13 Essential Kitchen Tools, According to the Food & Wine Test Kitchen Editors

Worth the investment, theKitchenAid Artisan mixer是a multitasking workhorse that has outlived all of the other models we’ve tried. We use it for making everything from dough tomeringue, and, with some of our favorite attachments, for rolling out pasta, grinding meat and stuffing sausages.From $400;kitchenaid.comoramazon.com

Sometimes simple is just better. We’ve tried a lot of grinders over the years and keep going back to the single-buttonFast Touch from Krups. We always have two on hand—one forcoffeeand another for spices like coriander and cumin. Pro tip: Run rice through it to clean and prevent flavor buildup.$19;amazon.com.

MAC

The8-inch Professional Series knifewith dimples has a supersharp blade and a simple wooden handle that’s extremely comfortable. It’s lightweight and feels balanced in our hands, which makes it easy to control whether we’re slicingfishor chiffonading basil. It is less suited to cutting up a whole chicken than a heavier German knife, but it has just enough heft to get the job done. It’s our favorite Japanese knife under $200.$145;amazon.com.

Shun

The8-inch Hikari是more of a splurge. It borrows from ancient Japanese sword-making traditions, including the Damascus pattern on the blade. More than 70 layers of high-carbon stainless steel are folded together to create an exceptionally sharp, long-lasting edge. Our honing steel and sharpening stone are starting to collect dust.$300;williams-sonoma.com.

J.A. Henckels

TheGerman-made Classic 8-Inch Chef’s Knife是a little less nimble than the Japanese knives we use. But it’s heavy and powerful, which means it’s excellent for butchering and for cubing densevegetables. If you cook big cuts of meat often, this is the knife for you.$45;amazon.com.

Every station in our test kitchen has aWüsthof Pro. It’s a great value–only $12–and surprisingly durable. Perfect for peeling fruit and other handwork($21;amazon.com).The MAC Professional($55;amazon.com)is a bit more of an investment and our go-to for precise cutting board tasks like choppingshallotsand garlic.

We reach for theVictorinox Fibrox Pro 8-Inch Slant Tip Serrated Bread Knife, with its sturdy toothed blade, to cut crusty loaves and piled-highBLTs.$30;amazon.com.

Whether you’re preparing a showstopping假日烤or a weeknight meal, look for a sturdy roasting pan that can withstand high heat for stovetop searing and sauce-making, even gas grilling. We like the Cuisinart 16-Inch Roasting Pan($75,amazon.com)because of its durable construction and gentle price. The more expensive All-Clad Flared Roaster($360;williams-sonoma.com)是our pick for people who use their pan for more than the occasional roast. The flared lip helps with consistent heat circulation, and the wide handles make it easy to hoist in and out of the oven—even when it’s holding a 25-pound bird.

We love our Vitamix, but not everyone has one at home, so we test recipes in our favorite Brevillemodel, the Hemisphere Control. It made the creamiest nut butters andsoupsduring our tests and crushed ice for cocktails with ease. The shape of the jar makes it easy to scrape every last bit off the bottom.$188,amazon.com.

You don’t need a set of 20 pans, just five essentials: an oven-safe12-inch fry pan; a12-inch nonstick fry pan; 1.5- and3-quart saucepans; and a6-quart stockpot. We have dozens of pans, but the ones we reach for over and over are from All-Clad’s Stainless line. Built to last, they may be the final pans you buy.From $150;amazon.com.

Unlike other models, the versatile 7-quart Le Creuset pot ticks all of our boxes. It heats evenly; is stovetop- and oven-safe and chip-resistant; and has high sides, so it’s as ideal for a big batch of soup as it is forfrying chicken.$385;lecreuset.comoramazon.com