3 Tips to Equip Your Kitchen for the Holidays

Phone, wallet, keys. You wouldn’t leave home without the essentials, so don’t prep for the holidays without kitchen necessities! Whether you’re serving up snacks or getting ready to feast, the right tools make a big difference. With over eight decades of holidays under NFM’s belt, we wanted to share some holiday kitchen tips.

So, where DO you start getting holiday ready? We’re assuming you have a mostly functional suite of major appliances (though we’ll talk refrigeration in a bit). If you don’t, well, go check out deals on both sets and individual appliances! No joke, our deals are pretty phenomenal. If we continue the essentials analogy, major appliances are like a car or bike, it’s hard to get where you’re going without them. The 3 keys to getting truly ready are small appliances, a cleaning routine, and space for storing leftovers.

Tip #1: Don’t Skip the Smalls

Small appliances might be one of the most ignored kitchen categories. Afterall, it’s easy to talk yourself out of stuff like a vacuum sealer or deep frier. How would the day go without a coffee maker or microwave though? To not get caught out, remember the first of our holiday kitchen tips: Small stuff makes a big impact.

When it comes to small appliance holiday prep, KitchenAid’s Go line of tools is an innovative way to complete your collection. Anyone who struggles with outlet space will love these portable, battery-powered tools. No more cords in your batter or pulled plugs, the Go devices use a rechargeable battery (like a power tool) to keep you cooking. Blend, mix, and even vacuum.

Interested in inspired style? Look no further than the retro flavor of SMEG’s line of small appliances. Blending the best of modern function with classic design, these handy tools look as good as they perform. While not the only style-forward line of must have kitchen equipment, their capability really sets SMEG apart and makes the investment easier to swallow (especially with an NFM discount).

If you’re interested in keeping cook time to a minimum, air fryers and pressure cookers are popular newcomers with a big impact. Air fryers, designed to replicate an oven’s convection effect, produce some of the crispiest and easiest snacks. Whether it’s dishing out appetizers or shaking up how we make classics, it’s clear the air fryer is here to stay. On the other end, pressure cookers have been around quite a while but were revolutionized in the last decade. Taking off around 2016, the modern pressure cooker makes quick work of soups, pasta, and more without putting your home in danger. No longer your grandma’s steel pot of doom, today’s instant cookers are more likely to make your mouth water than make you sweat.

So, where DO you start getting holiday ready? We’re assuming you have a mostly functional suite of major appliances (though we’ll talk refrigeration in a bit). If you don’t, well, go check out deals on both sets and individual appliances! No joke, our deals are pretty phenomenal. If we continue the essentials analogy, major appliances are like a car or bike, it’s hard to get where you’re going without them. The 3 keys to getting truly ready are small appliances, a cleaning routine, and space for storing leftovers.

Tip #2: Keep a Clean Act

So, you’ve made a ton of delicious food and folks have cleared their plates, what now? If your cleanup routine wasn’t already up to snuff, you’re going to wish it was now. This predicament leads to the next of our holiday kitchen tips: plan for cleanup! These 3 picks help clear your holiday cleaning list: a dishwasher, floorcare, and an air purifier.

Dishwashers are one of few appliances you’ll see folks going without, but modern upgrades make it worth reconsidering. From upper rack jets that ensure a thorough wash to large interiors, today’s dishwashers take a lot of the guess work out of a good clean. Don’t get stuck hand scrubbing, some dishwashers blast dishes from every angle for a sparkling finish every time.

Dogs might be great for keeping food off the floor, but sometimes messes need more than a hungry pooch. A stick vacuum, with interchangeable parts, is our pick for kitchen cleanup. The compact size of a stick vacuum keeps messes under control without having to lug out and plug in a normal vacuum. You may also want to opt for a steam mop to get a truly pristine floor (especially if you’re prone to spills).

This last pick for holiday prep may seem strange, but it’s a life saver: add an air purifier to your kitchen. How many times have you cooked something (or burned it) and the smell stuck around for weeks? Even tasty smells wear out their welcome and an air purifier preps your home atmosphere for the next delectable meal. Better yet, air purifiers work beyond the holidays to keep pollen and particles under control all year.

Tip #3: Stow Away, Don’t Throw Away

So, you’ve snagged oodles of small appliances, and your clean routine is the best on the block, now what? As all the pots, pans, and baking dishes still brimming with food can attest, it’s time to tackle leftovers. The last of our holiday kitchen tips is to refresh your storage options! While you may already have a fridge, freezer, and storage your rely on, consider this your call to upgrade.

The refrigerators of yesteryear may seem like plenty, but, if you’re anything like us, space is hard to come by. Between leftover treats and essential ingredients, shelves get packed quick. Turn the tables on a stuffed fridge with a French-door layout paired with a counter-depth interior. This XL appliance fits trays of appetizers, pizza boxes, or a whole turkey without a sweat. This pair is also great if you have guests with mobility challenges or back problems since it keeps all your necessities at eye level.

On the topic of space, give your frozen food a little room to breathe too with a deep freeze. Chest freezers change the game for holiday kitchen prep. Instead of cramming everything into your refrigerator freezer, a deep freeze lets you stretch out trips to the store. Forget about traveling through sleet, snow, or, of all horrors, holiday traffic to load up, now you can just grab all your needs from the bulk store and snuggle up at home. Then once the feasting has finished, freeze soups and stews for meals to come. Not convinced? Peek inside and just imagine how many frozen pizzas a chest freezer could hold!

To cap off your essential kitchen equipment, nab something nice for storing leftovers and ingredients. The biggest perk of stocking up before the holiday is you’ll have food storage left after you send guests away with leftovers. No matter how many promises are made, you can be sure any containers handed off will be squirreled away in another’s supply. Just make sure your new favorites from NFM stay in the house and away from sticky fingers.