Companies Cutting the Cords That Bind on Small Electrical Appliances

Get that cord out of the way, say manufacturers as they continue to flood the market with more cordless appliances. The consumer out there seems to be getting the message as housewares stores quickly empty their shelves of the products. A few years ago when I first acquired Black & Decker’s handy Dust Buster, a small battery-powered and rechargeable portable vacuum, I started a wish list of other cordless electrics.

Top of the list was a cordless electric knife. I’ve always thought that the electric carving knife should go to the roast at the table and not the roast to the knife. I remembered the time when we tried to leave the knife at the buffet table with the roast pork. Quite a few guests were not happy about tripping on the extension cord. Actually, it was rather a dangerous move.

Next on my list was a portable electric mixer. How nice it would be to have the freedom to quickly take a lightweight mixer to the stove for a quick blending or smoothening job with a chocolate sauce or soup.

My wish list was heard. For those who do a lot of food preparing outdoors or any place outside the kitchen at home, these cordless mixers and knives may be something to think about. The following are only a few of the cordless gadgets that are currently available in most housewares shops and department stores.

Three-in-One Product

Coming soon to some markets is West Bend’s Connect-3. An innovative approach, this product offers not just one but three cordless electric appliances from one unit. A can opener, a mixer and a knife, three frequently used motorized appliances, easily attach onto a rechargeable lightweight power handle. A quick twist motion releases or locks in any of the appliances mentioned. The power unit contains five rechargeable batteries and the set comes with an AC converter, which can be plugged in any electric outlet for fast recharging of the unit. A visible light signals when the unit is charging.

For safety, West Bend’s product has an on/off switch that prevents the unit from being turned on accidentally. A convenient storage unit can be mounted on the wall, close to an outlet. This houses the power unit, knife attachment and two serrated blades, the mixer and two chrome-plated beaters, a whisk and the can opener, which has a removable cutting handle.

More cordless conveniences come from Black & Decker. The performance of its portable cordless rechargeable mixer, model KM150, was recently rated excellent by the cookware testing staff of Cook’s magazine (March/April 1986).

Mixer With 3 Speeds

Praised by the testers for looking sleek and high tech, the mixer operates up to 25 minutes between charges. With three speeds, it produces good egg-white volume (in comparison with other portable units, not heavy-duty ones) in no time and can handle stiff batters like that of chocolate chip cookies. Like all models, the mixer has a wall-mounting storage/charger base that keeps the unit charging at all times. The base sits well on the counter.

For lighter mixing functions, Black & Decker also has a cordless beater with two speeds called the Handy Mixer, model 9210. It has four attachments: a chrome-plated steel beater, a spiral whisk, a balloon whisk and a plastic paddle for non-stick coated cookery.

Black & Decker’s cordless rechargeable knife, model KEK150, is powerful enough to carve a 20-pound turkey or a 15-pound roast on a single charge. Both products come with a full two-year warranty.

Rated as highly as Black & Decker’s mixer by the Cook’s magazine testers, the Freedom cordless mixer from Sunbeam performed as well as its plug-in counterparts and was well balanced in design. Aside from Freedom’s lightweight quality, I like the grip the handle gives. Freedom is powerful enough to beat a good volume of egg whites and mix a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough.

As an example of the length of time a cordless mixer can perform on one single charge, the Freedom hand mixer can mix a batch of chocolate chip cookie batter, an angel food cake and its butter cream frosting and pint of whipping cream, consecutively.

The Freedom cordless carving knife can carve three 15-pound turkeys on a single charge or 30 pounds of meat. It slices through salami, which is rather a tough task for an electric knife. The knife may also be used to make even slices on cakes and breads.

Another product from Sunbeam is the cordless Freedom can opener, which also mounts under cabinets. On one charge, it can open 40 cans of any size or shape, including oval cans that defy most can openers.

All Freedom appliances are designed so they can be recharged at the same time from one outlet because of the line’s exclusive interconnect feature. This feature eliminates the inconvenience of tying up limited kitchen outlets for long periods when in the charge mode. Each can be wall-mounted with storage stands for cords, beaters and knife blades.

According to Sunbeam representatives, in most situations, the Freedom cordless appliances can function for one week on a single charge with normal use. They can recharge fully overnight, but they also can be used on a partial charge of only four hours. Nickel-cadmium batteries, which power the wall-mounted appliances, will last from five to seven years. The products carry a three-year warranty.

West Bend’s Connect-3 Cordless Appliance System has a suggested retail price of $70 . It will be available in June at Gemco, Fedco and The Broadway.

Black & Decker’s cordless mixer KM150 has a suggested retail price of $55.98; the cordless knife $39.98, and the Handy Mixer $23.98. They are available at Fedco, Gemco and most department stores.

The Sunbeam Freedom cordless mixer has a suggested retail price of $46.95; the cordless knife $48.95, and the can opener $34.95. They are available at Fedco and Best Products.