Skillets

Mineral B Carbon Steel 12.5" Fry Pan 

CRS12 Carbon Steel 12" Skillet

Black Carbon Steel Fry Pan 12"

Covered Ceramic 12" Fry Pan

Ceramic Fry Pan (Set of 2)

NanoBond Titanium Skillet

D3 10" Fry Pan

Premier 10" Space Saving Fry Pan

Fry Pan (10.5")

Nonstick Frying Pan (10")

10-Inch Skillet

Large Fry

Deep Cut

Reserve 12" Frying Skillet

ProBond Nonstick Skillet (11")

Quick-Release Fry Pan (9.5”)

Hybrid Nonstick Pan (10")

Toughened Nonstick PRO Fry Pan (10")

Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan (12")

10" Stainless Steel Frying Pan

M'steel Carbon Fry Pan (9.5")

NeverStick Premium Fry Pan (10.25")

Cast Iron Always Pan

Always Pan

Always Pan 2.0

Obsidian Carbon Steel Skillet

Good Grips Pro Frying Pan (10")

Professional Frying Pan (10.25”)

Carbon Steel Farmhouse Skillet

No. 10 Chef Skillet

#8 Cast Iron Skillet

Professional 10" Fry Pan

Unlimited 10" Fry Pan

Professional Nonstick Fry Pan

Wear-Ever Nonstick Fry Pan

Fry Pan

Titanium Series Fry Pan

Eater Series Frying Pan

Hedley & Bennett

Meiji 10" Chef's Knife

Classic 210mm Chef's Knife

Spartan Ghost Chef's Knife 8"

8" Chef's Knife

The 8" Knife

Professional Series 8" Chef's Knife (MTH-80)

Premier Chef's 8"

Everyday Chef's Knife

Classic Ikon 8" Chef's Knife

Förslag 3-pc Knife Set

Rosewood 8" Chef's Knife

French Chef's Knife

Classic Chef's 8"

Vardagen Chef's Knife 8"

Briljera Chef's Knife 8"

Vörda Chef's Knife 8"

365+ Chef's Knife 8"

Pro Le Blanc 8" Chef's Knife

365+ 6" Utility Knife

Birchwood SG2 8" Chef's Knife

Black 5000MCD67 8" Gyuto

G-56 7" Santoku

G-2 8" Chef's Knife

GU-02 8" Asian Chef's Knife

210mm Ginsan Gyuto

Chef's Knife

Graphite 8" Chef's Knife (+ 13-pc set)

8” Brad Leone Signature Series Chinese Santoku Cleaver

7.25" Chef Series

8" Chef Knife

Koh 8" Gyuto

Kanso 8" Chef's Knife

Fibrox 8" Chef's Knife

Classic 6" Chef's Knife

Full disclosure: I think Hedley & Bennett overcharges for everything they make. A super basic apron made of super generic materials shouldn't cost $80-100.

When they introduced a chef's knife, however, I was intrigued. It's got a sleek, but classic design and better yet — it pairs it with my favorite low-cost steel: AUS-10.

So, I ordered one. And... it's pretty good. Nothing mind-blowing, but it's kinda like a lighter-weight version of the Misen chef's knife with a little nicer aesthetics. 

I still think Misen is my top pick for a budget knife because it's hard to recommend spending 30% more on a knife that's essentially the same in all the ways that actually matter.

I was pleasantly surprised by this knife, and actually find myself reaching for it more than I expected. 

Good job Hedley & Bennett.

For a first good quality knife, this one has done me wonders. It’s got a pretty nice feel to it and it’s been pretty easy to take care of and sharpen. Now I just need to work on my knife skills.

Joshua

Steelport

Bernal Cutlery

210mm Heavy Cleaver

220mm Chukka Bocho

210mm Gyuto

180mm Santoku

When we walked into my favorite knife shop, I spotted this on the wall and immediately let out an audible "Oh, wow...". I still feel that way every time I see it. Steelport have made what has to be the most beautiful chef's knife on the market with tons of thoughtful features, a stunning blackened finish, and a price tag to match.

First, this is made of 52100 steel, which is a high-carbon "ball bearing" steel. It's medium-hard and super durable — especially at this thickness. It's a lovely steel to sharpen and maintain and 3 of my 5 favorite knives are made of it.

Really, the only thing stopping this from being my favorite knife is the geometry — it gets just a little too thick at the spine — and I'm at a loss for anything else I don't love about this knife. It's got a hell of a price tag on it, but I've never really met a knife that I thought justified its price better with its materials and design.

I just wish that spine were a *tiny* bit thinner.

Update: I had it thinned by a pro sharpener with a belt and it's now my favorite knife. Pity it takes the extra work, but now I genuinely adore this thing.



It's too heavy for me to enjoy using more than I have to. But it is absolutely stunning.

Made In

Made-In

I've never held a chef's knife that actively made me want to use it less. Even the cheapo bullshit from Target feels better to use than this.

What it comes down to is ergonomics: the blade has the weirdest, tallest belly I've ever used and its handle is awkwardly thin and round. Listen, I love unique designs, but just as often as unique can be "uniquely great", it can be "uniquely awful".

This is the latter.

Kramer by Zwilling

Amazon

AEB-L is one of my favorite steels: it strikes a great balance between hardness and toughness, and because it's stainless it's quite easy to take care of.

That said, both the handle design and the damascus finish are absolutely horrendous imo. Feels a little on the weeb side too — like the anime equivalent of a chef's knife.

It also just kinda feels goofy. Bob's knives are known for being tall, but expanded to a 10" scale, the blade is absolutely massive.

I like AEB-L, but if I'm shelling out this much money, I'd just go for a KxZ Carbon with its excellent ergonomics and handle.

Bryn

Goldilocks

I've been harping on the old school brands and their price gouging for months, but here comes Goldilocks to make my argument for me.

There is zero practical difference between this level of quality and All-Clad for 99% of home cooks. There just isn't. There's a thick, visible layer of aluminum in the middle that smooths out heat distribution while being super responsive to heating changes.

In fact, while these handles aren't perfect — they're definitely not as comfy as Made In or as pretty as Great Jones — they're far more comfortable than All-Clad's pseudo-professional design.

It's just a damn good classic fully-clad stainless steel skillet. Everyone should have one and, at this price, they can probably afford one.

The pan is comfortable to hold and feels sturdy when I’m using it. Overall I’ve enjoyed using it a lot and I feel like it’s a great introduction to stainless steel because of the price point.

Mozzarella Fitzgerald

Kitchen-Star

Ultimate Rubber Gloves

Black Classic Clog

I lovingly refer to these as my "cheese gloves" - originally purchased because I needed a way to stick my hands into boiling hot water to pull cheese for homemade mozzarella. 

They kept my hands comfortable while plunged into 212°F water, and now I use them any chance I can get. 

Shredding hot meat for pulled pork? - cheese gloves. 
Pulling a whole chicken out of boiling water? - cheese gloves.
Making mozzarella (obviously) - cheese gloves.

Just be aware that the rubber material is THICK so you'll lose a little dexterity, but I'll take that over 1st degree burns any day.



Paneer Makhani

Chef's Knives

IKEA

It's a heavier knife than I expected from IKEA (206 grams). 

It's got old-school steak knife handle that's a little strange to hold and gives the impression that you're expected to toss this in the dishwasher. 

It's a little too balanced toward the back for me.

Basically the Victorinox Rosewood, but for 1/3 the price.

Still sucks, but at least it's $40 cheaper.

Hitohira

If you have the money, go buy one of these today. This thing is a hidden gem and more people should have them.

Feels like a fucking razor and holds an edge like nothing I've used before.

I love the shape. I love the size. I love the feel. It's not the prettiest knife, but it sure ain't bad. It's simple, useful, and probably a great first carbon steel knife if that's something you're interested in.

Update: The problem is — as with many Japanese knives — they're unique and so they sell out quickly. The link is already dead and it's sold out the manufacturer's site too. Looks like a couple other knife shops have stock and they'll probably change over time. Good luck!

This little baddie is my carbon steel go-to for daily use. 

I love how light this knife is, and the shorter blade and razor edge  gives me the extra confidence I need when tackling a new knife skill.

The only down side is how brittle this knife is, and being that it's carbon steel it does need dried off immediately.

Our Place

3qt Saute Pan

Always Pan Pro

The main feature of this pan is its titanium oxide coating — which does in fact make it pretty nonstick, but it's applied so poorly that I can't recommend it.

Definitely interesting materials science, but genuinely one of the lowest-production quality pans I've ever tested.

Chrome

David Chang

Bookshop.org

Ammu

Ethiopia

Africana

Chicken and Charcoal

The Outdoor Kitchen

Charred

Mi Cocina

Persiana

Bavel

Cook This Book

Diasporican

Foodheim

Home Style Cookery 

In Bibi's Kitchen

An Invitation to Indian Cooking

Mezcla

Mission Vegan

Momofuku

Motherland

Night + Market

Ottolenghi Simple

A Super Upsetting Cookbook About Sandwiches

Win Son Presents: A Taiwanese American Cookbook

The Family Meal

The Food of Sichuan

The Modern Larder

The Woks of Life

The Tucci Cookbook

Turkey and the Wolf

Xi'an Famous Foods

A Good Bake

All Under Heaven

Veg-Table

Start Here

These meals are fun to make and genuine crowd pleasers, but most of these dishes are extremely time-intensive. The ramen alone required 7 different recipes throughout the book, and a lot of them had to be done between 6 and 24 hours in advance. I definitely considered making a Gantt chart more than once just to make everything happen on time.

Brooklyn

Combustion Inc.

Predictive Thermometers + Display

Absolutely brilliant product design. From top to bottom, these are the nicest leave-in thermometers I've ever used and every time I use them, I find something new I love about them.

Dishwasher friendly. An app that's actually nice to use — with thoughtful details like taking before photos for referring to which piece of food each probe is in. You can even upgrade the cases to ones that double as range extenders! (Surprisingly, even the display is a range extender that you can ping with your phone.)

Developing a recipe? The graph view in the phone app is a game changer.

Working on the stovetop? Their new silicone rim clips are the best designed ones on the market.

The biggest problem is that it's so good that you wish it did a little more so that lovely experience could extend to more areas. I'd love a version of this that had a higher heat threshold so I could use it for deep frying and I wish the display had a magnet and a clip on the back so I could stick it to my range hood and my apron.

Even so, I've used dozens of leave-in thermometers and this is far-and-away the best-designed product in its category. It's not close either.

GreenPan

Williams-Sonoma

The likelihood of Mr. Stanley Tucci, Jr. having an impact on much outside of aesthetics is unlikely. He may not have even had a say in that; but aesthetics are genuinely this line's only upside.

GreenPan doesn't make good cookware. We've never found a single model to have acceptable quality and the ceramic coating is almost always chipped. This line is not an outlier in that sense.

On top of that, this line costs about 2x what the Reserve line costs but with similar performance and quality. GreenPan insists that their new ceramic coating — "Infinite8" — is more advanced, but it performs almost identically.

Stanley Tucci Ceramic Fry Pan (Set of 2)

ScanPan

The handle is a little awkward, but it’s not terrible. It’s also not induction-compatible. It has the same basic features as the OXO Good Grips Pro, but at 2x the price... There's really not a lot else to say.

Hestan

This is the smaller version of my favorite skillet on earth and for those who need a small skillet for things like eggs... I think this is the best all-around performance money can buy.

While it's definitely not fully nonstick, it does react less-strongly with protein which offers home cooks a little bit more wiggle room on initial temperature. That means more control to cook the way you want to cook rather than the pan forcing you to cook a certain way. 

On that note, it's also extremely responsive to heat changes due to its super thick internal layer of aluminum. That's something I value very highly and I think gets overlooked by many home cooks.

8.5"

New York(ish) Cheesecake

New York(ish) Cheesecake

yield

time

ingredients

steps

Prep

Crust

in this step...

Filling

in this step...

Water Bath

Bake

Set