The Curator: 8 viral kitchen appliances that make weeknight meals easier

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How do we get a quick, delicious dinner on the table after a long day? The answer is almost always with a good kitchen appliance (or several). Because as much as we’d all love to leisurely cook a homemade meal every night, sometimes you just want something good without all the chopping, stirring and pile of dishes.

From countertop ovens and air fryers to slow cookers, blenders and multi-cookers, these gadgets can take a few things off your plate — literally. And with so many of them going viral online, it’s hard not to wonder if they actually live up to the hype.

Whether you’re feeding the family or just trying to make your own weeknight dinner a little easier, here are eight popular appliances from Our Place, Ninja, Hamilton Beach and more that can help make cooking feel a whole lot more manageable.

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For when you want dinner to cook itself

The Our Place Wonder Oven is a versatile 6-in-1 countertop appliance that can air fry, bake, roast, toast, broil and reheat, making it easy to prepare everything from crispy fries to roasted chicken and baked treats. It also uses steam infusion to help keep foods juicy and tender while creating crisp, golden exteriors.

This Hamilton Beach slow cooker is a versatile kitchen appliance designed for family-sized meals, with an 8-quart capacity and spill-resistant lid. Plus, it can handle everything from stews and soups to desserts and even breakfasts, all in one pot means less cleanup!

The Our Place Dream Cooker brings multiple cooking methods into one appliance, for weeknight dinners to slow-simmered comfort food. Designed for cooks who want more flexibility with less clutter, it lets you pressure cook, slow cook, steam, sauté, and more—all in a single pot.

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For crispy, quick meals

For non-chefs who want to make restaurant-worthy meals, the Ninja Crispi offers intuitive controls and dishwasher-safe glass containers that make cooking and cleanup effortless. It produces crispy, evenly cooked dishes from wings to salmon, showing why it has become a viral favourite. The real selling point? You can cook, serve, store and reheat in the same glass container, so dinner goes from fridge to table with barely any dishes in between.

Turn your kitchen counter into a diner, grill and sandwich shop with one little appliance. The Cuisinart Griddler flips between five cooking modes, so it can handle everything from crispy grilled cheese and paninis to pancakes, burgers and steaks without pulling out three different gadgets.

For faster prep and fewer dishes

Give your kitchen a serious upgrade with the Oster Extreme Mix Blender — it’s a 1500-watt powerhouse that whips up smoothies, soups, and salsas in seconds. It crushes ice effortlessly and can even blend nuts (homemade almond butter, anyone?). With its sparkly titanium blades and smart auto-blend programs, it’s the kind of appliance that’s essential for any home cook.

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Blend like a boss — this two-speed immersion blender makes quick work of soups, sauces and dips, blending everything right in the pot for silky-smooth results with fewer dishes to wash.

For easy rice and more

This is the kind of kitchen gadget that quietly makes dinner feel way less annoying—it measures your grains and tells you exactly how much water to add, so there’s no Googling rice-to-water ratios while you’re hungry. Then it cooks everything for you while you get on with the rest of dinner, and even handles steamed veggies and eggs when you want to make it do a little extra.

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