When my Mom moved out of her condo in 2016, I hung onto her countertop microwave and stuck it in our basement. We had one that was pretty much identical but it was 20 years old at that point and I figured "how long can it possibly last?"

We got the answer to that question yesterday: 25 1/2 years.

Well, there is a bright spot....there's a big empty space on a table in the basement where the microwave-in-waiting was being stored. Another step towards basement decluttering.

When is the last time you had a small kitchen appliance last more than 25 years?

My Mixmaster is at least 50 years old and still works.

Jadeite bowls, dontcha’ know.

My:
Food processor
Minichop
Hand mixer(MFR had that before we met)
Coffee (spice) grinder

I think my electric knife is that old. I hardly use it any more, but it saw heavy use when I was cooking Sunday dinners for family and friends.

I have a mixing bowl that's of the era of Steve's jadeite bowls, and also one single jadeite mug that I keep because it reminds me of my father, but I don't think it's unusual for items with nonmoving parts to last a long time. My mother's cast iron skillet is more than 50 years old and going strong, and I have a skillet that I started using in 1990.

In 1986, I bought an Amana Radarange that was built in June 1976. I bought it for $50 from a shop in Arlington, Virginia that sold refurbished microwaves.

Three years ago when Mrs pj moved in, I sold it on Craigslist for the $50 I had paid for it. After it sold someone told me I could have gotten $350 for it. May have been sour grapes that he missed out. But it owed me nothing. The only thing I ever had to do was replace the lightbulb once. For years, nearly everything I ate was cooked in that microwave. I suspect it’s still going strong.

I also have a GE toaster-oven that my mom bought it the mid- to late-1970s.

Our Kitchen Aid mixer dates to 1988 and is still seemingly in as good a condition as it was when it came out of the box.

Black and Decker food processor
Sunbeam electric knife

Hitachi rice cooker, but we replaced it because I wanted to get away from the aluminum pot. Now have a Zojirushi.