Of all the appliances in our kitchen, the one device that probably gets used the most (aside from the refrigerator) is our toaster oven. Not only do we use it for toast, but we also use it to bake muffins, roast chicken, air fry nuggets, and even make little pizzas.

When I reviewed the ChefIQ MiniOven last December, I had been testing it for about three months, and gave it a 4-star rating. Well, a year has gone by, and it's still going strong — and now it's 37% off on Amazon for Prime Day.

The biggest knock I had against the MiniOven is that it costs $599, which is pretty high for a toaster oven, even one that's smart. However, this Prime Day deal discounts it to $379, which is $220 off its regular price, making it far more palatable.

One of the nice features of the MiniOven is that you can link it wirelessly to the ChefIQ Sense, which we also rated as one of the best meat thermometers we've tested. With it, I've roasted many a chicken in the oven, and all have come out wonderfully juicy and perfectly done.

Also, because this is a smart oven, I'm able to monitor things from my phone, so I can get alerts when things are ready, even if I'm elsewhere in the house. The MiniOven also has received a few firmware updates over the past year, which I think has also helped with one feature it was a little lax with — toasting bread.

The MiniOven's touchscreen control panel is easy to view and use. While we don't often go deep into the settings, it only takes a few taps to get to what we need. It's one of the smart home devices I've brought home that my spouse has no complaints about, either, which is another notch in its favor.

It is a little larger than your typical toaster oven, but if you have the space for it, this is one appliance I'd recommend picking up, especially now that it's on sale.

Savings Squad Widget

Having a pet is lovely, but having pet hair all over your home isn't. It's something I feel like I'm constantly battling — and while I found a $5 beauty hack that gets rid of pet hair on my clothes, I'm always on the lookout for ways to vacuum it up from the rest of my house with ease.

I've been eyeing up a new vacuum, preferably one with some sort of special attachment or built-in technology, but I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can first to eliminate the stubborn pet hair that just won't quit.

And as I've scoured the internet for advice, I think I've finally found five vacuum cleaning tips to help you (and me) get spotless floors.

Take your time

Yes, you probably want to get the vacuuming done as quick as possible, but there's something to be said for taking your time when there's pet hair to remove. Taking it slower, as well as ensuring you're revisiting spots at least once, is a great way to make sure you're really giving your vacuum the best chance at sucking up all that pet hair.

Slow vacuuming will give your appliance more time to lift up the pet hairs that may be embedded into your floors, especially carpets. And an even better step to take is to vacuum your floors in different angles, ensuring you're picking up the hairs that might be avoiding you.

Start from the top

Before you even get to vacuuming the floors though, it's best to work over any soft furnishings or areas where pet hair can gather to ensure it's all on the floor by the time you reach it.

As you disturb pet hair on those higher up areas, you'll be bringing it back onto the floor where it'll be likely to stay if you're not going to vacuum it up. It's certainly a way to make sure the floor remains spotless and it'll also save you a lot of time.

Try a little baking soda

One clever trick I've really enjoyed doing is sprinkling a little baking soda over my carpets and upholstered furniture. Not only is it great for eliminating odors, but it'll also reduce the static charge in the fibers, releasing the pet hair more readily when you go over it with a vacuum.

Just be sure to only spread it lightly and vacuum it all up afterwards to avoid any irritation for your pet. With this in mind, it's likely to make you even more thorough with your vacuuming as well, so that's always a plus.

Keep the brush roll clean

If you want your vacuum to perform at its best, keeping the brush roll clean should be high on your list of little jobs around the home. This is especially true if you have people who shed a lot of hair (like me in my household) or pets. Follow the manufacturer's guidelines, but what you're aiming to do is cut away and detangle any hair that is gathering on the roll.

While some vacuums come with anti-tangle brush rolls made to prevent a mess of long hair and pet hair gathering, some will require you get a bit more hands-on. And even if you do have an anti-tangle brush, you'll still need to clean it, just maybe not as regularly.

Ensure maximum suction

You might not realize it, but your vacuum could be carrying a lot more weight in its dustbin (or bag) than it looks, especially when you've got pets. A lot of pet hair in the dust compartment can impact your vacuum's suction power – and that's no good for pulling up stubborn pet hairs.

Instead, be sure to empty it a little more often than you're used to. This will also help maintain good airflow to your motor, as well as reduce odors from pet hair saturating inside.

Do you have any awesome tips for tackling pet hair in your own home? Let me know in the comments below.

More from Tom's Guide

• 5 quick hacks to get rid of pet hair in your home
• I love this pet hair cleaning brush for keeping my home spotless — and I don't even own a pet
• 7 tips for staying on top of pet hair

I’ve been through a couple of grills since I moved into my house 10 years ago, and I usually just get the most burners I can get for the least amount of money. But when it came time to put my latest Monument Grill out to pasture — complete with a door that came off the hinge every time I touched it — I decided to try something different.

Over the years I’ve seen plenty of Weber grills but never had the opportunity to test one myself. So when I got a chance to try out the Weber Genesis E-325 Titanium Edition ($999 at Home Depot), I was intrigued to see if the “Weber premium” was worth it and how it stacks up to the best grills. But I wouldn’t be the only judge.

What makes the Genesis E-325 stand out

The first thing that stood out to me was the build quality of the Genesis E-325 Titanium. While my previous grills were thin and frail, the Genesis looks and feels rock solid. And I’m not just talking about the outside.

The two dual-row PureBlu burners are designed to deliver heat evenly across the cooking surface, and the raised ports that keep the flame above the tube, which minimizes both clogs and corrosion. Plus, the flavorizer bars do a great job of catching and vaporizing juices, keeping grease away from the burners to minimize flare-ups.

Then there’s the porcelain-enameled cast-iron cooking grates. I like that they heat up quickly and retain heat, which is great for searing. These grates flip over to handle other grill accessories, such as a Griddle, Pizza Stone and Grilling Basket (all $99). I tried the latter with mixed results; more on that below.

Test No. 1: Sriracha BBQ chicken

For my first test I wanted to make some barbecue chicken, and normally I like to marinate it in sauce. In this case I picked Trader Joe’s Organic Sriracha and Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce.

After letting the chicken marinate for 30 minutes, I fired up the Genesis E-325 and it got to 400 degrees within a few minutes. For this meal I put the cooking grates on the flat side, as that’s recommended for chicken. I used the peaked side for grilling steaks later.

Granted, this was just my first time using a Weber, but I was impressed with how evenly the chicken cooked. I noticed some of the pieces got more of a char towards the back of the 513-square inch cooking area and just moved a couple of the breasts around.

Once the chicken was done I paired it with some jasmine rice and mixed vegetables, and it was time for the family to weigh in.

The best endorsement came from my 18-year-old-son, who usually doesn’t say much more than “thanks for making it.”

In this case I got a “this is really good” — unprompted. My wife also approved, commenting that the chicken was juicy on the inside and had a nice crispy crunch on the outside. I’ll take that as a win.

Test No. 2: Ribeye steaks, filets and roasted vegetables

For my next test of the Weber Genesis E-325 I tried something a bit more complicated. I grilled some ribeye steaks and small filet mignons while also attempting to roast some broccoli and sweet potato slices on Weber’s Crafted Grilling Basket ($99).

To prep, I hit the steaks and filets with a combination of Season All, Spice Lab’s Smoked Butcher’s Blend and Dan-O’s Seasoning.

My wife helped with the veggies, preparing the broccoli with roasted garlic and chili oil, salt and pepper, onion powder and crushed red pepper flakes. And she drizzled the sweet potato medallions with roasted garlic algae oil, hot honey, salt and pepper and hot honey dry seasoning.

Sounds like the recipe for success, right? Well, mostly.

The Genesis E-325 did a fantastic job searing the ribeyes with its dedicated Sear Zone, which gets up to 750 degrees. After I got those perfect marks, I moved the steaks over to the left and cooled the right side down to 350 degrees to roast the vegetables.

Unfortunately, I overcooked the broccoli and it got a little too much char, but the sweet potatoes were spot on. I should have waited a bit longer to add the broccoli to the grill basket.

The ribeyes, however, came out practically perfect. I got the sear I wanted without losing the juices on the inside. And the filets I cooked were nice and tender. I put them on the top shelf while the bigger steaks finished cooking.

Overall, this meal was a home run with the family despite my messing up the broccoli. We just sprinkled some cheese on top to mask the burning, and it still tasted great.

Cleaning: Where I messed up

The biggest mistake I’ve made with the Weber Genesis E-325 is not reading the instructions before cleaning. You’re not supposed to use a wire brush, as it can strip the enamel, and Weber suggests you let the grill cool before you clean.

I’m accustomed to using my Grill Rescue brush, which on other grills you dip in water and leverage the heat of the grill to steam clean. I made things worse, making some residue harder to get off.

I learned my lesson. You’re supposed to let the grill cool, then use a Nylon bristle brush to clean the grates. For deeper cleaning, you can use a sponge and hot soapy water to clean the grates.

Accessories: Lots of options

As mentioned, the Weber Genesis E-325 can accommodate a range of custom-fit grillwork. This includes a Pizza Stone, Grilling Basket (good for veggies) and Griddle (great for breakfast items or smash burgers). These are all $99.

It doesn’t stop there, though. The Genesis has a side table you can drop accessories into and side rails for clipping on other add-ons. You can get everything from a basin with cutting board lid ($39) to a bottle holder ($12.95).

Outlook

So far I really like the Weber Genesis E-325. I’ve only tried it with a couple of meals so far, but the food has been delicious and evenly cooked, and I’m happy with the overall build quality.

I also love having a dedicated Sear Zone for steaks, and even though I’m used to 6 burners, there’s plenty of cooking area on this 3-burner grill for me and my family. I think larger parties could be a challenge, though.The only thing that’s thrown me so far is the cleaning for the Genesis E-325. But now that I know the proper technique I don’t think it will be an issue. Would you invest this much in a grill? Let me know what you think in the comments and if you already have a Weber please feel free to share your experience.

It’s in everything. It was in your baby bottles, the sneakers you took your first steps in, your elementary school lunchbox, the pens you chewed during high school exams. One study even reports there’s as much as 5g in our cerebral organs.

The average kitchen contains a lot more than 5g of the stuff. Take a look at your kitchen appliances: which are constructed entirely from plastic, and which are metal or glass? Refrigerators, air fryers, blenders, coffee machines — they’re all plastic.

Slowly but surely, though, the attitude towards plastics is changing. According to Google Trends, 2026 alone has seen a 5,000% increase in searches for “plastic-free coffee maker”. To put this into perspective, let’s compare: an increase of 5,000 is the size difference between a mouse (7cm long) and the Eiffel Tower (33,000cm tall).

So what’s causing this shift, and why? I spoke to Moccamaster, a leading coffee maker brand, and Beth Gardiner, author of Plastic Inc., to find out.

What is plastic?

Beth Gardiner describes plastic as an “incredibly complicated petrochemical, meaning it's a chemical that comes from petroleum products.”

“The raw ingredients of plastic are basically derivatives and byproducts of oil and gas. We use the word plastic as a singular, but there are many different kinds of plastics.”

“What you end up with is a petrochemical.”

Essentially, plastic is fossil fuels that have been heated, pressurized, had molecules reconfigured via a series of highly complex chemical processes, and been added to.

Despite this, plastic isn’t inherently evil. In some cases, it’s the only plausible material — single-use medical equipment, for example.

What’s a microplastic?

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic. Anything from 5mm to 1 nanometer counts as microplastic. Most microplastics are invisible to the naked eye — 1 nanometer is 10 million times smaller than a centimeter (25.4 million times smaller than an inch).

Contrary to popular belief, microplastics can shed from any type of plastic. Even proudly BPA-free or PFAS-free plastics can degrade, eventually becoming microscopic microplastics. And when you introduce hot water or heating elements into the equation? BPA-free, virgin plastics might not leach carcinogenic compounds into the water, but they will degrade over time.

While researching for this article, I discovered my trusty tea bags leach billions of nanoplastics and microplastics, according to a 2019 study at McGill University. Honestly, I’m still reeling. How many microplastics are floating around inside me thanks to my English Breakfast tea addiction?

I’ll have my coffee with creamer, sugar, and… plastic?

How many cups of coffee have you consumed today? Four? Five? Do you know how many microplastics were in each one? No, of course not. But that doesn't mean plastic coffee makers are inherently wrong.

Take Moccamaster, for example. If Moccamaster were to make a glass brewer, I’m guessing shipping costs from production in the Netherlands would be astronomical. Plastic is light, durable, and cheap. Glass is heavy, delicate, and expensive. Would the average person be able to afford it?

Even so, other brands are offering low-plastic machines. Simply Good Coffee, Aarke, and Ratio are brands already whetting the appetite of the anti-plastic brigade, and I don’t blame them.

As evidenced, the general hunger for “plastic-free coffee maker” is experiencing the highest spike.

Even though consumers seemingly want plastic-free products, the onus shouldn’t be on consumers to reduce plastic usage. We’re not asking for plastic in all our appliances — we’re served it. “Plastic is being pushed into markets,” says Beth Gardiner, author of Plastic Inc. “If you go to the supermarket to buy some bananas, they're wrapped in a plastic bag, and you buy them.

Economically speaking, you did not demand a plastic bag. Your economic demand was for bananas.”

Of course, consumers can find completely plastic-free bananas, but this produce is often double, triple, or quadruple the price and much less convenient.

“The reason why plastic is in such wide use, particularly in terms of packaging and cheap products, like toys and appliances, is that it is super, super cheap.”

Moccamaster isn’t shying away from using plastic, though. Will Etherington, Director of Sales at Moccamaster, says that the “plastic components in the coffee and water-brew path comply with European food-contact requirements, including EU Regulation 10/2011.”

This means that all the virgin plastics used in Moccamaster’s line — including my favorite drip brewer, the KBGV Select — are “evaluated for chemical and material migration under repeated boiling-water-use conditions, using standardized tests designed to represent, and, where applicable, exceed, the time and temperature encountered during daily brewing."

So what are we supposed to do?

Unfortunately, as consumers, there’s very little we can do. If we want a coffee maker, we go and buy one. More often than not, we’re restricted by how much we can spend on said coffee maker.

“Moccamaster does not introduce products simply to follow trends,” says Will Etherington. This comes in light of the huge uptick in plastic-free brewers released recently — the aforementioned Ratio Four (Series 2, 2025), Simply Good Coffee Plastic-Free Brewer (2026), and the low-plastic Aarke Coffee Maker (released in 2024).

“The current narrative can sometimes suggest that any product containing plastic is inherently harmful, unsafe, or poorly made, but that is simply not the case," says Etherington.

"What matters is how the material is selected, where it is used, whether it complies with applicable food-safety standards, and how it contributes to the product’s performance, durability, and longevity.”

Gardiner corroborates this, stating that the fundamental problem is disposability. “Disposability in the broad sense, not just throwaway cups and packages, but also the sort of approach to consumerism where goods are so short-lived and so incredibly abundant.”

“If you're substituting wooden forks instead of plastic forks, pretty quickly you're chopping down forests to make more wooden forks.”

“Why not use a metal fork and wash it and use it a thousand times?”

Simply put, why not buy something once and use it over and over?

I believe that plastic coffee machines aren’t any worse than all the plastic most of us ingest every day. Take Moccamaster, for example: The plastic carafe is replaceable. On top of that, the Moccamaster is produced in the EU, which has extremely tight health regulations.

My takeaway

First things first, I’m going to look into my teabags. That statistic has made me feel nauseous. Am I inviting billions of microplastics into my precious body just by drinking tea?

I’ve already replaced most of my food storage boxes with glass. I bought a 10-pack of glass containers in July and now shudder whenever I remember my old predilection for heating soup in plastic bowls.

The bottom line is this: to be as safe as possible, you should buy plastic-free products, especially if those products involve heating. However, plastic isn’t inherently evil. It’s how it’s used and maintained.

I put petrol-derived Aquaphor on my lips every single day. There’s no such thing as a plastic-free world anymore. At this point, everything we do is merely harm reduction. And investing in a well-made, durable product is the best thing you can do for yourself. Whether that’s the lifetime-repair-warranty Moccamaster or the plastic-free Ratio Four is up to you.

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I don’t think much about my microwave. I mainly use it to defrost bread, soften butter and heat up hot drinks that have gone cold. But since I’ve been testing Ninja’s Crispi Microwave, which combines reheating with air fry technology, I’ve changed my mind.

All I need to do is convince my husband it’s worth the real estate on my kitchen countertop, and the $449 price tag.

I’m currently testing Ninja’s first-ever microwave with an air frying function, and I’m impressed so far. The No. 1 selling point is the FusionCrisp feature. It lets you heat food in microwave mode, then switch to air fry so your meal doesn't turn out soggy.

You’ll have to wait a little longer for my full review, where I’ll get hands-on with cooking a whole chicken and other dishes. But for now, here are my first impressions of Ninja’s Crispi Microwave.

Make some room...

My current microwave sits quite innocently on my countertop and measures 17 (W) x 12.5 (D) x 10 (H). However, the Ninja is over three inches wider, five inches deeper and four inches taller. You can’t help but notice it.

If you lack countertop space in your kitchen, I recommend checking your measurements before investing. You also need to think about clearance space. SharkNinja recommends six inches on the sides and 12 inches on the top.

The appliance I’m testing is currently sitting below a wall cabinet, with only five inches of clearance. I think I can get away with it, since I'm not using the appliance long-term, but do make sure you've got enough surrounding space for safe operation.

The controls look complicated, but they're not

At first, I was a bit concerned that the appliance seemed complicated to use. You can choose FusionCrisp — a combo of microwaving and air frying — or use the microwave and air fryer separately.

You’ll need to sit down for a few minutes with the instructions, or watch the setup guide that you can find by scanning the QR code on the appliance.

It walks you through reheating pizza, cooking baked potatoes and using the controls.

After using the appliance just once, I felt confident and have only referred to the Quick Start Guide to check timings. That can be an issue when using FusionCrisp. Unless I followed a recipe, I wasn’t sure how long to microwave and then air-fry the food. I expect this will get easier with time.

Cooking a fruit crumble using FusionCrisp

For me, the main attraction of Ninja’s Crispi Microwave is the FusionCrisp function. It lets you heat food in microwave mode, then switch to air fry to get a crisp texture.

The appliance comes with a fairly comprehensive Quick Start Guide, including recipes. I was instantly drawn to the classic apple berry crumble recipe — one of my favorite cozy-season puddings.

I used the recipe in the guide, swapped the apples and berries for plums, and made my first crumble in the appliance.

Using the glass basket

You need to use the accompanying glass basket with the FusionCrisp function, and place it on either the bottom or top shelf of the appliance. If you’re cooking something of height, such as a whole chicken, place the basket in the base, but since my crumble had a low profile, it was fine to put it on the top shelf.

I did find that the glass basket was really heavy; you’ll need two hands to hold it. What’s more, it’s also substantial. If you’re using it to make a recipe for one or two, you’ll end up with a huge portion. My family is still eating its way through the crumble!

And there lies another problem. If you’ve got leftovers and don’t want to transfer them out of the glass basket (some meals are messy), you’ll need a spare if you want to cook again before you finish everything.

It ditches the turntable

You’ll notice when you look inside the appliance that it ditches the turntable. This gives you even more space for cooking. Ninja claims it offers 40% more space than a standard microwave, and that it will fit an 8lb chicken. That’s ½ lb larger than the maximum size chicken that you can fit in the Ninja Crispi Pro air fryer, with a 6-quart container.

I already regularly cook whole chicken in my Corsori TurboBlaze air fryer, and will try it out in the Ninja Crispi Microwave over the coming days.

It can microwave and air fry too

Besides using the FusionCrisp function, don’t forget this appliance still offers a separate microwave and air fry function.

I tested it out by using the microwave to heat chicken soup. It has a handy preset function that ran for 2 ⅕ minutes. The soup came out piping hot, and I didn’t even pause and stir it halfway through.

I then used the air fry function to make a grilled cheese sandwich. I placed the crisper plate in the glass dish and positioned it on the top shelf. To save guessing the time and temperature I had a look online, before choosing the Max Crisp setting, at 240°C for 8 minutes. I paused the appliance and turned the sandwich over halfway through.

I was pretty pleased with the result, well my son was, and the bread was crispy, and the cheese was beautifully melted.

I’ve since played around with more grilled cheese toasties and have used the Air Grill Air Fryer setting, which needed a little less time.

My verdict so far

I’m enjoying using the Ninja Crispi Microwave and discovering what it can do. I’m still not sure whether it’s worth ditching your current microwave and air fryer for one appliance, so I’d love to know your thoughts if you’ve already made the investment (you can leave your comments below).

It is a large appliance, so if you are looking to save space, don’t underestimate the real estate it will take up.

For now, I'm going to get back to testing, and hopefully convince my family that it's one to keep.

More from Tom's Guide

• I tested the Ninja Crispi for a week and it made me rethink everything I knew about air fryers
• The Ninja Creami makes it so easy to make ice cream, it’s dangerous
• Best microwaves in 2026

As I head into the holiday season, I’ll be hosting, cooking and needing everything to be as fast and as easy as possible. I want — nay, need — the Ninja CrushBOSS by my side. It’s the best blender I’ve ever used, and you’ll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

I’m impressed by the level of control you get with this blender, which has become my go-to for everything from meal prep to daily breakfast smoothies. It has exceptional blending performance that takes on the toughest ingredients. It’s very stable when blending at full speed, has a large capacity and is easy to clean.

What more do you want? You can find out more by reading my full Ninja CrushBOSS review.

Ninja CrushBOSS review: Specs

Ninja CrushBOSS review: Price & availability

The Ninja CrushBOSS is available to purchase from Amazon U.S. for $169 and from Amazon U.K. for £154. The blender comes in a variety of colors, including Midnight Blue & Gunmetal, Onyx, Emerald Green & Champagne, Stone & Gold, Mocha & Gold.

You can also buy the blender as part of a three-in-one bundle with a tumbler and food processor, as well as the large pitcher. This version of the blender will cost you $279 from Amazon U.S. and £239 from Amazon U.K. The additional blend cups are a good option for anyone who will be dealing with small quantities or using the blender for meal prep.

The Ninja Detect Power Pro is also around the same price at $179 and is incredibly powerful too. This blender comes with smaller blend cups and has similar controls, with a dial at the front and the same preset modes, but the CrushBOSS is just a little more powerful and costs less. Why would you spend more?

I recently tested the Nutribullet Power Core, which is priced at $99, and for $70 more, I can’t believe the step up in performance you can get with the CrushBOSS. If you can’t tell, I’m in awe of this blender.

For something with more control, such as the 10 variable speeds that come with the CrushBOSS, I would usually recommend something like the Vitamix Ascent X2. However, that will cost you $549, and you can’t justify paying that when the CrushBOSS is ripping through ice and creating the smoothest hummus I’ve ever seen with complete ease.

Ninja CrushBOSS review: Design

The Ninja CrushBOSS looks futuristic, but so are its capabilities. The blender is pretty tall, measuring 17.87 x 10.16 x 8.98 inches. I found it easy to move around since it only weighs four and a half pounds. The blade in the pitcher is tall, kind of like a tree with six blades.

The pitcher has handy measurements on the side so you can see how much liquid you’re adding to your smoothies and mixtures. The lid has a release button, and a handle pops up, making it easy to remove. The corner of the lid also lifts up to reveal a pour spout.

The motor base has suction cups on the bottom to keep the machine glued to the countertop, and trust me, this thing is not moving an inch. I even struggled to remove it when I was done, but that’s much better than having a blender that jumps around on your countertop.

Controls

The controls of the Ninja CrushBOSS are very easy to get to grips with. The blender has two small buttons for power and pulse at the top of the motor base and a large dial with an LED screen, which you twist to select the mode you want from the smart menu.

You can select prepIQ, which has presets for all sorts of meal prep, including mince, small chop and large chop. I liked having these settings because they gave me a lot of control, and more than I’d get from the pulse button. Smooth Sense uses smart sensing to determine how long the pitcher's contents need to be blended to become smooth, which I found most useful for frozen ingredients. You can also choose from 10 variable speeds if you want to be in control of the blending.

Ninja CrushBOSS review: Blending performance

To test out the blending performance of the Ninja CrushBOSS, I carried out my usual blender tests of smoothies, sorbet and hummus. This time I also added a quick chop side salad to test out the preset modes.

I was blown away by the blender. It’s so fast, and those blades are so sharp I’m convinced it could obliterate anything you throw at it. It made light work of completely frozen fruit and more tricky ingredients such as dates.

Smoothie

Firstly, I made a batch of tropical smoothie which consisted of frozen mango, peaches, pineapple and passionfruit, and I added two bananas and four dates with a splash of oat milk. I used the Smooth Sense setting, and this only took 90 seconds to fully blend and displayed a handy countdown on the screen.

As you can imagine, it tasted amazing, but I’m worried about how it felt. All of the fruit was completely broken down. Not a seed or pip in sight, and the dates were blended so small that they could easily move through a straw. It’s difficult to blend dates because of their sticky texture that gets stuck in the blades, but that wasn’t an issue for the CrushBOSS.

Sorbet

Next, I made sorbet using the Smooth Sense setting to see how well the blender copes with completely frozen ingredients and no liquid. It absolutely obliterated the mango. It was very impressive, and I’ve never seen a blender work so quickly before.

Even though I knew it wouldn’t hurt me since the lid was off, after what it did to the frozen mango, I was wary each time I reached my hand into the blender. In under two minutes, I had a smooth sorbet with no lumps or clumps.

Chop salad

To test out the chopping presets, I made a quick chopped salad to go on the side of meals. This included cucumber, red onion and tomato. I used the Small Chop setting, and the blender made light work of the ingredients.

It took less than 10 seconds to blend. It was pulsing, and in just 1, 2, 3, it was all done. An incredibly fast meal prep that I’ve been able to use to top my meals and add to wraps with minimal cleanup.

Hummus

Finally, I made a quick hummus. This included two tins of chickpeas, olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper. I decided to use the Custom Speed settings here, as making hummus requires more control, and went with speed 4.

This is the smoothest hummus I have ever made. I’m talking grocery-store-smooth. It was seriously impressive to watch, and since the blades climb the pitcher, no chickpeas were missed.

Ninja CrushBOSS review: Storage & maintenance

I found the Ninja CrushBOSS surprisingly easy to clean despite its large size. Everything except for the motor base is top rack dishwasher safe. This means that once you're done, you can throw it in the dishwasher and forget about it, making the cleanup process feel non-existent.

I opted to clean the pitcher by hand since it’s so big, and this was very easy to do. My only advice is that if you decide to clean the blades by hand too, you should be careful with your hands, as the blades are very, very sharp.

Ninja CrushBOSS review: Verdict

After some thorough testing and serious thinking, I don’t have a bad word to say about the Ninja CrushBOSS. In fact, I can’t think of anything negative about it at all.

It has an exceptional blending performance, making light work of tough ingredients like sticky dates and frozen fruit. The controls are also versatile, with variable speeds that give you the final say over your blends and presets that make prepping for cooking faster than ever. The suction on the bottom of the motor base makes it incredibly stable while blending, and the cleanup process is easy. It also helps to have a large 72-ounce capacity so I can make large quantities, but performance isn’t hindered even if you make small batches.

The CrushBOSS does everything a blender should do, does it exceptionally well, and won’t break the bank.

When it comes to toasters, I firmly believe in the old adage of ‘buy cheap, buy twice’, except for me it’s been a case of ‘buy cheap, buy six times’. I’ve had my fair share of cheap toasters, and they’ve mostly been utter crap. So I was pretty excited when KitchenAid offered me its Pro Line (or Artisan, here in the U.K.) toaster.

The KitchenAid Pro Line offers some impressive features to back up its enormous price tag. It boasts a premium design, promises even toasting, and packs a range of features like hands-free lowering/rising and an automatic keep warm mode.

Alas, it isn’t perfect. While it’s a good toaster, I wouldn’t say it toasts bread any better than a toaster half the price. And the included toasted sandwich cage kinda sucks.

Still, if you value ease of use and have some cash to spare, this has to be one of the best toasters out there.

KitchenAid Pro Line Toaster review: Price & availability

There’s no getting around it, the KitchenAid Pro Line is extremely pricey, at $299 for the two-slot toaster — the only model available in the States. Here in the U.K., the Pro Line is called the Artisan, with the two-slot model costing £269 and a four-slot model (unavailable in the U.S.), costing £399.

While pricey, the Pro Line is more or less on par with other premium toasters, namely the Dualit two-slice Classic, which costs $299. The KitchenAid Pro Line offers way more features than the Dualit Classic, so is the better option if you want reheating, auto up/down, and a bagel mode. In my experience, though, the Dualit Classic tends to toast more evenly, and unlike KitchenAid, Dualit offers the four-slice model Stateside — if those are priorities, it’s Dualit all the way.

The Pro Line is available in various colors: white, black, red and silver (which is essentially gray). In the U.K., the Artisan is available in a whopping 10 colors, including a rather fetching pistachio green. There’s also an “empire” red, ‘cos y’know… we are the British after all. Somewhat tone deaf naming there, KitchenAid.

KitchenAid Pro Line Toaster review: Design

The Pro Line is, in my opinion, absolutely beautiful, sporting a timeless art-deco design. It’s simultaneously stately yet understated, adding a touch of class to your counter but never drawing too much attention. Every time I notice it, I think “huh, now that is a pretty toaster.”

Size wise, the Pro Line is an absolute unit. The four-slice measures 12 x 13 x 9 inches and weighs 18.7lbs — it’s definitely one to be avoided if you’re short on space. The two-slice measures a slightly more manageable 7x 13 x 9 x inches and 12lbs, but it’s still large for a two-slice toaster. As you can see, neither is a featherweight either, and I genuinely had difficulty getting both out of their styrofoam packaging.

The upside to all this is that the Pro Line is built like a tank. There’s barely a hint of plastic in sight. Everything is essentially either enamel-clad steel or shiny chrome. I’m not sure I could break it even if I wanted to. This is a toaster to pass down to your grandkids.

KitchenAid Pro Line Toaster review: Performance

My favorite thing about the Pro Line is its array of automatic features and useful cooking modes. It has an automatic up/down mechanism that senses when food is in a slot and lowers/raises it accordingly, with a satisfying ping to let you know your toast has begun and ended. There’s not much use to this, although it’s a very smooth, steady mechanism, so avoids the classic ‘toast popping out and landing on the floor’ scenario.

Much more useful is the ‘keep warm’ setting. If the sensor detects that toast hasn’t been removed after cooking, the Pro Line will automatically lower it back down on a gentle heat to keep it warm. So no more spreading butter over cold toast if you happen to be busy or away from the toaster when it pops up. This will cook the toast ever so slightly, but I haven’t yet had burnt toast from a previously unburnt piece on account of keeping warm.

There’s a bagel mode, which is handy, only toasting one side of each bagel half, while only warming the top. You need to ensure you’ve got your bagel the correct way round, though, lest you cook the top and just warm the bread side. Thankfully there's a diagram on top of the toaster showing you which way to insert the bagel.

Naturally, there’s a defrost mode for heating frozen bread. And there’s a fourth mode which, confusingly, KitchenAid’s marketing images don’t show. On the promo shots, the toaster has a mode called “A little longer” to toast for a short time. On my two- and four-slice units, however, there’s a toasted sandwich setting instead. I guess the model online is an older version.

Anyway, the toasted sandwich setting is sucks, even using the sandwich cage — in all my tests, it simply burnt the outside of the bread while leaving innards cold and cheese unmelted.

I really like that the Pro Line’s slots are deliberately capacious, though, allowing you to toast lots of different bread styles and thicknesses. Often I struggle getting extra thick slices of bread into my parents’ Dualit Classic, but with the Pro Line I had no issues with super thick granary bread. I still had to cut flatter, longer sourdough slices in half, but that’s to be expected.

Finally, I love the toast setting slider. It's smooth, with no hard stops on each setting, so you can dial in your exact cooking time. And it features LED cooking lights, which count down to zero so you can see how long is left before your toast pops up — handy for time management when doing other stuff in the kitchen.

Toasting tests

Alas, the Pro Line’s core toasting performance was a little disappointing. Not awful, but for this much money, I want perfectly cooked toast. I ran my tests on the four-slice unit, at the middle setting of '4'.

With thinner slices of bread, the Pro Line cooked pretty evenly on both sides, with each slice of bread in each slot looking similarly toasted. As you can see, though, the toaster left the upper half and top corners less cooked. I'd expect to see less cooking at the top, as it's cooler near the opening. But there's quite a big discrepancy here with the upper section being undercooked cor my liking. These weren't tall slices of bread, either — the crusts were well and truly submerged into the toaster.

To see if this was just an issue with the elements not having time to heat up properly, solvable by longer cooks, I left two slices in the toaster until they burned — as a sort of stress test. As you can see below, the top elements will start to cook the upper areas of bread, but a corner still gets left undercooked in comparison.

With thicker slices of bread, I found the Pro Line always heated the sides unevenly, resulting in toast being perfect on one side and either under- of overcooked on the other, depending on the slots used. Slots 1-2 tended to undercook a side while slots 3-4 tended to burn a side. As you can see below, there was always a discrepancy between sides. Now, you want this for a bagel, but for normal toasted bread I wish the Pro Line cooked more evenly. The Dualit Classic is much better in this regard.

Time-wise, the Pro Line takes just over 2 mins to cook at the middle setting of 4. At the lowest setting of 1, it took just under 30 seconds and at the highest of 7 it took just under 2-minutes 45 seconds.

I wouldn’t say this is particularly quick, but it isn’t slow like those awful conveyor belt toasters you find at European hotels. The combined cooking and buttering time was about right for brewing and steeping a cup of tea to wash down my toast.

KitchenAid Pro Line Toaster review: Storage & maintenance

The Pro Line is very easy to keep clean externally. The sturdy, premium design and enamel finish don’t hold onto fingerprints and grime, and are easy to wipe down. I have the toaster positioned next to my stovetop, meaning it’s constantly getting sprayed with food and oil. My old toaster held onto this and its body needed degreasing regularly. The Pro Line’s enamel looks as good as new with a quick wipe.

Unfortunately, the crumb tray is a little laughable. It’s tiny and super shallow, meaning it gets full up very quickly and can be fiddly to remove if there are big crumbs in it. It’s also easy to spill crumbs when moving the tray from toaster to food waste.

KitchenAid Pro Line Toaster review: Verdict

The KitchenAid Pro Line (or Artisan in the U.K.) is a decent enough toaster. It’s styled and built beautifully, easy to clean and packs tons of useful features — the keep warm setting is a total gamechanger for those who perennially forget about their toast.

Holding the Pro Line back from our top scores are some major annoyances, though. It’s pricey, and for this money I’d expect evenly cooked toast on both sides. The crumb tray is also inexplicably small for a toaster this bulky. But if you value convenience and features over pure toasting performance, the Pro Line is still definitely one to shortlist.

There are more than 120 species of coffee plant, but only two dominate the market: arabica and robusta. Spend a few minutes perusing the coffee aisle in your local store, however, and you’ll observe that only one is worn as a badge of pride.

Many brands proudly proclaim their 100% arabica origin. By contrast, robusta is conspicuous by its absence; a term relegated to shadowy small print, if at all.

Let's dive into the differences and explain a little bit about this ongoing debate across the coffee community.

Is arabica inherently better than robusta?

Traditionally, the two were deemed to be yin and yang. Arabica became shorthand for fancy coffee. Robusta for the cheap stuff. Historically, that stuck — of the two species, arabica has always been considered to be the more refined option of the two.

But as the two names became a differentiator of quality, a vicious circle emerged: producers simply put less effort into the cultivation of robusta and so its tastier talents were never truly appreciated. It was mass-produced, quality control was low and the end product was relegated to jars of instant coffee — or blended with arabica beans to cut costs.

And it does taste different: whereas arabica can produce a wide spectrum of wonderfully sweet, floral and complex fruit flavours, robusta tends towards more intense flavours. Think huge, thick, smoky, dark chocolate nuttiness. But with the right soil, careful farming and judicious roasting, be in no doubt: it can be every bit as satisfying as a top-class arabica.

The reality is that growing great quality coffee takes time, care and effort – skimp on any of these factors, and any species of coffee will fail to reach its potential. And both species can taste terrible: work your way through that supermarket shelf and you’ll find bags of both arabica and robusta beans which, if the tasting notes were honest, would feature descriptors such as “bottom of the ashtray” or “soggy bonfire”.

Why is robusta becoming popular again?

Its name provides a clue. Discovered in the 1800s, it earned its name because of its resilience to both climate and pests. It’s a plant that also thrives at lower altitudes; a complete contrast to the mountain-loving arabica varieties. In today’s shifting climate, that explains why producers in some parts of the world are beginning to shift their crops to hardier robusta plants. They can grow in lower altitude fields that are easier to access, and the crops are less liable to fail when the weather goes bad — or when pests and fungus attack.

Naturally, the bulk of that crop still goes towards mass-produced blends and instant coffee. However, the steady increase in production means that an increasing number of artisanal coffee roasters are beginning to rehabilitate its reputation by producing coffees from the increased supply of high-quality robusta beans. You can identify these by looking for the terms Fine Robusta or Super Fine Robusta. These are the beans that have been selected for professional grading by the producers.

The process is rigorous. A certified grader from the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) inspects the green, unroasted beans for defects such as mould, stones or sour fruit — if it passes that stage, the beans are lightly roasted, brewed and taste-tested to a specific range of scored criteria. Depending on the final tally, the highest scoring beans will be designated as "Fine Robusta" — and the exceptional as "Super Fine Robusta". In short, if you see those terms on a bag, or featured in a roaster’s marketing spiel, you know you’re looking at the good stuff.

How do I find the best quality robusta coffee?

Ultimately, the key to buying good coffee is far less about species and much more about where you buy your coffee. In the main, that means abandoning your chain stores entirely. Seek out your local coffee roasters, or take your search online, and find the roasteries that take time and care to select great quality beans and roast them to perfection.

There’s a simple test: if a bag of coffee is inscribed with a roasting date, then it’s probably good coffee — and it means that the roaster cares enough about coffee to tell you exactly how fresh it is. If a packet has nothing more than a best before, then you best beware — as it means the producer doesn’t want to admit how stale it is. In all likelihood, it could be months old and well past its prime.

So don’t make that mistake: start every cup with coffee that’s been grown, graded and roasted with care, and you’re already on the path to a better-tasting cup. And if you like the idea of a big, creamy, chocolatey espresso-style kick, then add a good-quality robusta in your next order — you might be pleasantly surprised.

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There are certainly worse ways to test new bakeware than standing in a kitchen next to Nancy Silverton making her “life-changing” peanut butter cookies.

Yet that’s exactly how I got my first look at HexClad’s new Hybrid Bakeware collection. The $399 6-piece set, available as of October 1, is the brand’s first attempt at transferring the same stainless steel-meets-nonstick technology from its very recognizable frying pans to the oven.

The new 6-piece Hybrid Bakeware Set includes a 10 x 15-inch medium baking sheet, a 9 x 13-inch rectangular pan, an 8 x 8-inch square pan, two 9-inch round cake pans and a stainless steel cooling rack.

Look, this is not casual bakeware. And I am, at best, a casual baker. So I wanted to know whether HexClad’s hybrid construction actually makes a noticeable difference in the oven — and, more importantly, whether it feels worth the premium.

What makes HexClad bakeware different?

HexClad Bakeware uses the same general hybrid concept popularized by the brand’s high-heat pans, featuring stainless steel peaks sitting above nonstick valleys. (Although the bakeware has a medium-gray finish rather than the distinct darker surface used on HexClad’s cookware.)

As with the cookware, you can use metal baking tools directly on the surface without worrying about scratching the pan, but HexClad says they also lift food ever so slightly off the surface. The idea is that this creates a tiny amount of airflow underneath whatever you’re baking, helping heat circulate more evenly and reducing the chance of scorched bottoms.

The tri-ply construction also gives the pans a nice heft, while the curved handles are designed to be gripped more comfortably while wearing oven mitts. In other words, these do not feel like the flimsy sheet pans you accidentally bend and warp while pulling them out of a jam-packed kitchen cabinet.

And these pans can take some heat. They’re oven-safe up to 900°F, which is obviously far beyond anything you’d need for cookies, but does make them useful for everything from cakes to high-heat roasting and focaccia.

Putting HexClad Bakeware to the test with Nancy Silverton

A lot of the use-case suggestions came from Nancy Silverton during our demo session. The chef, baker, restaurateur and frequent Top Chef guest judge (which I only mention as it is my all-time favorite reality TV show) released her cookbook The Cookie That Changed My Life in 2023 inspired by the very peanut butter cookie we baked on HexClad's sheet pan.

The cookies came out evenly golden across the batch, including on the bottoms, with nicely baked edges and soft centers.

Although the taste is, quite arguably, life-changing, what impressed me even more was how easily they came off the pan. Cleanup was equally painless.

HexClad specifically said not to use PAM or other aerosol cooking sprays on its bakeware. Those sprays can build up a residue and compromise the nonstick performance. If you do need to grease the pan, HexClad said to use a stick with butter or a neutral oil instead.

Is HexClad bakeware worth $399?

There's no doubt that this is expensive bakeware. So if you bake twice a year and your current sheet pan is doing just fine, I don’t think you suddenly upgrade your gear.

But I can see the appeal for someone who bakes or entertains often and is tired of buying pans that warp, scratch or lose their nonstick coating with regular use. Furthermore, if I were making any kind of gift registry, I'd add this immediately.

The whole collection feels substantial and extremely well made, and the combination of easy release, metal-utensil compatibility and HexClad’s lifetime warranty gives it a much stronger longevity argument than your average nonstick baking set. After actually baking with it, I understand the appeal more than I expected to.

HexClad says it plans to expand the collection, too. There’s no Bundt pan on the roadmap right now, but personally, I think that needs to change.

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• I cooked every meal over an open fire for 2 days with Hexclad pans
• My honest verdict on HexClad pans after 3 years of use
• Cast iron versus carbon steel cookware: Everything you need to know

When will the obsession with hot bean juice end? Well, I hope it doesn't end. There's little I love more than making coffee — my years as a professional barista can attest to that. If there were an extra day in the week, I would, without a doubt, want to spend it behind the bar in an independent cafe.

But now I'm Tom's Guide's in-house coffee expert, meaning I've tested over 50 coffee makers, tried all the weird "hacks", and consumed enough cups of coffee to give even an elephant the caffeine shakes. Of course, I'm going to share all that knowledge with you, our readers and members, on International Coffee Day.

Ever wondered if the famed Moccamaster is worth the investment? What the difference between a light roast and a dark roast bean really is? If the best coffee grinder truly is the most important part of your coffee setup? How to get delicious, thick crema like all those TikToks? I'll answer all of that — and anything and everything else you might want to know — right here, right now.

I'll be here today (Oct 1) answering questions live until 12 pm ET, and I'll be back tomorrow (Oct 2) to answer everything else. You can submit questions any time until midnight on Oct 1 (ET).

You can ask anything you want: which espresso machines are actually worth it, the best camping coffee setup, what coffee jargon actually means, or even how to choose the right beans!

As a reminder, please keep all questions appropriate and on-topic. We want this to be a space where everyone feels safe and respected, regardless of whether you're a coffee expert or a total beginner.

If you've never commented on Tom's Guide before, then you may need to sign up to ask questions. Signing up is free and will unlock a multitude of Tom's Club member benefits, like rewards and savings, the ability to earn badges and enter giveaways, participate in popular conversations and all Live Q&As, and reveal hints for our quizzes and puzzles.

I can't wait to hear your questions.

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When we put the Copper Charlie induction stove to the test earlier this year, we were impressed by its innovative battery-powered tech that could represent the future of home appliances.

But, it turns out there's always room for improvement as the 'Classic Charlie' has a newer sibling that's just been released, simply called the 'New Charlie'.

There's some hefty upgrades to talk about, building on what Copper has already carved out in this futuristic cookery space. The most notable new feature is its ability to plug it into both 120-volt and 240-volt outlets, giving homeowners more flexibility; the Classic Charlie only works with 120-volt outlets.

And while that's certainly one of the best upgrades of the New Charlie, it's also not the only way its bringing the heat to kitchens. Here's what else you can expect from the New Charlie.

More heat, less waiting

The New Charlie's induction coils have also received an upgrade to 3000 Watts, up from 2800 Watts on the original stove. The broiler, too, is also more powerful: it's now 3000 Watts, up from 2700 Watts in the Classic Charlie.

As a result, the company says that the time to preheat to 350°F has been reduced from 4 minutes 30 seconds down to just 3 minutes 50 seconds.

Though the new model ships with the 120-volt plug, it can be replaced with a 240 VAC field-wireable attachment plug, if desired.

Like the Classic Charlie, the New Charlie still has the built-in battery, meaning it'll cook for you even if you're in a blackout.

Availability

While all of these new upgrades are impressive, it's worth bearing in mind the price. The Classic Charlie already came with an expensive price tag of $5,999 for the Inkwell Black Polymer design. And you'll see this bump up to $6,399 for the Black Walnut detailing.

For the New Charlie then, you're looking at a base rate of $6,799 at copperhome.com, jumping to $7,199 for the Black Walnut. That's $800 more for these powerful improvements.

It's a hard sell at this price, even with all its seriously impressive features, but if you're making the investment, Copper is bringing the heat.

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KitchenAid has long been synonymous with stand mixers, but it now faces stiff competition from an unexpected rival. Ooni, known primarily for its outdoor pizza ovens, is expanding into the baking market.

Following the launch of its second spiral mixer, Ooni is proving to be a serious contender for home bakers who enjoy crafting dough from scratch. Ooni’s Halo Pro spiral mixer already takes the top spot for bread making in our best stand mixer buying guide, but at $799 on Amazon it’s above most people’s budgets.

To address that issue, Ooni has released the Ooni Halo Core, with a smaller 4.8-quart capacity and a more favorable price point, although it’s still undoubtedly expensive at $599 on Amazon.

My verdict? If you make more dough than cakes and cookies, the Halo Core Spiral Mixer is a great buy. But if the majority of your bakes don’t require kneading, I'd stick with my favorite KitchenAid Artisan Plus, which just happens to be the same price.

Ooni Halo Core review: Price and availability

As already mentioned, the Halo Core Spiral Mixer is $599 at Amazon, where it’s available in Foundry Black. It’s also available for $599 at Williams Sonoma, where you’ll also find the Polar White version that I tested.

In the U.K., you can buy it directly for £499 at Ooni, and it’s also available for the same price at John Lewis and Lakeland.

Ooni Halo Core review: Unboxing and set up

The appliance arrives well packed, and along with the 4.8-quart bowl (with a proofing lid), you get a dough hook and beater bar, a double-edged silicone beater, and a dual-motor whisk, (I'll be sharing more on the attachments later). The cable also detaches, making it easy to store and keep out of the way when not in use.

Ooni’s stand mixers are a little different from the likes of KitchenAid, and while I like to think appliances are intuitive and I can use them without poring over the instruction booklet for hours, I didn’t take that risk with the Ooni Halo Core. Although my colleague has already tested the Halo Core’s big brother, I was going blind with its younger sibling. For this reason, I'd recommend downloading the Ooni app before you get started.

What makes Ooni’s spiral mixers different?

The Halo Core’s main attraction is its dough-making ability, which sets it apart from other stand mixers. Instead of a dough hook for kneading, it also includes a breaker bar. I’ve never used a stand mixer with a breaker bar before, and it’s not just a gimmick.

Beyond stopping the dough from climbing up the dough hook, the breaker bar creates a double-kneading action that builds stronger gluten strands, which Ooni says is essential for high-hydration pizza and bread dough.

Professional appliances have a permanently attached breaker bar, but Ooni’s can be removed so that you can use the appliance for other bakes, such as cakes and cookies.

You also need to know that the bowl doesn’t stay put. Traditional stand mixers work with an attachment around a fixed bowl, but with Ooni’s mixers, both the bowl and attachments rotate. It’s fun to watch! It's similar to how the Ankarsrum mixer works, with the base rotating above the attachments on its arm.

Ooni Halo Core review: Design

The Ooni Halo Core looks like it means business. It doesn’t come in any shiny colorways like other domestic mixers, including KitchenAid’s extensive offering and Smeg’s Retro stand mixer. Still, you can choose Polar White or Foundry Black. I think it has a contemporary look, although it might not be your first choice if you want a stand mixer that looks pretty on your countertop.

The Halo Core isn’t as large as the Halo Pro, but it can still handle anything from 1 lb to 5.5 lbs of dough (500g to 2.5kg) — the equivalent of two to ten 12-inch pizzas in a single batch.

Ooni Halo Core review: Ease of use

Apart from being the younger sibling, it’s also 25% smaller and 30% lighter than the Pro, and although it’s over 3 lbs lighter than Kitchen’s Artisan Plus, at 18 lbs it still feels hefty.

The mixer has a tilt-head design and locks in place, releasing with a lever on the right side. You’ll find the control button on top of the mixer, making it easy to use whether you’re right- or left-handed. The 20 speed settings aren't marked in numbers; instead, an interface lights up around the control dial at 10% increments.

To pause the machine, tap the control button; there’s no need to go back through the settings to zero. It’s an excellent feature if you want to pause your mix partway through, and then you can press the control dial again, and it will resume where it left off. I love this feature.

Unlike other mixers I’ve tested, the splash guard attaches neatly to the mixer, not the bowl, so when you lift the mixer’s head, you don’t need to remove the cover to get a clear view into the bowl. It also has a small space to pour in liquid, and when using the dough hook and beater bar, the liquid goes straight to the bar — to the heart of the mix.

Plus, you always get a clear view of what’s happening inside the bowl, with two LED lights positioned on either side of where the beater bar attaches to the mixer.

The attachments feel premium and heavyweight, with the dough hook and breaker bar used together, plus an angled silicone-edged beater designed to work deep in the bowl for a better mix while scraping ingredients off the side. It also includes a dual-motor whisk with an integrated gearbox to increase mixing speed for rapid, high-performance whipping.

Ooni Halo Core review: Performance

Cake

I used an all-in-one lemon cake recipe, and after attaching the flat beater, I added all the ingredients to the bowl. I used softened butter, but in hindsight, I would have softened it more. Unlike the KitchenAid stand mixers I’ve tested, the Ooni Halo Core struggled to beat in the butter. Even at 100% power, I found small bits of unblended butter in the mix, though from a distance it looked perfect. In fact, I found a large clump of butter left on the beater.

I have since used the mixer again to make cake, and I softened the butter even further to help it incorporate into the mix. But be warned, I didn’t find its performance quite up to the standard of a KitchenAid for cake batters.

However, the splash guard worked perfectly and stopped any mixture from dispersing from the bowl, and even on full power the mixer stayed steady on my countertop.

Whisking

Making butter

I usually test a mixer’s whisk by whipping heavy cream or whisking egg whites, but following my colleague who tested the Ooni Halo Pro, I made butter. I’ve never had a reason to make butter before, and if you haven’t either, I’d recommend giving it a go. It’s fun to try, and the results were tasty.

I added 10fl. oz. (300ml) of heavy cream to the bowl with a pinch of sea salt, attached the splashguard and set the speed to 50%. After a short while, I gradually increased the speed to full power, at which point it measured 74 dB, although the appliance wasn’t under any strain.

As soon as the cream started to look like overcooked scrambled eggs, I could see the buttermilk separating from the fat — it happens quickly! So beware: keep the splashguard in place instead of lifting the flap to peek inside.

Once I was happy with how the buttermilk had separated, I strained away the liquid (I saved it for pancakes), squeezed the butter and ran it under cold water to remove any remaining buttermilk. I then shaped it and placed it on some baking parchment in a butter dish.

Bread dough

I started by making an easy white loaf in the Halo Core. It’s a standard recipe I turn to that uses 1.1 lb (500g) of strong white flour, and olive oil as the fat.

I attached the dough hook and the breaker bar. The breaker bar slides into place and needs to be tightened with a nut — this is slightly different from the other attachments, which are simply locked in place by twisting. I also attached the splash guard.

I added the dry ingredients to the bowl, started the mixer on low speed, and then poured in the liquid through the slot in the guard. You’ll see that the liquid is directed straight to the breaker bar.

I noticed it was taking a little while for the ingredients to pull in from the square edge of the bowl, so I increased the speed to 50% to help the remaining flour incorporate. With KitchenAid mixers, the bowls are narrower at the bottom, so there is less chance of dry ingredients getting stuck around the edges.

I set a timer for 10 minutes and left the dough hook and breaker bar to work the dough to form strong gluten strands. During the kneading phase I noticed how well the mixer handled the tough job; it didn't appear overworked and remained steady on my countertop, as it had done previously.

Once the kneading was complete, I removed the dough, which looked soft and smooth, knocked it back and waited for it to double in size. I then knocked it back again, shaped it into a round loaf, and placed it on a baking tray, leaving it to prove for an hour before baking.

The finished loaf had a lovely flavor with a light texture. In fact, my husband didn’t realize it was homemade, and he was even more surprised when we enjoyed it spread with homemade butter.

Pizza dough

Ooni is known for its pizza ovens, so I wasn’t going to get away without making pizza dough in the Ooni Halo Core. I’d already discovered how good it is at making bread, so I expected to impress my family with homemade pizza and a perfect crust.

I used a New York-style pizza dough recipe using 1.5 lbs (638 g) of flour, using a mix of 00 and bread flour. I set the speed to 20% and watched the ingredients come together as I slowly added the liquid. I kept the mixer on for 10 minutes, then removed it for cold proofing overnight in the fridge.

I loved watching the dough hook and breaker bar form an attractive pattern as it kneaded.

I could clearly see how the dough was developing, and then, two hours before baking, I removed it from the fridge to allow it to come back to room temperature. After that, I stretched out the dough and covered it with my favorite toppings.

I’m not the best at shaping pizza — I obviously need more practice — but the dough formed a beautiful crust.

Ooni Halo Core review: Verdict

The Ooni Halo Core spiral mixer is a real powerhouse when it comes to making dough — whether you want to make homemade pies or bake bread. The breaker bar is a real genius at double kneading and stopping the dough from climbing up the dough hook, destabilizing the mixer. Plus, it’s much more affordable than the Ooni Halo Pro and brings professional mastery into domestic kitchens.

I’m not convinced it’s as good as other stand mixers for making cake batters, particularly when dealing with butter, but if you make more dough than cakes and cookies, the Halo Core is a good choice. However, if you’re serious about sweet treats and only occasionally need extra power to knead dough, I’d stick with a KitchenAid.

There’s no doubt that it’s a premium appliance — if I had my choice I hold onto my KitchenAid Artisan Plus for cakes and use the Ooni Halo Core for breads.

Caraway is well-known for its iconic non-toxic cookware, bakeware, utensils and even trash cans. But, what it's not so well-known for is its coffee makers. Why? Well, because it's never made one before. Until now.

And while that's big news in itself, what's really special about Caraway's first-ever entry into a busy coffee maker world is that it's taking its non-toxic ethos and planting it firmly into the brewing process.

In fact, the Caraway 10-Cup Coffee Maker has eliminated plastic from the brew path altogether.

Using a 'first-of-its-kind Clean Brew System', this coffee maker uses stainless steel and glass, meaning your coffee is brewed entirely plastic-free.

For a drip coffee maker, that's a pretty big deal, unless you're planning to brew it all manually (which I'm certainly not).

Why I'll be picking one up

It's hard to ask for a coffee maker that's entirely plastic-free when the market is saturated with options that use plastics for internal components.

But everything in Caraway's coffee maker is focused on eliminating their use.

From the water path, shower head, brew basket, and even the reusable coffee filter, each part of the brewing process is made from stainless steel – and it all leads to a durable glass carafe for a cleaner-tasting cup all the way from brew to pour.

It's clear Caraway has really focused in on this plastic-free innovation (and I heard it has spent 5 years doing just that), but plenty of thought has also gone into its design.

I'm a huge fan of the clean lines and minimalist, yet stylish design of Caraway's cookware. Seeing this translated into a coffee maker is a dreamy countertop addition.

Plus, it's available in four colors; Cream, Midnight, Stone, and Clay, which all integrate nicely with the rest of Caraway's range, in keeping with its iconic muted palette.

And, there are plenty more features to enjoy with the 10-Cup Coffee Maker, including precise temperature control, the ability to brew 2-10 cups, a keep-warm function for up to 90 minutes, and a lovely compact and quiet footprint.

It also includes a built-in cleaning and descaling cycle, plus dishwasher-safe removable components. Coffee lovers may be intrigued by the one-dial control, too, that switches between brewing and cleaning.

If you're looking for a more detailed and in-depth coffee brewing system, there's no big screen with options here. But for me, that's not a deal-breaker.

Availability

Caraway's 10-Cup Coffee Maker is now available to buy exclusively for $495 at CarawayHome.com and Crate & Barrel stores and online. Caraway states that shipping commences 10/30, though "quantities are limited".

Whether it makes its way into our best coffee makers, we'll have to wait until we get our hands on one for a full review.

More from Tom's Guide

• 7 ways to create a barista-style coffee bar in your kitchen
• Coffee doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby — here’s my 5 favorite cheap accessories
• How to make coffee without a coffee maker — 5 easy techniques

The new De’Longhi Magnifica Duo goes where only a few automatic coffee machines have gone before: below $1,000. Yes, this superautomatic machine with hot and cold milk carafes is less than a grand. By 5 cents, sure, but still under a grand.

Even though $999.95 is still an objectively large amount of money, especially in 2026, it’s actually pretty affordable for an automatic coffee machine. Other De’Longhi models go for up to $2,500 (coughElettaExplorecough) with, honestly, not that much difference in performance.

So, is the Magnifica Duo one of the best espresso machines in 2026? It depends on what you’re after. Want something that can make you a fresh, hot (or cold) beverage in seconds without you lifting a finger? Then it’s definitely a contender. To find out more, keep reading this De’Longhi Magnifica Duo review.

De'Longhi Magnifica Duo review: Specs

De'Longhi Magnifica Duo review: Price & availability

The De’Longhi Magnifica Duo is $999 from Amazon U.S. and £699 from Amazon U.K. While this is a lot to swallow, most other automatic espresso machines will set you back almost double that. For example, the De’Longhi PrimaDonna Aromatic, the KitchenAid KF8, or the De’Longhi Eletta Explore, which are $2,500, $2,000, and $2,000, respectively.

If you want to save as much money as possible but still want an automatic machine, the Magnifica Duo would be your best bet. The De’Longhi Magnifica Evo is $100 cheaper, but it can’t make iced drinks. I’ve also tested the De’Longhi Rivelia, which is still my favorite automatic espresso machine, but it’s a little pricier at $1,499.

For an automatic espresso machine capable of brewing hot and cold drinks, the Magnifica Duo is actually reasonably priced. I hate writing that about a machine three times the price of my first car, but it is what it is.

De'Longhi Magnifica Duo review: Design

Just like other De’Longhi automatic espresso machines, the Magnifica Duo is effectively a huge metal/plastic box. This one is particularly massive, too. It’s almost 18 inches deep and 14 inches tall, so ensure you have enough space in your kitchen before purchasing. I test a lot of espresso machines, and my first thought upon unboxing was, “Wow. That’s huge.”

In terms of looks, it’s also average. The brushed silver exterior is a pretty nice touch, and there’s a well-lit LED screen on the top. I do wish the machine was either less plasticky or smaller, though. As it’s so large, your eye is automatically drawn to it. Then all you can do is notice the plastic embellishments.

If you value looks over cost-effectiveness, I’d recommend checking out the aforementioned De’Longhi Rivelia, which comes in an array of pretty colors and is a touch smaller. It’s around six inches shallower than the Magnifica Duo, but the same height and width. Even so, every little helps, and in the grand scheme of things, the Rivelia is still smaller.

Now, the LED screen. Like the De’Longhi Rivelia and the De’Longhi PrimaDonna Aromatic, the Magnifica Duo has a nice little LED screen for selecting drinks, maintenance, and everything in between. While it’s smaller and a little less detailed than the PrimaDonna Aromatic’s, you are saving $1,500, so I really can’t complain. The Magnifica Duo’s screen still manages everything you’d want it to: 20-drink selection, customization, and even walks you through tutorials if necessary.

De'Longhi Magnifica Duo review: Espresso

As mentioned earlier, the De’Longhi Magnifica Duo makes a whopping twenty drinks. This includes hot and cold beverages: you can make a flat white or iced cappuccino in one click. Just like other De’Longhi automatics, the Magnifica Duo is incredibly easy to use. You only need to press one button for a super speedy drink.

However, it’s not all perfect. Like other De’Longhi automatic machines, there’s no low water warning. This means the machine will sputter out halfway through making a coffee, leaving you with a half-full mug or simply abandoning the espresso extraction altogether. Yes, this wastes beans.

What I’d like to see is for the machine to warn you before making a beverage. If this machine knows its water is below the minimum amount, why does it let you proceed with making a coffee?

Alright, now let’s get into the most important thing: taste. How does the De’Longhi Magnifica Duo actually taste?

Well, like every other automatic machine. Unfortunately, there’s really no distinction between this machine, the Rivelia, the PrimaDonna Aromatic (the list goes on). Some people will love the taste-versus-ease tradeoff; some would rather have more power over their final brew.

As an automatic machine, the Magnifica Duo uses relatively high pump pressure (15 bar) and dual-walled (pressurized) portafilters, so you’re not going to get as much nuance or complexity as you would with a manual machine. This isn’t a Magnifica Duo issue, but an inherent flaw with this kind of coffee machine. Is it for you? I can’t tell you. It’s not really for me, but I have a Breville Bambino Plus and a hand grinder, the Comandante C40 MK4.

Here’s a shot of espresso brewed on the Magnifica Duo.

As you can see, it’s a little pale, and the crema is relatively aerated. Again, this won’t impress coffee nerds, but it’s decent for how little effort it required. This shot tasted quite acidic, but not bitter at all. As stated earlier, automatic machines naturally remove most nuanced and delicate flavors due to the pressurized extraction process, so this shot didn’t taste as it would on, say, a De’Longhi La Specialista Maestro.

My colleague Harry said the coffee tasted a little weak, but it wasn’t bitter or unpleasant. However, my colleague Nikita couldn’t taste the coffee at all. I thought my oat flat white was acceptable, with a delicate coffee flavor and good milk texture, but it didn’t do the $50 coffee beans any favors.

The Magnifica Duo can also make iced drinks, so of course I made a cold brew. Here’s a photo of said cold brew.

This cold brew was… interesting. In a bad way. It tasted overly acidic and weak simultaneously. I wouldn’t recommend using the cold brew setting at all. The rest of the cold drinks from this machine are decent, though.

De'Longhi Magnifica Duo review: Milk

One of the best things about the De’Longhi Magnifica Duo is milk texture. The machine comes with both hot and cold milk carafes: De’Longhi’s LatteCrema and LatteCrema Cool. Both milk systems create gorgeous milk texture, with delicate bubbles or smooth micro(ish)foam. Sure, this doesn’t replicate a skilled barista, but that’s not the point of this machine.

Here’s a close-up of a flat white made on the Magnifica Duo.

As you can see, the bubbles are controlled and smooth. My colleague Harry said the dairy texture was “nice and creamy”. I thought the plant-based milk was also great; soft yet dense, like perfectly whipped egg whites (gross image, but you get the gist).

The LatteCrema Cool also makes a gorgeous milk texture. Here’s a photo of a cold brew latte.

As you can see, the texture strikes the balance between cold foam and plain milk really well. The drink is layered beautifully without an overwhelming amount of froth.

De'Longhi Magnifica Duo review: Storage & maintenance

As mentioned above, the Magnifica Duo is large. Please make sure there’s enough space in your kitchen before buying; it’s one of the deepest machines I’ve ever tested.

Thankfully, both milk carafes are dishwasher-safe and force-purge after every use. This is great for easy, mindless cleaning. The machine also comes with a water filter and cleaning tablets — replacements are $20 from De’Longhi and $15 from De’Longhi, respectively — and walks you through cleaning cycles when required.

De’Longhi offers a two-year warranty as standard, which is the same as Ninja and Breville and better than Casabrews’s measly one-year. Even so, none of these brands can match SimplyGoodCoffee or Moccamaster — both give you a five-year warranty by default.

De'Longhi Magnifica Duo review: Verdict

The De’Longhi Magnifica Duo is a decent automatic coffee machine. Is it revolutionary? No. Does it make award-winning coffee? No. Is it supremely easy to use? Yes. Does it make coffee in seconds, with zero input from you? Also, yes.

At $999, this is on the cheaper end of automatic coffee machines (yeouch), so I’d recommend it over the De’Longhi Eletta Explore or De’Longhi PrimaDonna Aromatic. If you can part with a little extra, though, I’d go for the De’Longhi Rivelia as it looks prettier, takes up less space (and can also make cold drinks with an extra $129 purchase).

As far as automatic coffee machines go, the Magnifica Duo is relatively affordable. It’s not life-changing, but if you want a decent amount of bang for a (somewhat) lower amount of buck, I’d go for it.

When Ooni announced the new Halo Core spiral mixer, one thought immediately crossed my mind: KitchenAid is in for some serious competition.

Available for $599 at Amazon, it hits the exact price as the iconic KitchenAid Artisan Plus, but offers a more compact and home-kitchen-friendly footprint than the high-end Ooni Halo Pro spiral mixer — currently our top pick for bread making in our best standing mixer buying guide.

While $599 is still a real investment, the Halo Core feels far more accessible than the Ooni Halo Pro, which is $799 at Amazon, plus it won't take up as much countertop space in your kitchen.

I’ve been putting the Halo Core through its paces, and there’s a lot to like. I’ll follow up with a full review in a couple of weeks, but for now, here are three things I loved and one thing you should know.

Ooni Halo Core spiral mixer: What I like

1. Perfect dough

The Halo Core spiral mixer, like its older sibling, is designed specifically for bread making. Instead of the planetary stand mixers home bakers are used to, Ooni’s design brings professional-grade spiral mixing into our kitchens.

How does it work? The dough hook and bowl rotate around a breaker bar — a stationary vertical metal rod that sits in the mixing bowl. Although watching the rotating bowl is fun to watch, it’s not a gimmick.

The breaker bar removes dough from the hook as it spins during mixing, preventing it from climbing up the dough hook and stopping you from pausing the mix to remove the dough. It also stretches the dough for a stronger gluten structure.

I’ve been experimenting with making bread and pizza dough, and although the pizza dough is currently proving in my kitchen, the bread tasted exceptional. In fact, my husband didn’t realize it was homemade.

I also found that the kneading process was smooth. The usual mixers I test move around my countertop when the dough hook is in action, and it almost seems like too much for the appliance’s motor. There was a clear difference when using the Ooni Halo Core. The mixer stayed steady, and there was no hint of any electric smell or the motor burning out.

2. Pause and go again

The controls of the Halo Core work differently from any stand mixer I’ve previously tested, but in a good way. The control knob is positioned on top of the appliance, so it’s easy to access whether you’re right- or left-handed. What’s more, it works in percentages, with 20 speeds. Turn it clockwise once for 5% at 60 rpm, and turn it up to 100% for 300 rpm.

The control lights up in sections, so you can clearly see which speed setting you're on. This is quite clever in itself, but what impressed me more was that you can simply press the knob and the appliance will pause. Press it again, and it will start from where it left off. It may seem like a small thing, but I found it took away the hassle of turning down the speed when you want to pause the mix.

3. Double whisk

I’ve never made butter before, but since my colleague made butter with the Halo Pro, I followed suit. I started by attaching the dual-geared whisk attachment — it even has a built-in gearbox for rapid whipping!

The whisk really came into its own, whipping the heavy cream into what looked like scrambled eggs until the fat and buttermilk separated. Apart from the speed, it’s fascinating to watch, and if you’ve never made butter before, I recommend giving it a go.

The whisk attachment proved that the Halo Core isn’t just good at making dough; it has a firm place in the kitchen for other baking tasks.

Ooni Halo Core spiral mixer: What I don't like

It wasn't great at mixing cake batter

After the whisk's success, I was excited to try the angled silicone-edge beater to make an all-in-one cake batter. I love the silicone beater I’ve used with the KitchenAid Artisan Plus, as it swipes around the edge of the bowl, incorporating the whole mixture — so you don’t need to stop midway through to scrape the ingredients off the side.

The Halo Core did the same, but it seemed to struggle to incorporate the butter into the mixture, even though it was soft when I added it to the bowl. Then, when I raised the mixer’s head, I noticed a large clump of butter was still attached to the beater.

I’m going to keep testing its cake-making ability, since other reviews have given it more positive results. So keep an eye out for my full Ooni Halo Core review.

Over to you

Are you thinking about buying an Ooni mixer, or have you already invested in one? I’d love to read your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

More from Tom's Guide

• KitchenAid vs Cuisinart: Which stand mixer is best?
• Smeg’s newest retro stand mixer gives KitchenAid a run for its money — here’s why it won me over
• I tested Ooni's new Rotating Stone — and it's your ticket to perfect pizza at home

Summer brings backyard barbecues, farmers market hauls and refrigerators packed with everything from fresh produce to leftover cookout essentials. But while most people know milk belongs in the fridge and ice cream belongs in the freezer, many seasonal foods fall into a gray area.

Should tomatoes be refrigerated? Does bread stay fresher in the fridge or freezer? And how long can leftover hot dogs really last?

We all know that proper food storage can help ingredients stay fresh longer, reduce waste, and make meal planning easier. Yet crowded refrigerators, forgotten leftovers and misplaced ingredients remain a common challenge, especially at the hottest time of the year.

Here's a practical guide to where some of summer's most popular foods should actually be stored — and how Bespoke AI Refrigerator Family Hub’s smart technology can help keep track of what you have before they are forgotten.¹

Foods that belong in the refrigerator

When temperatures climb, the refrigerator becomes the most important food storage zone in the kitchen. While some items are obvious candidates, others may surprise you.

Cut watermelon

An uncut watermelon can stay at room temperature, but once sliced, it should be refrigerated immediately. Leaving cut watermelon out for extended periods can encourage bacterial growth and affect both texture and flavor.

Store slices in a sealed container or tightly wrapped on a shelf rather than in the refrigerator door, where the contents are exposed to outside temperature more frequently.

Fresh corn on the cob

One of summer's most popular vegetables is often stored incorrectly. Fresh corn starts losing sweetness shortly after harvest, and refrigeration helps slow that process.

For its flavor, keep corn in the refrigerator’s Crisper+ Drawer and cook it within a few days of purchase. And don’t forget, it should only be husked just before cooking, so it should go into the fridge in its natural case. Storing it at room temperature may cause sugars to convert to starch more quickly, and husking it before storage will lead to that same conversion of sugars to starch, as well as rapid moisture loss and oxidation.

Barbecue ribs and cooked leftovers

Whether it's burgers, grilled chicken or ribs, cooked foods should be refrigerated within two hours of serving — and even sooner during extreme heat.

Leftovers often get pushed to the back of crowded shelves and forgotten. That's where organization becomes important. With Samsung Family Hub’s latest update, AI Vision² technology can identify and track many packaged foods and labeled containers placed inside compatible refrigerators, helping households see what's available and reducing the chances of leftovers being overlooked until it's too late.

Open condiments and sauces

Barbecue sauce, mayonnaise-based dressings and many opened condiment containers belong in the refrigerator after opening. During cookout season, these items are often moved in and out of coolers and outdoor tables, making proper storage even more important.

For households juggling tens of bottles and jars, the updated AI Food Manager’s food list can be a game changer, since it helps prevent duplicate purchases and unnecessary waste.

Berries

Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries should be refrigerated soon after purchase. Summer berries are particularly delicate and can spoil quickly on the countertop.

To extend freshness, wait to wash berries until you're ready to eat them. Excess moisture can accelerate spoilage.

Eggs

Although eggs are displayed unrefrigerated in some countries, they should remain refrigerated in the United States. Consistent cold temperatures help maintain freshness, so, contrary to popular belief, they should be stored on a shelf inside the refrigerator, not in the door.

Foods that belong in the freezer

The freezer can do more than store ice cream and frozen vegetables. It can also help extend the life of foods that might otherwise go unused.

Bread

Many people automatically refrigerate bread, but that can actually make it stale faster.

If you plan to eat a loaf within a few days, keep it at room temperature. If not, freeze it. Bread freezes well and can be thawed slice by slice as needed.

Avocados

If you've ever watched an avocado go from perfectly ripe to overripe in what feels like a day, the freezer can help. Ripe avocados freeze surprisingly well and can be stored as halves, slices or mashed.

While they won't keep the same texture for salads or toast after thawing, they're ideal for smoothies, guacamole and baking.

Excess herbs

Fresh herbs such as basil, parsley and cilantro can spoil quickly. Freezing chopped herbs in ice cube trays with a small amount of water or olive oil creates ready-to-use portions for future meals.

Foods that should stay at room temperature

Not everything benefits from refrigeration. In fact, some foods lose flavor or texture when stored too cold.

Tomatoes

This is one of the most common storage mistakes.

Refrigeration can make tomatoes mealy and dull their flavor. Whole tomatoes are generally best kept on the countertop and away from direct sunlight until ripe and ready to eat.

Once cut, however, they should be refrigerated.

Peaches, nectarines and plums

Stone fruits continue ripening after purchase. Refrigerating them too early can slow that process and affect texture.

Leave them on the counter until ripe, then move them to the refrigerator if you need a few extra days before eating them.

Onions

Whole onions prefer a cool, dry and well-ventilated location rather than the refrigerator. Moisture can encourage spoilage and soften texture.

Just don't store them directly next to potatoes, which can shorten their shelf life.

A smarter way to manage summer food storage

Knowing where foods belong is the first step toward keeping them fresher longer. The second is staying aware of what you already have.

As refrigerators fill up with produce, leftovers and barbecue essentials throughout the summer, it's easy for items to get lost or forgotten. As shown in the clips above, Samsung's upgraded AI Vision technology helps simplify food management by broadening its spectrum of recognized items – like your favorite breakfast jam and labeled food container with your leftovers – making it easier to keep track of ingredients and reduce unnecessary waste.

Learn more about Samsung’s Bespoke AI Refrigerator Family Hub here.

¹ Features and availability may vary by model and market.² A Wi-Fi connection and a Samsung account are required. If a food item is not recognizable, it may be listed as an unknown item. AI Vision cannot identify or list any food items in the freezer. Recognition uses AI models that may be updated periodically to help improve performance. The user may need to manually check and adjust the list to ensure its accuracy.

Le Creuset is an iconic kitchen brand. Star Trek is an iconic franchise. And what happens when you take two icons, put them in a bowl and mix them together? Well, a 12-piece kitchenware collection that'll turn your kitchen into a culinary command center.

To celebrate 60 years of "Star Trek", the cookware brand has lovingly crafted a limited-edition collection for fans of the franchise. Or, maybe you're just a fan of Spock (don't worry, there's a mug for that).

Christopher Scinto, Chief Marketing Officer at Le Creuset says: "With the Le Creuset x Star Trek Collection, we set out to commemorate some of the franchise's most beloved symbols with our signature craftsmanship and iconic colors and designs."

While there's 12 pieces in the collection that you can check out for a limited time only at Le Creuset stores, LeCreuset.com, and Williams-Sonoma.com, I've highlighted my five top picks below.

What's in my basket

The full Le Creuset x "Star Trek" collection ranges from $35 to $500, but with 12 items there's hopefully something for every price range. Before we jump into my basket, I want to give a special mention to the Mini Cocottes for Balok, Gorn and Talosian. While they're not in my basket right now, they're certainly worth checking out if you're a fan.

• 'Revolutionary for homemade bread': Why I can't wait to try Le Creuset's new oval bread oven
• Cast iron skillet vs Dutch oven — which is better?
• What is a Dutch oven — everything you need to know about this kitchen essential

As the joyful caregiver for an 18-pound Long-haired Chihuahua-Dachshund-Miniature Pinscher mix, I know a thing or two about dirty floors. Belvedere, mensch that he is, sheds like a madman. He’s also known to be a bit messy when it comes to wolfing down delicacies like raspberries, his favorite treat.

As a result, my partner and I spend countless hours a week vacuuming and swiffering to keep the dog-hair tumbleweeds and sticky floors to a minimum. If only there were a robot that could actually handle cleaning up after my all-time best pal.

Enter: The Ecovacs Deebot X12S OmniCycle.

1. It’s a high-power vacuum and wet mop in one

I just got my hands on the new Ecovacs Deebot X12S OmniCycle robot vacuum at the IFA show in Berlin, and dear readers, I am floored (some pun intended) by all its features and specs.

It’s been nearly a decade since I seriously considered purchasing a robot vacuum to assist around the house, and now I’m questioning why; they've really come a long way!

Make no mistake: the Deebot X12S OmniCycle is Ecovacs’ creme de la creme of consumer robot vacuums, but it’s honestly so much more than that. Sure, it’s got enough power to suck a bad joke right out of the air (or 27,000 Pa of suction), but it’s also a full-blown, automated wet mop with automatic spray action.

Translation: the grime on your hardwood floors and carpets stands no chance against this bad boy. For sticky messes, built-in sprayers soak down the gunk, while a plush, wet/dry roller underneath soaks up all the nastiness, leaving a floor so shiny, you’ll be seeing your own reflection.

2. Auto-cleaning eliminates the ‘yuck’ factor

But wait, a robot vacuum that doubles as a robot mop must require all sorts of regular maintenance? No, sir. Ecovacs sells a couple of different docks for the X12S, but all of them feature a thorough auto-clean function that uses pressure washing to thoroughly sanitize the robot’s roller and other mopping components.

3. Rapid-charging limits cleaning downtime

Need a lot of rooms cleaned? No problem. The Ecovacs Deebot X12S OmniCycle supports rapid charging while docked. So, in the five or so minutes it takes to run the mop auto-clean function, your robot vac is also topping up the battery to power ahead cleaning the next room.

Moreover, thanks to rapid charging, the Ecovacs Deebot X12S OmniCycle sports a less bulky battery than the robot vacuums of yore, while also being able to clean more rooms back-to-back.

4. Extra attention for edges and baseboards

I’m a bit of a neat freak, and scuzzy baseboards are my Achilles' heel. Fortunately, the Ecovacs Deebot X12S OmniCycle is designed to pay particular attention to baseboards and floor/carpet edges. But how? An admittedly cute yet highly effective little sweeper arm uses onboard sensors to determine where the floor ends and then scoops any/all debris into the robot’s suction mouth as it makes its rounds.

Will the Ecovacs Deebot X12S be Belvedere-approved?

Ultimately, there’s only one way to know for sure whether or not Ecovacs' latest 2-in-1 robot vacuum will actually be up to the task of tidying up after my rambunctious lil furry monster.

With that in mind, stay tuned for my full Ecovacs Deebot X12S review, coming soon.

More from Tom's Guide

• I just went hands-on with the new Circular Ring 3 — and it beats the Oura Ring 5 in 3 big ways
• Forget robot vacuums — Ecovacs' most exciting product at CES 2026 was its upcoming AI-powered pet companion
• 'Cleaning up after my pet has never been easier': I just tested this sub-$200 robot vacuum that's perfect for beginners

As a self-confessed coffee snob and director of Tom's Guide's The Coffee Lab, I'm always testing out new espresso products. At IFA 2026, I tried nunc., an AI-assisted espresso machine. Yes, an AI espresso machine.

So what does the AI in nunc. actually do? Instead of having to manually dial in your beans, nunc. uses an NFC code to analyze pre-packaged, nunc.-branded beans (you can also use your own beans). Then, the machine analyzes humidity, heat, bean size, and basically every other variable to grind to the perfect particle size. As someone who loves espresso but hates dialing in (why does it take so long sometimes?), I was excited to try this out. But as someone skeptical of AI at best, I had my reservations.

I didn't want nunc. to take away the art of making coffee. That's so human and personalized that it's impossible for AI to copy. Luckily, though, nunc. proved me wrong. Here's what happened when I tried it.

How does nunc. work?

As I mentioned above, every nunc.-branded bean hopper has an NFC code, exactly like a Nespresso Vertuo pod. The machine reads this NFC code to analyze the roast date, roast type, bean type, and processing type, and work out precisely how to grind those specific beans. Then, it analyzes the environment — heat, humidity — to finalize the optimal grind.

This means the grind size will change from morning to evening, or even hour to hour. If you have an espresso at 6 a.m., when the air in your house is dewy and humid, the grind size will be different from your 1 p.m. espresso, sun shining overhead, A/C running.

Of course, if you have the companion app, you can input information about any beans.

How is nunc. different from a normal espresso machine?

In terms of functionality, nunc. works just like any other espresso machine. Think about it like this: it's almost like a superautomatic — Jura, De'Longhi Rivelia — but a totally manual machine. All it does for you is choose the ideal grind size. Honestly, dialling in beans is the worst part of espresso making for me, so I'm completely on board.

You tamp, insert the portafilter into the grouphead, and can pre-infuse the beans yourself. You can either steam the milk automatically (like the Breville Bambino Plus), or do it manually (any other manual espresso machine).

You dispose of the spent grounds yourself; you empty the drip tray yourself. The only part that is "AI" is the grinder.

How does nunc.'s "AI" coffee taste?

nunc. doesn't make "different" coffee. You won't have one sip and go, "Woah, I can totally taste the AI, dude!" It honestly tastes like a human barista was there every step of the way... because there was. You make the coffee.

Here's a shot of my oat flat white.

It looks like a normal coffee. The taste was clean, polished, with a soft, dark-chocolate-like bitterness rounding it out. I wanted a little more fruit, acid, and funk — I like a funky coffee — but this was likely because I didn't choose my beans.

The milk texture was a little too bubbly for me; I like mine more velvety. Like any other espresso machine, though, you can adjust milk texture easily. Just don't aerate it as much.

I expected to dislike it because I'm extremely particular about my coffee, but this went down a treat.

Where can I get nunc.?

So, now's the time for the bad news. As I'm writing this, nunc. is only available in Germany. If you happen to be in Germany, nunc. costs €2,699. For an extra €149, you get a grinder, the machine, a spring-loaded tamper, a milk jug, a brush, and a tamping mat.

That price equates to around $3,135, which makes this one of the most expensive home espresso machines I've ever seen. There's the $3,000 Breville Dual Boiler, but the nunc. out-prices many of the prosumer models like the Lelit Bianca ($2,999) and Fellow Espresso Series 1 ($1,499).

nunc.'s representative informed me there is no release date for the U.S., U.K., E.U., Canada, Australia — basically any non-German markets. Hopefully, it won't be five years before we're seeing nunc. in our kitchens. I would love to play around with this machine myself.

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• I’ve been testing the Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer — it somehow makes juicing complicated
• I just watched a robot vacuum actually climb stairs — it took 3 minutes but those steps were sparkling after
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The Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer promises a convenient way to make juice, nut milk and sorbet. But if anything, it proved to me once and for all that if you want a smooth-sailing juicing experience, you need to spend a little more money.

The machine is very quiet when operating and has a large hopper, meaning you can load up your ingredients in bulk. It’s also very simple to use with just one switch to control everything. However, I’m not sure any of that makes it worth the hassle.

It regularly overheats, is incredibly difficult to clean, and clogs frequently. To find out more about my experience with the machine, you can keep reading this full Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer review.

Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer review: Specs

Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer review: Price & availability

The Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer is available to purchase in the U.S. for $299 directly from the Canoly online store, but it’s often on sale for as low as $199. In the U.K., you can pick it up for £93 from Amazon.

This is very cheap for a cold press juicer, especially a 3-in-1 machine, as you need a lot of power to make nut milk. For example, the Nama C2 Cold Press Juicer and Blender can make nut milk with ease, but it retails for $800 — ouch!

Primarily, the Canoly is a juicer and sits in the market alongside the AMZCHEF Cold Press Juicer, which is priced at $199. This juicer is the same size as the Canoly but is far more controlled and user-friendly whilst remaining a budget option.

If you’re short on space, you could pick up the Ninja NeverClog Cold Press Juicer for $149, but it’s not the strongest and the process is very fiddly, so I would recommend a model with a hopper, but not the Canoly. Instead, the AMZCHEF would be the best option.

Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer review: Design

The Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer looks like any other juicer with a hopper. It’s striking and catches your attention immediately because of its size and almost futuristic design — the handle’s shape is almost spaceship-like — although it doesn’t have a flurry of touchscreen buttons like the Tribest Slowstar AI Vertical Hopper Juicer ($599).

The machine measures 17.3 x 9.7 x 6.7 inches, so it’s very tall. It didn’t fit under my kitchen cabinets, so storing it on the countertop wasn't an option. However, it’s easy to dismantle so it can be stored away in the cupboard. The Canoly C16 weighs 13.2 pounds, and I was able to carry it around easily while setting it up.

Inside the hopper, there’s a pre-cutting blade, and this made light work of tough ingredients, so I didn’t have to spend time chopping before adding them to the hopper. That said, the small feed chute on top measures six inches in diameter, so if you want to continuously feed ingredients, you’ll need to spend time chopping. I’d recommend simply lifting the lid and adding ingredients that way.

There are two different filters with the machine, so you can make milk, sorbet or juice, meaning you're not limited in what you can do. There are two spouts on either side of the machine. On the left is the pulp and on the right is the juice. You can open and close these as needed. I didn’t experience any drips or spills, so I was happy with these.

The juicer comes with two containers, one for collecting pulp and one for collecting juice. The juice container has a small lip to reduce spills and measurements denoted on the side. My only issue is that the measurements are very faint, and I found myself searching around the container for them. I found it easier to use my own measuring jug to see exactly how much liquid I was getting.

Controls

The Canoly C16 couldn’t be easier to use because it has one switch. Flip it one way for juice and the other for reverse. Annoyingly, this button is placed at the back of the juicer, so it’s a bit out of the way when you’re using it. When the hopper is open, the juicer stops for safety, like any other juicer.

Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer review: Performance

The Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer can do a lot. It’s a 3-in-1 machine, so it can make juice, nut milk, and sorbet. It sounds good on the packaging, but using it let me down. During operation, the machine was continuously overheating, despite the Canoly website stating it can handle 30 minutes of continuous operation. It also smells like burnt plastic after about 10 minutes of use.

The machine clogs often, so I had to reverse the juicing a couple of times, and it is extremely hard to clean as the pulp gets stuck throughout the machine rather than being pushed out. That said, it’s very quiet, operating at around 40 decibels thanks to the brushless motor.

To get an idea of what the C16 is capable of, I carried out my usual juicing tests and made nut milk and sorbet.

Apple juice:

Firstly, I juiced four apples, which gave me 700ml of juice. I cut the apples in half and put them straight into the hopper, which could fit two and a half apples at a time.

I was surprised by how long the apples took to juice. It looked as though they were being mulched in the hopper by the chopping blade. After all of the juice was extracted, there was still a lot of the apple stuck to the side walls of the hopper.

The fiber took a long time to come out, but it was mostly dry, indicating that most of the moisture had been extracted from the fruit. There was foam on the top of the apple juice but not much, meaning there wasn’t much air in the machine. This meant the juice had a sweeter taste, which is what you want. The juice was a little bitty, but felt mostly smooth in my mouth while drinking.

Orange juice:

Next up, I made a batch of orange juice using four oranges, which gave me a yield of 400ml. Before putting them in the hopper, they were peeled to avoid the bitter taste of the pith making its way into the final product.

This was a lot faster than the apple, but the pulp that came out of the machine was very moist, so it didn’t do a great job of getting all the juice out. The juice itself was thick in texture but not exactly bitty.

After juicing the four oranges without the peel, the juicer overheated. I left it for around half an hour and it came back to life, but four oranges should be a very easy ask.

Carrot and Celery juice:

I then made carrot and celery juice. I juiced 2.2 pounds of carrots and a whole bunch of celery, which gave me 500ml of juice. The chopping blade in the hopper was able to easily break down the carrot into manageable pieces for the auger, which was impressive to watch, but it was so strong that some small pieces of carrots came flying out at me through the six-inch feed chute.

The ingredients moved through the hopper quickly, but the celery stalks became very tangled, and there was a lot of carrot pulp remaining throughout the machine. A lot of the pulp made it into the juice too, unfortunately resulting in a very thick texture.

Cashew milk:

Moving on from classic juices, I made some nut milk. I opted for cashews and soaked two cups in water overnight in the refrigerator. After rinsing the nuts the next day, I slowly fed them into the juicer with filtered water.

As the milk was coming out of the juicer, I used the included sieve over the cup to catch any rogue lumps… and there were a lot. That said, the milk tasted good. I would just recommend using a cheesecloth to strain the milk after juicing to ensure there are no lumps.

The pulp was effectively pushed out of the machine, although there wasn’t much of it. But when I cleaned the juicer, all of the pulp was stuck in the hollow auger. This was annoying to clean out.

Sorbet:

Finally, I made sorbet using the included sorbet strainer. I added a mixture of frozen berries and cherries to the machine and simply pressed the on button.

The machine stopped a few times and had to be reversed. This isn’t something I’ve had to deal with when using any other juicer, but it just meant I had to be on hand to hit the reverse button when needed.

It quickly made spirals of sorbet, giving me a sweet treat that was ready in minutes. This clean-up was also a lot more straightforward than the juices with their messy pulp.

Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer review: Cleaning

The Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer is a nightmare to maintain. Juicers are notoriously difficult to keep clean because all of the small pieces of fruit and vegetables are being pushed through small gaps to get the most liquid possible. So everything gets trapped. But the Canoly is especially bad.

All of the parts are dishwasher safe apart from the motor base. Before I loaded it into the dishwasher, I rinsed off as much pulp as possible, but there was still some residue after the wash cycle. I went in with the provided cleaning brush to get the final bits out, but it took me about half an hour of scrubbing to be happy with the cleanliness of the machine. Tiny bits of pulp get stuck in the smallest crevices you’ve ever seen — nightmare.

Canoly C16 Cold Press Juicer review: Verdict

The Canoly C16 Cold Press is a 3-in-1 machine, so I was able to make milk, sorbet and juice. It’s very useful that all of the necessary attachments are included when you purchase the juicer. It’s very quiet when operating too, so it doesn’t cause too much of a commotion in the home.

The large hopper makes it easy to juice in batches if you need to, and it couldn’t be easier to use, with just one switch that controls everything.

However, this juice wastes a lot of your time through cleaning and waiting for it to stop overheating. Cleaning is incredibly difficult, with pulp getting caught up in every crevice you can think of, the machine frequently clogs, meaning you have to be on hand to hit the reverse switch. And it overheats when juicing fruits that should be easy, like oranges.

If you seriously want to get into juicing, I would recommend spending more money on a Nama juicer like the Nama J3.

I have a garage full of tools because I have far too many hobbies. And as anyone with complex hobbies can attest, the right tool for the job goes a long way toward making your life easier. Traeger’s Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle is one such tool. As experienced grillers can attest, some foods cook wonderfully over open flames, while others require a flat, even surface.

That distinction means a griddle needs to function differently than the best grill, and it’s vital to have even heat over your cooking surface. And even then, it can be difficult to cook multiple foods at one time, since different foods require different cooking temperatures.

Traeger has come up with a clever solution with the Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle, and overall, I found this griddle to outperform its peers, thanks in part to its two-chamber heating system and high-quality build. Here’s what happened.

Traeger Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle review: Price and availability

The Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle is available for $800 on Traeger’s website. Additionally, you can finance the purchase using Affirm at checkout. Traeger includes a 5-year warranty with purchase.

You can also buy the Flatrock 2 at other retailers such as The Home Depot, though availability may be limited. Traeger includes a SHOP LOCAL button on its website so you can find a retailer near you.

Traeger Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle review: Design

The Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle took about an hour and a half to build, although most of that time was spent unboxing and laying out the parts. The rest of the assembly process goes very quickly and the instructions are rock-solid, as was my experience with other Traeger products.

Once it’s all together, the Flatrock 2 feels stable and well built. The materials feel high-quality, and overall the unit looks great. I did have one small issue with the wire shelf that sits on the low shelf next to the propane bottle. One of the screw holes did not line up properly — as a result, that wire shelf tends to sway a bit.

Nevertheless, the Flatrock 2 comes packed with nifty features. For starters, the TruZone temperature control design allows for two very distinct cooking zones on each side of the griddle. In other words, the left burner is completely isolated from the right burner. Each one gets its own chamber, so you can really tailor the temperatures on different parts of the griddle.

Within those chambers, Traeger includes U-shaped burners — one for each side. Traeger says this helps eliminate cold spots on the cooking surface. And the FlameLock construction keeps wind out by using a recessed cooktop. That means wind won’t get in and blow at your burners while you’re cooking. Traeger says this also improves fuel efficiency.

The lid features folding hinges that keep the lid upright during cooking. Traeger says you should never cook with the lid closed, as this creates an excessively hot cooking surface that could pose a danger.

On the outside, the Flatrock features a folding prep shelf on each side, both equipped with P.A.L. accessory rails. Traeger makes a whole host of “Pop and Lock” accessories to work with these rails.

The carbon steel cooking surface is heavy-duty. It offers 486 square inches of cooking surface area, and a grease trap on the near side of the cooktop. That feeds into Traeger’s EZ-Clean Keg grease trap, which pulls out of the front of the unit for easy cleaning.

As is the case with any cast iron or carbon steel cooktop, you’ll want to season the cooking surface before your first use. This helps create a nice, non-stick surface, and it also burns off any residues or debris that may have accumulated during manufacturing and shipping.

Traeger Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle review: Cooking performance

Getting the Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle in for testing seemed like a great excuse for a burger night in the backyard. Griddles are a great choice for burgers because they cook the patties more evenly and help the burger retain moisture better. On top of that, you’ll get a nice sear all around.

The fold-out shelves are pretty spacious, and I was able to pack them full of everything I needed. I had already seasoned the cooking surface, so I simply fired up the Flatrock and let it heat up.

My infrared thermometer read 450 degrees in most regions of the cooking surface after about 10 minutes of warm-up time. The edges of the griddle registered cooler temperatures, and the corners the coolest of all. This isn’t too surprising, and it’s an issue I’ve faced in most griddles I’ve tested. It’s largely the result of a rectangular cooking surface and the rounded heating elements beneath.

Still, the Flatrock registered more consistent temperatures across the cooking surface, enough that I wasn’t worried too much about uneven cooking overall. Once the cooking surface had reached around 500 degrees, I lowered one side so I could caramelize some onions and slow-cook some bacon.

The Flatrock truly does allow for 2-zone cooking. The dual “chambers” around the individual burners work like a charm. The left side continued to register between 450 and 500 degrees, while the right side was consistent between 275 and 325 degrees.

I was very glad to see the temperature on the hot side reach 500 degrees, which is something that other griddles I’ve tested have struggled with. If the cooking surface doesn’t get hot enough, you’ll struggle to get a good sear on meats. So kudos to Traeger here.

That said, be sure to heed Traeger’s advice not to cook with the lid lowered. The lid gets super hot, and the handle does, too. I found that out the hard way when I left the lid closed during pre-heating.

On the first burger, I used Traeger’s steam dome to ensure a nice, juicy, medium-rare finish. I got an excellent sear on both sides without burning or losing any moisture. The burger ended up better than anything I’ve been served at a restaurant in recent memory.

For the second burger, I used Traeger’s Weighted Grill Press. This burger also came out very good, though the press does make more moisture seep out of the patty. Use this one if you’re after that “Smashburger” style. There was no sticking on the cook surface using either method.

On the other side of the grill, the onions caramelized perfectly at a lower temperature. When I wasn’t using the steam dome for the burgers, I put this over the onions so they didn’t dry out and start to burn. A bit of cowboy butter, sliced onions, and patience led to an excellent finish. Even at lower temperatures, none of the food stuck to the cooking surface.

It was so incredibly handy to be able to cook the onions and bacon at the same time as the burgers. The dual-zone heating really is a treat since it works so well. Everything I cooked came out perfectly.

And the cooking surface feels high-quality, rugged, and ready for years of use. You’ll need to care for it, and seasoning isn’t a difficult process — I recommend doing it frequently. When I was done cooking, I scraped off any debris and then added a light coating of grapeseed oil to the still-hot cooking surface. I spread it around, then wiped off the excess once the griddle cooled. Easy peasy.

Traeger Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle review: Accessories

Traeger offers a ton of accessories that work with its Pop and Lock system. One of the more relevant ones for this use is the Flat Top Grill Essentials Kit ($100), which includes two spatulas, a cooking surface scraper, and two squirt bottles.

The Ultimate Smashed Burger Kit ($130) is another great option for use with the Flatrock 2. It includes a weighted grill press, a spatula, and a steam dome that help you make delicious burgers.

Traeger Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle review: Competition

The outdoor griddle market is a big one, with brands like Traeger and Blackstone leading the way. There are more entry-level options like Nexgrill as well as fancier options like Solo Stove’s Steelfire 30, a clad stainless steel griddle option different from most other offerings.

The Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle offers plenty of nifty features that set it apart from the competition. Traeger bests Blackstone and Nexgrill in terms of build quality, though Nexgrill is the most economical offering if you just want to give griddles a try without a big commitment.

The Solo Stove Steelfire is an interesting competitor. It’s more expensive than the Flatrock, but it also offers a stainless steel cooktop, which heats faster and requires no seasoning.

Both the Flatrock and the Steelfire are excellent griddle options, though they’re very different experiences. If you want your griddle to be as low-maintenance as possible, choose the Solo Stove. If a more traditional, carbon-steel or cast-iron cooktop is what you’re after for durability and an easily-non-stick surface, the Flatrock 2 is the solid choice.

Traeger Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle review: Verdict

Traeger really shines thanks to its build quality, wide selection of accessories, and functionality — and the Flatrock 2 Zone Griddle is no exception.

Traeger has done a wonderful job of ensuring you get true 2-zone cooking out of this unit. While it suffers from the same issues as many griddles out there — namely, dead spots in the corners and edges of the cooking surface — the overall heating capabilities far outshine the downsides. It’s an excellent choice for outdoor griddle cooking that will make you want to cook outside more often.

Stair-climbing robot vacuums aren't necessarily a new thing. Last year at IFA 2025, I watched Dreame's Cyber X climb stairs (super quickly, may I add), but I was disappointed with the bulk of the product — and that it's been a whole year and you still can't buy the Cyber X.

Now I'm at IFA 2026 in Berlin, and I've just seen Roborock's stair-climbing contraption — the Rover. While this isn't available yet, you can get the new Qrevo Edge 3 Pro — for $1,499 from Amazon.

Unfortunately, Roborock's representative was unable to confirm a release date or more specs. It was initially unveiled at CES in January — eight months ago. In the meantime, though, let's see it in action.

So what can the Roborock Rover actually do?

Unfortunately, as Roborock's representative was unable to confirm additional information, I know very little. What I do know, though, is that the Rover does climb stairs, and it can manoeuvre down slopes. I saw it with my own two eyes.

As it has two retractable, wheel-based legs, the Rover can climb and clean at the same time. Yes, it took around three minutes to climb the stairs you see in the photos — and get back down again — but the stairs were sparkling after.

Even though it took a while to climb the stairs, if you're simply working from home or out running errands, you won't notice how long it takes. That's the whole point of a robot vacuum — clean so you don't have to!

But I have some major reservations

The Roborock Rover was first unveiled at CES in Las Vegas this past January. It was shown off again in Berlin in September.

And there is still no release date in sight. No specs. No pricing. What is Roborock cooking up behind the scenes? Are there some major issues we're not privy to? Or is it simply waiting for the right time to release it?

Roborock confirmed that they may have more information by CES 2027, but there's no release timeline yet. Why show off a product so far out from release?

I could spend all day speculating, but the long and short of it is this: Roborock has "unveiled" this stair-climbing robot vacuum twice now, but we're still no closer to being able to actually make use of it. Forget watching it at tech shows — I want it in my house!

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In the coffee sphere, a select few brands are so well-respected that they elicit a revered gasp when mentioned. Moccamaster is one, as is Lelit, Acaia, and La Marzocco. Of course, this isn't an exhaustive list, and you've also got the universally adored Mazzer and Comandante, which make the best coffee grinders.

Comandante is what I'm going to discuss today. You may have heard of the Comandante C40 MK4, the Comandante C60 Baracuda, or the Comandante X25 Trailmaster. The C60 Baracuda is the priciest option, at around $500-$650 depending on finish, and the X25 Trailmaster is the closest Comandante gets to "budget" — $250. But let's focus on the midrange option, the C40 MK4.

I've owned this coffee grinder for about 18 months now, and I'm seriously obsessed. I use it every day, multiple times a day, and it's simply perfection. While pricey, ranging from $289-$325 at Amazon, I'd seriously pay it for this performance.

What actually is the Comandante C40 MK4?

The Comandante C40 MK4 is a handheld coffee grinder. This means you have to turn the burrs yourself. The hand crank is easy to grip and it comes with a rubber band you can put around the canister to secure your hold. The rubber band is "supposed" to be a wristband but I use it for holding the grinder steady (I'm weak).

So while other coffee grinders are powered by an electric motor, like the Baratza Encore ESP or the Mazzer Philos, the Comandante C40 MK4 is all you, baby.

Hand grinders are generally cheaper than electric grinders. I've tested some as cheap as $60 —like the Timemore Chestnut C2s — but the Comandante is by far the priciest (and best). Naturally, electric grinders can set you back much, much more than the C40 MK4. The Eureka Mignon Specialita is $699, and the Mazzer Philos is $1,500.

As a hand grinder, its maximum capacity is around 50g, but I would only recommend grinding enough for one or two espressos (so 36g) at once. When the bottom canister gets full, you can't grind any more.

Why is a hand grinder worth $300?

The Comandante C40 MK4 is worth $300 because of one reason: materials. The grinder uses Martensitic steel burrs, which is the same material used in sharp surgical instruments. Oh, and the burrs also come with a lifetime warranty. No biggie.

Naturally, this quality material results in excellent uniformity, minimal retention, and low static. These are the three touchstones of a great grinder. You want all your coffee grounds to be the same size, you want the grinder to retain as little coffee as possible, and you don't want your worktop to be covered in sticky coffee granules post-grind.

Thankfully, the grinder excels in all three. Here's a little insight into the grinder's uniformity. Here, I'm checking if all the coffee grounds are the same size. You want big jumps: 0% 300um to 100% 500um, for example.

As you can see, the consistency is excellent. Most granules are the same size, which will result in a better-tasting coffee. If you've got some grains at >300um, but some at 1400um>, this means the coffee will be half over- and half under-extracted. Ergo, no thank you, I'll just drink my water.

Should I spend $300 on a coffee grinder?

If you have $300 to spare and you're into coffee, yes, you should buy this grinder. All that being said, though, if you don't have $300 lying around, then please don't buy an objectively expensive piece of coffee tech. You can still get a good coffee with a cheaper grinder, like the aforementioned Timemore Chestnut C2s.

I love my Comandante C40 MK4, but it's not for everyone. In this economy, I think there are more important things to invest in. Save your dollars for a rainy day!

But if you've got loads of cash spare, then of course you won't be disappointed by this incredible coffee grinder. It's my favorite grinder of all time... I just wish the military branding wasn't so cringe.

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Subminimal is one of the most “Oooh! Aaah!”-inducing names in the coffee world, and the new Subminimal Nanofoamer Go is no different. Ever looked at a milk frother and thought, “Damn, I wish that came with a carry case?” Well, your calls have been answered — the Nanofoamer Go comes with three impellers, ten color options, and, yes, a carry case.

If you’re the kind of coffee drinker who takes your whole setup to a campsite, Airbnb, or simply to the office, this will be ideal for you. While I struggled to achieve the same velvety microfoam I can make on the Subminimal Nanofoamer Pro, the Go can also whisk cream and eggs, so I guess it wins there.

So, is this the handheld milk frother for you? If you value affordability, fancy colors, and portability, I’m leaning towards yes. Are you a coffee snob? Hm… you might want to splurge on the $159 Nanofoamer Pro instead. To find out the full story, keep reading this Subminimal Nanofoamer Go review.

Subminimal Nanofoamer Go review: Specs

Subminimal Nanofoamer Go review: Price & availability

The Subminimal Nanofoamer Go is considerably cheaper than the brand’s other milk frothers — just $37 from Subminimal U.S. and £34 from Subminimal U.K. On Amazon, it's $34.

Subminimal’s Nanofoamer Lithium is $57, while the Subminimal Nanofoamer Pro (my personal milk frother) is $159. While both of these models are better at making straight-up cold foam and microfoam, if you prioritize budget and portability over pure functionality, you’d likely be better off with the Nanofoamer Go. Personally, I prefer the Nanofoamer Pro — it’s much better at making honest-to-God microfoam than the Go, as I’ll get into later.

Subminimal Nanofoamer Go review: Design

As with everything else made by Subminimal, the Nanofoamer Go looks and feels awesome. Alright, the body is quite plasticky, but I don’t mind because it means it’s relatively lightweight and affordable.

But the best part? The colors. While the Subminimal Nanofoamer Lithium and Pro are both available solely in minimalist black, the Go comes in a huge ten colors. And every single one of them looks gorgeous. As you can see from the images in this review, I tested the sky blue version. Had I chosen the color for myself, I would have picked the terracotta or sage shades. Both are pretty enough to win a beauty pageant.

You also get a carry case! The clue’s in the name, but the Nanofoamer Go is intended to be portable. You’re supposed to take it on trips with you. AeroPress with foamed milk at the campsite? Yes, please. As expected, the carry case is the same lovely blue shade, and all the attachments click nicely into place. It’s satisfying to hold and use. I have nothing bad to say about the design here.

Of course, you get three impeller attachments. One is a whisk for thicker ingredients like cream and eggs. One is for mix-ins, like hot chocolate powder, matcha, so on and so forth, and the third is Subminimal’s patent-pending nanofoam mesh. Now, this is supposed to be the “secret” to barista-quality microfoam… but more on that later.

Subminimal Nanofoamer Go review: Performance

I’m just going to rip the Band-Aid off: I didn’t get microfoam with the Nanofoamer Go at all. I tried with dairy and non-dairy milk, heated to varying temperatures, frothed in various ways. I tried on full power, low power; I tried for ten seconds, thirty seconds, two minutes, five minutes, one minute, everything. Did I achieve microfoam? No. No, I did not. Here’s a photo of the closest I got.

As you can see, there are some relatively large bubbles. This is after banging and swirling the milk as you’re supposed to. I was quite disappointed by this. As mentioned earlier, my Subminimal Nanofoamer Pro can make microfoam, so I expected the same of the Go.

I also struggled to achieve velvety cold foam. I frothed this milk for over two minutes and this is the thickest it got. Of course, I was using the microfoam attachment.

However, I was able to get delicious, perfect sweet cream cold foam in just forty seconds.

As you can see, the texture is thick, fluffy, and creamy. This is perfect, Starbucks-approved sweet cream cold foam. My colleagues and I literally ate this with a spoon.

According to Subminimal’s website, you can actually whisk eggs with the Nanofoamer Go… so of course I had to try it out. For science.

Yes, that’s an egg whisked by a milk frother. I don’t eat eggs, so this is a little gross to me, but great if you’re a regular egg whipper.

Subminimal Nanofoamer Go review: Storage & maintenance

As it’s a tiny milk frother — 1 inch by 8 inches — you’ll have no trouble fitting it in your cutlery drawer. This model comes with a handy carry case, which measures 2.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches, perfect for throwing in a camping backpack or keeping in a cupboard. If you’re short on space, I’d go for this model over the Nanofoamer Pro, which is shaped like a jug.

The Go is not dishwasher safe, and you obviously shouldn’t get the body wet. I cleaned it by simply rinsing it under warm water.

Of course, should your cleaning be sub-minimal (see what I did there? No?), you can buy replacement impellers directly from Subminimal for $6.

In terms of longevity, Subminimal offers a standard warranty of one year, which is a little shorter than I’d like. However, this is pretty standard with other $10-$20 milk frothers on Amazon.

Subminimal Nanofoamer Go review: Verdict

The Nanofoamer Go is more than just a milk frother — it can be a pretty little kitchen assistant, too. While this makes it more versatile than the Subminimal Nanofoamer Pro, it’s also not as coffee-snob-friendly. Even though it uses the same micro-mesh as other Nanofoamer products, it doesn’t seem to be able to achieve the same barista-smooth microfoam.

For $37, this is a neat little frother. I’d recommend it for casual coffee drinkers rather than those practising for the World Barista Championships. I would personally save up for the Subminimal Nanofoamer Pro or Lithium over the Go, but that’s because I take my cold foam seriously — and the Pro is much better at making it.

For generic froth, though, the Nanofoamer Go is great. Obviously, you have to heat your milk separately — microwave, stovetop — but if you want a one-stop for whisking eggs, cream cold foam, and milk, I’d go for the Go.

As any parent will no doubt confirm, one of the things that comes with having children is the need to spend a lot more of your time cleaning. Kids make a lot of mess, and I've found myself spending a bunch more time washing clothes, cleaning floors and sterilizing baby bottles.

You would not believe how much time and effort goes into cleaning those bottles. Like kids themselves, it's shocking to see just how dirty they actually get — and I'm not just talking about the leftover formula they contain. After 9 months of deep cleaning milk bottles, inside and out, I finally caved and got hold of an appliance to do the job for me.

The machine in question is the MomCozy DeepClean Baby Bottle Washer (D8), and it's been such a help that I can't believe I was too cheap to buy something like this a year ago.

How the DeepClean Bottle Cleaner works

The Momcozy DeepClean Baby Bottle Cleaner is exactly what the name suggests. It's a countertop appliance that washes used baby bottles, removing all traces of leftover milk or formula, and then sterilizes them ready to be used later on. It retails for $359, and comes bundles with 60 detergent blocks and four limescale removal tablets.

The appliance has room for up to eight bottles at a time, with a two-tier rack system that lets you wash bottles and nipples simultaneously — aided by 64 water jets capable of spraying 154.4ºF water to help break through whatever leftovers are left on your baby's bottles after use.

The DeepClean also has a built-in 212º F sterilization mode, a 55-minute bottle drying cycle and an integrated fan (complete with HEPA filter) to keep the newly cleaned bottles sterile for up to 72 hours. The general idea is that you slot the bottles in, and let the appliance do all the hard work for you — something that I have grown incredibly grateful for.

Oh, and you don't have to worry about keeping the DeepClean itself clean, since it has a dedicated self-cleaning mode. This 30-minute process can even reduce any built-up limescale — provided that you use one of Momcozy's limescale removal tablets.

Oh, and you don't need to use Momcozy bottles to take advantage of the DeepClean, either. All my baby bottles come from different brands, and they fit into the cleaning rack without issue. However, some of the weird and wonderful shaped bottles you can buy may not slide in quite so smoothly.

It's not just for cleaning bottles

The main benefit is that the DeepClean is not just for washing and sterilizing milk bottles. It's also suitable for all kinds of baby accessories, including gravity bottles and breast pump parts. While Momcozy doesn't specifically approve this, I've also used the machine to clean things like pacifiers and those syringes you use to feed babies medicine without ill effect.

We don't use breast pumps anymore, but there was a point where my wife was using them pretty regularly — and a machine like the DeepClean could have saved us a lot of trouble.

The thing about breast pump parts is that you're not supposed to sterilize them in a microwave, as you can with milk bottles. That's in the manual, but the sleep deprived state new parents find themselves in may gloss over this fact and leave you with a bunch of melted chunks of plastic. That happened to us, and sourcing the appropriate replacement parts was a pretty miserable experience.

Worse is the fact that we had to source a very large pot that was big enough to boil the replacement parts over the stove. Oh and you need to continuously stir the part to stop the plastic melting against the hot metal. The process technically only takes five minutes, but the sheer size of those plastic pieces meant we had to repeat the process multiple times.

Or you can just stick them into a cleaner like the DeepClean and leave them for half an hour as a machine does all the hard work for you. It certainly would have saved us a lot of headaches during one of the most exhaustive periods of our lives.

You're saving more than just time too

The thing about using appliances is that they generally help save you time by doing all the hard work for you. The DeepClean Bottle Cleaner is effectively a miniature dishwasher, or something very close to it, which means it has slashed the amount of time it takes to actually clean my used milk bottles.

The old system of cleaning by hand meant that I had to rinse the bottles, clean them with (fragrance free) dish soap and a brush, rinsing out the suds and then sterilizing them in my 700W microwave for at least seven minutes. The DeepClean does all of that for you; the only thing I need to do to the bottles before cleaning is empty out any leftover formula. In fact, the most time-consuming part of the whole process is filling up the 96-ounce water tank.

The actual cleaning cycle takes at least 28 minutes for the low-powered mode, or 38 minutes for the more intensive clean. That's a lot longer than my old system of hand-washing bottles, but unless you need a clean bottle ASAP, it's not really a big deal. It's not as though you have to stand there and watch the entire cleaning cycle unfold.

Time is only part of the equation, and the 96-oz. water tank is a perfect example of this.

96 ounces feels like a lot of water, and I was admittedly shocked when I saw that almost the entire tank was used in the DeepClean's washing cycle — with the rest being saved to make sterilizing steam. But after that initial outrage, I started to wonder whether it was actually a lot of water.

Frankly, I had no idea how much water I use hand washing baby bottles, and had to find out. It turns out, even if I wash super-conservatively, I could use up around 35oz of water washing a single bottle. So, in the same way that running a full dishwasher might save more water than hand washing, it seems as though the DeepClean might actually reduce your water consumption. More so when you remember that it can clean up to eight bottles (and their respective nipples) at a time without any change in water consumption.

Energy is a little more complicated. Momcozy says that the DeepClean uses 500W of power during the water heating and sterilizing parts of the cycle, which seemed accurate when I tracked by energy usage. Meanwhile the actual cleaning takes up about 55W, and the dryer uses 200W. Meanwhile, my microwave uses around 1,600W, but also only runs for a third of the time.

I'm not good at physics or math, so I know I will mess up the calculations if I try and figure it out. Needless to say, the DeepClean is far from the biggest power draw in your kitchen, and it shouldn't affect your energy bills too much.

It's also worth noting that you should be using the DeepClean with Momcozy's detergent blocks. They cost $20 for 120, working out at around 16.7 cents per cycle. How much that compares to handwashing with dish soap is going to depend on what brand you buy and how much you actually use, but I'd wager that even the fanciest dish soap is going to come in cheaper.

There are some downsides

The first thing I actually noticed about the DeepClean unit is that it's big. 10.6 x 13.78 x 15.35 inches, to be exact, which means it takes up roughly 1.3 cubic feet of space on whichever counter top you've set aside. The only thing I have that comes close is my vertical air fryer, which is so tall it has to be tucked away in the corner.

Placement on the counter matters a lot as well, since the DeepClean doesn't have a tank to store used water. There's a hose at the back of the unit, and that means you need to make sure it drains somewhere appropriate — such as the sink or a bucket. Otherwise you're just going to end up with a very wet floor.

The $359 price tag is also a lot to take in, especially when a microwave bottle sterilizer can be bought for as little as $20. But I have to tell myself that you're buying convenience, and potentially lower bills, which could make that investment worth it — especially if you're still expecting or have a newborn. But if your kid is already moving onto solid food, it's a much tougher sell.

I have found a few other downsides to using the DeepClean at home, though some of these are more about what's going on in my brain than a flaw with the product itself. The big one is that I find it kind of gross to imagine dirty bottles left lying around, waiting for enough of their comrades to justify switching the DeepClean on.

Leftover milk in the height of the hottest summer most people can remember is not a very good mix, after all. Though I will be the first to admit that this is just something I personally need to wrap my head around, and retrain myself to think slightly differently in the face of new technology.

The fact you need to buy extra detergent tablets is also worth bearing in mind, since the DeepClean is not compatible with the usual soaps or detergents you'd use to hand wash dishes. They're not expensive, and you get 60 included with the DeepClean, but it means you will be on the hook to keep buying those blocks for the duration of the appliance's lifespan.

I'll admit I forgot to use the detergent blocks on more than one occasion with no apparent ill effect. But obviously you'll want to make sure your baby's bottles are actually clean, and the detergent is the best way to ensure that.

Limescale is also going to be an issue with any machine that requires water, especially if your local water is as hard as it is in my area. I can't think of a single part of my bathroom or kitchen sink that isn't coated with that pesky layer of white deposit. Momcozy recommends using distilled water, rather than tap water, but to that I say "who has the time for that?"

I've taken to using filtered water instead, and while not perfectly free of excess minerals, it generally extends the amount of time my water-based appliances have between descaling cycles. Momcozy does include descaling tablets in the box, which are compatible with the DeepClean's self-cleaning mode.

Finally, the system that keeps clean bottles sterile for up to 72 hours is all down to a built-in air circulation system. This requires power to run, around 190-200W based on my energy meter, and turning it off means Momcozy can't guarantee the bottles will remain sterile. Such a feature could potentially be useful, especially if you need to clean bottles before going away for the weekend, but it does feel a little like overkill. So if you're anything like me, you'll have the bottles out and packed away safely pretty soon after the cleaning cycle is over.

Verdict

I like using the Momcozy DeepClean Baby Bottle Washer, for the simple fact that it takes all the extra stress and hassle out of the whole bottle-cleaning process. All you need to do is fill the tank, slot the bottles in and turn the machine on. It's an extremely convenient tool to have, and it's something I wish I had back before my son started eating solid food and needed a bottle every couple of hours.

Having handwashed bottles for 9 months does mean that switching to an appliance does take an adjustment. My wife in particular is finding it hard to get out of the habit of washing milk bottles as soon as they're finished. Asking her not to clean up is like asking her not to breathe, so I'm not sure if she's actually used the DeepClean yet.

As for me, I'm coming around to the idea of being much lazier, and not scrubbing used bottles clean. Even if my math is totally wrong, and the DeepClean doesn't end up saving me money on my water or energy bills, I'm at least regaining a little bit more of my time — which is a luxury when you have young kids.

I just wish it wasn't quite so big, because it does take up a lot of space. But I guess that's the price you pay for cleaning up to eight bottles at once.

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The Philips Baristina is an interesting espresso machine. It’s an automatic, but also not quite an automatic. How does that work, I hear you ask? Let me explain.

So, while it grinds, doses, tamps, and brews without any input from you (aside from you clicking the shot button), you also have to empty the portafilter. Isn’t that the worst part of any manual machine? The coffee grounds always get stuck to my hands. Anyway, if you’re after an espresso machine that does most of the hard work for you, the Baristina could be ideal.

However, the espresso does taste pretty mid, and the price is about $200 more than I’d expect. So, could it be one of the best espresso machines? Hm. I don’t think so. But want to find out the full story? Keep reading this Philips Baristina review.

Philips Baristina review: Specs

Philips Baristina review: Price & availability

The Philips Baristina is $449-$529 from Amazon U.S. and £299-£379 from Amazon U.K. While this price is reasonable enough in the U.K., I would not recommend paying $529 if you’re in the U.S. You don’t even get a built-in milk frother — it looks and feels like a Nespresso Aeroccino standalone milk heater/frother. You can’t customize milk texture at all.

Even though I think the Baristina is overpriced, it’s an automatic machine, which means it’s always going to be pricier than manuals. However, I would wholeheartedly recommend spending just a little more for a genuinely decent machine.

Instead of spending $529 on what is effectively an espresso maker and a separate (cheap-feeling, one-trick-pony) milk frother, I’d spend $699 on the Philips 2300 Series, $799 on the KitchenAid KF2, or, heck, even $379 on the Nespresso CitiZ + Aeroccino. It’s a pod machine, sure, but honestly? It makes a better brew.

Philips Baristina review: Design

So, I’m not a huge fan of how the Baristina looks. I think it looks incredibly cheap, like something that costs $200 rather than $530. When I found out how much it costs, I actually gasped.

While it doesn’t look bad, it does look cheap. Whether this is a dealbreaker will depend on your preferences. For me, I’d rather spend a little extra on the KitchenAid KF2 or just get a bog-standard manual like the $300 Breville Bambino.

You get a “portafilter”. I say “portafilter” because, yes, it’s technically a portafilter in that it has a handle and a basket where the coffee goes. But you can’t use it like a traditional portafilter — you don’t dose and tamp manually. All you have to do is push the portafilter over to the grinder side at the start of the brew and then sit back and relax.

While, yes, I loved watching the portafilter snap back into place after the grinder finished (it’s the simple things), I think this is more of a style gimmick than actual function. If you’re after a truly automatic machine, it might even be a major con. Yes, you have to empty and clean out the portafilter yourself.

Philips Baristina review: Espresso

If you’re an espresso aficionado, you won’t want to read this. However, if you’re someone who prioritizes speed, ease of use, and simplicity, you’re the perfect candidate for a Baristina.

As it’s a bean-to-cup automatic — despite having a “portafilter” — you have very little input. Pour your beans in, press the espresso button, slide the portafilter to the grinder side (which is super fun), and you’ve done all the work. The machine snaps the portafilter into place hands-free, and, yes, this is mesmerizing to watch. I don’t care how lame that makes me; I enjoy watching a portafilter careen across a coffee machine like a stone from a slingshot. It’s novel. Sue me.

In terms of espresso flavor… it’s okay. It tastes incredibly average. I tried the machine with both artisan Ethiopian beans and your generic “strong” dark roast, and it tasted better with the latter. I’d recommend using cheaper, darker beans on this machine, as the excessive 16-bar pressure and the tiny (40mm) pressurized portafilter destroys any nuance anyway.

As you can see, this espresso shot is foamy and aerated, which means it was extracted under too much pressure. The crema is fluffy, but it dissipated within seconds. The first Ethiopian beans (which usually taste divine) were overly sour and astringent. However, the second generic Illy-brand beans resulted in a stronger, more palatable coffee taste. Of course, this won’t impress coffee nerds, but this isn’t a machine for coffee nerds.

Even so, I struggle to recommend this machine wholeheartedly considering you can get much better machines for just a little extra. The Philips 2300 is a modest stretch at $699; the KitchenAid KF2 is $799. Considering these machines have built-in milk preparation and zero user input, I’d recommend them if you’re after a totally automatic machine. The espresso tastes much nicer.

Philips Baristina review: Grinder

While the Philips Baristina does have a built-in grinder and therefore demands a standalone ‘grinder’ section, this is going to be extremely short.

The grinder is not adjustable. Yes, you heard me correctly. Not adjustable. The grinder grinds to one size and one size only. Want it finer? Not possible. Coarser? Oh, again, you guessed it, not possible.

Other automatic machines such as the De’Longhi Rivelia have an adjustable grinder, and also the $699 manual bean-to-cup De’Longhi Arte Evo. If you’re interested in actually playing and experimenting with coffee, I’d recommend the Arte Evo over the Baristina. You’re paying an extra $150, but it’s often discounted to $599 (so just $50 more), and you get all the bonuses of a manual machine with the ease of an assisted tamping system.

Philips Baristina review: Milk

As mentioned earlier, the Baristina comes in two variants: with milk frother and without milk frother. If you order the cheaper model, it won’t come with the frother.

Those familiar with something like the Nespresso Aeroccino will recognize this milk frother: the Philips model is essentially just your standard countertop model. It’s not particularly unique or innovative, but damn, it works. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix, right?

Here’s a photo of a milk drink made. Notice how I said “milk drink” rather than latte or cappuccino — the Baristina can only make one type of milk. No wet lattes or dry cappuccinos here. Milk or no milk only!

As you can see, the milk is extremely thick. Don’t get me wrong, the texture is satisfying, with well-distributed, evenly sized bubbles. However, this isn’t going to impress people who are used to barista-crafted beverages. It cannot make microfoam; therefore, drinks like lattes and flat whites are out of the question. You can only make cappuccinos.

Philips Baristina review: Storage & maintenance

Although 15 inches tall, the Philips Baristina feels a lot smaller. This height is solely due to the grinder hopper — its main body is more compact. Of course, you’d need to ensure you have space under your counters for the hopper, but the machine should take up less space than you think.

Due to this size, the machine has a teeny-tiny drip tray. I always recommend cleaning out your drip tray after every use, but in this case, it’s definitely a necessity. If you don’t clean it out every day, it’s going to overflow before you know it.

As with the rest of the machine, the drip tray is incredibly plasticky. This is one of my biggest complaints — a design this plasticky is pretty inexcusable when you’re charging $549 from an aesthetic and longevity perspective.

Speaking of longevity, you get a 2-year warranty as standard, which is the same as Breville, Ninja, and De’Longhi.

Philips Baristina review: Verdict

While I don’t think the Philips Baristina is the worst espresso machine I’ve ever used, I can’t recommend it wholeheartedly. Only a very specific user base should get this machine. If you can’t stretch to $699 for a Philips 2300 Series, you don’t mind mid-tasting espresso, you’re happy with one-size-fits-all milk texture, and you’re happy to spend $200 more than I think you should, then yes, this would be the machine for you.

All other people, though? You’d either be better off with the $699 Philips 2300 Series, the $799 KitchenAid KF2, or even venture into the world of manual bean-to-cups with the fantastic De’Longhi Arte Evo.

As I said earlier, if you want simplicity and ease of use over anything else, I’d even go as far to say you’re the perfect candidate for a Nespresso CitiZ + Milk.

Let me put you onto something weird: the "Fridge cigarette." I've seen this term used to refer to a cold, crisp can of Diet Coke, but recently, another meaning has arisen: Diet Coke + espresso. As director of The Coffee Lab and coffee nerd, I had to try this out. What do you mean, people are mixing coffee and Diet Coke? How can that possibly taste good?

To make it, I bought a simple can of Diet Coke and made a shot of espresso using my Breville Bambino. Then, I mixed them — simple as that. No fiddling with measurements or layering cream on top like Starbucks's Sweet Cream Cold Brew.

So, is the "Fridge cigarette" worth your time? Let's get into it. If you want me to try out more weird recipes, comment them down below, and I'll be sure to include them in the next Coffee Lab video.

How to make a 'fridge cigarette'

As I said earlier, making a fridge cigarette is super easy.

How does it taste?

It doesn't look appealing, but the fridge cigarette actually tastes... good?

If you like Espresso Martinis, you'll love the fridge cigarette. It took me a moment to identify the flavor — at first I thought Guinness, but then realized that wasn't the specific flavor I was tasting. It's sweet and vanilla-y, with a rich, malty afternote rounding it out.

I mean, it's not massively shocking. Diet Coke = vanilla. Espresso = coffee. Espresso Martini = vanilla, coffee. All the same flavors are going on here.

What about caffeine content? I mean, if you're super exhausted, this might be a way to bring you back to life. As soon as I drank about half, my hands started shaking, and I was acutely aware of the fluorescent lights in the studio. This isn't a drink I'd recommend if you're sensitive to caffeine. This is only for hardened caffeinators.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or if there are any other weird coffee drinks you want me to taste-test next. Stay tuned for the next episode of The Coffee Lab, landing at a YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram near you.

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• I'm an ex-Starbucks barista — you can make the Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso at home for a fraction of the cost
• I tried Lelit's brand-new 'entry-level' espresso machine — and I wish I had $2,000 so I could buy it

Anyone who knows anything about coffee has heard of Moccamaster. The Moccamaster (specifically the KBGV Select) is the most famous drip machine in the world, and there's very little competition. Few brands can go head-to-head with Technivorm's industrial, hardy stalwart, arguably the best coffee maker of all time.

Mostly unchanged since its 1969 release, the Moccamaster does what many other coffee brands wish their flagship could: it has the best reputation in coffee. Whether this is from the industry-leading after-purchase care or the indestructible machine itself, I'm not sure. But people seriously love this thing. It's irrefutably "cult".

So enter the zippy young upstart — Simply Good Coffee Plastic-Free Brewer. This model launched at the end of last year and was rolled out in 2026. What's the Plastic-Free Brewer got that the Moccamaster hasn't then? Well, the clue's in the name — it's not about what it has, but what it hasn't. Simply Good Coffee uses zero plastic in the brewing process.

Sure, this is all well and good — but what about taste? Let's find out which one makes a better brew.

Moccamaster KBGV Select & Simply Good Coffee Plastic-Free Brewer: What's the difference?

While at their cores, the Moccamaster KBGV Select and the Simply Good Coffee Plastic-Free Brewers are both drip/filter coffee machines, there are a few key differences.

These differences reside in two main areas: design and accreditation.

Obviously, the SGC Plastic-Free Brewer is that: plastic-free (well, low plastic). No hot water touches plastic anywhere in the brewing process — but it does have medical-grade silicone tubing in the water lines. Even so, I don't class this as "plastic" as it's not the kind of polymer that leaches into water or breaks down over time.

The SGC has plastic on the exterior to prevent burns. Seriously, imagine if it were completely steel. You'd need to go to the ER if you accidentally brush up against it after brewing.

Now, the Moccamaster KBGV Select has a plastic filter basket and a plastic destratification tube in the carafe. I personally don't mind this plastic — Technivorm (which makes Moccamaster) is a Dutch company, and the EU has seriously strict regulations on plastic. It's high-quality, non-leaching, BPA-and PFA-free — all the adjectives.

So what else separates them? The SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) accreditation. Now, I don't think this is the be-all and end-all. There are more important things than an SCA accreditation. Taste, feel, emotional connection, secret ghosts inhabiting your coffee maker — whatever floats your boat (stews your brew? No. That's terrible. A career in stand-up comedy is clearly not for me).

If you do care about SCA accreditations, as I know a lot of coffee lovers do, you'll be more inclined to go with the Moccamaster. The KBGV Select has been SCA-accredited since the latter's advent in 2017, but the Simply Good Coffee Plastic-Free Brewer isn't yet accredited.

Moccamaster KBGV Select & Simply Good Coffee Plastic-Free Brewer: So how does it taste?

The Moccamaster KBGV Select and Simply Good Coffee Plastic-Free Brewer both make a rich, comforting, delicious brew with zero silt or bitterness. I would have no qualms recommending either of these machines for serious coffee lovers or newcomers alike.

There are a few main differences in flavor, though. Take a look at these two photos.

The SGC Plastic-Free Brewer has a "Bloom" function, whereas the Moccamaster does not. In simple terms, this function steeps the coffee in water before pushing more water through for a full brew. This allows the coffee to grow more complex and can bring out nuanced flavors in the beans.

As a result, the SGC flavor is a little more juicy and what I would describe as "coffee-snob" territory. The Moccamaster tastes divine, don't get me wrong, but it brews a cup I would associate with "I'm a real coffee drinker because I drink my coffee black" memes.

I know people take water distribution seriously, so here's a comparison shot of the Moccamaster and Simply Good Coffee Plastic-Free Brewer filter baskets post-brew.

Honestly, there's no better or worse here. Both machines brew a delicious cup. I would be happy with either of these in my apartment. The Moccamaster is pure, classic coffee, and the SCG is a little more pure, classic coffee wearing a beanie hat and a flannel.

I would choose the Moccamaster over the SCG purely for the lifetime repairs (and, well, because the SCG isn't actually sold in the U.K. yet), but you wouldn't be disappointed with either.

Which brew appeals to you? Moccamaster or SGC? Let me know in the comments and stay tuned for next Monday's The Coffee Lab, on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

More from Tom's Guide

• Overwhelmed by coffee jargon? Here are the 5 key espresso terms you need to know
• I'm an ex-Starbucks barista — you can make the Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso at home for a fraction of the cost
• I tried Lelit's brand-new 'entry-level' espresso machine — and I wish I had $2,000 so I could buy it

I’m a firm believer that having one of the best blenders is the easiest way to level up your cooking at home, and squeeze in some extra nutrients. That means you need a blender that can cope with even the toughest ingredients. The Nutribullet Power Core does just that.

The Power Core costs less than $100, yet provides incredibly impressive performance and is easy to use. The large capacity means you can work in large batches, and the maintenance of the blender is really simple too.

Unfortunately, it’s extremely loud, and the motor creates a lot of airflow in your workspace. The limited speed settings could also put some users off, but I think it’s more than enough for home use. To find out more, you can keep reading this full Nutribullet Power core review.

Nutribullet Power Core review: Specs

Nutribullet Power Core review: Price & availability

The Nutribullet Power Core is available from Amazon U.S. for $99 and Amazon U.K. for £99. This is an incredibly affordable blender, but that's not unheard of from Nutribullet. In fact, they make some of the most affordable high-performance blenders, including the Nutribullet Smart Touch for $99 and the Nutribullet Pro 900W for $84.

If you want the option of smaller capacity blends, look at the Ninja Detect Power Pro with BlendSense for $179, which, like the Power Core, holds 72 ounces but comes with a 24-ounce single-serve cup.

For more control over blend speeds, check out the Tribest Backspin for $499, which has 12 speeds, or the Vitamix Ascent X2 for $549 with 10 variable speeds. In short, if you want more control, you need to pay more because you only get three speeds with the Nutribullet Power Core. That said, for everyday use, this is enough.

Nutribullet Power Core review: Design

The Nutribullet Power Core is a blender that will look good in any kitchen. It only comes in matte black, so if color matching all your appliances is a dealbreaker for you, this may not be the one (unless everything you own is black). But for most people, the simplistic design will be a win.

The jug has measurements up the side, so I found it easy to measure my ingredients as I went. The lid also has a small measuring cap that can be removed to add more ingredients, such as seasonings, as you blend. This was great for making things like dips.

Because of the large handle, the jug is very easy to hold and pour even when it’s full and heavy. Also, the spout makes pouring accurate, and I didn’t have any issues with spilled smoothies.

The blender uses a six-point stainless steel blade, and this was very effective even on tough ingredients like dates and seeds.

Controls

The Nutribullet Power Core is very easy to use. All of the button controls are at the front of the machine, and since it’s so cheap, it’s very basic. For me, this is great because I don’t think blending needs to be complicated.

The power button is in the middle, and to the left you’ll find a smoothie preset and a pulse button. To the right, there are three buttons for low, medium, and high-speed blending.

Nutribullet Power Core review: Blending performance

To test the blending performance of the Nutribullet Power Core, I carried out my usual tests and made a smoothie, sorbet, and hummus. When blending, the noise level reached a high of 101 decibels. This is around the volume you can expect from a lawnmower, and according to Hearing Loss USA, “anything above 85 decibels can damage the small hair cells in your ears and affect your hearing health.”

This is very loud, even for a large blender. In comparison, the Vitamix Ascent X2 reaches about 81 decibels. I would seriously recommend using a pair of Loop earplugs if you’re using this blender often.

That’s not the only thing — the motor base also creates a lot of wind. If it wasn’t for the powerful suction cups keeping it stable on my countertop, I’m pretty sure this thing would have taken flight. It blew around containers and papers on my countertop, which was just plain annoying.

Also, since the jug is so big, it would have been great to have a tamper so ingredients could be directed toward the blades when it wasn’t as full. I ended up having to push the sides down with a spoon intermittently.

Smoothie

I added a bag of berry smoothie mix, dates, sunflower seeds and oat milk to the blender and used the smoothie preset for blending. This did a great job of quickly dealing with frozen ingredients and mincing the sunflower seeds finely.

I was most impressed by how the blender handled the dates, as their naturally sticky texture often clogs blender blades and leaves chunks behind. There was some texture from the fruit seeds, but I was left with a smooth drink, and the blades didn’t clog. For $99, this is an extremely impressive blender.

Sorbet

Next, I blended up a sorbet. This allowed me to see how the blender would perform with frozen ingredients without adding liquid. I added a bag of frozen mango that had been thawed for 10 minutes. I used the medium-speed setting, stopping to push the mango down from the sides intermittently.

Since this is a thicker consistency than the smoothie, I spent a lot of time getting the mixture off the side walls of the blender. The mixture was mostly smooth with a few rogue chunks of mango, but it was good enough for what I needed.

Hummus

Finally, I whipped up a quick hummus — and I mean quick. I added two cans of chickpeas, lemon juice and some seasonings to the blender and used the pulse setting as I slowly added extra virgin olive oil. This only took a couple of minutes.

I was very impressed with the results. I had a mostly smooth dip with only a few whole chickpeas. For the price, I couldn’t ask for more.

Nutribullet Power Core review: Storage & maintenance

Taking care of the Nutribullet Power Core couldn’t be simpler. Everything is dishwasher-safe apart from the motor base. This meant I could just pop the whole jug and lid into the dishwasher and give the motor base a quick wipe down with a cloth. To clean the jug by hand, use detergent and a soft sponge, but be very careful with the blades at the bottom.

You need to be prepared for it to take up a lot of space on your countertop, or potentially a whole shelf in your cupboard. It measures 15.5 x 7.8 x 7.5 inches and weighs 7.5 pounds. The 72-ounce jug detaches from the motor base for cleaning and easier storage.

Nutribullet Power Core review: Verdict

The Nutribullet Power Core is an incredibly affordable blender that delivers impressive performance for under $100. This easy-to-use blender made mixing up large batches of my favorite smoothies, sorbets, and dips an absolute breeze. It completely blended even the toughest ingredients like dates, seeds and frozen fruit, leaving no chunks behind. It’s a must if you need a big blender on a budget, and it’s dishwasher-safe, so very easy to maintain.

However, you’ll need to protect your hearing with some earplugs because it gets incredibly noisy. I’d argue it’s louder than should be possible for a blender. The motor also generates a lot of air, making the surrounding workspace insanely windy.

With only three speeds, some users may feel limited, but for casual blenders, this is more than enough. For reliable and impressive results on a budget, this blender is a great choice.

When I tested the original Casabrews Ultra last year, I was perplexed. It has a PID controller and a built-in timer for under $349? And it doesn’t look overly plasticky or feel flimsy? How? Some major boiler issues, that’s how. Thankfully, these issues have been sorted out on its successor, the Casabrews Ultra Pro, released in July 2026.

So is this enough to make it one of the best espresso machines? Hmm — not if you’re serious about your coffee. While it’s a good entry-level model with premium features like a customizable PID controller and has a built-in timer, its weak steam wand and habit of burning espresso holds me back from recommending it fully.

But might it be worth the $349 price tag? To get the full story, keep reading this Casabrews Ultra Pro review.

Casabrews Ultra Pro review: Specs

Casabrews Ultra Pro review: Price & availability

The Casabrews Ultra Pro is $349 from Amazon U.S. At time of writing, it’s not available in the U.K.

For a Casabrews machine, this is a pretty premium price. I mean, you can probably tell from the name, right? They don’t call it the “Ultra Pro” for no reason. I tested the original Ultra last year and liked it, but it had some flaws, like a weak steam wand and boiler issues. More on that later, but I didn’t experience the same boiler problems.

The $349 asking price is a little too steep for this machine. When you can get the $299 Breville Bambino, PID controller and customizable pre-infusion included, or the $499 Breville Bambino Plus, there’s not a lot of wiggle room.

Casabrews Ultra Pro review: Design

The new Casabrews Ultra Pro looks pretty identical to the original Ultra. I liked the original version, so I like the new version. I didn’t notice any tarnishing issues this time around, so I’m glad to see Casabrews has improved on that; however, there’s still no water tank alert on the screen.

Speaking of the screen, I love it, and it’s by far the best feature on this machine. You don’t have to scrabble with a coffee scale timer anymore. Of course, you still need a coffee scale to ensure you’re getting the proper 36g espresso out, but forget that timer function. It’s redundant to you now. The Ultra Pro times your shot for you — and it’s reliable, every single time.

The screen has a few more capabilities: it shows you the double or single shot, hot water, and steam wand functions. That’s it, but I’m not mad about it. All I need is that sweet, sweet timer function, and I’m happy.

Like the previous model, the Ultra Pro utilizes a steam button rather than a dial, which is good if you need a low-effort machine.

Also like the previous machine, there’s a nice little groove on the top so you can store your tamper. I liked this feature as much as I like the 58mm portafilter basket. This is the coffee-snob standard, so is ideal for getting higher-quality aftermarket accessories… which you will need to purchase, as the Ultra Pro doesn’t come with a milk jug. Many Casabrews machines omit the milk jug, which I’m not a fan of. It’s so stingy. It’s literally a milk jug. All Breville machines come with a milk jug, but the $149 De’Longhi Stilosa doesn’t.

Casabrews Ultra Pro review: Espresso

I didn’t experience any boiler issues while using the Ultra Pro. On the previous version, it took ages for the machine to switch between milk and espresso. The Ultra Pro makes strange clicking noises after brewing espresso, but I was always able to get the steam wand up and running in a few seconds.

Despite these successes, I have a few espresso-related qualms with the Casabrews Ultra Pro. Casabrews claim “this espresso machine ensures consistent 9-bar extraction”, which isn’t true. I know it isn’t true because the Ultra Pro has an LCD screen that literally displays the bar pressure during extraction.

Not once did the bar pressure number stay the same. It fluctuated from 3 to 7 to 9 to 15 at one point, and down and up again throughout extraction. I know pressure is supposed to increase from low to 9-bar during infusion, but it’s not supposed to go back down when only 5g has extracted.

This is not a consistent 9-bar extraction. Casabrews kind of shot itself in the foot here. Why include a digital “manometer” (quotation marks necessary there) only for it to tell on itself?

Despite what Casabrews says on its website, there also doesn’t seem to be a solenoid valve, as all my pucks came out wet. Now I’ve grown accustomed to my Bambino Plus’s solenoid valve, I’m not sure I can ever go back. Cleanup is so much easier with dry pucks.

Here’s a photo of an espresso I made on the Casabrews Ultra Pro.

I wasn’t a huge fan of this espresso. It tasted burnt and overextracted, despite extracting in 25 seconds. This is the “ideal” extraction time. It didn’t pour too quickly or too slowly, meaning it wasn’t over- or under-extracted.

However, perhaps I’m simply too picky. I gave my colleagues many coffees made on the Casabrews Ultra Pro, and the feedback ranged from “really nice actually” to “a nice fruitiness”.

There’s also the (customizable) PID controller (temperature controller to prevent burnt or weak brews) to mention. This is better than Breville’s entry-level models, which have a non-programmable PID. You can easily adjust the brew temperature in intervals from 194°F to 204°F. This is great to see on a cheaper machine.

Finally, there’s a cold brew mode. Here’s a photo of said cold brew.

The cold brew was bright and juicy, but quite astringent. It took 101 seconds to brew 160ml. I wouldn’t use this again, but it’s good if you like juicy, sharp flavors and you’re on a time crunch.

If you’re what you’d consider a “coffee snob”, this machine might not be the one for you. In that case, I’d recommend the aforementioned Breville Bambino or Breville Bambino Plus. You may even want to go for the $499 Gaggia Classic E24 Evo Pro, which has no PID controller but is a coffee nerd goldmine.

Casabrews Ultra Pro review: Milk

My biggest issue with the Casabrews Ultra was the weak steam wand. Seeing as Casabrews fixed the boiler issues, I hoped the steam wand weakness would have been fixed, too.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. It still takes a whole minute to steam half a jug of milk, and said milk is unevenly aerated. I found my milk separated into layers immediately after finishing steaming. I also struggled to obtain the ideal “vortex” while steaming, which is the marker of a low-quality steam wand.

As you can see, the latte art is squashed. This is because the foam wasn’t integrated into the milk, so when I poured, it separated into layers. This is not what I’d want to see.

The De’Longhi Stilosa, Breville Bambino, and Breville Bambino Plus don’t suffer from this issue, so I’d recommend grabbing one of those instead if you value latte art. Even the Ninja Luxe Cafe Mini Plus ($499)’s auto steam wand is better, if you can afford the extra $150 (but you get a grinder).

Casabrews Ultra Pro review: Storage & maintenance

The Ultra Pro is just 13 inches deep and 12 inches tall, which makes it a mid-sized espresso machine. While considerably larger than the 7-inch-wide Breville Bambino and the 5-inch wide Casabrews 3700 Essential, it’s nowhere near as massive as the frankly Titanic Breville Oracle Dual Boiler ($3,000, 18 inches tall).

Obviously, still check it will fit in your kitchen, but it’s not a large model, as far as espresso machines go.

In terms of cleaning, well, Casabrews doesn’t provide you with any accessories, unlike Breville and De’Longhi. You’ll need to buy backflush tablets and descaler yourself, which is around $20 for a huge bottle on Amazon.

In terms of warranty, it’s also pretty slim pickings here. Casabrews offers just one year, while Breville, De’Longhi, and Ninja offer two as standard.

Casabrews Ultra Pro review: Verdict

I gave the Casabrews Ultra Pro 3 stars. Yeah, I know. “You gave the Ultra 3.5 stars, so how does that work?” The most egregious issue — the steam wand — has not been fixed. Even though Casabrews has had time to fix this, it didn’t, hence the lower rating this time around. Do I think the Ultra Pro is worth $349? No. No I do not.

When you can get the Casabrews CM5148 Pro for $199 — PID controller included — I really cannot see why the Ultra Pro is so much more expensive. The on-screen timer is a nice addition, but is it worth an extra $150? I think not.

So while I’m sure you won’t be majorly disappointed by the Ultra Pro, I simply can’t recommend it when there are similar machines for cheaper, or much better machines for a little extra. Treat yourself to the $499 Breville Bambino Plus or Gaggia Classic E24 Evo Pro, or save a little and get the Breville Bambino or Casabrews CM5418 Pro. It’s a no-brainer.

Ever since my dad got a fancy espresso machine, I’ve dreamed of brewing my own crema-topped coffee at home. But most at-home, coffee makers don’t offer this feature — unless you want to pay hundreds of dollars and sacrifice a large chunk of your kitchen’s counter space.

When I saw that Keurig was coming out with the K-Crema, I wondered if it could be a good lower-cost option to my dad’s top-of-the-line model.

Ultimately, the K-Crema brews a tasty cup of coffee with a layer of foamy crema on top. It might not stack up to an espresso shot from a pricier machine or a coffee shop, but for those of us who want to save money while still enjoying a delicious shot of coffee, the K-Crema is a decent pick.

Read this Keurig K-Crema review to find out how it performed over several weeks in my kitchen, and why I think this is a top pick in the Keurig coffee maker lineup.

Keurig K-Crema review: Price and availability

The Keurig K-Crema is available for $219 at Keurig and Amazon. You can also buy it at Target, Kohl’s, Walmart, and other major retailers. Plus, the machine is available in a single color: Black.

You can use any K-Cup pod in the K-Crema, though mine came with Global Trek medium roast pods. The machine doesn’t come with a reusable pod, but you could buy one and use your own coffee if you prefer. For this review, I stuck with the provided K-Cups.

Keurig K-Crema review: Design

After initially unboxing the Keurig K-Crema, the first thing I noticed was its size. It’s bigger than your basic Keurig machine, like the K-Slim or the K-Mini, yet smaller than most coffee machines.

The K-Crema has a removable water reservoir that sits to the right of the machine, making it wider than some other single-brew coffee machines. But the reservoir was easy to fill: simply pick it up using the handle, fill it with water, and pop it back.

The K-Crema has six size options, from a single shot to a 12-ounce brew. The “Pressure” button brews coffee at five times the pressure of a standard cup, resulting in a silky layer of crema. That’s what sets the machine apart from other Keurigs, but can it justify the higher price tag?

Keurig K-Crema review: Performance

To determine whether or not the Keurig K-Crema is a good buy, I put it to the test in my kitchen over several weeks. I timed each drink setting and took the temperature of multiple cups to gauge the average hotness of a cup of coffee.

Here’s how the Keurig K-Crema performed:

These brew times are comparable to other Keurig machines, though it was interesting to note that the machine brewed faster when I used the pressure setting. Coffee temperature was a little colder than I expected, especially for the shot and double-shot sizes.

I measured brew temps from a low of 163 degrees to a high of 174 degrees. Experts recommend a water temperature of 195 to 205 degrees for the best-testing coffee, but that’s not realistic from a single-serve machine like the Keurig K-Crema.

Noise-wise, I measured a high of 68 decibels for both the Classic and Pressure settings, with an average in the 50 to 60 decibel range. That’s considered to be in the moderate range — and since the machine brews most sizes in under two minutes, it’s unlikely to cause much disruption.

Now for the most important factor: taste. My only prior experience of a crema machine is in my dad’s kitchen, where he has a fancy (and expensive) espresso machine. I didn’t expect the K-Crema to measure up, yet I was still pleasantly surprised by the taste of the resulting cup.

In the past, I’ve found K-Cups to taste too weak or artificial, but the Global Trek pods I tested were just right. I liked the addition of the crema, though it didn’t quite hold up when I mixed in milk and sugar.

Keurig K-Crema review: Comparison

The Keurig K-Crema is a solid single-serve coffee maker, but how does it compare to other Keurig models? I have previously tested the K-Mini Mate, and the K-Crema definitely brews a superior cup. But it comes at a cost: The Keurig K-Mini Mate costs $59.99, compared to $219.99 for the K-Crema.

You might also consider the Keurig K-Cafe, which comes with a milk frother. This machine is ideal if you like coffee drinks, like lattes and cappuccinos. But if you prefer to drink straight shots of espresso, the K-Crema is the right choice.

Ultimately, you’ll want to consider what you want out of your coffee machine. If you’ve always wanted an espresso machine but don’t want to spend the money, the Keurig K-Crema is a good budget-friendly option.

Keurig K-Crema review: Verdict

If you’re looking for an affordable coffee maker that can brew a decent cup of coffee or a shot of creamy espresso, I recommend looking into the Keurig K-Crema. While it doesn’t quite measure up to the expensive espresso machines on the market, it’s available for a fraction of the price, and the resulting coffee is smooth and enjoyable.

It’s the ideal middle ground for someone who wants to brew coffee drinks at home, but isn’t ready to commit to an espresso machine.

As a tea-drinking Brit, I have big opinions on kettles, and the Dualit Design Series Kettle is a good option for most people’s homes. It has an aesthetic stainless steel design which is easy to maintain with regular cleaning. It has good heat retention and is easy and accurate to pour with.

Unfortunately, though, the window design makes it hard to read the measurements when filling the kettle. The boiling is also a little slow when compared to other kettles.

To find out more about the kitchen appliance, you can keep reading this full Dualit Design Series Kettle review.

Dualit Design Series Kettle review: Specs

Dualit Design Series Kettle review: Price & availability

The Dualit Design Series Kettle is available to purchase from Amazon U.S. for $178 or directly from the Dualit online store for $179. You can also purchase the kettle in the U.K., where it’s called the Dualit Architect Kettle.

The kettle has a stainless steel finish, but you can purchase interchangeable panels for the bottom section from the Dualit store to make it your own. These include the colors Shadow, Metallic Silver, Copper, Brass, Evergreen and Eucalyptus.

Dualit also sells the Classic Kettle for $249, which is more of a fashion statement than a standard kettle. Its curved shape is much more interesting than the Design Series — the irony is not lost on me.

But you don’t need to spend the best part of $200 for a good kettle. I have also tested the Cosori Electric Glass Kettle, which, while not as dashing, is a fraction of the price at just $27. And honestly, it does just as good a job as the Design Series Kettle — you just have to be willing to put up with the odd leak while pouring, which isn’t a worry with the Dualit.

While the Dualit has a Pure pour spout to ensure zero leaks when pouring, if you need even more precision for drinks such as pour-over coffee, you may want to consider a gooseneck kettle such as the Fellow Stagg EKG for $165. If you take your brews seriously, I’d recommend the Fellow over the Dualit.

Dualit Design Series Kettle review: Design & features

The Dualit Design Series Kettle is certainly eye-catching. It measures 9.4 x 8.6 x 5.5 inches, weighs 3.2 pounds, and has a reflective surface that will have you checking out your hair while the water boils.

It can boil a maximum capacity of 1.5 liters, enough for six cups. However, you’ll find yourself playing a guessing game when filling it because of the design and positioning of the measurement window. The window has a fish-eye effect, warping the water as you peer through, and it sits directly in line with the handle, so you need to look around that too.

The handle extends down most of the body, making it easy to hold. At the top of the handle there’s a button to release the flat, hinged lid. This means you can open it without touching it, but to close it you’ll need to push it down. If you’ve already boiled the kettle once, be wary as this part can get very hot.

The power switch is just below the handle at the base. This base is very cohesive with the rest of the kettle — it looks like one whole unit with the kettle on top. It has a three-foot power cord, so it is best set up near a power outlet. If you need to make this shorter, you can store the excess in the base.

Dualit Design Series Kettle review: Performance

I have to say, when testing the Dualit Design Series Kettle, I was a little confused. After testing the Dualit Classic Kettle, I was impressed at how fast it boiled the water. It boiled five cups in just two minutes and 35 seconds. The Design Series Kettle took three minutes and 11 seconds — a stark difference.

All of my testing conditions were the same, so if you want an appliance that won’t have you waiting around all day, spring for the more expensive Classic. You may be spending a little extra, but hey, you’ll get to enjoy life with your fresh brew instead of staring into your lifeless eyes in the kettle’s reflection as the water boils for an extra minute. Just me? Well, as a tea-drinking Brit, by the time I’ve made my daily quota, all of those minutes add up.

I measured the temperature of the water immediately after boiling and got a reading of 209.3ºF/98.5ºC. This was very slightly cooler than the 210ºF/99.3ºC reading I got from the Classic Kettle. But the Design Series holds heat pretty well. After an hour, I got a reading of 161.1ºF/71.7ºC. So, if you wanted to reboil the water, you won’t be waiting for the full *checks notes* three minutes and 53 seconds — yikes.

Pouring with the kettle is a dream. If you’re a little shaky when pouring, I would fully recommend this kettle. I encountered no spillages. And the water went exactly where I needed it to. It can be a little heavy when you fill it to the top, so I only ever filled it about halfway so I could still use it with ease.

The kettle isn’t too loud either, and gave me a reading of 76dB on the Decibel X app.

Dualit Design Series Kettle review: Storage & maintenance

The Dualit Design Series is a kettle, and as such, this is a generally straightforward affair. It’s easy to maintain; you’ll just find yourself wiping down the exterior more than your usual kettle given its reflective nature.

If you live in a hard water area, you’ll also need to descale the kettle regularly. You can purchase descaling tablets for this or use natural methods such as lemon juice or baking soda. The spout of the kettle also has a removable limescale filter which is easy to remove, clean, and refit.

Dualit Design Series Kettle review: Verdict

The Dualit Design Series Kettle is undeniably good-looking. The stainless steel finish is slick and will fit in with any kitchen. The kettle is also easy to maintain (if you don’t mind wiping it down a lot). It has good heat retention and is very easy to pour with. There were absolutely zero drips thanks to the Pure pour spout.

Unfortunately, it’s tricky to tell where the water has been filled up to because of the poor window design, and boiling is a little slow. It took a whole minute longer to boil the same volume of water as the Dualit Classic Kettle.

If sleek looks are your priority, this is a great kettle, but $178 is a lot of money to spend on a kettle that takes so long to boil.

The Smeg Retro Coffee Maker is certainly gorgeous enough to be on the catwalk model of coffee machines. As with seemingly everything else made by the Italian coffee brand, the Retro (DCF02) looks sleek, sophisticated, and effortlessly cool.

But is appearance enough to make it one of the best coffee makers? Thankfully, this time, the Smeg Retro Coffee Maker isn’t style over substance. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Smeg ECF02’s performance despite a premium appearance — but the Retro Coffee Maker can walk the walk and talk the talk. It brews clean-tasting, balanced coffee with minimal silt and zero bitterness. And all you have to do is press one button.

So, want to find out more about this gorgeous coffee machine? Spoiler alert: it’s an absolute treat. To get the full story, keep reading this Smeg Retro Coffee Maker review.

Smeg Retro Coffee Maker: Specs

Smeg Retro Coffee Maker review: Price & availability

The Smeg Retro Coffee Maker is $259 from Crate&Barrel in the U.S., regardless of color, and £199-£219 from John Lewis in the U.K. The Moonlight colorway, the model I tested, runs for £20 more than the standard colors: cream, navy, black, pastel blue, pastel green, silver, gray, red, and white.

In the U.S., though, Moonlight is the usual price of $259. Functionally, the “standard” colors and Moonlight are the same, so if you’re looking to save as much as possible, I’d go for the older colors. But isn’t the Moonlight oh so pretty? Just look at it!

In keeping with Smeg’s back catalogue, the Retro Coffee Maker is pretty pricey for what it is. This is a common theme with Smeg, though: you pay a premium for the style.

For $369, you could get the Moccamaster KGBV Select, which has a 5-year warranty and lifetime repairs. For $250, you could get the single-serve Moccamaster Cup-One, complete with the same after-purchase benefits.

I’ve also tested the SCA-accredited $329 Breville Luxe Brewer and the low-plastic $319 Aarke Coffee Maker, alongside the low-plastic Ratio Four ($259), an automated pour-over. Although it’s not available in the U.K., so I haven’t tested it, I can assure you that the budget $90 Ninja 12-Cup Drip Brewer is a crowd pleaser in Tom’s Guide’s New York office.

Bonavita and Braun have also mastered the budget drip coffee maker: Bonavita’s SCA-accredited 8-Cup Brewer is just $189, the 5-Cup is even cheaper, at $149. The 12-Cup Braun Drip Coffee Maker is $129. This is where I’d like to see the Smeg Retro Coffee Maker’s price due to its lack of SCA accreditation and mostly plastic build.

Smeg Retro Coffee Maker review: Design

As with everything else under Smeg’s belt, the Retro Coffee Maker looks really cool. Per the name, it’s certainly retro, and would look at home in either a diner on a cheesy high school drama (I’m thinking Riverdale, anyone?), or in any sleek, sophisticated home kitchen.

I tested the gorgeous Moonlight shade, which has the same muted gray buttons as the rest of the color line. The buttons control power, brew amount, auto start, and flavor intensity. The lever is solely for adjusting the machine’s time display and the auto start timer. At first, I thought this was an unnecessary use of space, but it’s actually really fun to use.

It’s worth noting that the Retro Coffee Maker is bigger than it looks online: it’s 14 inches tall, 10 inches wide, and 10 inches deep. If you’ve got a small kitchen, I’d measure your space before purchasing. Comparatively, the Moccamaster KGBV Select is 6.5 x 12.8 x 14 inches, the Breville Luxe Brewer is 14.7 x 7 x 16.1 inches, and the Ninja 12-Cup is 8 x 10 x 14 inches. The Moccamaster is the narrowest, but it’s longer and the same height as the Smeg.

As for accessories, the Retro Coffee Maker comes with just two: a scoop and a permanent mesh filter. You can use single-use #4 conical filters, but I tested with the reusable filter as provided.

Smeg Retro Coffee Maker review: Performance

The Smeg Retro Coffee Maker is supremely easy to use. All you have to do is put your coffee in the filter, add your water, and press go.

Smeg recommends a recipe of one scoop per cup, so if you’re making a full batch, that would be 10 scoops. A half-batch requires 4 scoops. Of course, you can adjust this recipe to your tastes.

A full batch sometimes took seven minutes, sometimes eight, and a half batch took around three minutes. This is a little slower than the Moccamaster KGBV Select, but not by much at all.

The water tank isn’t removable, so I poured water in using the carafe. I have two qualms with this: one, the carafe is angled in such a way that it’s tricky to get the final dregs of water, and two, the water tank opening is on the right side, so if you’re left-handed like me, this will pose an issue. Alas, this will only irritate 11% of the population, so it’s not enough to knock half a star off (but justice for us devil-worshippers [for legal reasons, this is a joke]).

Here’s how I made delicious coffee on the Smeg Retro Coffee Maker.

My go-to Smeg Retro Coffee Maker routine

Smeg recommends one scoop per cup. One scoop was between 8.5-10 grams depending on if I levelled it or not.

I used 87g of coffee (10 level scoops) for a full carafe, which works out to a ratio of 1:16.

1. Fill the water tank to max.
2. Grind your coffee to a medium size. I used my Mazzer Philos, the best grinder in the world.
3. Put your desired amount of coffee in the filter. I used 87g for a full batch, a 1:16 ratio.
4. Select your desired intensity level. I used level 1.
5. Press the power button to start your brew.
6. Wait 7-8 minutes!

And that’s it!

Here’s a photo of the grounds after brewing. As you can see, there’s very little funnelling here.

The Retro Coffee Maker brews clean, fresh-tasting coffee. You can obviously adjust the intensity using either the on-machine button or increasing the coffee dosage (or grinding finer), but the out-of-the-box flavor is great.

Smeg Retro Coffee Maker review: Storage & maintenance

I was pleasantly surprised to see the Smeg Retro Coffee Maker come with a 2-year warranty. This is better than Ninja’s 1-year warranty, but still not comparable to Moccamaster’s 5-year warranty (and lifetime repairs) or Simply Good Coffee’s new 5-year standard warranty.

To keep your Retro Coffee Maker lasting as long as possible, do not put the carafe in the dishwasher. I put the mesh filter in the dishwasher and it survived, but I’d recommend only washing by hand.

As mentioned earlier, the Retro Coffee Maker is pretty large — so make sure you’ve got enough counter space before buying!

Smeg Retro Coffee Maker review: How does it compare?

The Smeg Retro Coffee Maker looks just as cool as the industrial-chic Moccamaster, so I’d recommend either of these brands if you’re after that vintage vibe. I’d also put Simply Good Coffee’s Plastic-Free Brewer in this category — it looks sleek and effortlessly cool.

The Retro Coffee Maker isn’t as fast as the Breville Luxe Brewer, but it is $70 cheaper, so you win some, you lose some. It’s also considerably cheaper than the $319 Aarke Coffee Maker — but the Aarke is low-plastic, which is what a lot of consumers want these days.

But, and that’s a relatively big but, I would say the Smeg Retro Coffee Maker is a touch overpriced for what it is. The Moccamaster is $369 because it has lifetime repairs and is SCA-accredited. The SGC Plastic-Free Brewer is $469 because it’s made almost entirely from glass and metal. The Breville Luxe Brewer is $329 because it brews in three minutes.

As mentioned earlier, I’d like to see Smeg’s pricing fall more in line with Ninja’s, Bonavita’s, and Braun (or get SCA accreditation or improve the materials/after-purchase care). Ninja’s 12-Cup Drip Brewer is just $89, and Bonavita’s SCA-accredited 8-Cup Brewer is just $189. The 5-Cup is even cheaper — $149. The 12-Cup Braun Drip Coffee Maker is $129.

The Smeg doesn’t really have any USPs other than looking really cool. While I do objectively like this coffee maker, I’ll be the first person to admit it falls into Smeg’s main pitfall: it’s expensive for what it is.

Smeg Retro Coffee Maker review: Verdict

Despite being a little pricey for what it is, the Smeg Retro Coffee Maker gets a big thumbs up from me. I thoroughly enjoyed testing this machine and would recommend it for people who value style and ease of use.

Yes, it’s expensive considering its plastic build and lack of SCA accreditation, and no, it doesn’t have any unique features like a lifetime repairs warranty or an SCA accreditation. The auto-start timer is cool, but the $89 Ninja 12-Cup has this, too. However, just look at it. Doesn’t that speak for itself?

So, if you want a kitchen centrepiece that’ll have guests going “Ooh” and “Aah” and “Where did you get that from?” then you’ll get on just fine with the Smeg Retro Coffee Maker. It’s literally plug-and-play, and tastes as good as it looks.