Saturday, February 2, 2013

American Kitchen Appliances in a Japanese Kitchen

Before moving here I couldn't decide whether or not to bring my kitchen appliances with me.  The problem is that the voltage of the electricity here is slightly lower than in the US.  This doesn't matter with anything that uses a charger, like a phone or a laptop, because the electricity is converted anyways.  But it means that a clock that is plugged in will run more slowly so it won't keep time, and our light bulbs aren't quite as bright here.

I tried to research online how my kitchen appliances would do here, but I couldn't find any concrete answers.  Raku told me she couldn't find the answers either, so they left all sorts of things in the US or got rid of them.  I'm writing this post in hopes that it will help other people when they're trying to find the answers that we couldn't.

 I knew that space would be limited, and I didn't want lots of useless items sitting around, but I also knew how useful these items would be if they did work.  So, I gambled and brought everything.  And here's the great news - everything works!

Our toaster broke during the move, so I can't vouch for it.  But, I read that heating elements wouldn't work.  This hasn't turned out to be true because I've cooked several successful meals in my crockpot.  I've found that the heating element is fine, but because of the lower voltage it doesn't get as hot, so I just use the high setting for low, and everything comes out perfectly.

My food processor also works perfectly.  I've been trying to decide if the blade actually spins slower, but I can't tell.  And even if it does it doesn't effect the performance at all.

My hand mixer and my stand mixer both work too.  (Raku and I used them to make a cake yesterday!)

On a side note, our lamps and my hair straightener and curling iron are working as well.

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