Gear Patrol

Slicing, dicing and chopping your way through dinner prep doesn’t always have to be such a staid affair. Designed in collaboration with Italian architect Matteo Thun, the Henckel’s Twin 1731 collection a lineup of blades with top-tier features and the architect’s signature minimalist design. Each blade is made from a single piece of tapered, precision-forged,…

A reader recently wrote us to ask if we knew of any solutions for making coffee at a picnic. It seemed a bit strange considering we’re in the middle of February, but we can’t blame people for planning ahead. While the GSI Mini Espresso Maker is ideal for roughing it, the Handpresso is a slightly…

The concept of Hyper-Caffeinated Coffee-Flavored Marshmallows ($6) is just plain dangerous. Why deal with guzzling over 16 oz of piping hot coffee, or down one of the billion or so energy drinks brands out there if you could get the same effects from popping a cloud of sugary goodness? Yes, these will power-destroyers are packed…

The biggest bone we have to pick with Food Network personalities — or any telegenic chef for that matter — is how much easier cooking looks when their ingredients are already on hand and nicely organized by an army of production minions. “Now just take seven- and-a-half peeled edamame beans wrapped in pancetta and mix…

The Ninja Professional Blender ($95) doesn’t get credit in our book for being the first product to bring Ninjutsu into the kitchen — that honor stays with our trusty Ninjabread men. Still, its unique six blade technology and 1000 watts of power are quite deadly to anything you feed it. That’s because, unlike typical blenders…

We try to avoid talking about conceptual products on GP mainly because teasing cool things that might not be commercially developed can be frustrating to the gear obsessed – aka us. This Handle Me Cookware series was just so damn good looking though we had to make an exception. It’s the brain child of the…

Instructions for use: Insert the raw herb or spice from cork-lid storage top. Rotate top and bottom applying pressures for preferred fineness. Enjoy odd sensation of feeling manly about herbs. Buy Now: $45

Taking a stale mouthful of a favorite snack is something we’ve all regretted doing. Short of buying in smaller quantities or paying someone to periodically clean out your cabinets though, there’s no way to guarantee you won’t relive the experience in the future. The RSVP International Glass Canister with Freshness Date Dial ($12) can at…

Sometimes good things come to those that wait, and when it comes to producing a good cup of joe, about 12 hours is all it takes, unless there’s a Blue Bottle Coffee nearby. The Hario Cold Water Coffee Dripper ($265) is a no-frills version of more eccentric slow-drip coffee makers, which have been making the…

A brand new bowl probably isn’t at the top of your Christmas list this year, nor will it ever be. The Lékué Steam Roaster by Compeixalaigua Design Studio ($40) sports a cool enough design that we’d at least appreciate finding it under the tree. Made from 100% “Platinum” silicone, its ideal use case involves a…

Chock it up to a fascination with overengineering, but the idea of a die-cast conical burr grinder gets our java flowing. The Breville Smart Grinder will gracefully pulverize beans with no fewer than 25 settings and uses “Dosing IQ” technology to ensure each dose is automatically adjusted depending on the grind — an important factor…

Just because winter is upon us, doesn’t mean we are abandoning our desire to produce perfectly smoked barbeque. Next time you are standing outside, hands numb and freezing, attempting to feed wood chips or pellets into your favorite smoker, consider an alternate option: The Smoking Gun ($99) smoker. This petite 2 pound package uses an…

Extreme coffee heads alike can all attest to Intelligentsia’s supreme coffee and abiding culture. Now with nine locations—after recently opening in Pasadena, California—the company ensures a premium experience through high-quality, direct trade production and a superlatively trained staff. Committed to exceptional coffee, Intelligentsia’s buyers and quality control staff spend many months overseas in the most…

Class up your Saturday morning brunch routine with a Freud French Press Coffee Pot ($105). A far cry from the tired look of your Bodum french press, the 8-cup stainless steel pot strikes a balance of industrial and modern design with its signature drip-free spout and wood handle. Whether its for you or the coffee-fanatic…

Those with dish washers can just ignore this post since your existence is one of privilege. Other readers who deal with the pain of hand-washing out of a lack of space or funds though should listen up. We know its hard to get excited about a dish rack — but eliminating the need to hand…

Just because urban dwellers measure their counter space in inches versus feet doesn’t mean they have to forgo the conveniences of a dishwasher. Designed to fit in the space of a slightly oversized drawer, the Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer ($700+) can plow through a load of dirty dishes at 163° F temperatures using less than…

Does the much fabled “perfect pull” exist? We may never know. But rest assured that espresso aficionados and crema-snobs are, like all gear heads, on the search.

Who says baking can’t be badass? Instead of your run-of–the-mill stars or Christmas trees, imagine showing up at a holiday party with these little guys – cookies with a license to kill. And the decoration options are endless… well, almost endless: red, black and nunchuck. Black frosting never looked appealing until now, but that’s because…

The Bulthaup b2 kitchen workshop is aptly named to reflect the aesthetic that each of its components were built to mirror. While every part of its design has us clamoring to pull our our well-organized wallets, it’s the kitchen tool cabinet in particular that has our organization lust redlining. Made to hold all manner of…

When you’re viciously attacking poultry, simple principles of physics apply. In this case, asymmetrical leverage. The Chroma Asymmetrical Poultry Shears ($50) will not only conquer & divide the biggest bird, but the serrated 9.5″ Japanese steel blades can even cut wire or bottle caps, and separate for easy desalmonellifying. The latest addition to our kitchen,…

Not satisfied with just stopping with the heart-stopping 911 or dive watch, the F.A. Porsche designed P’7000 Santoku Japanese Chef’s Knife ($108) is the epitome of quality cooking blades, combining the sleek curves that made the Carrera famous, with world-class blade craft. If you’re going to trust anyone to make a good knife, it has…

Question the ability to attain Iron Chef style speed and precision cutting without the loss of digits? Then the Smith’s Edgeware Mandoline Slicer ($180) is a surefire way to get the best of both worlds. It may seem more at home on the hood of your R8 GT than the kitchen counter, but this professional-grade…

You bring home the perfect bone-in pork shoulder, but aside from the salt & pepper you extracted from a pack of plastic utensils, you have nothing to give this beautiful hunk of meat any real flavor. Those $4 seasoning grinders are tempting, but walk away. You are above such crude implements. No, you need a…

We know, the last thing you need is another re-usable water bottle. The noble crusade against plastic bottles and the great BPA scare have left us with enough re-usable canteens to bottle the Pacific much less any idea what’s eco-friendly and what’s cancer-inducing. First things first, the Vapur Anti-Bottle ($9) is not going to fix…

We love a good a steak, but eating healthy on a regular basis is still unquestionably a top priority. The Perfect Portions Digital Scale ($52) gives you the ability to monitor your nutrition easily thanks to its familiar Nutrition Facts label which can display key food stats like calories, fats, carbs, and sugars for close…

While the word grill typical inspires visions like this in our head, there’s something to be said for having an electric version on standby just in case. They’re also a great appliance for those short on space who want an alternative to broiling or pan frying. The Breville Smart Grill ($310) is a good option…

The last Hamilton Beach made blender we talked about was designed to easily dispense frozen cocktails or smoothies at home. Following in those foot steps, the Hamilton Beach Thermal Cooler 10 Speed Blender ($18) is design to provide similar cold drink sharing convenience anywhere you fancy. Its drab but purposeful 48 oz plastic blending jar…

For the past 10 years Labour & Wait has diligently served the famous East London market district as a purveyor of simple, functional, hardy home and kitchen products. Worn by everyone working at the shop the Brown Canvas Waist Apron ($33) finally came into production after customer demand, and is now a signature of the…

Grilling smaller food items can be a bit like playing Lemmings. Careful attention will insure much of what you started with will survive, but some poor morsels are bound to slip through the cracks. While there are many tools and techniques out there to help with this problem, this mesh chef’s pan ($50) from Williams-Sonoma…

After reviewing the Sodstream Genesis, we got a lot of reader feedback wanting to know more about flavor options. So we hit up Sodastream,and discovered there are quite a few that range from the expected: cola, cherry cola, ginger ale and root-beer, to the not so anticipated: cream soda, orange mango and peach tea. There’s…