The Great British Baking Show Is Back, and We Spotted Some of Our Favorite Kitchen Gear in the Tent

Any time a cooking show comes on, you can bet that our eyes are screening for Serious Eats tested favorites among the kitchen equipment, be it the most powerful blender or the best stainless steel skillets. That’s why we were simply giddy to spot so many of our tried-and-true top picks in this season’s opener of The Great British Baking Show (otherwise known as The Great British Bake Off in the UK). The talented bakers have already presented intricate bakes like delicate Battenbergs and Viennese whirls and we’re only two episodes into the season. They whip up all of this baking magic with the help of great kitchen tools, including the KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer, Thermapen ONE, Microplane zester, and more.

Serious Eats Tested Favorites Seen on The Great British Baking Show:

• The Best Stand Mixer for Home Bakers: KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer
• The Best Food Processor: Magimix 14-Cup Food Processor
• The Best Instant-Read Thermometer: ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE
• A Super Sharp Zester: Microplane Premium Classic Series Zester/Grater
• A Great Adjustable Rolling Pin: GIR Rolling Pin
• An Efficient Bench Scraper: OXO Bench Scraper
• The Best Manual Citrus Juicer: Chef'n FreshForce Citrus Juicer
• The Best Immersion Blender: All-Clad Stainless Steel Immersion Blender

KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer

The KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-quart stand mixer has been a constant on The Great Baking Show since the very beginning. Through every season, this stand mixer has helped bakers turn out dough, batter, frosting, and much more. It’s  one of our top recommendations for stand mixers thanks to its strong motor and tilt-head design. It’s also on sale for $80 off.

Magimix 14-Cup Food Processor

We spotted our favorite Magimix food processor on every baking island when bakers had to make marzipan for their Battenberg cakes. We’ve recommended it for about seven years thanks to its efficiency with slicing potatoes, grating cheese, and kneading dough. 

ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE

A favorite instant-read thermometer of ours for years, the Thermapen ONE is a friend to bakers. It’s accurate, and thankfully, for Baking Show contestants, it’s speedy. While Britain’s Thermapen differs from ours, the ThermoWorks model delivers lightning fast readings and we love that it has an adjustable folding probe to make temping from any angle possible. 

Microplane Premium Classic Series Zester/Grater

With the amount of citrus that shows up in Baking Show bakes, it’s not surprising to catch a Microplane zester being held over a cake batter or frosting. Zesters make quick work of adding brightness to bakes, and the Microplane does it best with its sharp blade and comfortable handle.

GIR Rolling Pin

For the precision needed in some of the technical challenges, an adjustable rolling pin is essential. We spotted quite a few inside the tent, and while we didn’t catch the brand, we recommend grabbing a GIR adjustable rolling pin if you want more accuracy in your own baking. The silicone rings slide on easily to ensure consistent thickness no matter what you’re rolling out.

OXO Bench Scraper

For cleaning, scraping, dividing, and shaping, a bench scraper is an essential baking tool that serves so many purposes. The bench scrapers we saw on this season of The Great British Baking Show looked a lot like our favorite OXO Bench Scraper, which has a comfortable handle and a stainless steel blade that easily slides under doughs and scrapes up sticky messes. 

Chef'n FreshForce Citrus Juicer

We saw contestants using a manual citrus juicer in quite a few bakes in the first episode of the season, and could help but think of our favorite Chef’n FreshForce citrus juicer, which juices lemons and limes quickly while also extracting fragrant oils from their skin.

All-Clad Stainless Steel Immersion Blender

An immersion blender is useful for so much in the kitchen, from blending soups to emulsifying sauces. We weren’t surprised to see one on the show this season, though it was a Braun immersion blender, which we tested but didn’t select as a top pick. Instead, we’d recommend the All-Clad immersion blender which is powerful and easy to use. Plus, it’s $50 off.

FAQs

Where can I find the best baking equipment?

Here’s our guide on the essential baking tools you should have at home, according to a chef.

How do I get started with baking?

We have a roundup of the best baking cookbooks that cover delicate pastries to hearty loaves of bread.

Why We’re the Experts

• An Uong is a Commerce Writer for Serious Eats and Food & Wine.
• An has developed recipes for Bon Appetit, Taste Magazine, and other food publications.
• She bakes multiple times a week and hopes to one day open a little bakery.