There was a time when I baked every week, but since moving out of my parents’ house a few years ago, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve baked a cake or other dessert, although I’ve managed to up my game lately thanks to two very useful kitchen appliances.
Probably the biggest reason I stopped cooking was not only because I missed the various kitchen tools I once relied on, but also because I didn’t have the space to store them in my new home.
If your apartment barely has enough counter space for a microwave, kettle, toaster and cutting board, it’s hard to justify dedicated space for a food processor, and cabinet space is also limited, so you can’t easily store even large appliances.
My aha moment came when I discovered two appliances that have become my new baking heroes: the Brod & Taylor Folding Bread Maker and the Sourdough Home. They helped rekindle my love of baking and introduced me to the world of baking, and while I still don’t consider myself a master, I’m so confident in my abilities that I don’t plan on buying bread from a store anytime soon.
The concealer is the star of the show. It’s basically a heated box where you keep the prepared dough for a while to let it rise before baking.
However, he is not just a pawn. You can also use it as a slow cooker to melt ingredients like chocolate or cheese or to make homemade yogurt, making it an incredibly versatile device.
And most importantly to me, it folds up almost completely when not in use and takes a minute or less to set up and take down.
This makes it much better than a regular at-home bread maker, because when I’m not using it I can easily store it in a cupboard, and on weekends I don’t mind giving up some of my limited counter space for the short time the proofer works its magic.
Although quite small, the composite box is not too small to be useful. The inner dimensions are 37.5 x 32 x 20 cm, enough for two large loaves of bread.
At $249.99 / £189.99, this isn’t the cheapest appliance, but if, like me, you like to cook but have limited kitchen space, I can’t stress how useful I found it, especially given its multitasking capabilities.
The second device is definitely nicer: homemade sourdough starter.
This mini fridge has two small shelves for small snacks or offers enough space for Brod & Taylor sourdough with just one shelf.
However, it is a bit unfair to call it a refrigerator as it can cool down to 5°C (41°F), but it can heat up to 50°C (122°F). This means it can act as a storage fridge during the week when I want my sourdough to rest, and then bring it to a comfortable room temperature when I’m ready to activate and prepare my culture.
I don’t have to worry about summer or winter temperature changes affecting my sourdough, and I don’t have to waste space in my current fridge for my sourdough, which has been a little frustrating.
While this $149/£129.99 unit isn’t something I’d recommend to beginners, we’re too invested in a new hobby to get started. It’s handy and small enough to easily fit next to the kettle, but it’s not the most important kitchen tool on my belt.
On the other hand, a regular jar for storing sourdough and a whisk for kneading are much more useful tools, even if they are manual. I would recommend buying them first to make bread. Then take the yeast and sourdough home with you when baking starts to take over your life, just like it did mine.
