Editors’ Picks

When that first chilly gust of wind hits your neck sometime in late September and makes you reach for a sweater, do you know what time it is? “Fall,” you say. Yes, fall. But more importantly … it’s the beginning of baking season!
While not an official day on the calendar, it might as well be. Summers have their berry pies and fresh fruit muffins, but fall is baking’s dream date. Give me your falling leaves and chilly evenings, it says, and I will give you every way to bake an apple, pear tarts and pear cakes, decadent chocolate cakes, cheesecakes, pumpkin pies and pecan pies, oatmeal muffins, and Brookies. (Because they’re wonderful year-round).
If you want to be set to bake this season, check out our list of essential, editor-approved baking pans. This collection will enable you to bake almost anything your tastebuds desire! LEGGI TUTTO

So, you want to buy a mixing bowl.
Should you get stainless steel, glass, ceramic, or plastic? Would you like a bowl with high sides or a bowl that’s wide and shallow? A nesting set sounds great, but then open stock gives you lots of options. Would you like a bowl with a lid? A bowl with a non-skid bottom? A bowl with a pour spout? And have I now asked you too many questions and you don’t want to buy a mixing bowl after all?!
Fear not, dear reader. It’s really not as complicated as I’m making it out to be. When it comes to mixing bowls, our recommendations are pretty straightforward.

The Two Types of Mixing Bowls You Should Have
For home cooks we recommend having both stainless steel and glass mixing bowls, in a variety of sizes:
Small: 1 – 1 1/2 quart
Medium: 2 1/2 – 3 quart
Large: 4 – 6 quart
Extra large: 8 quart
Stainless steel mixing bowls are light, unbreakable, and easy to move around. Wide, shallow stainless steel bowls are great for cooking tasks like whisking or tossing, where you don’t want to deal with a heavy bowl that’s hard to lift. Stainless steel bowls can also be safely used in a double-boiler setup.
Glass mixing bowls are heavier and sturdier. Glass bowls are well-suited for tasks like stirring or mixing muffin or cake batter. Glass can also go in the microwave. It’s also nice to have a glass bowl for making bread, so you can see the dough rise through the glass. Glass bowls also double as serving bowls.

What About Plastic and Ceramic Mixing Bowls? 
While they’re lovely, we don’t recommend buying a ceramic mixing bowl set for the purposes of regular home cooking. Ceramic bowls are heavy and hard to maneuver, and they’re just not practical for everyday cooking. If you have a set, save it for serving!
We don’t recommend plastic mixing bowls because plastic is porous and retains stains and smells. You also can’t put it in the microwave or use it in a double boiler.

A Note About Mixing Bowl Sizes
Most mixing bowl sets come in size ranges of 1 1/2 quarts to 5 – 6 quarts. That’s enough to cover almost every cooking need you’d have.
We also recommend picking up a larger 8-quart mixing bowl, separately if need be. An extra large mixing bowl is great to have on hand when you’re making a big batch of something. Plus, you can turn it upside down and use it to cover cakes and pies on the countertop!
Other Mixing Bowl Features to Consider
Rims: We like a little rim on our mixing bowls because it gives us something to grip when we’re holding the bowl, particularly when lifting.
Lids: Bowls that come with lids are great … sometimes. Depending on your storage space, it may not be worth it. I’ve found it cumbersome to store plastic lids I only occasionally use. In that case, a more flexible reusable lid like these silicone stretch lids are a good alternative.
Depth: Deep bowls are great… sometimes. A bowl with high sides is very helpful when you’re using an electric hand mixer, since it keeps splatters to a minimum. But they’re not ideally suited for tasks that require more range of motion, like folding an airy batter. Shorter cooks may also find it more cumbersome to work with a deep, narrow bowl.
Non-skid bottoms: Non-skid bottoms are great … sometimes. (Do you see a theme here?) Yes, in theory they’re made to stabilize your bowl when vigorously whisking or mixing, but you’re often paying a premium for a feature that doesn’t always work as intended. Plus, that rubber bottom means you can’t use the bowl in a double boiler setup.
Pour spout: This is really a personal preference. I don’t find them a make-or-break feature for me, but you may differ on that! LEGGI TUTTO

Cutting boards are a home cook’s kitchen workhorse. Here are a few we like and recommend. Continue reading “Editors’ Picks: Cutting Boards” » LEGGI TUTTO

Once you get the hang of homemade pizza, you’ll wonder why it took you so long to give it a try!
Start with a solid recipe; add a few special pizza-making tools and techniques, and soon homemade Friday Night Pizza will be a household tradition.
Here are the tools we recommend for making excellent pizza from scratch. LEGGI TUTTO