Air fryers are the kitchen gadget du jour, and the poor Instant Pot, which recently dominated Amazon Prime Day, is now relegated to second class status. Both appliances promise to tremendously streamline your cooking and reduce the amount of time and effort involved in meal prep, plus make it easier to eat a healthy diet. Claims like these are not new, however, and the "graveyard of kitchen fads" is filled with myriad other devices that made similar promises, as Susan Orleans explains in the New Yorker. (Hat tip to sir_ken_g for finding this story.)

Orleans tells us that 'miracle' appliances and gadgets had boom-and-bust histories like the Instant Pot, whose parent company recently filed for bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada. In the 1990s almost every household had a bread machine but now they are far less common, and the same holds true for the fondue pot which saw its heyday back in the 1960s and 70s. While these two items can still be purchased and have cornered a niche market, other devices have gone the way of the dodo such as the carrot sharpener and the hotdog slicer.

One appliance that bucks the boom-and-bust trend is the good ol' microwave (or meek-ro-wah-vay, as Nigella Lawson would say). Despite many people noting that the only things they do with their microwave is reheat coffee or soften ice cream, nearly 90 percent of US households have one in the kitchen. While I no longer have a bread machine (ditched in the early 00s during a move) and have never owned a fondue pot, I do have a microwave and use it for a variety of tasks including melting chocolate, softening butter, reheating leftovers (and the occasional cup of coffee), toasting nuts, and a few other odds and ends. My Instant Pot, on the other hand, now mainly gathers dust. Air fryer aficionados, take note: cookbook author Melissa Clark feels that we may have reached "peak Air Fryer".

The article provides a couple of predictions for what the next gadget du jour will be, including "mini waffle irons, an A.I. toaster oven, and a smart cutting board with a high-resolution screen (so you don’t have to lift your eyes to look at a recipe while dicing and slicing)." The cutting board idea is intriguing but it does not sound like a robust, long-lasting device.