Kitchen Appliances

Homemade ice cream is one of those things that tastes dramatically better than anything from a grocery store freezer. The texture is creamier, the flavor is cleaner, and you control exactly what goes in — no stabilizers, no artificial flavors, no question about whether that “vanilla” is actually vanilla. But the type of ice cream maker you buy determines how often you actually use it. There are three main categories. Compressor machines have their own freezing unit and can make batch after batch — expensive but convenient. Freeze-bowl machines require 12-24 hours of pre-freezing the bowl but cost a fraction of the price. Soft-serve and specialty machines do one thing well. We tested six across all categories, making vanilla, strawberry sorbet, and frozen yogurt in each one, to find which machines justify keeping them on the counter. ...

A gooseneck kettle exists for one reason: pour control. The long, narrow spout lets you put water exactly where you want it — over coffee grounds in a specific pattern, around tea leaves, or into a narrow vessel without splashing. For pour-over coffee, that control directly affects how evenly your grounds extract. Bad pour control means some areas over-extract (bitter) and others under-extract (sour). We tested 7 gooseneck electric kettles — variable-temperature models with precise 1-degree Fahrenheit control, fixed-temperature budget options, and premium kettles with flow-rate restrictors and brew timers. Some are worth the money. Others are standard kettles with a curved spout and a price markup. ...

Fresh juice tastes different from anything in a bottle. There’s a brightness to it, a texture, a sense that the thing you’re drinking was just alive minutes ago. But the juicer you use determines whether you stick with it for more than a week. We tested 7 juicers across two types: masticating (slow, cold-press) and centrifugal (fast, wide-mouth). We juiced celery stalks by the pound, wheatgrass by the handful, and enough oranges to turn our hands orange. What we found is that the best juicer depends almost entirely on what you plan to juice and how much you hate cleaning. ...

There are two kinds of people in the breakfast world. Those who own a waffle maker and make waffles on a regular Tuesday, and those who eat frozen Eggos and wonder if they’re missing something. A good waffle maker turns a box of mix into something that feels like a diner breakfast — crispy golden pockets, steam rising, butter melting into every square. And the difference between a $20 waffle iron and a $100 one is not subtle. It’s the difference between a pale, soggy disk that sticks to the plates and a deep-pocketed, evenly browned waffle that releases cleanly with a gentle lift. ...

A toaster is one of those things you do not think about until it breaks, and then suddenly your morning routine falls apart. You stand there holding a cold slice of bread, staring at an appliance that looks fine on the outside but just stopped working on the inside. Or worse, it still works, but it burns everything on one side and leaves the other side pale. We tested six pop-up toasters across a range of prices, from the thirty-dollar special to the hundred-and-fifty-dollar statement piece. We made roughly eighty slices of toast. Here is what we learned. ...

Pre-ground spices lose flavor fast. Within a few weeks of grinding, the volatile oils that give cumin, coriander, and peppercorns their punch evaporate. Whole spices keep for years in a cool, dark cabinet. The difference between pre-ground cumin from a jar and freshly ground cumin from whole seeds is the difference between a cardboard box and the real thing. We tested 6 spice grinders — electric blade grinders, electric burr grinders, and manual grinders — grinding everything from black peppercorns to cinnamon sticks to dried chilies. We evaluated grind consistency (are the particles uniform or all over the place?), speed, noise, capacity, ease of cleaning, and whether flavors transfer between batches. ...

An electric skillet is one of those kitchen tools that doesn’t get the hype of an air fryer or Instant Pot, but the people who own one use it constantly. It’s a deep-sided frying pan with its own heating element and thermostat — you can sear chicken, simmer a curry, fry an entire batch of bacon, or keep a potluck dish warm at the table without tying up a stovetop burner. The best electric skillets maintain steady heat across the entire cooking surface, clean up quickly, and survive years of regular use without warping or losing their non-stick properties. ...

The difference between homemade pizza and pizzeria pizza is not the ingredients or the chef. It is the heat. Pizzerias use brick ovens that hit 800-900 degrees Fahrenheit, with a porous surface that pulls moisture from the dough and leaves char on the outside and chew on the inside. Your home oven maxes out around 500 degrees. A stone or steel makes up for that by soaking up heat during a 45-minute preheat, then dumping it into the dough the moment the pizza lands. A bare baking sheet cannot do this. You end up with leopard spotting, oven spring, and a crust that actually tastes like it came from an oven. ...

Fresh pasta is one of those things that tastes dramatically better than store-bought but people assume is too much work. The reality is, with a good pasta machine, you can go from flour and eggs to fresh fettuccine on the table in about 30 minutes — and half of that is resting the dough. But which machine should you buy? Manual crank machines are cheap and durable but take some arm work. Stand mixer attachments are convenient if you already own a KitchenAid. Electric extruders handle the whole process start to finish — just dump in the ingredients and walk away. We tested 6 of the best options across all three categories to find the right one for different kitchens, budgets, and pasta styles. ...

A mandoline slicer is the fastest way to turn a pile of zucchini into uniform rounds or a bag of onions into paper-thin slices for caramelizing. An electric food chopper is the fastest way to chop a head of garlic, a block of cheese, or a cup of nuts without pulling out a full food processor. Both tools save you knife time. Both tools can save your knuckles if you pick the right one. ...