Whole latte love
Yes, it’s adorned with enough chromed steel to outshine a Kansas City bound Freightliner. Yes, it’s breathtakingly expensive. But for the truly dedicated, the Rocket Espresso Giotto Evoluzione ($2,100) is the closest thing to espresso nirvana we’ve ever had the chance to pull a shot from. Less white-gloved show pony and more workhorse, the Evoluzione [...]
Im-press-ive
Compared to standard drip methods, the French Press (or cafetiére as it’s known in the rest of the world) does an excellent job of brewing a great tasting cup of coffee. But it isn’t perfect. In fact, many java-elitest feel the process results in overextraction and dislike that used grounds often wind up thwarting the [...]
Never over cook again
Sous-vide (pronounced soo-veed) is a rather nerdy, but effective cooking submovement in the world of haute cuisine. The term literally translates to “under vacuum” in french, and involves sealing food in airtight plastic bags which are then placed in a precisely maintained hot water bath for extended periods of time. Typically the water temperatures are [...]
Chuck the plastic, toast the steel
If you weren’t one of our eagle eye readers that spotted them in yesterday’s Tasting Notes feature (there’s a hint after the jump), this should make things a bit more obvious. A collaboration between Nau and the BPA-free boffins at Kleen Kanteen, these stainless steel ($39) chalices are made from food-grade stainless steel and feature [...]
Blended Blender
DeLonghi’s new 12-cup food processor with blender ($300) is designed to combat the kitchen gadget sprawl that plagues many yuppie households. Thanks to a dual-drive motor system, the die cast metal base unit supports speed variations found on most blenders and food processors. With that power issue out of the way, users just have to [...]
No Average Joe
Auto-drip coffee is entrenched in American culture for three reasons. It’s cheap, easy to make, and has a relatively consistent taste wherever you order it, apart from the random Chicory-spiked landmines you can stumble on down south. Those benefits have been compounded now that the process of measuring grounds, water, and finding a filter has [...]
Scoop de Ville
Sure, your tablespoon does a fine job toting grinds from the bag to your jo-ppliance, but that’s not quite enough now is it? The Kapu Coffee Scoop ($26) takes what might be an otherwise ordinary piece of birch plywood and applies a fine dose of Finnish design, but this scoop isn’t just a one-hit wonder. [...]
Party Foul Proof
Most people will take beer in any container they can get it in. Purists, however, tend to place the traditional pint glass above all us. The Silipint ($10) is an indestructible incarnation of the popular cup (sadly it’s the American 16 oz, not a 20oz British Imperial). Made from flexible, food grade silicone, it can [...]
Easing the Daily Grind
The intelligent new Breville BDC600XL YouBrew ($280) is a grinder and brewer designed to dish out the perfect amount of coffee your jittery caffeinated-heart desires (as long as it doesn’t exceed 12 cups at a time). Yes, you can do this today by adjusting the amount of coffee and water in your standard dripper, but [...]
Time To Make The....
Typically we avoid covering anything that could anchor a 45 minute infomercial at 4:00 a.m. Based on your response to the King Arthur mini donut maker last spring, though, we had to share this automatic mini donut factory ($180) — which takes a vastly improved assembly line approach to creating the addictive breakfast staple. Simply [...]
Kramer Vs. No One
Kramer, who holds the title as the only chef in the U.S. certified as a Master Bladesmith, has spent 20 years forging raw materials into custom artisan knives sought after by the pros. His custom knives, which take several years of waiting and cost thousands of dollars don’t exactly equate to an easy acquisition for [...]
Dropping It Like It's Hot
The Gaggenau BL 253 Lift Oven ($3,000+) is the hoopty of the appliance world that was originally released back in 2007. Instead of forcing cooks to deal with opening doors and reaching into an oven’s heated core, this appliance features a LiftMatic glass ceramic base which lowers down from the oven. This allows users to [...]
Brain Freeze Ready
There’s nothing groundbreaking about snow cones. They’re just shaved ice topped with colored syrup. Still, shaving ice at home isn’t the easiest task in the world. That’s why we had to share Nostalgia Electric’s Retro Series Snow-Cone Machines ($45). The enterprising kids on our block may put a price on our heads for spilling the [...]
Blade Stunner
The TB Groupe Evercut Knife ($235) is arguably the best kitchen knife money can buy. Yes, that’s a pointed statement, but according to CATRA (Cutlery Allied Trades Research Association), the Evercut busted the chops of over 450 other knives in its tests, and slashed all cutting records held by steel and ceramic blades. For those [...]
