Worth It: Consumer Reports Staffers on Their Fave Kitchen and Dining Splurges

I recently moved from New York City to Philadelphia, a wonderful city with an unfortunately uninspiring pizza scene. If I can figure out how to fit it into my tiny Philly-style backyard, I’m definitely splurging on the Ooni, a luxurious pizza oven recommended by associate director of digital content Steven Saltzman.

“I received this as a gift for a milestone birthday, so it wasn’t a splurge on my own (I hadn’t asked for anything like this or even talked about a pizza oven)—we don’t eat that much pizza,” he says. But it’s worth it so far. “The pizza we’ve made (four times) is excellent. And not only does the oven look good, but it and the accessories—seemingly overengineered—are like a Mac laptop. The build quality is apparent, and so far the performance is superb. Assuming I take care of this thing, I expect it to work well for years to come.”

Steven has the oven with all the accouterments—table, gas burner, peel, and cover—and doesn’t restrict himself to cooking mere pizza with the Ooni. He’s also made roasted vegetables, salmon, and maitake mushrooms to great fanfare.

Despite cooking rice about four nights a week for the past decade, my results lately have been inconsistent. Whether there’s something happening with the rice itself or I’m just off my game, I’m sick of batches where half my rice is crunchy and the other half is soggy.

Althea Chang-Cook, an associate director of content, says her splurgy Zojirushi induction rice cooker helps her avoid this tragedy. Her son, Henry, has her cooking rice way more than she ever thought she would, but he’s particular: “Texture is a big deal to him, and with this rice cooker, there are no real wet or dry spots in the medium grain jasmine rice he prefers,” she says. Plus, “there are no wasted crunchy bits of rice at the bottom of the bowl, which hasn’t been the case with the rice cookers and the Instant Pot I’ve used in the past.” 

With Althea’s and former CR writer Perry Santanachote’s enthusiastic recommendations, I won’t be able to wait for Christmas for this one. 

If you drink smoothies on the regular, you may want to follow health writer Catherine Roberts’ lead and get yourself a ritzy Vitamix 5200. Sure, it typically clocks in at more than $500, but according to Catherine, it’s absolutely worth it. “The Vitamix handles crushing up the frozen fruit and ice so much better than every other blender I’ve ever had. I appreciate the Vitamix’s super simple interface—just ten progressively stronger levels of crushage,” she says. “And it might be my imagination, but the Vitamix is much easier to clean than blenders I’ve had in the past.”

Heartbreak: When the crust of my lemon bars sticks because I failed to adequately butter my baking pan. According to Jodhaira Rodriguez, a writer and lab tester, this is avoidable—I just need to buy her favorite set of baking pans, the Greenpan Premiere Ceramic Non-Stick Bakeware Set. “When they say this is non-stick, they aren’t joking. I’ve burned food on these pans and nothing sticks to them,” she says. “My favorite thing to make in the sheet pan is chocolate chip cookies. I can pull them out of the oven, let them rest for a few minutes, and then slide them right off the pan without any effort or need for a spatula.” If you, like me, are nervously anticipating the baking projects that await you this holiday season, perhaps the right nonstick baking set will ease at least some of that stress.

You know how old kings and queens were buried with their most precious possessions, such as jewels and weapons? I’d like to be buried with my Heath Ceramics mug. Well, one of them; I have about eight, some of which have been carefully repaired, as I don’t want to lose even one if I can avoid it.

I love coffee—I worked in the industry for years, including at a company that served its coffee in Heath Ceramics and had a location inside the Heath factory in San Francisco. A hot cup every morning out of a Heath mug makes each day considerably more likely to be a good one.

The mug is perfectly balanced, with a rectangular handle that comfortably fits hands of many sizes, including my very small ones. The glazes come primarily in neutral tones, with the exception of one in a vivid sapphire blue that I don’t own—yet. After a disastrous flood in my brand new house (to me; the house was built in the 1920s) forced a complete renovation of my kitchen, I took the opportunity to install open shelving so I can rest my eyes on my favorite ceramics whenever I wander into the kitchen (and, obviously, show them off to my guests).

When you’re serving a $46 Wagyu filet mignon—say, it’s your spouse’s birthday, or you’re cooking a meal for a date for the very first time—you might not want to rely on sight and intuition alone to tell you when the meat is done cooking. Managing editor Ginger Cowles has the solution: the reliable, worth-its-weight-in-gold Thermapen One.

“I would sometimes trick myself into thinking I can sense when a steak is done to my preferred medium-rare temp just by look or feel, but that has worked literally never. The Thermapen takes the guesswork out of it,” she says. “The instant temp claim truly is instant, so it takes almost zero effort to do a check. It’s saved my expensive steaks for dates and dinner parties time and time again.” As someone who is terrified of a chicken thigh with a magenta interior but almost equally dreads a thigh that’s dry and stringy, I’m taking Ginger’s recommendation to heart.

Sometimes, good glassware is defined by what does the job: a classic Duralex glass, for example, can adequately hold your wine, juice, chocolate milk, or whatever your favorite beverage is for years without breaking. But sometimes, you need more than a utilitarian classic; you need class. And for that, you can look to shopping editor Anna Kocharian, whose favorite kitchen splurge is her stunning pink and orange glass bottle by Ichendorf Milano.

“I love the idea of elevating the everyday and this minimalist vessel is prime for just that,” she says. “I use it for all sorts of libations—water garnished with mint, juice, iced teas, and even premade batch martinis for when I’m entertaining.” And if it feels too opulent to purchase for yourself, might I suggest that it would make an excellent gift for the stylish people in your life—including, perhaps, me?

Morning routines are critical to Consumer Reports staffers, as the above recommendations for a coffee mug and a blender make obvious. But don’t fear: we haven’t forgotten coffee, the most important element of any breakfast for champions.

Lisa Fogarty, a writer here at CR, is partial to the pricey Kimbo il Caffé di Napoli Macinato Fresco espresso, topped with milk foamed by an Aerolatte Professional Milk Foamer. “I am a ’one-and-done’ morning coffee drinker, but when I make that one cup I want it to be strong, delicious, and make me feel like I’m a woman of luxury, even when it’s 6 a.m., I’ve barely slept, and I have kids’ breakfasts and lunches to make,” she says. “Kimbo espresso lacks acidity, packs a punch, and smells heavenly. And I’ve tried a million cheaper milk frothers that stop working or become warped over a short time, but the Aerolatte is a workhorse. It whips any milk—including skim—into fabulous froth in a few seconds.”

Does this kitchen celebrity even require introduction? In addition to her high-end instant-read thermometer, Ginger loves her Le Creuset Cast Iron Soup Pot, a piece of equipment that any cook worth their salt deserves to have in their kitchen.

“This thing is a workhorse. Some of my favorite foods to cook in it include chicken with 30 cloves of garlic, braised beef short ribs, and homemade yeasted doughnuts,” she says. “Not to mention soup, gumbo, and stocks. It can do it all. Mine is in one of the brightest, happiest colors, Cerise, a rich shade of red that connotes coziness.” I have a 4.5 quart Le Creuset Dutch Oven as well and can attest to its dependability; my husband already owned it when we first met, 13 years ago. It’s still in great shape.

Not only does the Breville Smart Oven have a PhD, it has tenure. Paul Hope, a senior writer at CR, says he’s had his for 14 years through five different houses, but that it performs as well now as it ever did—even though he uses it nearly every single day. This impressive little toaster is practically as good as a full-fledged oven, with a pizza pan, convection capabilities, and admirable cookie-baking capabilities.

“The Breville Smart oven earns every inch of the space it occupies on my counter, by consistently turning out results that are on a par with my full-sized oven. It heats up in a fraction of the time,” he says. “It can hold eight half bagels, or cook a 12-inch frozen pizza for kiddos. I use it to toast croutons for salads, cook a single piece of salmon, or to keep food warm once it’s cooked.”