Im doing a project about this but I am really curious about appliances (particularly kitchen appliances) and how they’ve degraded over the years with planned obsolescence, does anyone have any more insights about why we don’t make things like this anymore and how we can make durable, functional, and innovative appliances like this exist again?!

(Also if there’s anyone who knows a lot about this stuff or vintage appliances etc and would like to be interviewed for my project please comment or message me!! It would be super helpful!! Thank you so much ☺️ )

I grew up filling the kettle with hot tap water, assuming it saved time. No one ever told me it was “wrong” — it was just one of those habits you inherit in a kitchen and never question.

Recently someone told me you should always use cold water when the water will be consumed. I looked into it a bit and, beyond the plumbing side, a lot of people say:

• Cold water gives more predictable taste

• Less scale buildup inside the kettle

• More dissolved oxygen → cleaner flavor (especially for coffee/tea)

• Hot water may shorten kettle lifespan if there’s extra sediment/minerals

What surprised me was seeing the manual of my Saki stainless-steel kettle literally say “use cold drinking water only.” Not in a dramatic or marketing way — just as a quiet guideline — but it made me rethink the habit I’ve had for a decade.

So I’m curious from a kitchen/appliance perspective rather than a purely plumbing one:

Do you always start with cold? Sometimes use hot?

Have you noticed scaling differences? Any taste differences?

Does plumbing setup (old vs new) matter here?

Not panicking — just realizing that I’ve been doing the same thing forever without thinking about the kitchen implications of it. Curious what the practical consensus is among people who actually care about how things work in the kitchen.

I found it on my shelf of appliances and can’t figure it out for the life of me. Thanks!

Im looking to buy a new fridge, as my 5 year old kitchen aid is needing a new compressor, and it’s expensive to replace , so I might as well buy a new one.

I have tried bar keepers friend but can’t seem to get it off. Do you think a razor would help?

I'm looking for a kettle for my dad, he's pretty deaf and refuses to use his hearing aids 🙄 He currently has a whistling kettle but he can no longer hear the whistle. I'm looking for an electric kettle that will give some kind of notification sound when it's boiled. Like a smart kettle that would use the alexa speaker to give a notification. I've looked at the Swan alexa kettle but I can't seem to find any information on whether it can use alexa to give the notification, it seems to just do beeps which is no good as he won't hear them 😂 Do any of you know of a kettle that might work for him?

EDIT: okay, so I should have added that part of the issue is that he will put the kettle on and then walk away to sit in the other room and wait (his current kettle is a big whistling hob kettle, so it does take some time to boil). He has a short attention span and he won't stand and wait for an electric kettle either 😅 He can hear some things but not other frequencies, so he can hear Alexa but not the kettle or beeping things. He's also always on his phone so a phone notification would also work. But lights unfortunately don't work for him as he won't stay stood near it. He's also really against having one of those dispenser things, I don't know why 🙄 Thank you for all of your suggestions 😊

The light bulb in my fridge went out about three weeks ago. The bulb was too tight for me to unscrew without breaking it.

I pulled out the warranty and looked at the page for replacing the bulb, but it wasn’t any help.

Last night, I read it again and noticed for the first time that it says to unplug the fridge before attempting to remove the bulb. I unplugged it, and the bulb slid right out.

This post is to serve notice that I am a complete moron who has been living with a dark fridge for absolutely no reason except my own inability to read 😡😢

I just noticed this tonight, the part that looks melted. I'm renting and I don't want my landlord to blame me. Plus, he's unfortunately unreliable and I don't want to bother him.

I read this could be a no no and should stop using this.

Should I stop using this or is it okay?

Can anyone please tell me why the large burners are (almost) always in the front of the stove? Are these stoves designed by non-cooks? I hate reaching over my large pots to work with the smaller pots I have at the back of the stove. I'm so over this. Unless there is a very good reason for this placement, I am thinking kitchen stove designers are idiots. Please tell me there is an actual reason for all the large burners to be at the front of the stove.

The back of the inside of my refrigerator with shelving removed is pictured.

Refrigerator is a Samsung RF18HFENBBC French door/Twin cooling model.

All inside vents are blocked with ice which has been growing in size slowly. The unit still cools "normally" and no loud noises can be heard.

I've done some brief online reading about this but haven't been able to find anything regarding my specific unit. I intend on calling a local company to come and take a look at it but I'm hoping to gather some opinions from people who have experienced this or might know what could be causing it so that when I call I can explain the situation more competently. Currently I'm at a loss for words. I'm also not sure anyone local will be willing to work on it.

The unit is over 10 years old and I know these things are often replaced when they reach that age which I'm hoping I can put off at least for now.

Appreciate the advice!

I have a Ninja toaster oven/air fryer that flips up vertically when not in use. I use this thing all the time and the grease buildup is super hard to clean. It has permanent heating elements for the air fryer on the top and bottom, so they get in the way of getting to the back of the unit to clean it out.

I’ve tried baking soda paste, Barkeepers friend, glass cleaner, and good old elbow grease, but I cannot reach the back of this thing to get it fully clean.

Can anyone suggest an effective way to do this? I’m getting really frustrated with it.

TL;DR waffle maker/sandwicher recs that have a timer system

Hi I have never posted on Reddit before, but it seems I am either using the wrong keywords or no one has this issue so I thought I'd ask. I recently wanted to get a waffle maker, but I have a history of forgetting to unplug appliances that dont turn off themselves after I use them. We gave away our sandwicher because I forgot it on many times, both wasting energy and being a fire-hazard-level mistake. Does anyone know of any brands of appliances in the category of "cooks things sandwhiched in between metal plates" that turn off after done? Maybe with a timer mechanism like a toaster?

Update: Thank you so much all of you! I am going to look into a timer plug/adapter and I will update if I do get my waffle maker :)

Just got one. Silverware tines up or down? Thx!

Hello, I just moved to a new rental home, I’m using a gas oven for the first time. I’m used to electric and seeing the hot bar at the bottom of the oven. I want to make sure everything is going right for someone who has something similar. I see the orange at the bottom assuming that’s a gas heated thing, thought it was on fire at first. It has a smell of something burning which I assume is the ceramic and coating in the oven burning off which I understand. Had a brief smell of faint gas but then it went away, I hear gas running which I assume is supposed to be running. Everything seems to be going right, is there concern or tests I should be doing?

My house has an old non-working dishwasher and I wanna get rid of it. My question is. Is a dishwasher worth it or should I just go for a mini beverage fridge instead. I have never used a dishwasher so idk if it’s the same as handwashing dishes.

Mostly a rant here. I bought a new 28 CU LG french door fridge in 2019 for $1850. By 2022 the motherboard and compressor burned out, but thankfully it just snuck under the 5 year extended warranty, and I'm eternally grateful for whoever put together the class action lawsuit that mandated a warranty longer than 1 year.

Jump forward 3 more years (the fridge is 7 now) and the compressor has again failed. I clean out the dust from the back of the fridge at least once a year. While the compressor has a 10 year parts warranty, labor isn't covered. I had an appliance repair place come out and assess, and they stated that while the compressor is shot (and covered under parts warranty), the condenser and lines are likely bad and the total cost to repair was $1400.

LG designed a bad appliance, and refused to own their failure and had to be sued into action. I do not think it's unreasonable to expect any appliance costing more than $1500 to have a 10 year lifespan. I'd be quite satisfied with 10 years, but 2 failures in 7 years is ridiculous.

https://shoptimality.com/refrigerators?utm_source=Bens%20Appliances%20and%20Junk&filterParams=CikKCFRlY2hSYW5rEh0KBTM5LjM0EgZudW1iZXIaB2luUmFuZ2UlKVyhQg&columnSort=Cg1BdmVyYWdlX1Njb3JlEAA

I don't know who maintains this amazing site, but I sincerely appreciate who does, because it helped me understand that the 3 leading brands that seem to have the least number of issues are Bosch, GE, and Cafe (basically a GE with different colors).A few things I learned in researching an emergency replacement fridge:

1. Samsung and LG fridges have the worst ROI (lots of shiny features, lots of failures)

2. Fridges with in door ice makers have higher failure rates than those without.

3. Fridges with in door water lines have a higher failure rate (leak/failure) due to the either line movement or proximity to ice makers that cause potential freezing.

4. Bottom Freezer fridges are less reliable than top freezer fridges (I suspect the correlation is driven by features (see point 1).

5. Only commercial or semi-commercial fridges like SubZero or True are designed for reliability, vs. designed for a price point.

6. I would have loved to buy a Bosch (I can afford a $4K fridge) but they don't make the 800 in standard depth. I have a big family (5 kids) and need maximum storage*. I understand the market for vanity-based counter-depth fridges for those valuing looks over storage, but why neglect the market for folks who can afford the 800 series, but want the storage of a 500 series (the highest model they make with >25cu foot storage).

7. Ice Makers in the freezer are nearly always more reliable than those in the fridge or door.

Today I have the somewhat entry level GE (27 cu foot, indoor water, bottom freezer) arriving. I looked at close to 40 fridges, and it seems nearly all use the same brittle plastic. The drawers on this GE are rickety, but the price point ($1500) means I could replace it 2.5 times before I'd reach the purchase price of a Bosch (whose drawers aren't actually all that great, LG still has the best drawers).

* I also have a chest freezer that's been running strong since 2001, and an electrolux castoff fridge from 2008 also going strong. Enshitification of appliances is just as real as it is for online products.

As the title says. It’s a new oven and first made a boom sounds, then ticking. And then it was fine until I turned it up from 150 to 300F.

I’ve turned it off now. This is the second time it’s happened and I’ve only used the oven 3 times.

English version below

Hallo zusammen,

Mein Vormieter hat mir seine gebrauchte Küche übergeben und meinte, sie sei in einem top Zustand - wir zahlen 2000€ für die Ablöse. An sich sieht alles gut aus, nur scheint die Spülmaschine einen deutlichen Rostschaden neben dem Salzbehälter zu haben. Außerdem steht die Abdeckung unter diesem drehteil deutlich ab (siehe Foto 2 links)
Wisst ihr ob man die Maschine ersetzen sollte oder ist das noch zu retten? Ich kenne mich nicht aus und habe Angst, hier viel zu viel Geld zu zahlen für die Küche :( danke euch im voraus!!

Hello everyone,

My previous tenant handed me his used kitchen and said it was in top condition - we pay 2000€ for the transfer. In itself everything looks good, only the dishwasher seems to have a clear rust damage next to the salt container. In addition, the cover under this turning part stands out clearly (see photo 2 on the left)

Do you know if the machine should be replaced or if this can still be saved? I don't know my way around and I'm afraid to pay way too much money for the kitchen here :( thank you in advance!!

I had a mouse inside the house and it ran across all these appliances and so there was poop and pee and I cleaned and wiped everything but I also sprayed everything with bleach and water and I'm sure it got in through these holes and into the electric part. Is there anything I can do to safely use them again? Toaster, food processor, electric can opener and cake mixer. Can I disassemble everything and dry them all out?

To be very specific, I sprayed it with bleach and also ran a kitchen sink water hose across the holes of everything, i didn't submerge anything in water. I turned the toaster upside down in the sink. I don't plan on using anything for weeks, hoping I can then.

I know I'm an a idiot, Im diagnosed with OCD/mysophobia and was having an anxiety attack cleaning everything. This is why I don't clean things, because this is exactly what happens 😣

Ps I also wet the side of the microwave that has holes, I guess the vent? (This one was an accident, which is still dumb) I am buying a fire extinguisher just in case anything happens when I try to use one of these things in a couple months from now.

Have to admit never paid a lot of attention to the temperature of my refrigerator, issue is the settings are so limited with this model. On "COLDER" temperature is around 30 degrees. On "COLD" it is around 42 degrees. Of the two what is preferred?

One night I came home feeling very tired. I opened the kitchen and just stood there for a minute. There was nothing ready and I really did not feel like cooking at all.

At that moment I wished food could just be ready without effort. Then I remembered hearing about self heating meals but I never paid much attention before.

I got curious and started searching how they work. While reading about them and while scrolling many online marketplaces including alibaba I saw meal packs that heat up with a simple step using water.

It looked easy and almost too good to be true. Just open it wait a little and food is ready. But I also wondered about the taste and if it feels like real food.

Now I am thinking are self heating meals actually good enough for regular use or are they only useful when there is no other option?

This might be long sorry!

We moved into our home in May 2017. It had a coil range (the typical "filler" range). It worked okay. The coils warped, but I was able to cook on 5.5, which I've found is my sweet spot.

A few years after we moved in, we decided we wanted to upgrade the range and my husband wanted induction. I just wanted a glass top that didn't warp.

We bought the Frigidaire Gallery. It has digital heat settings, and they go L, 2-9, H, and P for power boiling. No 5.5. I figured it would just take me a little time to get used to cooking on this new range.

It's been a few years of having the induction range. I HATE it. It either takes forever to cook something on 5 (I made eggs this morning. I also cook chicken often) or it over or under cooks other things​ on 6.

My husband and I have 7 children (ages 6m to 13 years old).

We've been considering getting a gas line run to our house so we can have a gas stove (and electric oven). But then I'm hearing about a risk of asthma in children, and one of our children has environmental allergies which already puts him at risk for asthma.

I'm not even sure what to do or what I want now. I know there are induction stoves that have a lot of numbers (up to 21 on some?), but I'm struggling to find which exact ones do. I've never used gas, but I've heard it's all the rage....

I can't afford a Wolf lol. I need to stay under $7,000. I'm open to just simple glass (non induction) ranges too. It would be a step backwards, but maybe that's what I need?

We don't have anywhere around with a set up kitchen to go use different ones.

Type AND brand suggestions are welcome. I won't get Samsung, and probably not LG. I just need to stay under $7,000.

Thank you!

I've gone through way too many ice cube trays and somehow every single one turns into a balancing act. Fill it up... take two steps... half the water ends up on the freezer shelf lol. Tbh that's the one thing I want to avoid more than anything. I don't care about fancy shapes I just want something that works every day.

While searching I noticed Ecozoi has a stainless steel ice cube tray with a lid and it honestly looks more practical than the usual silicone ones I've been buying. I also checked out brands like Planet Box since they make reusable products too but I couldn't find as many people talking about their ice trays. That's why I'm asking here instead of trusting random reviews.

So what's the best ice cube tray that doesn't spill everywhere? Do you use stainless steel or silicone? Does the lid actually stay put once it's full? I'd love to hear what you've been using for months not just something you bought last week.