NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Are you stuck in a rut with your go-to kitchen appliances and are you turning out the same meals week after week?
You just need a few accessories to take your grilling, multi-cooking and air frying to the next level and here's the best part. You can do it for under $30!
Consumer Reports tests thousands of products in its labs, from appliances, to paint and decking materials, robotic vacuums and of course brand new cars and trucks.
But sometimes Consumer Reports experts take products to their actual homes where they use them just like you would. That’s exactly what Tanya Christian and some other Consumer Reports editors did with accessories for air fryers, multi cookers and grills.
“I checked out ten popular accessories for my air fryer and a couple were duds, like this too-shallow waffle mold and this paper liner that can come loose and fly up into the heating element, but I had a few favorites,” Christian said.
Like a steel skewer rack for kebabs! The rack suspends marinated meats so they crisp on all sides.
If your least favorite part of air frying is cleaning drippings out of the bin, a silicone cooking pot is a great solution. It allows air to circulate around the food, then pops into the dishwasher to clean.
Your multi-cooker can pressure cook, slow cook, simmer and sear. Consumer Reports pro called this silicone steam rack a “game changer.” Lock a steamer basket onto it and your food steams beautifully. You can safely lift meals in and out using the handles.
“If you love cheesecake like I do, this 7 and a half inch spring-form cake pan is a must," said Consumer Reports Perry Santanachote. "It makes cheesecake so much better and easier in the multi cooker than in the oven.”
And for grilling, Consumer Reports Paul Hope checked out a multitude of accessories, and these were standouts.
“When I cook for a crowd I usually smoke large cuts of meat," Hope said. "Silicone barbecue gloves make it easy for me to move the meat around the surface of the grill or even take it right off the heat onto a serving tray.”
The Traegar rib rack is also a favorite. It holds eight racks of ribs on their edge so they can cook without scorching, and saves space on the grates for other foods.
There is one grill accessory that you should replaced regularly and that’s your wire grill brush. Worn bristles can break off and stick to the grill and then get in your food.
So if your brush is missing bristles or the brush is worn or warped, don’t take a chance and get a new one.
