I’ll never forget the first time I walked into our equipment storage space in the Test Kitchen. I was interviewing for my current position, assistant editor for the ATK Reviews team, and when I turned the corner into the room, I was briefly stunned. Aisle after aisle of gleaming equipment was laid out before me, tools and cookware that the Reviews team had diligently tested and recommended over the years. It was a home cook’s dream.
As a longtime ATK fan, I was no stranger to our equipment recommendations. Over the years I’ve purchased some of my favorite tools and pieces of cookware because of our reviews, including our winning food processor, small Dutch oven, plastic cutting boards, and rasp grater. I can attest to how well they’ve held up and how effectively they perform. But I still held on to some less-than-stellar kitchen basics that I’d had for years, thinking that they weren’t worth replacing. They got the job done, so I couldn’t justify removing them from my arsenal.