The cost nobody prices in
Interchangeable plates are the right answer to a worn coating and the wrong answer to a small kitchen. Three plate sets are three things on a shelf, and the one you need is always at the back.
Two ways to keep it sane: choose a machine whose plates store inside its own footprint — the GreenPan Elite says its two plate sets store in the bottom of the machine — or accept a shelf and keep the plates together in one box.
Machines that store upright
On a crowded counter, a press that stands on its end takes far less room than one lying flat. On this site the Metine 3-in-1 states that it “stands upright for neat storage”, and the OSTBA 3-in-1 at $29.99 also states upright storage. That is the difference between an appliance kept out and one kept away.
Attachments, and the case they come in
A stand mixer’s value is its attachment hub, and a hub attachment is a box of loose metal. The KitchenAid KSMVSA slicer and the KSMMGA grinder both ship a storage case — the only two attachments on this site that do. Keep the blades in their case — they are sharp enough to cut a hand reaching into a drawer.
The ice cream bowl is the exception: it lives in the freezer, not a cabinet, because it has to be frozen before every batch.
The second bowl question
A second mixer bowl is faster to bake with and twice the cabinet. That trade is worth making if you bake in sequence — a dough, then a frosting — and not otherwise.
The pieces that go missing
Raclette pans, used a few weeks a year and stored for the rest. Count them before the winter, not the evening of the party — and if you are replacing them, the Steba pans publish every dimension, so you can check the fit with a ruler.
Splash guards, which is why replacement ones have pages on this site.
The rule
Before buying anything with interchangeable parts, decide where the parts will live. A set stored badly is a set used once.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-10-17. The live price is at the top of the page.
What readers want to know
Do machines with more plates really take more space?
Yes, and it is rarely priced in. A three-in-one press with waffle, grill and sandwich plates is one machine and two spare plate sets on a shelf. One waffle maker on this site solves it: the GreenPan Elite states that its Belgian and classic plates "store in the bottom" of the machine, inside its own footprint.
What is the most-lost accessory?
Raclette pans, by a wide margin — they are used a few weeks a year and stored for the rest. Then splash guards, then the small loose parts of a slicer or grinder. The KitchenAid slicer and shredder and the KSMMGA grinder both ship a storage case, which is the right answer for parts that are sharp as well as small.
Where does an ice cream maker bowl live?
In the freezer, permanently. The bowl of the KitchenAid KSMICM weighs about 6 pounds and has to be frozen solid before it churns — so the space it really takes is a shelf of the freezer, not a cabinet.
Last reviewed 17 October 2026