These Kitchen Appliances Are The Most Overrated, According To A Professional Chef

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Purchasing a new kitchen appliance can be exciting. You picture all the different ways you'll use it, how it will enhance your cooking experience, and how much easier it could make your life. But when you picture the small, niche appliances that sit in your kitchen, ask yourself: How much use are they truly getting?

Michelle Doll Olsen, head chef at HelloFresh and author of "Essential Tools, Tips & Techniques for the Home Cook," gave us some exclusive insight into what she deems the most overrated kitchen appliances — meaning, the appliances you think you need but probably don't. If you live somewhere with little kitchen space, like Olsen does in Brooklyn, it could be worth skipping out on certain small appliances simply because there isn't always anywhere to put them, specifically a panini press, bread machine, and air fryer. Even if you have the space, small appliances sometimes perform niche functions that don't fit into your everyday cooking habits, so they're not worth the expense. If you're considering purchasing any of these appliances for your space, read this first.

A panini press is an electric appliance with a top and bottom hot plate, so you can whip up crispy sandwiches in no time — no flipping required, while the plates squish the sandwich to perfectly melt the ingredients. But unless you're someone who makes a plethora of sandwiches weekly, Michelle Doll Olsen tells Chowhound this is one appliance that doesn't need a place on your counter.

"I prefer to use a brick wrapped in foil to smoosh my sandwiches down and get that perfect crisp," Olsen says. "Panini presses are heavy and a pain to move, so you kind of have to leave it on the countertop." Even if you don't have a brick lying around, there are still other ways to press your sandwiches. You can use a burger press, like Cuisinart's cast iron press, to smush the sandwich by hand before flipping it. You can also weigh down a pot or another pan to press the sandwich. If you are still interested in purchasing the appliance, try to find a cost-sensible panini press that's also lightweight, such as the Ostba sandwich maker from Amazon.

A bread machine probably isn't the best use of counter space. The kitchen appliance simplifies the process of making bread with features like digital temperatures for proofing and baking, dough kneading, even cooking, and ensuring the bread maintains its shape as it bakes. However, Michelle Doll Olsen suggests a different solution if you always want fresh bread around.

"You're better off investing in a good stand mixer," she says. "If bread is your focus, go for a fixed head (not the kind that flips up). An Ankarsrum or KitchenAid with the lever is the way to go, and then you have something that does a lot more than just knead bread." Olsen points out that the multi-use function of a stand mixer means it's a better space hog than a bread machine, which only has one true function: bread. "Both [mixers] have an array of attachments for juicing, pasta making and beyond, and are pretty enough to command a permanent spot on the countertop."

This one might surprise a few people. Air fryers have become a household staple appliance, almost on the same plane as a microwave. While there is still value in an air fryer, it's not worth buying one if you already have something like a convection microwave or a toaster oven. "Don't get me wrong, I love air frying food," Michelle Doll Olsen says, "but it's become so ubiquitous that most toaster ovens come with an air fryer setting now. No need to pull out what looks like a Star Wars prop to whip up some wings."

Air-frying cooks food through convection heat, crisping it up without oil. So while there's no need to deprive yourself of an air fryer altogether, the best solution is to invest in a multi-use appliance that has an air fryer setting. For instance, Ninja's air fryer toaster oven actually flips up to take up as little counter space as possible when not in use, so you can get a dual appliance that takes up half the space.