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Kitchen & Cooking

These are the best kitchen and cooking products of 2017

Looking for new chef's gear? These are the very best we tested this year.

Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed's editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

Sometimes the best kitchen tool is an old classic, and sometimes it's the latest tech. We've got you covered on both fronts with some amazing gear that home chefs will love.

Of the 100+ small kitchen products we tested this year, only a small handful made our Best of Year list. Please welcome the best of the class of 2017.

Best Sous Vide Immersion Circulator: Anova Precision Cooker

Product image of Anova Bluetooth Precision Cooker (800 watts)

The Anova Precision Cooker (the 800 Watt Bluetooth version, to be precise) is our top recommendation if you're looking to get started with sous vide cooking. The app is slick, easy to use, and helpful.

Sure, the design is great, but where the Bluetooth Anova really shines is its ability to accurately stick to your desired temperature—and that's what sous vide cooking is all about. It might take a little longer to get up to temp than some of the other machines we looked at, but it’s worth the wait.

With a retail price of $149, the Bluetooth Anova isn’t just our top performer; it’s also the best value you’ll find. Read our review.

Best Meal Kit Service: Green Chef

Product image of Green Chef

After months of testing and cooking, Green Chef earned its top spot on our list of best meal kit subscription delivery services.

Green Chef's imaginative, rewarding recipes always layer texture on top of taste, and deliberately balance flavor types—sour against salty, sweet against bitter. Green Chef also packs its boxes full of the most numerous and diverse ingredients, and that convenience alone makes the subscription more valuable than many others. Read our review.

Best Coffee Maker: Technivorm Moccamaster

Product image of Technivorm Moccamaster KB-741

With its mid-century design and an exposed reservoir, you'll want to leave the Moccamaster out on the counter even when it’s not in use. But it doesn't just look great. Indeed, the pricey Moccamaster brews a complex and smooth pot of coffee that ranked highest in our taste test. This machine also fills a full pot quickly—a necessity for the morning rush.

The price certainly puts it in the "premium" category, but the copper coil heating system (rather than cheap aluminum) means a perfect brew every time. Combine that with a five-year warranty and you'll understand why it's our top pick. Read our review.

Best Single-Serve Espresso: Nespresso Citiz

Product image of Nespresso Citiz

The Nespresso Citiz by DeLonghi is just plain gorgeous. While not compact, it’s narrow so it doesn’t take up a wide swath of countertop space. As the tank holds enough water for about 17 cups, this brewer is perfect for espresso-loving households that feed their habit throughout the day.

The Citiz uses OriginalLine capsules, which only brew espresso. (If you want an 8 oz. cup of coffee, you'll have to buy a VertuoLine machine.) In cup after cup, Nespresso espressos had the combination of bitter and sweet notes that make espresso so satisfying. If you prefer a version with a matching frother, you can buy the Nespresso Citiz & Milk for around the same price (depending on sales).

If you're trying to reduce your cafe budget—but not your caffeine intake—this is how we recommend you do it in style. Read our review.

Best Stand Mixer: KitchenAid Artisan

Product image of KitchenAid KSM150PS

What can we say about the KitchenAid stand mixer that hasn't already been said? It's an icon. The quintessential stand mixer. However, there are many to choose from, so where to start? We recommend the Artisan.

Thanks to its easy set up and quiet motor, the Artisan was a pleasure to use and passed all our lab evaluations with flying colors.

All this comes at a price–usually around $300-$400 (depending on color and sales promotions). But know that this is an investment piece that will pay off for years to come. Despite its many competitors, our tests prove that KitchenAid still makes the best stand mixer you can buy. Read our review.

Best Electric Kettle: Cuisinart PerfecTemp

Product image of Cuisinart PerfecTemp CPK-17

The Cuisinart PerfecTemp may not look like anything special, but it does its job exceptionally well, and at a very fair price for what it offers: Six preset heat settings for steeping tea and easily discernible, intuitive buttons. Simply select your desired temperature and press start, and in a snappy 5 and a half minutes, a series of beeps will let you know that your water is boiling.

The machine automatically flips to a handy keep warm mode that resumes its cycle regardless of how many times you remove the kettle from the base. This kettle is easy to use and speedily effective, earning it our top spot. Read our review.

Best Chef's Knife: Zwilling Pro 8"

Product image of Zwilling Pro 8

J.A. Henckels is one of the most recognizable names in the knife making industry, so it’s not surprising that this knife rose to the top of our list. The Henckels Zwilling Pro is a serious workhorse, pulling ahead of the pack in nearly every one of our tests and earning the top spot.

This high-carbon German steel knife weighs in at 9.5 ounces, making it one of the heftier knives we tested. The weight gave it the strength to handle the heavy-duty tasks we threw at it. A heavier knife can be less adept at precise cuts, but the Zwilling Pro has a super sharp edge that sliced up a tomato without issue. The design of the wide, tapered bolster made this knife easy to grip and seriously comfortable to use.

Overall, this is a really solid, well-balanced blade with excellent control, allowing you to confidently work through large cuts with precision and comfort. It's a perfect starter knife for beginners and would make a great addition to any pro’s knife collection. Read our review.

Best Grill: Weber Kettle

Product image of Weber Original Kettle Premium 22"

Sometimes, the obvious choice is also the correct one.

The Weber 22” Original Kettle grill has been in production since 1951, and more than 60 years later it still offers the best combination of price, convenience, and performance. It's about as simple as they come, constructed from two curved sheets of steel, but the iconic kettle shape isn't just for looks. The lack of weld points also prevents unwanted heat loss.

The Weber has a large 363-square-inch grilling surface, and the classic domed lid is large enough to accommodate a hefty roast. Quick to set up, quick to heat up, and superbly easy to maintain, this Weber is also covered by the company’s limited 10-year warranty. If all of that that weren't reason enough, it's also available almost everywhere. Read our review.

Reader Favorite: GE Appliances' FirstBuild Opal Nugget Ice Maker

Product image of FirstBuild Opal Nugget Ice Maker

Nugget ice fans are diehard. They call this stuff "the good ice."

One of our editors asserts, "it’s not really ice cubes. It's compressed ice flakes, like a beautiful snowball. A delicious, chewy snowball." Suffice it to say, some people take their ice very seriously, including a lot of our readers.

Earlier this year, FirstBuild released the Opal Nugget Ice Maker (MSRP $499) for at-home nugget icing. We tried it out, and our video covering it garnered a whopping 50 million views.

We tried it, we loved, and our readers agree. If you need the nugget ice fix, this is the way to do it. Read our review.

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