Appliances and Kitchen Gadgets

Diving into sous vide cooking with the AquaChef

Food enthusiasts have a hard time not trying new things. Everything from new recipes to funny-looking vegetables at the market are fair game to the curious. And of course, the same thing can be said about cooking techniques. Given the opportunity to try out the AquaChef Professional Water Oven by Kitchen Advance, I dove right in.

The first thing one notices about the AquaChef is its remarkable similarity in appearance to a deep fryer. Of course, since sous vide cooking uses water as the cooking medium (as opposed to oil or hot air as in an oven) that is where more

Rice cooker builds flavor for one-pot meals

One-pot meals are perhaps the finest invention of humankind. Sure, the wheel may have been important, but you can't eat one. Now at the end of a long day, all we need to do to create a hot and healthy meal is to set some food in a pot over heat and soon a meal will be made. However, just throwing a bunch of ingredients into a pot can have mixed results; it would be nice if the meal was flavorful too.

The Aroma NRC-687SD-1SG NutriWare Rice Cooker and Food Steamer is a one-pot appliance that offers the ability more

A (big) fridge for the car

As the calendar starts shifting into the warm weather months, the call of the wild starts to beckon. No matter if this call is something that drives us forward back to nature or on to another city of steel and concrete, this lure often means only one thing: road trip. Nowadays, of course, it is easier than ever to stay in touch and also bring along all of our creature comforts. Usually however, that doesn't include the contents of the fridge.

The BaseCamp Portable Refrigerator/Freezer has a 42-quart capacity and plugs directly into an automobile accessory socket. Smart more

Cut to the chase with this 8-bit Mario board

You've got your Super Mario Brothers sneakers just in time for your Super Mario wedding, but aren't you lacking in the Super Mario kitchen department?

Online retailer Prairie Oak Studios has come to your rescue. Run by Jim Van Winkle, the Iowa-based crafts producer turns out beautiful cutting boards with all manner of designs.

Prairie Oak's Super Mario end grain cutting board is about 11 by 13 inches and shows your favorite 8-bit character with various varieties of wood that look like pixels.

It's put together with FDA-approved adhesives, smoothed with a seven-step process, and rubbed down with beeswax and grapeseed oil.

Opening a second bottle of wine takes careful consideration. Not surprisingly, these considerations can be somewhat clouded. We are talking about another bottle of wine, after all. Yet, despite these hesitations that commonly vex oenophiles, the real question isn't whether to open the bottle, but what to do with it after.

The Summit Appliance STC1 Thermoelectric 8-Bottle Wine Cooler stores either open or closed bottles of wine. The impressive display is wider than it is tall, with the tops of bottles exposed, allowing room for corks or other wine sealing solutions. A large front-viewing window and LED lighting add

Grilling is usually an active endeavor. Sure, there are times when food is best left alone to cook low and slow over the heat, but sooner or later that food is going to need to be flipped. Or picked up with tongs. Or prodded with a fork. So it only makes sense that there should be one tool that can handle all of these tasks.

Enter the Stake 3-in-1 BBQ Tool. Combining a fork and a spatula with tongs, the multitasking grill gadget keeps grillers armed with whatever tool they happen to need. Closely resembling ordinary tongs, the barbecue tool more

Fan barbecue flames from a phone

It's no secret that barbecue enthusiasts take their craft very seriously. As well they should, considering the succulent results that occur through when proper attention is given to meat cooked over an open fire. However, all that attention can be time-consuming; time spent hovering over a pit is time that could be spent with family and friends.

The BBQ Guru CyberQ Wi-Fi combines a control station along with a fan that mounts inside the grill or pit. Capable of monitoring the temperature of the pit itself as well as up to three different meats, the grill gadget keeps grillers more

Indoor grill/griddle combo makes meal-making easy

Eating the same food everyday can become very monotonous. Luckily, there is so much variety populating grocery store aisles that it is a fate quite avoidable. Yet as inspired as we would like to be during the cooking process, it is a mathematical fact that deliciousness is directly proportional to how to many dishes we dirty. Unless, of course, you don't even use a pan.

The Cuisinart Elite Griddler allows for the versatility necessary in order to create complex meals with a minimum of hassle. The countertop appliance features the ability to be used as in the open position more

Thermador microwave goes under the countertop

Kitchen countertops are busy landscapes. As with any endeavor, tools of the trade can sometimes clutter the work area. However, cutlery and cutting boards are much easier to store away and out of sight than appliances are. Usually.

The Thermador MD24JS Built-in MicroDrawer Microwave employs a creative use of space that allows it to always be at the ready while not being in the way. Installing directly into standard-depth cabinetry, the 24-inch built-in microwave slides open at a touch (no handle) and features a full-flush front for an attractive aesthetic that blends into the environment of the kitchen. With a more

It's not rude to Burpple during meals

Do you upload mouthwatering pictures on Instagram, where they then get lost in millions of similar photos tagged "#foodporn"?

Here's some food for thought: You may be better off "Burppling." The Singapore-based creators of the iOS app Burpple intend it to be a social food journal -- an Instagram of sorts, only for food.

It seems to have the potential to be as popular as Instagram, even though it was only launched in 39 countries, including the U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Australia, on May 8. The creators claim that "during the few weeks of open beta [in Singapore], Burpple saw similar early-stage user activity" as Instagram.

A portmanteau of "burp" and "people," Burpple is all about connecting food and people. Users document their meals by uploading photos with information such as place, type, and time. Food moments can be classified into "boxes," which are really customizable tags (this writer would have a box catered solely to potato chips).