Some of these gadgets may seem frivolous, but for disabled people like myself (and I imagine the elderly who aren’t as spry) these are game changers. Yea, you could use a pot on the stove, but if you’re a wheelchair user and it’s hard to use the stove, personal electric appliances like these give back some independence and makes it easier to cook for myself.
So glad you mentioned this. I also get a lot of use out of small tabletop appliances for the same reason, and it does seem like some could be very handy for people dealing with other sets of challenges in the kitchen.
The mini 1 pot lunchbox is really useful for students living in dormitary! You can save washing space and plates and cook all dishes at the same time! It was my best friend during my college days
This is a nice change of pace from Costco products which are all designed for large families. In general, products designed for single people seem to be an overlooked and niche market.
Costco currently has products that are good for single people, like the ramen bowls from Snapdragon, the curry pouches from Saffron Road, and the very useful Bibigo single sticky rice bowls.
It can be hard to cook for 1. To save money and time you just cook up meals for two or four and fridge, freezer, then reheat or if applicable eat cold. The more days you cook ahead and store. You can save and meal plan for the month.
I grinned when I saw the rotating yakitori cooker. I have its grandma in one of my kitchen cupboards. It was my mother's, and it's called a "Kabobit" by Wearever. It is from the 70's. It still works, and we use it quite often for kabob skewers and sausages/hot dogs. Pro tip: Take the end tips out of the bottom of the grill, skewer your meat and then put the end tips firmly on the skewer, then put the skewers into the machine and then put the enclosure on. If the end tips are on firmly enough, they won't come off the skewers until you remove them manually, and you won't have to play Yakitori Operation anymore! 🙂
As someone living in a small apartment in Japan with only one stove top, I can see how those electric cooking devices can be really handy serving as additional cooking stoves. And good alternatives to just microwaving everything!
My wife was perusing the internet and came upon some "interesting" products. I noticed quite a few of them seemed geared towards single people, so I thought, "Hey, why not test some of them out!" What do you think of them?
Thanks for this. Finding kitchen tools for single people is difficult. Most things start at four servings. I don't need four. I just need one. Maybe two for leftovers. But I don't want to eat the same thing all week. And I hate wasting food because it's gone bad. The struggle is real. That multiple skewer thing looks like a nightmare to clean! The egg/toaster thing might be good. Less messy cooking the eggs that way. Though the design needs some work. I'd be burning myself constantly. And yeah, cooking and doing everything alone is sad. That's single life.
I think the little grill would be the only one. I've a rice cooker, we eat a lot of rice, and I think it works fine and isn't much bigger than the small one. The grill looked great. I could and would make use of that. Even though I'm married now there are times I still eat alone and I think I could use that for several different meals. I love that I saw Tabasco sauce on the table. My family is from the region that is made, bottled, and shipped out.
the toaster thingy and grill looked the most convienient in my opinion. space efficient, not finicky and complicated (bar the egg pan) and overall user friendly
Who eats one (1) loaf of toast with 2 eggs though, think i rather stick with a toaster and an normal egg cooker for breakfast, it's not much bigger either. A few of the other appliances however seem useful under certain circumstances.
I think the two-layer Bento Box Rice Cooker would be really good for college dorms for late-night meals when studying or when one is traveling and staying in hotels. I would like to see a handle included for lifting the separator from the rice. I liked the hot pot as a means of doing noodles or a soup and this is also something that might be very useful in a college dorm. The electric Hibachi would be really nice for a small apartment, not sure about using this in a college dorm room.
I made all my meals in a rice cooker for a few years (eggs, sausage, even mac&cheese) and it wasn't so bad. Before rice cookers were popular in the US, apparently my mother did the same thing in college... with a coffee pot?! It was all she was allowed to have.
In college in the 1970s - there was no meal service Sunday nights. My friend Don used his popcorn maker on Sunday nights to make soup and pasta! This was before air popper popcorn makers.
I think the electric pot you used to cook cheese fondue is the thing I would use most. Over a decade ago my friend had an electric "wok" (just a non stick pan in the shape of a wok) that was really convenient to cook one pot meals in. I would highly recommend something like that for people living in a dorm room or any situation where you might not have access to a cooker/stove. The only downside of my friend's electric wok was that you could not submerge it to wash it.
I have a few items like this. A single person rice cooker that cooks up to 2 or 3 cups of rice. (tho it's not just for rice) Single portion deep fat fryer. Small size bread maker. Tabletop electric stew pot/frypan. Small size slow cooker. Every one of them, I managed to find in charity/thrift shops. Here in the UK we get stuff from a company called 'Coopers' that make single person electrical items, they sell them in a magazine that gets sent to our homes. If you are eating alone, or live alone, they are a bit more economical than using full size items.
I'm definitely getting the individual rice cooker! I hate not-fresh rice, so being able to make it at will is wonderful! And the mini-grill looks so much more useful than trying to figure out how to grill something on the stove.
The tiny grill would work great for one person especially an old person. Because we got time to sit around and mess with stuff and it’s fun to cook alone it’s not sad at all. Through different stages of life what seems sad changes :-). Cooking small amounts can be difficult. Purchasing small amounts is even harder in the US. Example: a gallon of milk is 3.60 dollars and a quart is $2.70.
...and for those that are metrically inclined (i.e. outside of the USA) there are four quarts in a gallon. So, a gallon of milk bought as a gallon is $3.60, but that same gallon bought as four quarts will cost $10.80. Domo arigato re jn. ;-)
Especially in a pandemic, I’m not sharing air when I don’t have to, so eating for 1 is fine with me. The grill is the only multi-use item that isn’t easily found in multiple sizes (the kebab maker looks like a nightmare. Toss those cubes on this mini grill)
Every time your sil is in a video, she’s happy and laughing. She has a lovely predisposition. I enjoy her appearing in the videos. I mean this in a really innocent way. I just enjoy that kind of personality. Cheers.
You two are always adorable and I love watching you go, especially the re-enactions. And as a disabled person myself, I've got to agree with Gromlin; some of these might work well for me with my limited mobility. It's dangerous to cook on the stove sitting in my rollator, but I'd probably be okay with the pot. And if you have no cooking facilities at all, like in a dorm, then things like the egg toaster would be very handy, though I'd still go with a real, if small, rice cooker instead of the 'bento.' And as I thought, the upright spinning 'grill' didn't do too well, but the flat one didn't look too bad. For a combination of delight *and* practicality, I think the egg toaster wins, but I'd be most likely to buy the pot.
that mini grill looks fun/cute. it's not really practical to feed a bunch of people, or cook things quickly but it would be fun to use during a little get together. people could make their own skewers and cook them while having other food and drinks like you guys did here. It would be a good way to get folks to slow down and unwind.
The voice overs are so funny! As a single person who loves kitchen gadgets this video is speaking to me in a big way. Granted I mostly stick with my tiny rice cooker since it can do so much, but I think I would use the yakitori grill. Not that rotating one, that one scares me.
I have a bento box rice cooker, but mine has two ceramic cups side by side instead of a square box, and the rice never has to be washed. It comes out perfect every time, and you can either make two servings of rice or make rice on one side and steam veggies or other things on the other side. It works great, and was about $50. I think it is the one appliance we use the most often in our little apartment.
Could I ask you to check the brand on your appliance please? I would love an item like this, especially with the more convenient design that you're describing.
It was interesting and fun seeing you both test "convenient" appliances! I have a small kitchen and only use a 2 cup rice/oatmeal cooker, an air fryer and an insta-pot. Less electricity than a stove top and oven!
If you ever want to downsize to a tiny house, these products would be great. So if you don’t have a lot of space and you don’t want to put in like a full on stove, these are a good substitute.
these eccentric inventions are an underappreciated piece of japanese culture these days. in the 80s and 90s it was one of the things japan was known for.
I live in a small studio without a kitchen so I've purchased a single burner induction stove from Ikea, which I keep in a cupboard. It's great for people without a stovetop! Plus a rice cooker and microwave, I can make anything that doesn't require an oven (and roughly make a few things that do, hahaha) and I can move the induction stove to the table if I have people over. I can't imagine any of these making my life more convenient, but that tiny baby grill does look like a lot of fun!!
Have you tried one of those three-tier electric steamers? I live in a studio and cook almost everything in mine- steaming makes everything taste nicer, too!
Would love more of these appliance focused videos. Let's learn about ALL of them. I love the zojirushi fish roaster which I understand is built into most Japanese ranges. And you could do multiple episodes about the venerable rice cooker!
One thing often overlooked when it comes to products like these is they save on power. An electric kettle uses less power than heating an eye on the stove. I have a stove but I use small appliances more
The last time that I went to Japan, I found a "10分で炊ける" for only 6000¥. Was very convenient to cook rice for my wife and me while we traveled around Japan... In the instructions, we found the proportion for only one person.
As I watched you test the mini toaster and found that the eggs hadn't quite cooked at the recommended temp and time, I was thinking that it probably would've cooked perfectly if it had just been one egg.
What a fun and funny video! Seeing you klutz around trying everything out and especially hearing you read out your words after Akko had been told she sounded like she was reading a line IRL - lol! I think I'd give that electric nabe pot a go and make sukiyaki in it. Yum!
I live alone, but I have plenty of kitchen space, so none of these gadgets would be of any use to me, but I do like the idea of microwaving the precooked and frozen rice! It was a fun video to watch, regardless! My 3 gadgets I like the most for single life, is the air fryer, the George Foreman grill, and the multicooker.
My mom bought that self rotating kabob machine (although the style is different. Ours has a metal lid and the barrier is glass and we can use regular bamboo skewers) and it's one of the most used appliances as my mom really likes making chicken and beef Cambodian skewers.
The egg-toaster is a great idea. I would use that. Multi-purpose gadgets appeal to me because my kitchen is very small and only has counter space for ONE appliance, so I am always swapping coffee maker for toaster or instant pot. Making a meal with toast and coffee requires planning ahead.
I did find a different version of a double-decker rice cooker bento on Amazon and put it on my wish list. It would be nice to make a small meal for myself at home without cooking an entire pot of rice, or for my husband to use at work for some variety.
We have a little oven called "the Diner". It can cook an egg on top or remove the round egg pan to slide bread for toast down 2 slots, the oven is big enough to heat a large muffin or biscuit and you can make toast in it like the mini oven you showed us, and it has a 2 serving coffee/tea maker on the end of it. I love it. We keep it in the craft room and make tea and mini cakes for snack breaks. I call it my adult easy bake oven lol
A lot of these gadgets look convenient for office lunches or dorms, and maybe travel (except for the rotating yakitori maker). You can use metal tongs to handle the toaster and bento box trays.
I am addicted to getting appliances like this - I call them as Plan B’s when our gas runs out and we don’t have money to replace it immediately. And also investments for the day I move out because I will be taking them all with me 😂 Note: My Plan C is a portable gas burner, the one with butane on it - for emergencies when we don’t have gas AND electricity and I can’t be bothered cooking the old fashioned way of burning wood or it was raining 😂
These seem so handy for situations where theres only one or two people cooking in a situation without a real/full kitchen (like living in a dorm or wanting to keep your things in one room when living in someone elses house, or even a really tiny apartment)
I’m such a bit fan of Akko-san! I’m glad she appeared, again! I was surprised by how well the “breakfast set” toaster oven worked! I wonder if it is hard to clean? (Even with the splash guard, crumbs and everything else must still be an issue.)
I like this trend of westerner and Japanese together in videos. Akko is a great addition! Akkoさんもちょおしゃれじゃん！可愛いです。It was a great video. Everything really was well considered! This video needs more views!
these mini appliances function and usage seem to be so niche that it reach a diminish of return - you end up with multiple mini appliances that would take up more space than one regular do-it-all cookware. p.s. thanks for sharing tho. it is very entraining to see these appliances and you video quality is super high as always!
As someone who lived alone, you are better off with a small induction cooker + induction marble saucepan (with 1-2 steaming attachment) + airfryer. That's all you need to have very decent homecook meals
Woaw japan really made goods for people who lives alone, I quite like the idea of small rice cooker. Since I like better if my rice is freshly made compared store long in rice cooker. And it quite small so I see no problem to wash them every time, compared to big basin rice cooker that usually have dried rice on the bottom that were hard to rinse off.
Good demonstrations of these prodicts, Greg! It looks like you and Akko had a good time recording this video. Although we won't be getting any of these, some might be useful for a dorm room or extended stay some place where eating options are limited.
I started making hotpot a few years ago, after watching your family's videos and I did not know about the courtesy thing. I'm usually the one doing all the serving when I make it to where my sister and my mom had to both stop me and tell me "Hey, you forgot to eat!!!"
I lived in China for 7 years and had a couple of the Bento Boxes. I LOVED them. I could take them to work, at school and heat food up. Now I have gone one step further. When I went home to the UK I bought a time switch for my plug. So I can set the time it cooks from. This makes my eating habits so much healthier and convient for me.
Man, that tiny toaster is kind of intriguing. I don't own a microwave and I just can't make myself cook in the mornings, and I just can't do a cold breakfast in the mornings now that it's cold, so I usually go without. Something I can just throw eggs in and walk away to get ready for work?? That would be ideal!
Yoooooo the mini toaster impressed is far more impressive than I thought. Those perfectly sized holes for dealing the egg apparatus answered my only question with the product.
I’d buy 1 storey rice cooker & tabletop hotpot. I’m planning to build small outside yakitori grill myself next summer from leftover bricks & scrap metal so I don’t really see the point in getting myself a tabletop one. Besides, If I want yakitori some time apart from summer I’ll just go to a place where they’ll definitely make it better than myself 😅 Thanks for the video! 😊
I think the Mini Toaster wins, Normally well atleast in the UK the toaster only cooks toast and you have to break out the frying pan to cook sunny side up eggs. But with that 2 and one, its fast, and you only have to clean that egg holder, as for the Thanko rice x steamer. I think its nice if you are travelling. But if you are at home, I think I prefer to just cook one batch of rice and put it in the fridge. Same for other meals. Meal prep then store it in the fridge enough for 1 week.
Some of these gadgets may seem frivolous, but for disabled people like myself (and I imagine the elderly who aren’t as spry) these are game changers. Yea, you could use a pot on the stove, but if you’re a wheelchair user and it’s hard to use the stove, personal electric appliances like these give back some independence and makes it easier to cook for myself.
I live alone, these would save on electricity and cleanup. Considering how fast my bills rose this winter, it's almost magical...
THE GROMLIN
O So Truuuuu. 🤔🤓👍🌻🌻🌻🐣🐤👍.
You have to remember that space is at a premium in Japanese cities. So having small appliances to be self sufficient is a lucrative market
So glad you mentioned this. I also get a lot of use out of small tabletop appliances for the same reason, and it does seem like some could be very handy for people dealing with other sets of challenges in the kitchen.
Absolutely! That's why I clicked the video
The mini 1 pot lunchbox is really useful for students living in dormitary! You can save washing space and plates and cook all dishes at the same time! It was my best friend during my college days
That's what I was thinking. I really wish it would have been available when I was in college.
This is a nice change of pace from Costco products which are all designed for large families. In general, products designed for single people seem to be an overlooked and niche market.
Costco currently has products that are good for single people, like the ramen bowls from Snapdragon, the curry pouches from Saffron Road, and the very useful Bibigo single sticky rice bowls.
Strange consider families are becoming a thing of the past
true, being a single with not enough space on the countertop I need some of these here
@@someguy782 can't make tomorrow without a couple of kids. Think of the future purchases we'll need to sustain our unsustainable lifestyles!!! Gahgh
It can be hard to cook for 1. To save money and time you just cook up meals for two or four and fridge, freezer, then reheat or if applicable eat cold. The more days you cook ahead and store. You can save and meal plan for the month.
I’m disabled and standing at the stove is sometimes difficult. These table top appliances seem perfect! The pot especially!
With other words your house is not set up well to accommodate your disability.
I'm enabled, and i don't think it's a problem. Maybe you're not trying hard enough?
@@HeWhoShamesNarwhals you b+%&ard
@@HeWhoShamesNarwhals bro what?
@@catzfive I'd like to think it's satire, though sadly... there's no easy way to separate satire from just plan bad takes sometimes. XP
That butter knife is the MVP tool of this video. 😂
I grinned when I saw the rotating yakitori cooker. I have its grandma in one of my kitchen cupboards. It was my mother's, and it's called a "Kabobit" by Wearever. It is from the 70's. It still works, and we use it quite often for kabob skewers and sausages/hot dogs. Pro tip: Take the end tips out of the bottom of the grill, skewer your meat and then put the end tips firmly on the skewer, then put the skewers into the machine and then put the enclosure on. If the end tips are on firmly enough, they won't come off the skewers until you remove them manually, and you won't have to play Yakitori Operation anymore! 🙂
As someone living in a small apartment in Japan with only one stove top, I can see how those electric cooking devices can be really handy serving as additional cooking stoves. And good alternatives to just microwaving everything!
I thought about that as well. Small kitchens with tiny stove..
Instant Pot is the way to go, that and a small rice cooker!
I would think that finding the space to store all of these items would be a challenge in a small apartment?
I seriously love your relationship with Akko. You guys have that brother-sister relationship and I love that she's not shy in your videos.
Is she your sister? Kinda annoying.
@@Adeline9418 Hi troll! Delete it, troll!
Sometimes she whines. I stopped watching for awhile, but he is very informative to a new person in Japan
My wife was perusing the internet and came upon some "interesting" products. I noticed quite a few of them seemed geared towards single people, so I thought, "Hey, why not test some of them out!" What do you think of them?
Thanks for this. Finding kitchen tools for single people is difficult. Most things start at four servings. I don't need four. I just need one. Maybe two for leftovers. But I don't want to eat the same thing all week. And I hate wasting food because it's gone bad. The struggle is real.
That multiple skewer thing looks like a nightmare to clean! The egg/toaster thing might be good. Less messy cooking the eggs that way. Though the design needs some work. I'd be burning myself constantly. And yeah, cooking and doing everything alone is sad. That's single life.
I think the little grill would be the only one. I've a rice cooker, we eat a lot of rice, and I think it works fine and isn't much bigger than the small one.
The grill looked great. I could and would make use of that. Even though I'm married now there are times I still eat alone and I think I could use that for several different meals.
I love that I saw Tabasco sauce on the table. My family is from the region that is made, bottled, and shipped out.
the cook time for eggs and rice are accurate. 6-10 mins for eggs, 30-45 mins for rice regardless of the equipment used.
the toaster thingy and grill looked the most convienient in my opinion. space efficient, not finicky and complicated (bar the egg pan) and overall user friendly
Hopefully she isn’t trying to hint something to you.
The mini hotpot looks useful and fun, especially for younger cooks and handy for people with no access to kitchen facilities.
The toaster that also cooks eggs is actually kinda genius. Also, it saves energy since you don’t need to use a toaster AND your stove.
It does remind me of an easy bake oven I had as a child
Could just use a normal toaster oven though and then you'd have more space and flexibility, put the egg in a small ramekin or similar container
My exes mom had one and it had a small coffee pot on it as well
Who eats one (1) loaf of toast with 2 eggs though, think i rather stick with a toaster and an normal egg cooker for breakfast, it's not much bigger either.
A few of the other appliances however seem useful under certain circumstances.
"Kawaii" when that little oven came out. Love it!
I think the two-layer Bento Box Rice Cooker would be really good for college dorms for late-night meals when studying or when one is traveling and staying in hotels. I would like to see a handle included for lifting the separator from the rice.
I liked the hot pot as a means of doing noodles or a soup and this is also something that might be very useful in a college dorm.
The electric Hibachi would be really nice for a small apartment, not sure about using this in a college dorm room.
I made all my meals in a rice cooker for a few years (eggs, sausage, even mac&cheese) and it wasn't so bad. Before rice cookers were popular in the US, apparently my mother did the same thing in college... with a coffee pot?! It was all she was allowed to have.
Yes! I cooked a lot of meals in a 4-cup coffee maker! We also made grilled cheese sandwiches by wrapping the sandwich in foil and ironing it. 😅
In college in the 1970s - there was no meal service Sunday nights.
My friend Don used his popcorn maker on Sunday nights to make soup and pasta!
This was before air popper popcorn makers.
I think the electric pot you used to cook cheese fondue is the thing I would use most. Over a decade ago my friend had an electric "wok" (just a non stick pan in the shape of a wok) that was really convenient to cook one pot meals in. I would highly recommend something like that for people living in a dorm room or any situation where you might not have access to a cooker/stove.
The only downside of my friend's electric wok was that you could not submerge it to wash it.
I have a few items like this.
A single person rice cooker that cooks up to 2 or 3 cups of rice. (tho it's not just for rice)
Single portion deep fat fryer. Small size bread maker. Tabletop electric stew pot/frypan. Small size slow cooker.
Every one of them, I managed to find in charity/thrift shops.
Here in the UK we get stuff from a company called 'Coopers' that make single person electrical items, they sell them in a magazine that gets sent to our homes.
If you are eating alone, or live alone, they are a bit more economical than using full size items.
I'm definitely getting the individual rice cooker! I hate not-fresh rice, so being able to make it at will is wonderful! And the mini-grill looks so much more useful than trying to figure out how to grill something on the stove.
The tiny grill would work great for one person especially an old person. Because we got time to sit around and mess with stuff and it’s fun to cook alone it’s not sad at all. Through different stages of life what seems sad changes :-).
Cooking small amounts can be difficult. Purchasing small amounts is even harder in the US. Example: a gallon of milk is 3.60 dollars and a quart is $2.70.
...and for those that are metrically inclined (i.e. outside of the USA) there are four quarts in a gallon. So, a gallon of milk bought as a gallon is $3.60, but that same gallon bought as four quarts will cost $10.80. Domo arigato re jn. ;-)
Especially in a pandemic, I’m not sharing air when I don’t have to, so eating for 1 is fine with me.
The grill is the only multi-use item that isn’t easily found in multiple sizes (the kebab maker looks like a nightmare. Toss those cubes on this mini grill)
Every time your sil is in a video, she’s happy and laughing. She has a lovely predisposition. I enjoy her appearing in the videos. I mean this in a really innocent way. I just enjoy that kind of personality. Cheers.
She's bright and cheerful! I enjoy Akko being there too!
The little kettle looks really useful; I think it’s the most practical one of the bunch.
You two are always adorable and I love watching you go, especially the re-enactions. And as a disabled person myself, I've got to agree with Gromlin; some of these might work well for me with my limited mobility. It's dangerous to cook on the stove sitting in my rollator, but I'd probably be okay with the pot. And if you have no cooking facilities at all, like in a dorm, then things like the egg toaster would be very handy, though I'd still go with a real, if small, rice cooker instead of the 'bento.' And as I thought, the upright spinning 'grill' didn't do too well, but the flat one didn't look too bad. For a combination of delight *and* practicality, I think the egg toaster wins, but I'd be most likely to buy the pot.
that mini grill looks fun/cute. it's not really practical to feed a bunch of people, or cook things quickly but it would be fun to use during a little get together. people could make their own skewers and cook them while having other food and drinks like you guys did here. It would be a good way to get folks to slow down and unwind.
it's like they didn't actually USE the devices before manufacturing them...
The voice overs are so funny! As a single person who loves kitchen gadgets this video is speaking to me in a big way. Granted I mostly stick with my tiny rice cooker since it can do so much, but I think I would use the yakitori grill. Not that rotating one, that one scares me.
The small toast cooker is really good didn't expect it to work that well at all, also the small yakitori grill looks really convenient aswell
I have a bento box rice cooker, but mine has two ceramic cups side by side instead of a square box, and the rice never has to be washed. It comes out perfect every time, and you can either make two servings of rice or make rice on one side and steam veggies or other things on the other side. It works great, and was about $50. I think it is the one appliance we use the most often in our little apartment.
Could I ask you to check the brand on your appliance please? I would love an item like this, especially with the more convenient design that you're describing.
Brand, please? I need one of these.
@hollywebster6844 the one I bought I Thanko brand.
I laughed out loud at the rotating yakitori maker. The mini toaster is so cute, i can see myself getting it.
There are some versions where you can bake in it. Not that small, a bit bigger but still small.
It was interesting and fun seeing you both test "convenient" appliances! I have a small kitchen and only use a 2 cup rice/oatmeal cooker, an air fryer and an insta-pot. Less electricity than a stove top and oven!
If you ever want to downsize to a tiny house, these products would be great. So if you don’t have a lot of space and you don’t want to put in like a full on stove, these are a good substitute.
When I was in college in the 90s, we had a pot like yours, and it was perfect for dorm room meals.
That pot that holds 1000 litres is one amazing pot 😁.
Great video enjoyed watching, keep up the good work 👍
It's important to not stop experimenting with invention. And it's equally important for consumer reviews like this to improve the design
You and akko have such a pleasant relationship, it's so calm, caring and fun!
OIL AND FATS ARE HEALTHY, YOUR BODY NEEDS THEM [in moderation, like everything] (about the "no oil, so it's healthy")
I’d love some of these for van camping or overlanding
This is a fun one. Akko certainly makes it more fun.
Indoor smokeless yakatori would be my favorite. It has a nice way of making it seem like you are eating a lot of meat but are not
these eccentric inventions are an underappreciated piece of japanese culture these days. in the 80s and 90s it was one of the things japan was known for.
I live in a small studio without a kitchen so I've purchased a single burner induction stove from Ikea, which I keep in a cupboard. It's great for people without a stovetop! Plus a rice cooker and microwave, I can make anything that doesn't require an oven (and roughly make a few things that do, hahaha) and I can move the induction stove to the table if I have people over. I can't imagine any of these making my life more convenient, but that tiny baby grill does look like a lot of fun!!
Have you tried one of those three-tier electric steamers? I live in a studio and cook almost everything in mine- steaming makes everything taste nicer, too!
@@peterclarke7240 I steam everything in the microwave, so I wouldn’t need one of those!
I bake everything in my airfryer... it is really easy to cook with it and clean it
Would love more of these appliance focused videos. Let's learn about ALL of them. I love the zojirushi fish roaster which I understand is built into most Japanese ranges. And you could do multiple episodes about the venerable rice cooker!
Fyi rice cooker. Unlock the right side and slow tilt it open and it will unlock the other side
One thing often overlooked when it comes to products like these is they save on power. An electric kettle uses less power than heating an eye on the stove. I have a stove but I use small appliances more
I like all your videos but this one was really cute because of the voice overs. Akko seems like she’d be fun to hang out with.
So, what I learned is… you need to use oven mitten and have long chopsticks for all the devices. 😂
And a knife ;)
I bought a kettle hotpot in the U.S. for $20 and I love it. I have used it to cook chicken, rice, hamburger, soup, scrambled eggs and tea.
The last time that I went to Japan, I found a "10分で炊ける" for only 6000¥. Was very convenient to cook rice for my wife and me while we traveled around Japan... In the instructions, we found the proportion for only one person.
As I watched you test the mini toaster and found that the eggs hadn't quite cooked at the recommended temp and time, I was thinking that it probably would've cooked perfectly if it had just been one egg.
Oh yeah, it would have been exactly as it should be with a single egg.
I wonder how that toaster would work for tofu.
What a fun and funny video! Seeing you klutz around trying everything out and especially hearing you read out your words after Akko had been told she sounded like she was reading a line IRL - lol! I think I'd give that electric nabe pot a go and make sukiyaki in it. Yum!
I feel like the most important kitchen gadget for you two is a decent pair of oven gloves.
Hahaha. Or even a washcloth will do.
😂
I live alone, but I have plenty of kitchen space, so none of these gadgets would be of any use to me, but I do like the idea of microwaving the precooked and frozen rice! It was a fun video to watch, regardless! My 3 gadgets I like the most for single life, is the air fryer, the George Foreman grill, and the multicooker.
Microwaved rice sounds like a sin but actually works pretty great.
My mom bought that self rotating kabob machine (although the style is different. Ours has a metal lid and the barrier is glass and we can use regular bamboo skewers) and it's one of the most used appliances as my mom really likes making chicken and beef Cambodian skewers.
I like the thorough testing! Gives a lot of nuance to what's being advertised.
The egg-toaster is a great idea. I would use that. Multi-purpose gadgets appeal to me because my kitchen is very small and only has counter space for ONE appliance, so I am always swapping coffee maker for toaster or instant pot. Making a meal with toast and coffee requires planning ahead.
Fun video. Always on the lookout for kitchen gadgets (particularly like this), so would love to see more!
The toaster and the yakitori maker would have been a hit in at a small office I used to work.
1:23 that mini rice cooker used in every video by Yagai No Moriko the N-VAN youtuber. You can check in her channel
the re dubbed bit was hilarious xD
That small rice cooker seems to be popular with Japanese "Van Life" RUclipsrs. I guess it works well when powered from an inverter.
I did find a different version of a double-decker rice cooker bento on Amazon and put it on my wish list. It would be nice to make a small meal for myself at home without cooking an entire pot of rice, or for my husband to use at work for some variety.
The mini grill looks absolutely fun. I live alone and would use it 100%
We have a little oven called "the Diner". It can cook an egg on top or remove the round egg pan to slide bread for toast down 2 slots, the oven is big enough to heat a large muffin or biscuit and you can make toast in it like the mini oven you showed us, and it has a 2 serving coffee/tea maker on the end of it. I love it. We keep it in the craft room and make tea and mini cakes for snack breaks. I call it my adult easy bake oven lol
A lot of these gadgets look convenient for office lunches or dorms, and maybe travel (except for the rotating yakitori maker). You can use metal tongs to handle the toaster and bento box trays.
the voiceover was super fun, especially the drinking part.
I am addicted to getting appliances like this - I call them as Plan B’s when our gas runs out and we don’t have money to replace it immediately. And also investments for the day I move out because I will be taking them all with me 😂
Note: My Plan C is a portable gas burner, the one with butane on it - for emergencies when we don’t have gas AND electricity and I can’t be bothered cooking the old fashioned way of burning wood or it was raining 😂
These seem so handy for situations where theres only one or two people cooking in a situation without a real/full kitchen (like living in a dorm or wanting to keep your things in one room when living in someone elses house, or even a really tiny apartment)
I’m such a bit fan of Akko-san! I’m glad she appeared, again! I was surprised by how well the “breakfast set” toaster oven worked! I wonder if it is hard to clean? (Even with the splash guard, crumbs and everything else must still be an issue.)
I like this trend of westerner and Japanese together in videos. Akko is a great addition! Akkoさんもちょおしゃれじゃん！可愛いです。It was a great video. Everything really was well considered! This video needs more views!
I really appreciate how thorough you are with these reviews, like testing for convenience & odd heat spots, thank you so much!
Thank you for the vid! My mom actually has an electric barbecue maker like this but much taller. and with no cover.
these mini appliances function and usage seem to be so niche that it reach a diminish of return - you end up with multiple mini appliances that would take up more space than one regular do-it-all cookware.
p.s. thanks for sharing tho. it is very entraining to see these appliances and you video quality is super high as always!
20:00 appreciate that you two went through the effort to re-record audio :') 🙏
This reminded me how lovely the Japanese language sounds.... I would love to be able to speak it.
With the rotating one, I think those black bits are supposed to be on the bottom to prevent slide-offs.
As someone who lived alone, you are better off with a small induction cooker + induction marble saucepan (with 1-2 steaming attachment) + airfryer. That's all you need to have very decent homecook meals
Your wife is interesting. If I had to spend my life with one person Id choose someone like her.
Should also talk about using it in an RV..
What voltage n power needed n how convenient for those living inside camper van..👈😁👍
Woaw japan really made goods for people who lives alone, I quite like the idea of small rice cooker. Since I like better if my rice is freshly made compared store long in rice cooker. And it quite small so I see no problem to wash them every time, compared to big basin rice cooker that usually have dried rice on the bottom that were hard to rinse off.
It’s interesting how these items could be seen as “sad” when a lot of Japanese do live alone and eating alone is a part of everyday life. 🤔
What a cute couple! I love this video. Not only do I love adorable couples but these reviews make it even better.
Needle nose pliers are safer than fabric mitts. 💜😊🐣🐣🐣.
Good demonstrations of these prodicts, Greg! It looks like you and Akko had a good time recording this video. Although we won't be getting any of these, some might be useful for a dorm room or extended stay some place where eating options are limited.
I started making hotpot a few years ago, after watching your family's videos and I did not know about the courtesy thing. I'm usually the one doing all the serving when I make it to where my sister and my mom had to both stop me and tell me "Hey, you forgot to eat!!!"
I lived in China for 7 years and had a couple of the Bento Boxes. I LOVED them. I could take them to work, at school and heat food up. Now I have gone one step further. When I went home to the UK I bought a time switch for my plug. So I can set the time it cooks from. This makes my eating habits so much healthier and convient for me.
Man, that tiny toaster is kind of intriguing. I don't own a microwave and I just can't make myself cook in the mornings, and I just can't do a cold breakfast in the mornings now that it's cold, so I usually go without. Something I can just throw eggs in and walk away to get ready for work?? That would be ideal!
Doing a voice acting for yourselves must be fun 😂
Yoooooo the mini toaster impressed is far more impressive than I thought. Those perfectly sized holes for dealing the egg apparatus answered my only question with the product.
Such well made videos! I have learned so much about Japan from you
Loved this video - made me smile to watch it. That toaster + egg combo machine is magic!
I’d buy 1 storey rice cooker & tabletop hotpot. I’m planning to build small outside yakitori grill myself next summer from leftover bricks & scrap metal so I don’t really see the point in getting myself a tabletop one. Besides, If I want yakitori some time apart from summer I’ll just go to a place where they’ll definitely make it better than myself 😅
Thanks for the video! 😊
The toaster would be great for busy mornings. I could be doing something else while it's cooking and it's easy to use and clean. Tempted to order.
Ever since i started cooking, i love videos about all kinds of cookware
thank you greg! i always enjoy your wholesome videos
You don't need to freeze rice to maintain it if you reheat it every morning with a spritz of water.
I think the Mini Toaster wins, Normally well atleast in the UK the toaster only cooks toast and you have to break out the frying pan to cook sunny side up eggs. But with that 2 and one, its fast, and you only have to clean that egg holder, as for the Thanko rice x steamer. I think its nice if you are travelling.
But if you are at home, I think I prefer to just cook one batch of rice and put it in the fridge. Same for other meals. Meal prep then store it in the fridge enough for 1 week.
RUclips algorithm knows me too well sometimes it scares me
The little bento box cooker seems like a good idea for a camper van.
Noticed the Bicycle Coffee beans in the kitchen! My wife and I live in Katshushika-ku and we are near their roastery :)
So fun and interesting watching the two of you try out things!
Not single and honestly just clicked this video for your smooth VO while I'm working!