The 11 Most Popular Kitchen Gadgets and Gear from Our Equipment Reviews

The Best Espresso Machine

Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine

$489 at Amazon $500 at Williams Sonoma $500 at Sur La Table

Our favorite espresso machine from Breville has a sleek, streamlined design that makes excellent coffee with very little effort on the user’s part. And while $500 may seem pricey, it’s not that bad for an espresso machine (many cost thousands). And clearly our readers feel the same way.

The Best Instant-Read Thermometer

ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE

$119 at Amazon View on Thermoworks View on Kingarthurbaking.com

There are a lot of reasons for keeping an instant-read thermometer in the kitchen, including reducing is-this-food-cooked paranoia and ensuring your meat is done to actual perfection (and a safe temperature!). When it comes to speed and precision, the Thermapen ONE trumps all others (you can find out more in our full review of instant-read thermometers). It's the one we reach for when we're testing recipes. It's no surprise the Thermapen is also one of the most-shopped-for tools, consistently.

The Best Flat-Bottomed, Carbon Steel Wok

Yosukata Carbon Steel Wok

$65 $60 at Amazon View on Yosukata.com

We reviewed flat-bottomed woks last year and came away highly recommending this model from Yosukata. It’s heat-responsive and easy to season and has a helper handle and a main, wooden handle that stays cool to the touch.

The Best Coffee Grinder for Most People

OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder

$100 $88 at Amazon $100 at Williams Sonoma $75 at Target

We have several top coffee grinder picks in our review, but you folks seem to really love this model from OXO. Why? Well, it’s our top pick for most home brewers, and it’s reliable, undeniably simple to operate, and under $100. So many great things!

The Best Instant Pot

Instant Pot 10-in-1 Pressure Cooker

$190 $170 at Amazon $170 at Williams Sonoma $200 at Walmart

This year, readers have been buying a lot of Instant Pots. Which makes sense, since there’s a ton to make with them. Our favorite Instant Pot is the Instant Pot Pro. It’s an excellent electric pressure cooker and has helpful usability features, like handles on its cooking pot that keep it from swirling around in the base and a pressure release switch.

The Best Waffle Maker

Cuisinart Double Flip Belgian Waffle Maker

$120 $100 at Amazon $120 at Walmart $120 at Target

Our favorite waffle maker from Cuisinart is a perennial favorite. It heats up fast, cooks quickly, and produces waffles with crisp outsides and fluffy insides. Plus, it makes two large waffles at a time and is very reasonably priced, at about $120.

The Most Powerful Vitamix Blender

Vitamix Professional-Grade Blender

$500 at Amazon View on Vitamix.com $632 at Newegg.com

The Vitamix 5200 Professional-Grade Blender has been our recommendation for many years, ever since Kenji first reviewed it. It has a tapered blending jar that uber effectively blends, purees, and pulverizes. Plus, it’s simple to operate with just a speed dial and a couple of switches.

The Best Sous Vide Machine (Immersion Circulator)

Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker

$110 $100 at Amazon $96 at Walmart $219 at Home Depot

Our readers are sous vide stans. And our two favorite sous vide machines—from Breville and Anova—are always top-sellers. The Breville has a phenomenal app and streamlined, easy-to-operate design, while the Anova has both an onboard display and a WiFi-compatible app. They’re both great! They’re both worth it! (Note: the Breville is currently out of stock everywhere, so we linked to just the Anova above.)

The Very Best Vacuum Sealers

Nesco VS-12 Vacuum Sealer

$140 $96 at Amazon $120 $96 at Walmart $97 at Target

Anova Vacuum Sealer

$150 $99 at Amazon $100 at Williams Sonoma $150 $100 at Walmart

With all that sous vide love, it’s no surprise you also want vacuum sealers. Helpful for sous vide as well as food preservation, our favorite vacuum sealers include models from Nesco and Anova. Both are capable of sealing a variety of foods easily, and their seals hold up well to sous vide cooking and long freezer times.

The Best Air Fryer

Instant Vortex Plus 6-Quart Air Fryer

$140 $90 at Amazon $150 at Williams Sonoma $199 at Walmart

We like air fryers—we do! And so do you. Our favorite air fryer, from Instant, has a helpful dial for adjusting the time and temperature and cooked the fastest and most deeply of all the models we tested. There are a lot of other things to recommend about it, which you can read about in our full review. And no: air fryers aren’t the same as standard, convection ovens.

The Best Coffee Maker Under $200

OXO Brew Coffee Maker

$200 $190 at Amazon $200 at Williams Sonoma $200 at Target

OXO's 8-cup drip coffee maker is a great drip coffee maker, period. But add in the thermal carafe and under-$200 price tag, and it becomes one of the best buys of the year. During our drip coffee maker test, we were impressed by the fact the carafe lid could be kept on as the coffee brewed. It was also the most enjoyable carafe to pour from. It was surprisingly great at brewing smaller batches of coffee and has a few luxe features: like the ability to bloom your grounds before the brew starts. We're not surprised you've been impressed by this compact coffee maker, too!