27 Best Small Kitchen Appliances Under $100

If you want a basic glass-carafe drip-coffee maker, you can’t do much better than the Cuisinart PerfecTemp DCC-3200, one of the highest-ranking models from our tests. It can brew a full 14 cups, earning top marks for brew performance. Program it before bedtime and you’ll have fresh coffee waiting when you wake up. You can even adjust the brewing time to make weaker or stronger coffee.

Also consider: Cuisinart 14-Cup Brew Central Programmable CBC-7200 Coffee Maker

Cuisinart’s Programmable DCC-4000 coffee maker earns top marks in our tests for overall performance and equally impresses for brew performance. Based on our tests, it’s fairly convenient to use, meaning the carafe is easy to hold and pour from. This 12-cup drip coffee maker features an auto-shutoff element and comes with a permanent filter.

The Instant Solo is a single-serve coffee maker that’s compatible with K-Cup packs. It delivers the first cup of coffee especially quickly and subsequent cups quickly after that. It also manages to maintain temperatures and dispense the same amount of coffee consistently across multiple cups. It’s fairly easy to operate, refill, and clean. It comes with a removable reservoir for your convenience, as well as automatic shutoff and a height-adjustable drip tray.

This dual coffee maker from Ninja impresses with its brew performance and quickly delivers a cup of coffee. We found that it consistently dispensed the same amount of coffee across multiple single-serve cups and allowed flexibility in adjusting the brew strength. This coffee maker features a removable reservoir, a height-adjustable drip tray, and a feature that prevents brewing when the water level is low.

The Oxo Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder is a fantastic grinder all-around and one of the more budget-friendly models that did well in our tests. It receives strong scores in grind performance, making it a good choice for any brew method you want to use. It also earns a very good rating for convenience because of its clearly marked and easy-to-use controls. Our testers found it extremely easy to clean, too, because it has a removable hopper. This Oxo is a bit noisy. It features 15 grind settings, a 12-ounce bean hopper (one of the largest in our ratings), an auto-stop feature, and a timer.

The two-slice Breville Bit More BTA720XL toaster earns top marks in our ease-of-use tests. It has wide slots and settings for cut bagels and frozen bread. (It defrosts the bread, then toasts it.) And if your toast turns out too light? Press the button labeled “A Bit More” and it will toast a little longer.

Also consider: Breville Bit More BTA730XL 4-Slice Toaster

The Beautiful by Drew Barrymore 19039 two-slice toaster consistently impresses in all of our tests. It heats single slices and full batches to golden-brown perfection in very little time. An audible signal lets you know when toasting is complete, and the toaster comes with additional settings (frozen, bagel, and even gluten-free).

Simple push-button controls and clear digital displays make the Cuisinart CPT-435 Countdown Metal 4-Slice toaster especially easy to use. It has wide slots and seven shade settings. And if you and another member of your household prefer different shades of toast, you can still toast two slices at the same time because there are different controls for each side. Its bagel setting also allows you to toast one side of the bagel more than the other, giving you a crispy bite on one side and a nice chew on the other.

The Hamilton Beach 31156 is the only model in our ratings to receive top-notch scores in all of our tests for toast, and it does a solid job at baking. The only area in which it delivers an average performance is in reheating. And it’s not the most user-friendly option you can buy. But it does have a novel design: a bread slot for toasting, like you’d find on a dedicated toaster, with a small oven cavity underneath. This simple model is best suited for kitchens with limited counter space or for people who use their toaster oven in a limited capacity.

For more options: Best Toaster Ovens

The GE G8P1AASSPSS food processor excels in our shredding and slicing tests and impresses in chopping as well. It features two speeds and dial controls, and has a 12-cup capacity as well as separate discs for slicing, shredding, and even a french fry/julienne cut. Where this model slightly falls short is its grating element, but it’s pretty solid in overall performance.

The Cuisinart Elemental FP-8SV is a two-speed 350-watt food processor with push-button controls and an 8-cup capacity. While the model earns top marks for shredding carrots and cheddar cheese in our tests, it doesn’t grate a hard chunk of Parmesan cheese as well. That said, the food processor aces our tests for chopping and slicing, especially foods like celery and mushrooms. 

For more options: Best Food Processors and Choppers

The 2.5-cup-capacity Ninja Master Prep Professional QB1004 chopper features a top-mounted motor that you push down to operate. The Ninja grates particularly well, but it’s also a wonder at puréeing and chopping, turning out nicely cut veggies and nuts. It comes with a blender container as well as a midsized processing bowl.

Small but mighty, the 7-speed KitchenAid Architect KHM7210 hand mixer performed impressively in our cookie dough mixing test, delivering enough power to fold chocolate chips into stiff cookie dough. Testers liked this model’s easy-to-clean wire beaters, simple controls, and separate whisk attachment (great for scrambling eggs).

One of the lowest-priced hand mixers in our rating, this Hamilton Beach performs as well as some of the pricier models. Its scores were very good across our tests, including whipping time, mixing, convenience and noise, making it a solid, budget-conscious addition to your kitchen gadget collection. This mixer comes with a storage case with interchangeable whisk and wire beaters.

The Dash Digital Tasti-Crisp is small but mighty. At a measured capacity of 1.9 quarts and an overall size of less than a square foot, this 6-pound model is one of the most compact air fryers in our ratings. Still, it ranks among the best. It earns top marks for controls and cleaning, and impresses in our noise test.

When CR measured the Tabitha Brown for Target 8 Qt. Digital’s capacity, we found there’s actually just 7 quarts of usable space—but that’s still a generous size. This model offered excellent performance in our tests for ease of cleaning, indicating that it’s a cinch to clean the interior and exterior as well as its baskets. It performed excellently in our noise tests as well; controls are easy to use, and there’s a viewing window so you can take a peek at your food without letting heat escape. This model has specific settings to dehydrate, reheat, and keep food warm.

The Instant Vortex Plus 4-Quart Air Fryer is a solid pick all-around, with intuitive controls and an easy-to-clean interior and exterior. Plus, it produces very little noise while cooking. Its measured 3-quart basket is smaller than the 4 quarts the manufacturer claims, but its square design makes it easy to fit a small dish or baking pan inside to turn out savory foods and sweet treats. It comes with programmed settings, add- and turn-food reminders, auto shutoff, and a one-year warranty.

For more options: Best Air Fryers From Our Tests

True to its name, the Chefman Obliterator RJ27-T1-TJ blender crushed our durability test and did well in puréeing and making icy drinks. It was able to sufficiently crush seven ice cubes without the addition of water, and it fared equally well in our evaluations of how convenient it was to operate and care for.

The Ninja CI101 Blender earns top marks in our blending and puréeing tests. It’s also the most powerful handheld blender in our ratings, operating at a maximum of 15,500 rpm when set to the turbo speed function. It’s sold as part of the Ninja Foodi Power Mix System, which includes a separate hand mixer with beaters, a whisk, and a 3-cup blending jar.

For more options: Best Immersion Blenders

If you’re looking for a slightly less expensive option, the Amazon Basics MJ-BH5001W2 is also a top performer in our tests. It’s one of only two stick blenders to get excellent scores in our yogurt blend and soup purée tests. Powered at a maximum of 15,000 rpm, it has a grip handle and variable speeds, including turbo. It also comes with a variety of accessories, such as a chopper attachment, whisk, beaker, and silicone baking mat. 

The 600-watt NutriBullet Original NBR-0801 Personal is a great value that nailed the functional aspects of our lab testing, earning top-notch ratings for ice crushing, making icy drinks, pureéing raw vegetable ingredients into a soup, and durability. That elevates it to one of the highest-rated, most budget-friendly, and lightest personal blenders (4 pounds). Where it falls short is its mediocre ratings for predicted reliability, owner satisfaction, noise, and convenience (it’s push-down operated). So while it can make excellent smoothies, soups, and salsas, it can also develop problems within the first four years of ownership. It has one speed and comes with 18-ounce and 16-ounce cups.

This GE blender crushed our icy drinks test, whipping up yummy smoothies, pinã coladas, daiquiris, and margaritas. It also earns top marks in our purée test, so you can serve up hearty blended soups, too. This 1,000-watt six-speed blender comes with a 20-ounce to-go cup.

This 6-quart Hamilton Beach slow cooker snags top marks in our high- and low-setting tests, which measure the tenderness of meat and vegetables after 5 and 8 hours of cooking, respectively. You can program it for up to 24 hours and keep your food warm for 24 hours, too. The owner’s manual includes tips on using the temperature probe and hold-temp mode to cook meat and fish using the sous vide method (in which food, placed in a sealed bag, is slowly cooked in warm water).

This 7-quart Black+Decker slow cooker comes with a temperature probe and sous vide functionality. It’s a champ at cooking tender meat and vegetables, whether you leave them in for 8 hours at a low setting or 5 hours at a high setting. This slow cooker is easy to use and comes with a dishwasher-safe insert and lid.

For more options: Best Slow Cookers

This Secura kettle can boil up to 7 cups of water in a snap, and it looks great on a countertop. In our tests, it boiled water quickly and was easy to clean, and our testers were particularly impressed by how cool its exterior remained. Plus, it kept 4 cups of boiled water warm for 75 minutes, which is longer than any of the other models we tested. The kettle’s interior is stainless steel and its exterior is plastic. It also comes in five varied colors.

Great for fans of pour-over coffee, the Amazon Basics kettle is made of stainless steel and is one of the least expensive in our ratings. It’s small, though, holding just 4 cups of water—the least amount of the kettles we’ve tested—and it’s not quite as easy to clean as other models. But it was among the fastest to bring our testing standard of 4 cups of water to a boil, clocking in at just under 4 minutes.