Know what's worth ordering.

Kitchen Gear

Short, opinionated buying guides. Fewer picks, clearer reasoning, no 40-item listicles.

  1. Buying guide

    Best air fryer

    Quart ratings on air fryer boxes are closer to a guess than a measurement. Three picks sized by what actually fits in the basket, not what's printed on it.

  2. Buying guide

    Best baking sheet

    America's Test Kitchen's top-rated half sheet pan costs about the same as a pizza. Three baking sheets worth owning, plus the splurge to skip.

  3. Buying guide

    Best cast iron skillet

    You don't need a $200 skillet. Here's the cast iron pan that wins for 95% of kitchens, the upgrade for enthusiasts, and who should skip cast iron entirely.

  4. Buying guide

    Best chef's knife under $100

    Skip the knife block. One good chef's knife does 90% of kitchen work. Three worth buying, from a $25 workhorse to a Japanese upgrade.

  5. Buying guide

    Best coffee maker under $100

    Budget drip machines fail when the water isn't hot enough. Wirecutter's under-$100 pick is the Ninja CE251; a $35 Black+Decker is the fallback.

  6. Buying guide

    Best cutting board

    Wood or plastic? Both. The teak board that wins for everything, the $15 plastic one for raw chicken, and the heirloom maple upgrade you don't need.

  7. Buying guide

    Best Dutch oven

    A Lodge braises like a Le Creuset for a fifth of the cost. The value pick that wins most kitchens, the braiser worth the upgrade, and the icon you overpay for.

  8. Buying guide

    Best everyday dinnerware

    Everyday plates should survive the dishwasher, the microwave, and your roommate. The three dinnerware sets worth buying, from $40 practical to heirloom.

  9. Buying guide

    Best food storage containers

    Rubbermaid Brilliance Glass wins on the seal, Pyrex wins on cost per container, and plastic still has exactly one job. Current prices and what actually breaks.

  10. Buying guide

    Best instant-read thermometer

    ThermoWorks is discontinuing the Thermapen ONE and selling it at $74. Why that's the buy, what the $119 replacement adds, and the $39 pick most people need.

  11. Buying guide

    Best nonstick pan

    Every nonstick coating dies in a few years, so the smart buy is a cheap one done well: the $40 pan that wins, the pricey pick to skip, the middle ground.

  12. Buying guide

    Best rice cooker

    A Zojirushi costs eight times what a Black+Decker does and makes better rice. Whether that math works depends on how often you eat rice. Here's the split.