30 Of The Most Unnecessary Home Appliances Invented, Some Of Which You Might Still Want To Have
Sure, everybody dreams of a kitchen that makes your food solely by itself. Well, maybe with the help of some innovative, high-tech kitchen gadgets, but definitely without your own manual labor. Knowing this, kitchen appliance makers sure do try their best to make our kitchens more autonomic and to make the drudgery of cooking less time-consuming. And some of the new gadgets they come up with are just awesome! Take, for instance, the frother - how did we ever survive without frothing our powdered shakes or morning lattes before it? Or, think about the omnipotent air fryer - this baby sure makes our lives easier. But it doesn’t stop at the kitchen, either! Smart home appliances like Roombas and window-cleaning robots have won our hearts and made our lives easier. However, not all home appliances are made equal, and there are some that are, well, completely useless. Then, of course, they make awesome entries to our worst home appliances list, which is even more hilarious than you would’ve thought.
This glorious list of bad appliances includes, but is not limited to, a smartphone-controlled kitty water fountain (very effective at scaring your cat sh*tless). Then, we have something called the Porkfolio, which is simply a glorified piggy bank. And then there’s the Star Trek borg cube fridge; don’t even ask about it because we’re also lost on this one. So, plenty of hilariously bad appliances we’re sure glad we haven’t bought!
Right-o, ready to check which things made it to our inglorious worst home appliances list? If so, you know what to do! Once you’re done reading, be sure to rank the gadgets from worst to dubiously best or vice versa and share this article with your friends!
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LED Tap
Why wash your hands with boring old water when it can glow like an incredible E.T.!
Smart Kettle
Yeah, because locating your phone, downloading the app, and setting up your parameters is much easier than just flipping the on/off switch!
Pie Bird
If you know what a pie bird is, chances are good that you already own one. So here is a little explanation for the pie newbies: These tiny ceramic birds can aid in steam venting while your pie bakes and keep the filling from bubbling over. The majority of home bakers still produce delectable pies without pie birds, though owners acknowledge that they serve more as a cute kitchen ornament than a necessary baking aid.
Star Trek Borg Cube Fridge
Can you appreciate an icy cold beverage if it hasn't been sitting in green light inside a mini-fridge modeled after a mythical spaceship, says this dorm-worthy refrigerator? The answer is yes, and it makes this product completely useless.
Breakfast Station
The breakfast station, which commonly combines a toaster oven, griddle, and coffee maker, is then, by all means, something you should buy.
Baseball Bat Pepper Grinder
For those who like their pepper as aggressive as possible.
Countertop Pizza Oven
Even though pizza-only countertop ovens advertise that they use less energy and cook more evenly, they aren't really compact and will occupy a lot of cabinet or counter space for something you might only use once a week. Also, you could just use the oven you already have.
My mother has this. It's the devil. Oven is so much better of a cook.
Warming Ice Cream Scoop
Enter the self-warming ice cream scoop, which claims to use some sort of thermodynamic magic to melt even the toughest ice cream quickly. Cool concept, but we'll stick to the tried-and-true techniques of letting that pint of frozen goodness soften on the counter for a few minutes or running a conventional ice cream scoop under warm water.
Magic Tap
Poof! It's magic: When you purchased the Magic Tap, your $21 suddenly vanished into thin air. Thanks to this drink dispenser, we no longer have to lift and pour juice, milk, soda, or other beverage containers. We advise you to continue building your upper-body strength by pouring your favorite beverage in the traditional manner.
Monogrammed Barbecue Branding Iron
Regardless of how good your steaks are, we won't eat anything that has your initials on it.
Musical Toilet Roll Device
Relieving yourself is not an act that requires a title track. Well, usually.
Cookie Dippers
The creators of cookie dippers kindly request that you STOP DOING THIS NOW if you are dipping your Oreos in your milk with your fingers. They insist that there is a better way. The cookie doesn't crumble when dipped because the dipper "cradles the cookie by the cream." So long as you're ready to spend valuable money and drawer space on this exact small gadget, there won't be any more cookie search and rescue operations.
I like the thrill of timing my dips. I’ll stick to my traditional method, thank you
Electric Martini Maker
When Bond, James Bond asked for his martinis to be "shaken, not stirred," he absolutely did not have in mind a machine doing it.
Meat-Shredding Claws
Not going to lie: These items appear to be fantastic for channeling your inner carnivore or for acting like Wolverine. However, unless you frequently host barbecues or whole roast hogs in your backyard, these are probably unnecessary. Use just a few forks for your most recent crockpot dish.
Soft Pretzel Makes With Cheese Dip Warmer
Is there anything more frustrating than preparing a pretzel and then realizing you forgot to reheat the cheese dip? There is. Literally, anything else that might occur in your life is what it is called.
Runny Nose Shower Gel Dispenser
Because who wouldn't want to slather themselves with snot? (except for toddlers, maybe)
Microwavable Bacon Cooker
Don't have an oven, a grill, or even a stove? Then a microwaveable bacon cooker might be the right choice for you.
Waffle Bowl Maker
Waffles bowls are terrifying. There's not much to add to describe this scary device.
Electric Salt And Pepper Grinders
Again, if you have arthritic hands or another condition that makes it difficult to turn a handle, you might be able to justify using electric salt and pepper grinders. If not, it's difficult to defend these automatic devices with motors and batteries that fail, leaving your food tragically unseasoned. (Yes, many of them have LED lights, but they're probably not worth the extra money unless you're cooking supper in the dark.)
Egg Counter
Well, using your eyes or your hands to count the eggs would also work just fine!
Popcorn Machine
Calculating how much popcorn you would need to consume for a personal popcorn machine to be financially viable is not even worthwhile.
Pickle Picker
Apart from pleading to be put in a tongue twister, pickle pickers exist only to protect your fingertips from the gross humiliation of reaching into a pickle jar (or olive jar, or pepper jar). Naturally, a fork has long fulfilled the same purpose, but pickle pickers promise to be more dependable and keep your hands free of liquid.
I actually have one of these. Great for picking a peck of pickled peppers.
Omelet Maker
Call us old-school, but pan would work perfectly well here.
Corn Dog Maker
Having a piece of special equipment for making corn dogs doesn't seem like it will make life any easier unless you eat them all the time.
Completely illegal. Federal law dictates that all corn dogs must be eaten while wandering aimlessly at the state or county fair.
Taco Holder
Perhaps taco holders encourage taco consumption in a more refined manner. They can enable a daring home cook to prepare each priceless taco in advance and then maintain order and cohesion once everything is placed on the plate. But we're not persuaded. We'll be over with the barbarians who build their tacos as they go, eating any spilled toppings with a fork and a smile.
Counterpoint: These are great, especially in a restaurant setting where you get 3 at a time..
Avocado Masher
You can mash avocados with this masher, which resembles a potato masher in appearance, but a fork will also work. Even if you often consume guacamole, there is no compelling need to keep this in your utensil drawer.
Wi-Fi Scent Dispenser
Your phone can do many things these days, so why not give it the ability to make your room smell like Jolly Ranchers or sizzling bacon while you're away?
Automated Floss Dispenser
30 dollars, and this gadget is all yours! However, we like our floss dispensed manually better.
Wine Aerator
Any person who is trying to save money should ignore wine aerators. According to some experts, there's no need to spend money on yet another pointless bar accessory unless you're in a great rush to aerate a wine. Wine should have lots of oxygen after being slowly swirled, which will help flavors develop. Bonus: When you do it, you appear to be a genuine wine expert.
Hands-Free Bag Holder
Whoever curated this list seems... unnecessarily angry and bitterly sarcastic at some of these appliances XD It's like... yeah, we get it, they're useless, and most of the time an existing device or tool in your kitchen already can do the job... but we want to LAUGH at these products, not feel uncomfortable at the weirdly vitriolic commentary on some of them XD
My favorite non-essential home thing is a dragon that fits over the steam vent on my insta-pot. Makes it look like the dragon is breathing smoke at least when you release the steam.
Scrolled down halfway through to joking the discussion about how snarky and judge this post is. Especially since a lot of these things are actually pretty handy compared to the cheaper way of doing things. Might as well add a whisk to the list, cause you can often do the same thing with a fork. But the whisk makes it easier.
I think many of these are useful for those who have a physical disability or if they're working at a restaurant and need to slice multiple bananas at lightning speed to avoid a long queue or something. From what I heard, many of these were originally created for to cater to these people/businesses.
Many of these are intended for disabled people but are mass-marketed for profitability. Thanks for the depressing morning dose of ableism!
This is a rather disappointing list. A few of them are really helpful if you are disabled - I am. Others are conveniences, which some may like. Others are gadgets that people may like, but most will roll their eyes at... maybe focus on gadgets instead of trying to be a gatekeeper of usefulness.
The title would be more accurate if it was "Most useless appliances for the author specifically" - more than a few of these are actually *rather* helpful to those with joint problems, and some are simply regular items with a novelty appearance... which is a personal style/entertainment choice. Yeah, of course you can have a normal mini-fridge... that's just blank... but what if you DO want one that looks like a borg cube? Does that make it LESS fridgey? So... if I get blackout curtains that have a design of Axolotls on them.. what, now they''re "useless"?
Our most useless kitchen "appliance" is a little stool that we lovingly call "speaker's corner" (yes, like the spot in Hyde Park). Whenever a family member has something to proclaim or just feels silly, they stand on the stool and can be sure they get the attention they want.
The tone of this article is all wrong. Some of these are unnecessary, but might be fun. Some are primarily useful for people with disabilities. Some might only make sense to own under very specific circumstances. None of them deserve the hate the author gave them.
Thanks Neilas, you made me admire peoples' creative minds and ability to change, simplify and give us altenatives..
Dude doesn't know a pie bird, but thinks his opinions are valid on kitchen tools. Pretty obvious he's not in charge of years of feeding a large family.
surprised to not see a small cotton candy machine on here. we had one at home growing up because my dad’s work was getting rid of theirs. super fun to make cotton candy at home!
These are genius! (HEY GUYS! WEIRDEST BI YOULL EVER MEET IS BACK FROM A MONTH LONG PHONE BREAK! Please tell me someone realized I was gone…)
Does the author/curator have no life? He certainly lacks deep, critical-thinking skills, and he seems to be--you should excuse the expression--kind of a douche.
There are a lot of these that are unnecessary,but, there are a few that are needed. There is a pumper that would have saved me a lot of time. My mother could not lift ANYTHING. Gallons of water, milk, ended up on the floor and me cleaning it up. Get her smaller containers? She would not let me or anyone else buy her manageable containers. This is what happens when you get alzheimers.
So, I have or have had seven of these, and with the exception of the spiral slicer, they were or are used semi-regularly. The egg cooker and salad spinner are essential, bread maker and can opener are retired now but used to be used a lot, egg separator isn’t needed that often but when it is it’s REALLY needed, and bag holder I just got and haven’t had a chance to try out yet. I think we still have the spiral slicer somewhere, I’ve just never seen it used. However, spiral pineapple slicer? Genius.
Whoever curated this list seems... unnecessarily angry and bitterly sarcastic at some of these appliances XD It's like... yeah, we get it, they're useless, and most of the time an existing device or tool in your kitchen already can do the job... but we want to LAUGH at these products, not feel uncomfortable at the weirdly vitriolic commentary on some of them XD
My favorite non-essential home thing is a dragon that fits over the steam vent on my insta-pot. Makes it look like the dragon is breathing smoke at least when you release the steam.
Scrolled down halfway through to joking the discussion about how snarky and judge this post is. Especially since a lot of these things are actually pretty handy compared to the cheaper way of doing things. Might as well add a whisk to the list, cause you can often do the same thing with a fork. But the whisk makes it easier.
I think many of these are useful for those who have a physical disability or if they're working at a restaurant and need to slice multiple bananas at lightning speed to avoid a long queue or something. From what I heard, many of these were originally created for to cater to these people/businesses.
Many of these are intended for disabled people but are mass-marketed for profitability. Thanks for the depressing morning dose of ableism!
This is a rather disappointing list. A few of them are really helpful if you are disabled - I am. Others are conveniences, which some may like. Others are gadgets that people may like, but most will roll their eyes at... maybe focus on gadgets instead of trying to be a gatekeeper of usefulness.
The title would be more accurate if it was "Most useless appliances for the author specifically" - more than a few of these are actually *rather* helpful to those with joint problems, and some are simply regular items with a novelty appearance... which is a personal style/entertainment choice. Yeah, of course you can have a normal mini-fridge... that's just blank... but what if you DO want one that looks like a borg cube? Does that make it LESS fridgey? So... if I get blackout curtains that have a design of Axolotls on them.. what, now they''re "useless"?
Our most useless kitchen "appliance" is a little stool that we lovingly call "speaker's corner" (yes, like the spot in Hyde Park). Whenever a family member has something to proclaim or just feels silly, they stand on the stool and can be sure they get the attention they want.
The tone of this article is all wrong. Some of these are unnecessary, but might be fun. Some are primarily useful for people with disabilities. Some might only make sense to own under very specific circumstances. None of them deserve the hate the author gave them.
Thanks Neilas, you made me admire peoples' creative minds and ability to change, simplify and give us altenatives..
Dude doesn't know a pie bird, but thinks his opinions are valid on kitchen tools. Pretty obvious he's not in charge of years of feeding a large family.
surprised to not see a small cotton candy machine on here. we had one at home growing up because my dad’s work was getting rid of theirs. super fun to make cotton candy at home!
These are genius! (HEY GUYS! WEIRDEST BI YOULL EVER MEET IS BACK FROM A MONTH LONG PHONE BREAK! Please tell me someone realized I was gone…)
Does the author/curator have no life? He certainly lacks deep, critical-thinking skills, and he seems to be--you should excuse the expression--kind of a douche.
There are a lot of these that are unnecessary,but, there are a few that are needed. There is a pumper that would have saved me a lot of time. My mother could not lift ANYTHING. Gallons of water, milk, ended up on the floor and me cleaning it up. Get her smaller containers? She would not let me or anyone else buy her manageable containers. This is what happens when you get alzheimers.
So, I have or have had seven of these, and with the exception of the spiral slicer, they were or are used semi-regularly. The egg cooker and salad spinner are essential, bread maker and can opener are retired now but used to be used a lot, egg separator isn’t needed that often but when it is it’s REALLY needed, and bag holder I just got and haven’t had a chance to try out yet. I think we still have the spiral slicer somewhere, I’ve just never seen it used. However, spiral pineapple slicer? Genius.