Hand Blenders

Cordless Hand Blender

MultiQuick 5 Vario Hand Blender

Control Grip Immersion Blender

Variable Speed Corded Hand Blender

Ultra-Stick

ProMix Hand Blender

Immersion Blender

Commercial Quik Stik

Vitamix

Amazon

Williams-Sonoma

Far and away the nicest tool in its class, but still over-engineered. Details like the digital speed control (which automatically resets to the lowest speed every time it's plugged in) and the four-bladed bit (which makes the dome super hard to clean by hand) just don't need to be that way.

On the other hand, the fit and finish are phenomenal and it has arguably the best dome design out of all of them. Combine that with the most power in the category and you get an exceptional piece of kit.

Momofuku

Xtra Hot Chili Oil

Chili Crunch

Great mix of toasty, spicy and nutty flavors, but leans heavily on garlic as the primary flavor profile. 

It's definitely got a little heat, but it won't blow your taste buds to smithereens. 

The downside for me is just how much you need to use to get any real flavor out of it.

On a spoon? It's great. But it takes a lot to hold up to food.

Breville

There aren't many things I'd buy from Breville, but I think this unit is pretty thoughtful. I love the low, elongated dome design. The connection between the wand and the motor feels substantial (even if the diaphragms over the latches feel gross) and the handle is super comfy.

Not a ton of power, but enough to get the job done.

Braun

Among an ugly field, this is a standout. The dial on top where you manage its *21* speeds looks like a bike gear counter? I guess with that many speeds, maybe Braun just grabbed one out of a parts bin somewhere?

This whole thing feels slapdash and poorly considered.

Demi-glace

KitchenAid

This was my first hand blender and while it's not the best, it's good enough for most jobs and it avoids adding unnecessary bullshit for its own sake which I find quite admirable.

Sure, it's not the most powerful, but it doesn't really need to be — it'll still get the job done.

All-Clad

All-Clad's extremely expensive hand blender has a rather striking silhouette when sitting in its charging base that has earned it the nickname "cyber dildo" in our house.

That dick, er... dock is the key to its success though: it's just lovely to have a dock-able, cordless version of a tool we use so frequently.

Well, it *was* nice, until it pooped out after only 4 months of ownership.

So, about that charger.

It's a classic DC adapter that you plug into the bottom of the handle. A dock would be much more convenient, but KitchenAid chose this so they can share a charger across multiple gadgets. This blender really loses its oomph quickly when it's not fully charged, so you kinda just need to have a blender handle laying around on your counter plugged in all the time? Not ideal.

I think that's my only real complaint though. This thing won't win any awards, but it's pretty good for it's price and a cordless hand blender is a lot nicer to use than a corded one.

Shapton

Horl 2

Diamond Rolling Knife Sharpener Set

Ha No Kuromaku #5000 Ceramic Water Stone

Ha No Kuromaku #1000 Ceramic Water Stone

Gouken Fuji #8000 Ceramic Finishing Stone

Professional #3000 Ceramic Water Stone

Professional #800 Ceramic Water Stone

Gouken Kurouto #1000 Ceramic Water Stone

71671 Sharpening Stone Sink Bridge

71013 Sharpening Stone Holder

Sharpening Stone Holder

Glass #1000 Ceramic Water Stone

Rubberized Cork Strop

Sink Bridge

Flattening Stone

A great beginner's stone. It's got excellent responsiveness for a #1000 grit stone. Splash-and-go is the only thing I'd recommend for newcomers because it's so much less hassle. Love the vented drying case (but I wouldn't use it as a stone holder).

Mueller Austria

Sometimes in life, you realize you made a bad purchasing decision as soon as you touch the item. 

Opening this blender was one of those times. Attaching the wand to the motor was another. Setting the speed was another. Pulling the trigger was another.

It's cheap, but it's too poorly-built for the price.

Bryn

GreenPan

Covered Ceramic 12" Fry Pan

Ceramic Fry Pan (Set of 2)

Fry Pan (10.5")

Nonstick Frying Pan (10")

Large Fry

Reserve 12" Frying Skillet

Always Pan

Always Pan 2.0

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)

Heritage Steel

NanoBond Titanium Skillet

D3 10" Fry Pan

Premier 10" Space Saving Fry Pan

10-Inch Skillet

Deep Cut

10" Stainless Steel Frying Pan

Fry Pan

Titanium Series Fry Pan

Eater Series Frying Pan

Heritage Steel's a pretty interesting brand and the Titanium Series has its history written all over it: the 316Ti inner layer is where the line gets its name. That comes from the era when HS sold "waterless cookware" and it has one main benefit – it reduces salt pitting.

When they made the move away from waterless, they continued production in the same factory in Tennessee and kept up some of the aesthetic decisions such as the polished finish. It doesn't appeal to me personally, but I'm sure it does to their historical market. The one thing I feel more strongly about from an aesthetic point of view is the handles. The lid handles are a completely different aesthetic from the long main handles. They *might* be from the same collection as the helper/pot handles, but it's definitely giving an off-the-shelf mismatch vibe that I don't think feels appropriate at this price point.

That price point is pretty high partially due to their American manufacturing and the owners really seem to be focused on doing right by their workers. That's admirable, but the big question is does that expensive manufacturing improve the consumer's experience? In this case, I'd argue that it doesn't. The units we tested had misaligned lids and poorly installed rivets that we really haven't seen in this market segment before. Maybe those are a thing of the past though, because our test units from their new Eater Series didn't have any of those flaws.

When it comes down to it, the Titanium Series tells the history of Heritage Steel, but I'm not so sure it should be part of its future.

10.5"

Thanksgiving: Vegetarian 2023

Focaccia

Calphalon

D3 3qt Sauce Pan

Premier 2.5qt Space Saving Sauce Pan

3-Quart Saucepan

Saucy

2qt Stainless Steel Saucepan

Sauce Pan

Titanium Series Saucier

Eater Series Saucier

This is the little sauce pan that could, and hasn't let us down in nearly a decade. In fact, we we liked it so much, we went out and bought all of the stock the store had left (which was unfortunately, only 2).

This is the go-to pan we reach for 90% of the time. It's big enough to be practical, but small enough to be convenient.

It was too good for this world, so now Calphalon is discontinuing it in favor of its cheaper, nonstick brethren.

We got this pan around 2015 and loved it so much we bought two more just like it. 

They stack securely, the lids don't slip, and they hold up great over time - the only wear I've seen since purchase is some microscopic erosion in the aluminum core. 

I just wish Calphalon would bring these back as a single purchase instead of trying to sell it as a part of a set.

Goldilocks

I'm quite partial to a 2-3qt saucepan and this is a perfect example of why. It's a simple, unassuming pan that you can count on for just about anything.

I've done everything from scrambling eggs to boiling pasta in one, and I love them so much that (prior to my cookware review days) it was the only type of pan I had three identical models of.

As a saucepan aficionado, I can confidently say that this one's pretty decent. For the price though, it's fucking great.

Thanksgiving: Ramen Edition

Turm Robinson

Paneer Makhani

Paneer Makhani

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