The 10 Best High-Capacity Kitchen Appliances for Cooking and Entertaining

Best Air Fryer

Instant Omni Plus Air Fryer Toaster Oven

$250 at Amazon $250 at Walmart $250 at Macy's

This air fryer toaster oven is the best of the best, and it just so happens to be perfect for big families and cooking for crowds. During testing, we were blown away by its performance; it cooked large batches evenly and consistently without any hot or cold spots, which can be difficult for larger ovens. However, our favorite thing about this oven was its near-perfect, user-friendly design. 

The Instant Omni Plus is designed to be impossibly easy to use at each step of the way, from its touchscreen controls to its convenient preset settings. Whether you’re a seasoned air fryer user or just learning how to use an air fryer, this is the perfect oven if you’re looking for a large capacity.

Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 14  inches | Capacity: 19 quarts

Best Coffee Maker

Cuisinart Programmable Coffee Maker

$99 at Amazon $100 at Target $100 at Williams-Sonoma

Coffee lovers rejoice! If you’ve ever found yourself staring longingly at the bottom of an empty coffee pot when just one more mug would’ve been nice, this is the machine for you. It’s one of our all-time favorite coffee makers for a reason, and it boasts a 14-cup capacity and other customizable settings like brew strength and temperature control for that perfect pot every time.

If you’re not in the mood for a full 14-cup batch or are just having a cup alone, this machine can easily make small batches of just as high quality. During busy mornings, with a household all getting ready to go at once, you’ll love the 24-hour programmability, which will help ensure a smoother morning. Just be careful removing the lid on the carafe to fill it; it comes completely off, which we found to be jarring at first.

Dimensions: 7.75 x 9 x 14 inches | Capacity: 14 cups

Best Slow Cooker

Crock-Pot Programmable Slow Cooker

$75 at Amazon $69 at Walmart $75 at Wayfair

Slow cookers are the perfect tool to feed a crowd, and this Crock Pot is our favorite because its 8-quart size can hold enough food to feed six to ten people without breaking a sweat. If you’ve used a Crock Pot before, you know they’re reliable and consistent; this model is no exception. Beyond its ability to efficiently cater to crowds, we loved its straightforward control panel – who needs to fuss with a million buttons when taking on a big cooking project?

So if you always bring everyone’s favorite chili to the potluck or meal prep all your favorite slow cooker recipes for a big family, this is the slow cooker for you. Though, if you plan to transport this cooker, just know it doesn’t have a locking lid, so it needs to be handled much more carefully. 

Dimensions: 9.5 x 15.4 x 15.3 inches | Capacity: 8 quarts

Best Toaster Oven

Breville Smart Oven

$216 at Amazon $270 at Williams-Sonoma View on Breville.com

When it comes to an appliance that’s big enough to feed everyone, it needs to earn its spot taking up that precious counter space; no unitaskers deserve that coveted real estate. We love this toaster oven because the convection heat can replace many other countertop appliances. It can easily grill, toast, broil, and reheat, not to mention the specific settings for things like bagels, cookies, pizza, and more.

This massive oven means no more cooking in small batches; you can even fit a 13-inch pizza or six slices of toast in the colossal chamber! However, if you’re looking for a simple, straightforward toaster oven, this model might have a few too many bells and whistles for you.

Dimensions: 19 x 16 x 11 inches | Capacity: 29.5 quarts

Best Blender

Vitamix Professional Series 750 Blender

$649 at Amazon $700 at Target $700 at Williams-Sonoma

When you think of a good quality, high-powered blender, Vitamix comes to mind. The carafe on this model holds a whopping half gallon of liquid, perfect for blended soups at a dinner party or a morning smoothie for the whole family. The Vitamix blender is a favorite among professionals, the kind of countertop appliance chefs love, primarily for its high-powered motor—though that extra power does translate into a higher cost.

Not only does this model have the capacity for any job, but things like smoothies with seeds or fibrous pieces of kale and chunky pureed soups are a thing of the past. The powerful motor paired with its high-capacity carafe also means this one appliance could replace your juicer, immersion blender, food processor, and more, making it the most versatile piece of equipment in your kitchen. 

Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.5 x 17.25  inches | Capacity: 2 quarts

Best Food Processor

Breville Food Processor

$550 at Amazon $550 at Williams-Sonoma $545 at Walmart

This Breville 16-cup food processor can do it all. We loved the array of attachments for slicing, dicing, peeling, and more – goodbye hours of knife work! Beyond the standard start, stop, and pulse options, this food processor also includes a handy timer and 24 possible settings and combinations with the attachments, making the whole system convenient and easy to use.

All those extras aren’t just for show either; when we tested this model, we were impressed with its consistent performance and even cuts with the disc attachments. However, we were disappointed that there was no grater included with such a comprehensive set of accessories. Still, this food processor is a must for any busy cook who likes to host and cook for a crowd and needs an all-in-one appliance.

Dimensions: 11 x 8 x 18 inches | Capacity: 16 cups

Best Ice Maker

GE Profile Countertop Nugget Ice Maker V2

$512 at Amazon $529 at Target $530 at Williams-Sonoma

So you’re hosting a dinner party or a big holiday meal, and the unthinkable happens – you run out of ice. It happens to the best of us, but with this countertop ice maker, that won’t be you again. This GE Profile ice maker can produce a staggering 24 pounds of ice per day, and the ice it makes is perfectly crunchable nugget-style ice, ideal for cocktails, entertaining, or just a frosty glass of ice water.

Just know that the machine and its additional refillable water tank have quite a large footprint, so if you want the extra high capacity, you’ll have to sacrifice some counter space. Of course, you can also purchase it without the extra tank if you like, but you’d also be sacrificing a lot of its convenience and functionality. Unlike commercial ice makers or the ones in fridge doors, this ice maker is super quiet; when we brought it home, we were surprised it wasn't much louder than a countertop coffee maker.

Dimensions: 17.5 x 13.4 x 16.5 inches | Capacity: 3 pounds of finished ice

Best Coffee Grinder

Breville Smart Grinder Pro

$200 at Amazon $200 at Williams-Sonoma View on Breville.com

Any serious coffee enthusiast knows that grinding whole-bean coffee fresh for every batch is really the only way to go. And if you’re serious about properly storing and treating your coffee beans for the best flavor, this Breville coffee grinder is the perfect addition to your setup. In our tests, it performed consistently and made a great cup every time, even after multiple trials. However, we did notice it accumulated grounds in all sorts of places.

Its smart features make it ultra-precise and easy to use, even if you’re new to in-depth coffee preparation. We especially loved this grinder’s customizability. It’s easy to toggle between different levels of coarseness for various brew strengths and types, from espresso to French press to a standard countertop drip maker. 

Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 15.5 inches | Capacity: 1.1 pounds

Best Electric Kettle

Mueller Premium Electric Kettle

$25 at Amazon $35 at Walmart View on Muellerdirect.com

Most electric kettles are around one quart or a little more. This kettle, however, holds a massive two quarts of water. In terms of cups of tea, that’s a mammoth 8 cups in just one kettle. This kettle is for you if your household has multiple tea drinkers or instant ramen eaters. During testing, we loved its strong, borosilicate glass that is heavy-duty and allows you to easily see how much water is in the kettle.

Plus, Mueller’s Premium Electric Kettle couldn’t be easier to use; it has a handy “on” light, automatically turns itself off when it’s empty, and has just one switch, so there aren’t a bunch of buttons to fuss with. However, if you like more precise temperature control, you might be disappointed with the simple off/on button. But for such a large carafe, we were impressed that this kettle took only 4 minutes to boil. 

Dimensions: 9.75 x 6.25 inches | Capacity: 2 quarts

Best ​​Bread Maker

Breville Custom Loaf Bread Maker

$300 at Amazon $300 at Williams-Sonoma $300 at Sur La Table

If you’re serious about making high-quality bread at home and are going to invest the time, you want to get the most yield for your effort, and this high-capacity bread maker from Breville is the perfect way to do that. This machine can produce loaves ranging from the standard 1-pound loaf all the way up to a massive family-size 2.5-pound loaf, perfect for large gatherings, busy families, or stocking the freezer.

We were exceptionally delighted with the quality of the bread this machine produced; both the flavor and texture were perfect. And truly anyone can make a show-stopping loaf in this machine; it is intuitive and easy to use, with tons of customizable settings and a handy booklet with over 100 recipes. Still, the comprehensive nature of the included booklet and settings can be daunting at first, and it may take some practice to get the hang of it.

Dimensions: 9.6 x 16.4 x 13.3 inches | Capacity: up to 2.5-pound loaves