Appliances and Kitchen Gadgets

The kitchen countertop is valuable real estate. With available counter space always at a premium, gadgets and appliances that are contenders for acreage require something to help them stand out from the crowd. Sometimes it's a matter of versatility and other times it's convenience that determines what gets to stay and what has to go. And sometimes it's just the tasty stuff that gets to stay; but that doesn't have to mean unhealthy.

No longer relegated to the hard-to-reach corner of the countertop (or worse yet, stored underneath it), the Hurom Premium Slow Juicer & Smoothie Maker ($429.95) … Read more

Wine requires a commitment, but it is not pricey bottles or expensive wine cellars that comprise the whole equation. Luckily, the other side of the equation is the good side: actually drinking the wine. However, that brings up another consideration: which bottle to open and drink? Or one could take the safe route and cover all the bases by opening more than one.

The Dacor Discovery DYWS4 WineStation allows for opened bottles of wine to be stored and preserved for up to 60 days. The home wine-serving station uses argon gas to stop oxygenation and allow opened wine bottles to … Read more

Sadly, I find it easier to build a computer than a kick off a successful grill fire. The up-and-coming BBQ Dragon could be the breath of fresh air -- literally -- to change my poor fire-starting fortune.

Essentially working the same way as a fan, the cordless BBQ Dragon shoots a large amount of cool air into a fire and accelerates the burning process. The stainless steel device, which has a variable air speed controller and flexible arm, easily clips onto the side of a grill or smoker. The designers say the Dragon works great with bonfires, the Big Green Egg, wood stoves, and more. … Read more

Coffee might not be essential to life (although the jury is still out on that one), but it does show up every day of the week. The ubiquitous brown beverage that supplies a caffeinated jolt to imbibers can be enjoyed seemingly in a million different ways. However, before the cream and the sugar quandary comes up, how to brew it must first be addressed.

The Hamilton Beach (Model 49983) Two-Way Deluxe Coffeemaker ($99.99; available in August) is actually even more versatile than the name would imply. While true that the coffeemaker is designed to brew into either a travel … Read more

Supermarkets are labyrinthine behemoths laid out in a convenient linear fashion. So where's the maze? On the supermarket shelves, of course. Food products galore stare back at us, silently appealing to our penchants for sugar, salt, and fat. We pick and choose, knowing full well what we are getting into. But it's the hidden components that are increasingly becoming a salient issue.

If supermarket shelves are overwhelming due to the sheer diversity of items, imagine the corporate structure behind the packaging. Or don't; just let your phone do it. Scan any bar code (UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN8, EAN13...) with your phone and the free Buycott app (for iOS; a previously available Android version is now "Coming soon") will display the product's corporate family tree on the screen. The app takes knowing where your food comes from further, telling you not only what brand belongs to what company, but what that company does with your dollars.… Read more

The inside of the refrigerator is no place for fast food. Aside from the fridge gnome who turns the light on and off when the door is opened and closed, it is pretty slow in there. Of course, this is exactly how we want it; it's nice to be able to look inside and find the dairy and the lunch meat where you left it (not counting housemate intervention). Zoku, of quick-pop-maker fame, understands that sometimes it's OK to slow down.

The Zoku Mini Pop Molds ($16.99) are part of Zoku's "Slow Pops" line. (… Read more

It won't console you as you drown your sorrows in alcohol, but MIT's Makr Shakr robotic bartender can make exactly the drink you're looking for before you've even arrived at the bar.

MIT's Senseable City Lab teamed up with Coca-Cola and Bacardi Rum to bring Makr Shakr to Google I/O, which starts Wednesday in San Francisco. The system allows barflies and frazzled developers alike to personalize their cocktail recipe of choice via a smartphone app, or to choose a libation created by another user, creating a crowdsourced drink menu.… Read more

My poor iPad has survived flour, oil, lemon juice, and countless other kitchen mishaps. Maybe it's time I look a little more seriously at a dedicated kitchen computer. My options have just expanded with the arrival of the Archos ChefPad, an Android tablet built to handle the rigors of the cooking life.

The ChefPad is a full-blown 10-inch Android tablet running Jelly Bean with a 1.6GHz processor and 1GB of RAM behind it. There are the usual front and back cameras, in case you want to launch your own online cooking show. What makes it kitchen-specific are the preloaded cooking apps and easy-to-clean case.… Read more

The inside of a vacuum cleaner is no place to be. Luckily, most of us will never have to endure such a place. The detritus we create in daily living, however, is another story. Not only do we want dust, dirt, and pet hair to be subjected to the internal whirlwind of a vacuum cleaner, we want it to stay there. At least until it's time to empty the bin.

Emptying the bin may be the last step in the journey for particulate matter, but other side of the story is just beginning. The bagless technology that Dyson uses … Read more