and usually remains on the counter. Used daily, even more than once a day. Rice is eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner here. Cooking rice on the stove requires a watchful eye and doesn't keep the rice steamed at the perfect consistency when done. I can come home from work, throw the rice on, put some fish or chicken in the oven and tend to other chores while dinner is cooking. When we have a family party or guests over, the cooker keeps the rice nicely steamed for hours. We buy rice in 25 lb bags here.

It can be multipurpose, used for hot cereal, steamed veggies on top while the rice is cooking but it's strong point for me, is well, perfect rice.

So, maybe there is a cultural difference here? Definitely not in the same category as a novelty margarita maker but maybe up there with a coffee maker (if you drink coffee that is). For me, its like saying, washing all your clothes by hand is always an option, yet washing machines are still so popular...

@mauishopgirl and I are in the same boat. I don't think my Filipino family has ever cooked rice in a pot, always in a rice cooker. My family even went camping at Yellowstone one summer with a few other families, and they brought the rice cooker and plugged it in the bathroom!

Flipchik, that's funny but I can see local families here doing the same.

Can you keeping your close watch on a pot of rice every single night and some mornings too? Compared to the couple of minutes it takes to wash the rice & press the button, hell no. I did it for a short time when I just got out college but I rarely ate dinner at home during that time period.

That should be can you imagine keeping....

I'm against single purpose devices. My only exception is the rice cooker my wife and I have, but we eat rice pretty regularly.

Unless you make bread or tortillas or margaritas or ice cream or crepes or whatever every few days you aren't going to need a single purpose device. They are a waste of space.

Don't waste your money on a coffee maker. Coffee Presses are the only way to make a good cup of coffee. Of course, I have coupled my Coffee Press with a stainless steal electric kettle, but together they are like lovers.

This is the way I describe making coffee with a drip coffee maker and its counterpart the Coffee Press

Drip Coffee Maker is like casual sex. The water just passes thought the coffee, doesn't stay a while. Its like a one night stand, leaves you feeling empty and with a terrible cup of coffee.

Coffee Press: Lifelong lovers in the bonds of marriage. The hot water and coffee make love together for 4 uninterrupted minutes. Their bodily oils seep out and turn the water into a rich full bodied, fully loved cup of coffee.

So yeah, do it the way God wanted you to, with a Coffee Press.

Broski
I agree. Unfortunately this takes up more space in our apartment, but it is worth it.

@Broski499

I admit that I miss my press (those damn things sure break easy when you drop them). The only annoyance about the press was that I could make up to four cups of coffee, but no way to keep it warm (unless I went out and purchased, like you did, an electric kettle to keep it warm).

I'd love to hear what people use their rice cookers for, other than rice! I used it the first week, to steam brown rice and individually freeze in ziplocs.. and steam butternut squash that was on sale. But now it's just collecting dust and I am moving to a smaller apartment - debating whether to take it or not!

@whiskandanchor: I use my rice cooker to make overnight steel cut oats. MMMmmmm. Set the timer and its ready!

i have a quesodilla maker and I LOVE it, Im a terrible cook but everything comes out kinda cool looking stuffed into the individual pockets on the quesodilla maker. It only makes quesodillas obviously but you can make different things like breakfast ones. From the rants above i do feel a little silly having such a huge single use item so prominently displayed!

I must admit to having a breadmaker. But it doesn't just make bread. I can use it for cake mixes, scones and mixing better for pancakes.

My George Foreman is mostly used for finishing fried stuff, but I also use it to make quesadillas and toasted cheese.

Does anyone use their washing machine or microwave other than their intended use? At the moment, I can't think of anything.

i think unitaskers should be evaluated for their usefulness AS WELL AS their frequency of use.

for example: a foreman grill could be considered a multitasker since one could cook a large number of items on it, but mine has never been used. conversely, my bread machine, coffee maker, and rice cooker see heavy use.

I use my rice cooker to cook all kinds of grains: steel cut oats, quinoa, groats and, of course, rice. Perfect results every time.

My George Foreman grill is definitely a multi-tasker. I use it to grill hamburgers and such when I'm too lazy to fire up the gas grill, but it also works great as a panini press!

My wife and I use a 8-cup french press and an Aeropress for coffee.

I'll add to the sentiment that the rice-cooker has made a permanent stance on our counter for its versatility. Rice, pasta, beans, steamed veggies, jambalaya... the list keeps going. Anything that I can't watch (9-month old baby girl in the house) like a hawk, but want to cook well goes into the rice-cooker.

Electric kettle is a must in our house as well. I use for everything while cooking and also cleaning. When there is stuck on anything, boiling water helps soften it up and clean it off.

Sure, the rice cooker can be a unitasker, but I guess that depends on how much you're making rice. Same for coffee. Since rice appears in at least half of our dinners, and I can't live without my coffee in the morning, the convenience of these appliances is well worth the space.

Sure, I can make rice on the stove. Or I could put it all in the rice cooker and plug it in in a place that is out of my way and I don't have to give up a burner on the stove.

I use my bread maker every week. I like to make bread by hand when I can, but this particular small kitchen appliance allows me to have fresh bread any time. Definitely a keeper for me!

I use my press coffee maker. I haven't had good luck with electric coffee makers. They seem to blow up, short out, etc., when I get near them. I do have a coffee grinder and an electric kettle. I don't use my grinder for anything but coffee, because even after it's clean, the coffee flavor taints anything else (like spices) I might grind in it.

I have a toaster oven, which I actually use. I make toast, but I've baked one or two pieces of fish or chicken in it (single girl style), it's wizard for heating up pizza or other leftovers that you want to get a bit crispy. And I have baked small batches of cookies in it.

I'll never forget how much I complained when my husband brought home that expensive rice cooker...I don't have room for it in my small kitchen! It's single-purpose! I couldn't have been more wrong. We live at a high altitude and cooking rice and pasta has been a challenge. No more. With that rice cooker, perfect rice every time. I made room.

On the other hand, multiple-function items can be troublesome since there are more components to break. Example: I once had a tv with a built-in dvd player. The dvd player broke. I had to haul it in to get fixed, even though the tv was fine. For many appliances, it isn't so easy to get repairs. In some cases, one component breaking can lead to others not working, too.

After 50 years of cooking I've bought, in the last 6 months, a whole slew of new appliances - some are single use, and some not. I LOVE my KitchenAid Immersion Blender with all the attachments (where has that little beauty been all my life???!!). I bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker - fabulous, love it even though we only use it maybe once a month. Slow cooker, once a week if I remember to. When I need to be out all day, it is the equivalent of having a live-in cook almost. My bread maker mixes and raises my dough every other day, day in and day out. I like to bake it in a traditional loaf pan so it doesn't do that, but I couldn't knead dough by hand if I had to, so yes, it is worth it. Mine's about 20 years old, does a great job. Toaster - who'd try to get by without one? Coffeemaker? Yeah, baby! My microwave counts here because it cooks my veggies every day, and it makes perfect rice every time, so I can't imagine why I'd ever need another machine to do that. It heats the water in my cup for my morning tea every day, and it is 23 years old - still going like a champ. And my electric side-slitting can opener. No one ever mentions those, but I couldn't open a can with a hand-crank model due to arthritis. Indispensable. My big beauty - the KitchenAid mixer - my workhorse for everything bake-able to mashed potatoes. All of my electric friends, new and old, are very welcome in my kitchen, and I don't care how crowded it gets because they allow me to cook - really COOK - which I love to do but couldn't do well otherwise (and in some cases not at all) due to physical restrictions. Bless 'em all! We grandmas need all the help we can get!

@falnfenix - a most excellent point! I agree it is definitely one to keep in mind when discussing this subject.

Agree with comments about the rice cooker! Definitely not a single-use appliance considering all you can do with it. I use mine to cook perfect rice, congee, quinoa, lentils, etc... You can make entire meals by putting some meat and veggies on top of the rice halfway through cooking and letting them steam. I've even boiled potatoes and made yogurt in mine. Some Taiwanese ladies of my acquaintance say you can make a cake in one. It's energy-efficient and safe, and I don't have to be watching it the whole time. And when I have guests, it's a cooking tool and chafing dish in one.

The single use tools make sense as long as they get a lot of use---and what gets used just depends on the cook (see the lady above who is addicted to her quesadilla press).

In my kitchen, the frivolous appliance is probably the most multi-use of all: my food processor. There is nothing that I do with it that I couldn't do without it. And it is a pain to clean, so often I don't even bother with it. I could definitely live without it. But I keep it, despite my small kitchen, because occasionally it makes an easy task out of what would have been a hard one.

how do you make popcorn with a coffee maker??

Of course some unitaskers are necessary, like coffeemakers and can openers.

Some are useful, if not exactly required. I'd put most in this category, while keeping in mind that everybody has different needs in the kitchen. I hardly ever eat rice, so I wouldn't need a rice cooker; but I use my toaster oven several times a day, which I'm sure isn't true for everyone.

Others are frivolous but fun. I'd love to own an ice cream maker, if I had the space.

And finally, the rest are just ridiculous cash-grabs that create a lot of waste. This means you, hotdog toaster.

Popcorn maker is my one beloved single-purpose device - popping with hot air is just so much nicer than in oil and it doesn't take up much space.

I found a recipe in Food & Wine(?) for Thai chicken and rice made in a rice cooker. My rice cooker was cheap and old. That recipe killed it. To save the dish, I took the insert out of the (dead) cooker and finished cooking it on the stove in a double boiler system. It came out well. I never replaced the rice cooker. Now I make rice in a pot on the stove. What's nice is the space it freed up in my cabinet. I got a Cuisinart. :o)

I just passed a hot-dog toaster to my small nieces.LOL! What's wrong with an appliance that allows kids some independence?The girls will be the fourth set of kids to use it.Also,in the same vain,I have a toaster oven.Another item specifically purchased for my daughter.She has used it all her life.I've bought many small appliances that she has used growing up.Far safer than the stove for kids.I like that they have auto shut off.Kid proof.I can think of more than a few people I know,who were burnt out by their 'kids' cooking on a stove.

Now that my daughter is a teen,we have purchased many appliances I would never have used in the past.Mixer and food processor to name a few.She also makes her own pasta.She's now willing to try cooking anything.Canning,baking...nothing intimidates her.

Myself not so much.Stove,coffee maker,micro...that's about it.Anything even remotely foodie around this house is my daughter's, including the cookbooks.I'm crediting the hot-dog toaster. (wink)By the way,if you like dogs grilled...you might like a hot-dog toaster.Just saying.HA HA!

My mother lives with me.Mom is a long way from the days I remember her cooking from.She made do because she could chop and knead and whip by hand.She can't now. She now uses many appliances she would never have used in the past.The two of them use every appliance we have regularly.

Gadgets! are the bane of my kitchen.They bring them home regularly.Enough to be a major annoyance to me.Until I finally tried a well made cheese slicer.How did I ever live without one?

I don't use them so they are junk to me.Really annoying junk.

Electric kettle. I scoffed until we got one. Combined with my (single-use) French press, I have a perfect cup of coffee in almost no time!

In theory multitaskers are a great idea but in real life, either one of the tasks is irrelevant to my lifestyle or tastes or I'd rather have smaller appliances than a big one. Also I agree with everyone here noting that you lose too many when they break down, and they're more prone to do so because they are used more often. It's like they are their own nemesis.

The queen of electrical multitaskers in my kitchen is the kettle, because I use boiling water several times a day. I'm a tea enthusiast (addict is more like it but doesn't sound as well), to jump start baby's bottles and pacifiers' sterilization, and to help clean - I clean the dishes by hand and only cold running water, so having a bowl of hot soapy water on the side helps a lot, as does giving very greasy dishes a good bath of hot water before I get down to work sponge in hand. I also do what my husband laughingly refers to as the ablution: I let a quarter of boiling water down each sink and bathroom appliance once a week, and it helps keep them clean and unclogged.

To me the bad things are single use gadgets that are made to make us think we need them, like a special tool to peel oranges. Coffee machines and crockpots don't really fall into that category.

Panasonic rice cooker is the way to go.

My friends were given one of the cuisinart coffee makers. It ground the fresh beans, which was nice. However, when the coffee was made, the steam caused the trace coffee grounds to turn into muck, so the cleaning process was horrendous. I prefer a small, separate grinder that stays dry.

I always get a kick out of seeing some new ridiculous single-use appliance (like the above-mentioned hot dog toaster). An article about them could be a lot of fun.

What I wish for, and I believe they're being made now, is a combo washer/dryer. Pulling wadded, wet, & sometimes heavy items out of the washer is so not fun.

Oh! I forgot. One of the MOST ridiculous things being pushed on our consumerist society by the big box stores and the "public broadcasting" (not) shows they fund & control, is those monstrous outdoor grills, plus of course, all the expensive hardscaping that goes with them.

About 10 years ago my neighbor installed a new hot tub and surrounding decking. He's used it once, to my knowledge. Now, I see he's got one of the giant barbecues. It's about 10 steps from his kitchen. There's also a covered lawn swing.

My experience is, people who buy all this stuff have to keep themselves so busy to pay for it, they never have time to use any of it, and/or feel guilty if they do. I'm betting I never see ANYONE in that swing. Betting big bucks. Do I sound bitter? He feels he "can't afford" to put his all-day-barking pooch in doggy day-care (or even buy a bark collar!)

Sorry if this is too off-topic. But it's in the same vein, I think.

I would hope everyone would consider 'bark collars' a distasteful single use appliance.I'll buy a million hot-dog toasters before I would ever buy such a cruel devise.How would a shock collar help the neighboursa?You all get a remote and electrocute the dog?Seriously?

Think about it.People who are miserly with their money tend to be nosey,nasty neighbours.Haven't we all dealt with people like that?Be honest.

If people are as judgmental as the comments regularly made at AT indicate,I highly doubt most know their neighbours at all.

I'm with mauishopgirl and falnfenix. Honestly I'm surprised at the narrow view some have for some of these items. Yes it's called a rice cooker but it can make so much more than rice (some college students use it for Raman and to cook burgers, amazing!), yes it's a coffee maker but I use it to heat water quickly and to make a big batch of iced tea. I bake chicken, roast veggies, and do all sorts of things with my toaster oven, and the G5 George Forman grill has plates you can change for a flat grill, and waffles too. I use all four of these devices more than my electric mixer or blender, let alone my Crockpot. The trick is to look a bit deeper at these items before you judge them as single use.