Evidence index
What 35 cooks actually recommend among kitchen tools
843 quoted claims about kitchen tools from
35 named people across
49 long-form sources, covering 63 products, 136 of them raising objections. Every claim links to the second it was said.
38 voices across 49 sources.
Which kitchen tools do cooks actually recommend?
The kitchen tools below are ordered by how many independent voices are on record about
each one: a count of evidence, not a rating. Products without their own page have
not yet cleared the evidence threshold for one.
There are 63 with evidence; the 15 with the most
independent voices are below, and every one is in
the claim search.
5 voices 46 claims 13 objections median ownership 15 years
alright so number one on this list is the coveted kitchenaid stand mixer one of my most favorite tools in my kitchen it does a million billion things other than just making dough it does everything i'm not even going to try and sell you on this it's too good
Two judgements rest on this sentence:
- best in class Owns it
- performance Owns it cites versatility
19 Tools To Make Cooking Easier
4:33 objects The Hungry Past 4:33 objects The Hungry Past But in practice, it means that repeated breakdowns are built into the design.
reliability Why the $400 KitchenAid Mixer You Just Bought Is Already Half-Dead
Cites durability (against), maintenance (against), noise (against)
For home bakers, this engineered weak point turns a $400 mixer into a recurring project, not a set-it-and-forget-it tool.
The result is a cycle: bake, break, disassemble, repeat.
Symptoms show up as grinding noises, sluggish performance, or even visible oil leaking from the mixer seams.
3 voices 26 claims 7 objections median ownership 16 years
2:00 supports RRL Reviews earns commission on this for me, this wasn't just a blender purchase. It was a long-term kitchen investment. And 16 years later, if this one disappeared tomorrow, I would buy another Vitamix without hesitation. And honestly, that's probably the highest recommendation I could give any product.
recommendation Owns it I Bought This Vitamix in 2010... Would I Still Buy It Today? | 15-Year Vitamix 5200 Review
RRL Reviews earns commission on this.
Stated in the source: “As an Amazon associate, we may earn on qualifying purchases.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
While the build quality is absolutely excellent, and you can tell that this machine is built to last in industrial kitchens, there may be some drawbacks for the average cook.
durability Vitamix 5200 Blender Review, Still The Best in 2026?
Cites build quality, durability, heat resistance
This thing is this thing is bulletproof, but that may be the blender that you want to go for if this is a little bit too expensive.
And the only thing that I've had to replace was was actually this lid because I lost it like 2 weeks ago. Somewhere in between me shooting my pee video and this video, I misplaced the lid. So, I bought a new one. The old lid was absolutely perfect. Everything over here is still doing amazingly well.
I have used this for 8 years extensively. I have beaten the crap out of it.
Um, all of the connections, these things are metal.
And as it blends, it creates a vortex to ensure that everything blends really evenly.
performance Owns it Vitamix 5200 Blender Review, Still The Best in 2026?
Cites ease of cleaning, surface finish, power and output
Now, a simple task like the soup is a great exhibition of the full power of this blender.
And as you can see here, the results are a velvety smooth, perfect pureed soup.
Now, this is a good time to talk about the self-clean function, which a lot of blender companies market as a feature, and all it means is that you can add soapy water to a blender and run it, and it does a pretty good job of cleaning it.
And despite this mixture getting incredibly thick and lava hot, it created the smoothest puree and the whole garlic which I added in the beginning completely disappeared.
I've made plenty of nut milk in the past and the Vitamix does exceptionally well.
I use about 500 g of roast peanuts and at low speeds once the nuts become hot enough and broken down enough they eventually become this beautiful crunchy peanut butter which turned out absolutely amazing.
The Vitamix 5200, however, is not like most other burgers. As long as you start on a low speed to break down all of those chunky bits and slowly turn things up to high and let it spin for about a minute, you are left with the creamiest smoothie or protein shake of your life with the bare minimum or even no bits at all…
Now, I've made blended frozen drinks with this in the past, like a margarita, and it handled it with ease.
But blending a lot of ice in this tall chamber seemed like a bit of a difficult task. For the most part, the ice at the bottom crushes perfectly. But the ice at the top remains chunky and very hard to blend, even with the temper.
And lastly, having a two horsepower blender is an incredible amount of power. But at max power, it's also incredibly noisy, especially with some thicker substances.
And this honestly does majority of tasks better in my humble opinion, but that's just me.
3 voices 6 claims no objections yet
Next, oh, one of the most useful tools inside of the kitchen, a good microplane zestester.
recommendation Uses it professionally What's In My Knife Roll! My Top Tools for Michelin Kitchens, Catering Events & Content Creation
Stephen La Rosa earns commission on this.
Stated in the source: “All amazon links are affiliate links” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
Every chef needs one of these.
now lots of people have a grater but the one that i would really recommend is a microplane which is really the best grater on the planet if you want those nice delicate threads
Two judgements rest on this sentence:
19 Tools To Make Cooking Easier
6:32 supports Adam Byatt Buy It For Life Enthusiasts Vitamix blender
2 voices 10 claims 2 objections median ownership 30 years
17:39 supports Dr. Doug Graham speaking on FoodnSport with Dr. Doug Graham Food Writer 17:09 supports Dr. Doug Graham speaking on FoodnSport with Dr. Doug Graham Food Writer 16:09 supports Dr. Doug Graham speaking on FoodnSport with Dr. Doug Graham Food Writer earns commission on this I'm a fan of the Vitamix blender I highly recommend the Vitamix blender if you have to choose which blender you're going to buy next I recommend the Vitamix blender and if you ever want to say that I sent you to buy your Vitamix blender you get a special price that's cool too
recommendation Owns it Dr. Graham's 5 Favorite Raw Food Kitchen Tools - Culinary Skills Retreat
Dr. Doug Graham earns commission on this.
Stated in the source: “if you ever want to say that I sent you to buy your Vitamix blender you get a special price that's cool too” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
Wusthof fish spatula
2 voices 8 claims no objections yet
6:02 supports speaking on America's Test Kitchen 5:32 supports speaking on America's Test Kitchen KAN knives
2 voices 4 claims no objections yet median ownership 2 years
and my friend Barney runs a company called Kaan, and they make some excellent home cook knives.
best in class Owns it I Designed A Knife! Introducing the KAN x Kenji Shitoku四徳, a brand new shape for all home cooks
J. Kenji López-Alt co-designed this product.
Stated in the source: “And with this partnership, um there's going to be a portion of each sale that'll be donated to various charities that are dealing with food insecurity.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
anyone who is anyone who already has one of these con knives and it's you know been a couple years now like make sure you learn how to sharpen your own life you're gonna love it the same way that you had it day one when you got it out of the box
durability Passing on someone else's experience Here Are Some Great Knives (For a Great Cause!)
Cites edge retention
J. Kenji López-Alt earns commission on this.
Stated in the source: “and uh don't forget to use the promo code kenji to get a little extra off” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
Owned 2 years
so again um con knives not a paid sponsorship i just like the knife
recommendation Owns it Here Are Some Great Knives (For a Great Cause!)
J. Kenji López-Alt earns commission on this.
Stated in the source: “and uh don't forget to use the promo code kenji to get a little extra off” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
OXO scale
2 voices 4 claims no objections yet
you've seen me use this scale which has a little pull out frame so when you have a bowl on top of it you can see it it has um you know two gram resolution so i use this all the time for baking
Three judgements rest on this sentence:
Equipment Charity Sale
Cuisinart food processor
2 voices 2 claims no objections yet
58:03 supports Dr. Doug Graham speaking on FoodnSport with Dr. Doug Graham Food Writer AUCMA stand mixer
1 voice 9 claims 6 objections
It did a good job whipping the cream, but it was extremely loud and had a higher pitched sound that was much more annoying than the others.
Two judgements rest on this sentence:
- objects performance Tested it cites noise (against)
- supports performance Tested it
Are KitchenAid Mixers Worth the High Price? (TEST RESULTS)
It was the loudest mixer at both medium and high speeds in my testing.
It also splashed more. During this test, small specks of cream flew up and landed on the camera and on top of the mixer.
With the cookies, the flat beater didn't reach the sides of the bowl very well.
A large chunk of butter got stuck inside the beater.
And after I added the eggs, the liquid pulled in the center while the thicker mixture stayed around the sides. I had to stop and scrape the bowl several times to get everything mixed well.
The final pizza dough and pizza came out fine, but the mixer shook throughout the test.
It threw more flour out of the bowl than the others, and the high-pitched noise it made was super annoying.
They both shake too much and require a lot of scraping.
The AUCMA is extremely loud and the Hamilton Beach dough hook couldn't grab the pizza dough without me manually threading it on.
Hamilton Beach stand mixer
1 voice 9 claims 6 objections
With the whipped cream, it took over 4 minutes to reach stiff peaks, more than twice as long as the KitchenAid mixers.
performance Tested it Are KitchenAid Mixers Worth the High Price? (TEST RESULTS)
The whisk only reaches a small area near the center of the bowl, so it doesn't handle small amounts very well.
With the cookies, there was still large chunks of brown sugar after several minutes of mixing.
The mixer head also shook and bounced much more than the others.
With the pizza dough, it shook a ton and the dough hook was too rounded to grab the dough properly.
KAN knife
1 voice 8 claims no objections yet median ownership 8 years
i love this knife you see me use it all the time it's damascus steel which means that it's two types of steel that are hammered together 67 layers of steel very nicely balanced super sharp this is my go-to knife
Four judgements rest on this sentence:
Equipment Charity Sale
Um it's just a really solid mid-range price knife that feels more like a premium knife than the cost would suggest.
value Uses it professionally I Designed A Knife! Introducing the KAN x Kenji Shitoku四徳, a brand new shape for all home cooks
Cites price
J. Kenji López-Alt co-designed this product.
Stated in the source: “And with this partnership, um there's going to be a portion of each sale that'll be donated to various charities that are dealing with food insecurity.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
this is the knife actually that we give to all of the cooks in my restaurant if a cook in my restaurant has been working with us for a year this is the knife that we gift them with so you'll see a lot of the cooks in my restaurant using this knife a great a great knife
use-case fit Uses it professionally Equipment Charity Sale
Cuisinart stand mixer
1 voice 7 claims 3 objections
Hamilton Beach and Cuisinart do the same thing, but the AUCMA and KitchenAid Artisan Plus won't start until you return the control to zero. That's a pretty big safety issue, especially if you store the whisk, beater, and dough hook inside the bowl like I do.
handling Tested it Are KitchenAid Mixers Worth the High Price? (TEST RESULTS)
Cites safety (against)
It did a great job with the whipped cream, but the cookies were disappointing.
performance Tested it Are KitchenAid Mixers Worth the High Price? (TEST RESULTS)
The flat beater didn't reach the sides of the bowl very well, so a lot of the butter and sugar stayed stuck along the walls.
I had to stop and scrape the bowl several times, and there were still some large chunks of brown sugar that I had to break up with the spatula.
My main complaint is the flat beater. it doesn't get close enough to the sides of the bowl.
Cuisinart is the closest of the cheaper mixers to KitchenAid in both price and performance.
performance Tested it Are KitchenAid Mixers Worth the High Price? (TEST RESULTS)
Cites build quality, dishwasher safe, ease of cleaning, noise, size and capacity, weight
It's also much heavier and feels much more stable than the other two cheaper mixers.
The bowl and all three attachments are dishwasher safe, unlike the whisks included with the KitchenAid Classic and Artisan, which need to be handwashed.
It was also the quietest mixer at low, medium, and high speeds.
The final cookie dough came out fine, but I wish the beater got closer to the walls of the bowl.
It did much better with the pizza dough. Unlike the Hamilton Beach, the dough hook grabbed the dough properly, the mixer was stable, and the head remained securely locked throughout the test.
The final dough and pizza came out great.
Cuisinart did a great job with the whipped cream and pizza dough, and it was actually more stable than the KitchenAid Classic and Artisan during kneading.
The head locks in both the raised and lowered positions, and the bowl is larger than the KitchenAid Classic's, and it has a handle, and all of the attachments are dishwasher safe.
Gordon Hansen santoku
1 voice 7 claims no objections yet
Um, those are more than aesthetic. They actually help make sure that when you're slicing vegetables that they don't stick to the blade, so things will fall off the blade a lot more easily than a perfectly smooth blade.
performance Owns it I Made the Knife of my Dreams
Cites edge retention, edge retention, non-stick surface
J. Kenji López-Alt co-designed this product.
Stated in the source: “I'm holding in my hand the first production prototype uh of the knife that I've been working on with my friend Gordon Hansen, who is a knife maker uh from Fall City, Oregon.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
Um the uh the center uh the center layer of the blade is uh shidu. Uh it's hardened to a Rockwell hardness of 60 to 61. a very hard knife that is going to get a very very sharp edge and maintain that edge.
which means that you can use it the way you would use a sanu. So a chopping motion up and down. Um, but you can also use it the way you would use a a western knife with a nice rocking motion for uh sort of rapid mincing uh of things. So, um, for me it it's really all the qualities of a santoku plus the qualities of a…
use-case fit Owns it I Made the Knife of my Dreams
Cites versatility
J. Kenji López-Alt co-designed this product.
Stated in the source: “I'm holding in my hand the first production prototype uh of the knife that I've been working on with my friend Gordon Hansen, who is a knife maker uh from Fall City, Oregon.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
and I've always wanted to sort of design my own knife, something that fits all of my needs specifically and something that is as beautiful to hold as it is to uh behold. Um, and uh that that's what I've come up with with Gordon.
best in class Owns it I Made the Knife of my Dreams
Cites appearance
J. Kenji López-Alt co-designed this product.
Stated in the source: “I'm holding in my hand the first production prototype uh of the knife that I've been working on with my friend Gordon Hansen, who is a knife maker uh from Fall City, Oregon.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
Um uh but you know more more than just being functional for me a knife uh being the most important tool in any cook's kitchen it needs to be something that you want to hold and something that you get pleasure out of even when you're not cutting with it. Um this is a knife that you know whenever I see it hanging on the…
Misen knife
1 voice 7 claims 1 objection
is really high-quality has nicely designed I think it was really nice balance a nice shape
Two judgements rest on this sentence:
Every Pot in My Kitchen | Kenji's Cooking Show
I like having this angled bevel here on the bolster as opposed to this straight which is why I like this knife better
Eve flip cap lid
1 voice 6 claims 1 objection
6:10 supports Vickie speaking on Vickie's Country Home was given the product so this is the flip cap lid by Eve and I'll put a link down below for anybody that's interested in that and they I believe they have a 15% off code for this too so I'll have to double check them but again the flip cap lived there's three to a box and I'm happy with it I'm gonna be using these all the time so I'm sure…
recommendation Tested it Unboxing & Problem Solving
Vickie was given the product.
Stated in the source: “this company reached out to me and asked me if I would look at their products if I would give a review of them and tell you what I think” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
6:10 supports Vickie speaking on Vickie's Country Home was given the product I really like the way that that lid snaps on they're pretty solid
handling Tested it Unboxing & Problem Solving
Cites build quality
Vickie was given the product.
Stated in the source: “this company reached out to me and asked me if I would look at their products if I would give a review of them and tell you what I think” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
3:07 supports Vickie speaking on Vickie's Country Home was given the product there is a silicon gasket which is great because that would make it seal much better
performance Tested it Unboxing & Problem Solving
Cites waterproofing
Vickie was given the product.
Stated in the source: “this company reached out to me and asked me if I would look at their products if I would give a review of them and tell you what I think” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still
evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.
so here we go no spill now let's see if it pours without making a mess alright let's see how this does now if it doesn't scatter it pours pretty straight so I'm happy with that
if you've got the the lid on the mason jar correctly I am not getting any leakage