A deluge of feature-laden, Wi-Fi connected, “revolutionary” new cooking products come out every year, yet there are some kitchen necessities that just can’t be improved upon. Believe us: At BA, we’ve been testing products head-to-head to find the best cookware, tools, and appliances since 2015, and during that decade, our editors have returned to a small handful of favorites time and again.
With boxes full of kitchen gear arriving at the office practically every single day for our team of kitchen obsessives to put through the wringer, the odds are stacked against any particular item finding a stable spot as a favorite. Yet, here we are, with a list of 14 timeless pieces that reached the top of our rankings and just…stayed there.
As part of our first Gear of the Year Awards, we're giving this core group of products—selected by our Test Kitchen editors and reviews team—special recognition as our Forever Award winners. Invest in these, and you can feel confident that they won't soon be bested.
Mac MTH-80 Pro Chef’s Knife
People are always asking food director Chris Morocco what knife they should get. “It’s sort of like asking someone what car you should get,” he says. “It really depends on what you are trying to do with it, how fast you want to go, and how much time you plan to spend at the mechanic.”
But the foundation of any set of kitchen tools begins with a chef’s knife you can count on every day. And since we first started reviewing how different models slice and dice, nothing has come close to the Mac MTH-80's combination of versatility, sharpness, and comfort in your hand. It has a best of both worlds design, balancing the precision of a Japanese gyuto with the power of a German-style knife. As Morocco puts it: “The Mac will never let you down, and is the one relatively affordable knife that you will never feel compelled to upgrade.”
Nimble on a cutting board, precise enough to skin a fish, strong enough to break down a chicken, the mighty Mac is in “take it with you to a desert island” territory.
Benriner Super Slicer Mandoline
Despite its reputation as a safety hazard when not in the hands of a professional chef, a mandoline makes prep work faster, easier, and more precise than a set of knives alone. And no mandoline does those things better than a Benriner. Light, sharp, and endlessly adjustable, the Super Slicer can produce identical slices of potato for a hasselback preparation and a round of radish so transparently thin you can read a magazine through it. If you have ever encountered a recipe that directs you to thinly slice anything this is the tool you want.
Zojirushi NP-HCC10 Rice Cooker
If you've only ever cooked rice on the stove you don’t know how much better the process can be using a dedicated rice cooker. With this induction-heated Zojirushi cooker, you consistently get fluffy, evenly cooked rice—with no attention or effort needed from you.
Deputy food editor Hana Asbrink feels passionately about hers. “If pressed to pick just one appliance, this would be what I grab before fleeing a burning building (sorry, coffee maker!)," she says. "There's a reason I'm still using my 15+ year-old Zojirushi rice cooker: its quality. It hasn't faltered over that time and the pleasing sing-song alert remains a comforting joy to hear.”
Zojirushi has come out with many fancier and more expensive models since the NP-HCC10 was first released, but none of them make better rice. In fact, we’ve done blind rice tastings multiple times a year and this one has come out on top every time.
Fellow Aiden Coffee Maker
When the Technivorm Moccamaster received recognition from the Specialty Coffee Association in 2023 it reset expectations of what we ought to expect from an automatic drip coffee maker. Specifically, it ushered in the idea that an automatic brewer could produce coffee that can compete with the taste of pour-over. In the spring of 2024, Fellow raised the bar again when it released the Aiden coffee maker.
This machine didn’t try to compete with pour-over—it was pour-over for people who don’t have the time or inclination to engage in the ritual. Its endlessly tweakable options for time and temperature give you even more control over a pot of coffee than you have with a Chemex. And the user-friendly interface makes better coffee accessible to more people than it ever has been before.
Escali Primo Kitchen Scale
Cheap and plastic aren't words you'd expect to describe an item we perpetually put at the top of our rankings, but the Escali Primo knows it has a single job to do, and it doesn’t need to get dressed up to do it.
Senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic is a long time Escali Primo devotee. “If I could grow a strand of hair for every time someone tells me 'I can cook but I can't bake,' I'd be hairier than Sasquatch. In return, I always ask, with great (and feigned) patience, ‘Do you use a digital scale?’" she says. "The Escali Primo is the one I have at home and at work, and the one I always recommend. My oldest one is 11 years old and still works perfectly fine. He's been through two restaurant kitchens and a pandemic-era micro-bakery so he's really seen it all!”
This scale weighs in grams and ounces, can handle a lot of weight, and has an easy-to-read display—even when a mixing bowl is sitting on top. Add on to that its incredibly low price and you have one of the best buys anyone can make for their kitchen.
Lancaster No. 8 Cast-Iron Pan
Once upon a time, cast-iron pans were smoother and thinner than the pans most people are familiar with today. Why did things change? Manufacturing costs, mostly. But the recent renaissance of high-end cast-iron cookware has brought back these vintage-style pans, and the Lancaster is our favorite of the bunch. The Lancaster pan is lighter and thinner than the popular Lodge, meaning its easy to maneuver and takes less time to heat on the stove top. Its smooth cooking surface is more nonstick out of the box, and continues to improve and develop over time.
While the pans do come with a higher price tag, staff writer Wilder Davies insists that it's money well spent. In his review of the pan, Davies writes, “If you want a pan that not only offers an exceptionally pleasant cooking experience but can also serve as an heirloom for generations to come, the Lancaster is worth it in every way.”
All-Clad D3 Stainless-Steel Skillet
Ask a professionally trained chef what the best cookware brand is, and they’ll likely say All-Clad. The brand originated the multilayered stainless steel and aluminum design that all premium manufacturers now replicate, and still does it better than anyone. Culinary schools use these pans, professional kitchens use these pans, and any home cook who wants long-lasting, high-performing cookware uses these pans too.
A kitchen a skillet is about as essential a tool as it gets, and the All-Clad D3 has been our undisputed favorite for years. It’s lightweight and easy-to-maneuver, with exceptionally consistent thermal conductivity across its cooking surface. “For reasons I'm still trying to understand, food rarely sticks to the All-Clad. And when it does, it's very easy to scrub away,” praises Uskokovic, who uses these pans on a daily basis in the Test Kitchen. “If I could only have one pan in my kitchen for the rest of my life, this is the one I'd pick.”
Vitamix 5200 Blender
Thanks to a motor strong enough to move a small boat, Vitamix blenders have become, as deputy food editor Hana Asbrink notes, de rigueur in most professional kitchens. The 5200 is the Vitamix in its purest form. There are no touchscreens and special settings for hummus and smoothies, just the unvarnished power you need to liquify whatever you put in the jar.
And, as Asbrink notes, you can put just about anything in the jar. “It’s the less-expected tasks for which I give my Vitamix my undying love," she says. “Things like preparing a kalbi marinade in seconds; getting a pancake or crepe batter together in a flash; making consistent Oreo milkshakes every weekend; and even—brace yourselves—pulsing together a quick pie crust, relieving me from the need to pull the heavy food processor down from the dark closet.”
The bells and whistles that other blenders come with, including other models of the Vitamix, are nice; but they're not necessary. We’ve never found anything that improves on this classic in a way that would dethrone it from its place as king of the blenders.
Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Half Sheet
Sheet pans just aren’t “buy it for life” cookware; they inevitably take a beating. But it'd be your folly to think their disposable nature means all sheet pans are interchangeable. “After writing a cookbook that required me to bake hundreds of galettes, I feel confident saying Nordic Ware is the only brand of sheet pan I will recommend by name," says Test Kitchen editor Rebecca Firkser.
Nothing else we’ve tried has ever had such an impressive combination of quick, even heating and durability. You'll use this pan multiple times a week—for cookies, veggies, sheet-pan dinners—and the Nordic Ware sheet will never let you down. And it’s a bargain to boot.
Le Creuset Dutch Oven
The Le Creuset Dutch stands at the ready in our Test Kitchen for any stewing and braising needs, and Firkser also swears by hers at home. “It's my kitchen’s most-used pot—it comes out for tasks as varied as tossing together pasta, searing chicken thighs, deep-frying doughnuts, and baking sourdough bread,” she says. "It’s lighter than models from other brands, heats up quickly, and retains evenly conducted heat.”
Heavy, versatile, and beautiful, it's also a true statement piece in any kitchen. Expertly crafted from cast iron, one of these pots will outlast us all.
Staub Cocotte
Yes, we have two forever Dutch ovens. Don’t make us choose.
Staub’s Dutch oven is a never-needs-replacing piece of cookware that can do just about anything you ask of it. Senior Test Kitchen editor Jesse Szewczyk says his is the most-used product of any kind in his home kitchen. “Staub's chic design first drew me in, but its quality is what kept me around. I bake bread in it, braise meats in it, and have even cooked pancakes in it," he says. And you don't need to treat its finish with kid gloves in order to retain its seasoning: “I scrub it with reckless abandon using soap and it remains pristine,” Szewczyk adds.
Presto Flipside Waffle Maker
Over the years, this inexpensive waffle maker has won over a string of staff members with its ingenious design and ability to make superbly crisp and fluffy waffles. Forget the tedious collection of settings, sensors, and automatic programs that premium waffle makers offer, the Presto proves that simpler can be better. It comes with a timer, but unlike most other machines, it won’t automatically shut off once the timer ends. This allows you to cook it until it's just right—whatever that means for you.
Its slim, vertical design also stands out among a field of countertop clunkers. Since waffles aren’t an everyday food for most people (power to you if they are), its important to be able to stash the machine away when you're done with it. “The fact that it stores upright for maximum space savings just makes it all the more worth having a cooking tool that does just one thing, but does it well,” Morocco says.
Weber Kettle Grill
We've tried hard to find something newer and fancier to supplant the iconic style of Weber’s simple kettle grill and just aren’t sure it can be done. It has a compact footprint but a large cooking area, allows you to transition easily between searing and slow smoking, and is easy to clean (so important in a grill). The grill market tends to over-index at the ends of the price and quality spectrum (you tend to find either low-quality, inexpensive models or high-end specialty pieces), but the Weber kettle strikes a pitch-perfect balance between performance and value.
Breville Sous Chef Food Processor
We’ve stood firm on our endorsement of this food processor. This has sometimes put us on the outs with steadfast loyalists of the ever-popular Cuisinart, the original food processor. Here’s the thing: The Cuisinart is great, but the Breville Sous is better. The two go toe-to-toe in power and precision, but the Breville’s intuitive assembly is a massive improvement on the Cuisinart’s notoriously fidgety and fussy locking mechanisms.
“I feel a reassuring thrum whenever I turn the Breville Sous Chef on," says Morocco. "The parts don't rattle, and everything fits together precisely and tightly, delivering phenomenal cutting power to whatever I throw into it.”
The way we see it, the easier an appliance is to use, the more likely you are to use it. For something like a food processor, which takes up a lot of space, comes with a lot of accessories and is ultimately a bit of a commitment to own, the last thing it should be is frustrating to operate.