The Strategist Guide to Shopping at OXO

Cookware

Over the years, we’ve testedmanyOXO products, which has led to the brand appearing in scores of our Best in Class articles, includingour guide to the very best cutting boards. Strategist contributor Bernadette Machard de Gramont calls this one “the most thoughtfully designed plastic cutting board,” in part because of its moat for collecting juices. It’s beloved by chefs such as recipe developer and cookbook authorAli Slagle, who likes that it doesn’t cling onto smells, won’t warp, and doesn’t require too much scrubbing to remove hard stains. Best of all, it doesn’t slide around: “The thing that really makes this board succeed is the little no-slip feet on each of the corners,” she says.

Almost as essential as a cutting board is acolander, and OXO makes one of our favorites. This one comes with a handle, which Strategist contributor Margaret Eby says makes it ideal for using while straining the seeds from preserves or water from cans of chickpeas. “I like it because it’s versatile, lightweight, and small enough that I can maneuver it easily to fish out food from a simmering pot,” she writes. “The fine mesh means that smaller particles won’t slip through the basket, and the long handle keeps your fingers away from a heat source or the hot liquid you’re sieving out.”

Strategist kitchen and dining writer Emma Wartzman named this thebest sheet pan for bakinglargely because of the micro-texture on the bottom, which improves airflow. Kristen Tomlan, the founder and CEO ofDŌ Cookie Dough Confections, adds that “the light color of the sheet pan helps slowly transfer heat so the bottoms of your pastries don’t get too brown.”

Wartzman has tested this nonstick frying pan, too, and in the year that she’s been using it, “the surface has held up with no scratches or deterioration,” she says. It’s a standout pan because it’s lightweight enough for her to easily pick it up to toss ingredients like nuts or dishes like stir-fries, and to fully flip it over for a tortilla española. Also a plus: It has a comfortable silicone grip, which is another reason why she named it thebest lightweight nonstick skillet.

Nesting bowls are a kitchen necessity because they save you storage space while also providing you with different-size bowls for all your cooking needs. Indeed, so versatile is this set that it has appeared inour guide to making breadandour guide to making ice cream.

Similar in function to the plastic bowls, these stainless-steel mixing bowls are ideal forcooking with kidsbecause they’re “virtually indestructible,” according to Chiara D’Amore-Klaiman, a cheese expert atMurray’s Cheese. Sara Kate Gillingham, a James Beard Award–winning food writer and a co-founder ofthe Dynamite Shop, a cooking school for kids, uses them, too, and loves that the rubber on the bottom prevents them from slipping around.

We first learned about this small but mighty measuring cup fromcookbook author Julia Turshen, who named it an essential item in her kitchen because “it makes measuring small amounts of things really easy, and you can see the amount from above; you don’t have to hold it level to your eye the way you do with normal liquid measuring cups.” Since then, it has appeared in our guides to thebest cocktail jiggersandmeasuring cups. Eby adds that it’s particularly helpful for measuring small amounts of sticky ingredients like honey and peanut butter. Best of all: It’s dishwasher-safe.

There’s also this three-piece measuring-cup set, which features the same diagonal surface that makes the mini measuring cup so handy. Strategist contributor Andrew Parks finds they’re particularly helpful for making bread because “angled measuring cups are easy to read and rarely wrong,” he writes. “In other words, they’re a lifesaver when you start to worry about nerdy things like hydration levels and long-fermentation times.” The set includes three sizes: one-cup, two-cup, and four-cup.

If you’re short on space, you might consider these bendy measuring cups that Strategist contributor Ali Slagle squeezes into nooks and crannies inher camper van. They’re good for more than just measuring too: “They’re heat-resistant, so in addition to measuring things, they can be used as a ladle. We don’t have cups, so we also use them for whiskey and cocktails,” she writes.

Last but not least in the measuring department is this set of stainless-steel measuring cups that I use in my kitchen. It includes all the essential measurements — 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, and 1 cup — and magnetic handles that prevent the cups from getting lost in my cluttered baking drawer. When I’m measuring sticky ingredients like peanut butter or molasses, I always appreciate that I can throw them all in the dishwasher, too.

Kitchenutensils

Given how many cookware essentials OXO does right, it’s no surprise that the retailer also dominates in the kitchen utensil department. First up is ourfavorite stainless-steel kitchen utensil set. It includes multiple spoons, several different spatulas, tongs, whisk, pie server, can opener, swivel peeler, pizza wheel, and a container to keep it all in one place. Jocelyn Delk Adams, thecookbook authorand recipe developer behindGrandbaby Cakes, finds the set is particularly durable, too. “Kitchen utensils take a beating,” she says, “but these have held up great for the last few years I’ve been using them. And I run them through the dishwasher as well.”

But for those not in need of a whole set, I’ll spotlight a few of our favorite items from it, including this nimble fish spatula that’s meant “to keep the beautiful fish from sticking to the pan and falling apart,” according to Alisha Elenz, the executive chef at Chicago’smfk.andBar Biscay. Baker and cookbook authorShauna Severadds that despite this spatula’s name, it’s also great for baking. “Its thin, flexible, vented blade makes it perfect for lifting even the most delicate baked good from a pan or baking sheet,” she says.

This spatula isn’t in the utensil set, but it’s another tool that works harder than its name gives it credit for. It is, in fact, great for scooping warm cookies off a baking sheet, but it’s also fantastic for flipping pancakes and preventing scrambled eggs from sticking to the side of your pan thanks to its bendy silicone material. In the more than five years that I’ve called the spatula a staple in my kitchen, I’ve only had one complaint: OXO should release it in more colors.

Moving back to items in our beloved utensil set, you might consider the swivel peeler thatNew YorkMagazine food editor Alan Sytsma has been using “basically forever.” He adds, “Its blade is still sharp, and the handle is still satisfyingly hefty and soft in the way all OXO stuff is.” For those concerned with safety in the kitchen, you’ll be pleased to know that this one is used by pushing the blade away from you, avoiding pinkie fingers and dangerous slippage.

You can’t forget about a zester and grater, too. We named this one thebest less-expensive grater, so if you’re not looking for a zester to use in a professional kitchen, this one will do just fine in terms of durability and effectiveness. Eva Suter, the beverage director ofBambinoandL’Oca D’Oroin Austin, uses this one when making drinks: “It’s a handy tool for adding a bright bit of anything harder and aromatic — like topping a cocktail with a whiff of ginger or galangal, or some fresh zip on top of a Bloody Mary.”

There’s also this smaller utensil set made specifically for those looking to grill. Added length on the handles is what differentiates these tools from your everyday tongs and spatula. “The bodies are made from heavy-duty stainless steel and have silicone handles for maximum comfort and control, while the loops at the ends let you conveniently hang them off the side of the grill,” says Wartzman.

Speaking of those everyday tongs, you might consider these stainless-steel ones that have nylon ends to prevent you from scraping up your pans. (They’ve impressed us so much that we included them in theStrategist Kitchen 100andtheStrategist Wedding Registry 100.)

Another tool for baking: this multi-scraper that’s perfect for moving and slicing mounds of dough. For pie masters likeRuth Reichl, the bench scraper’s purpose is multifold. “I have yet to find a better tool for cleaning counters, scraping gook off the oven floor, or scrubbing my pizza steel,” she says.

And finally, an integralpie-making tool. This pastry blender is handy for creating the consistent, smooth pie dough that Emily and Melissa Elsen ofFour & Twenty Blackbirdsswear by. “There are a lot of styles and makes of handheld pastry blenders out there, but most of them are subpar and fall apart,” they say. “OXO got it right. Comfortable, easy to clean, and lasts forever, so you can make a lifetime of piecrust by hand.”

Gadgetsandtools

OXO nails the kitchen basics, but the brand also makes a number of handy kitchen tools you never knew you needed, like a can opener that won’t hurt your hands and a mandoline. Though not the most common kitchen tool, cookie scoops like this one are an essential for many bakers we’ve chatted with, includingDorie Greenspanand Saffitz. The scoop ensures your cookies are evenly sized, which is important if you want them to all cook for the same amount of time. This one holds 1.5 teaspoons of dough, which the experts say is ideal for most cookies.

OXO makes nine can openers, two of which are Strategist-approved. This soft-handled opener is, actually, the best can opener according to our testing. Strategist contributor Julia Skinner sings its praise, writing, “It turns easily, stays sharp, and is easy to clean. The hand crank is comfortable to use, the blades always give a clean and consistent cut, and the opener easily stands up to the task of opening anything from a can of beans to a big can of tomatoes.”

While the soft-handled opener above is a general winner, if you’re looking for something that’s more compatible with joint, bone, or muscle issues, you’ll want to try this one. With two points of added leverage — the longer handle and larger turning knob — it’s more effective at piercing the can and requires fewer turns.

For the tea lovers, there’s a twisting tea ball that Gabriel Sher, a practicing acupuncturist of two decades and the director of acupuncture atORA, uses when brewing loose-leaf tea. “My favorite infuser is the OXO Twisting Tea Ball,” he says. “It’s not expensive and so necessary for tea drinkers. It scoops out the perfect amount of tea to brew, holds the leaves very well while brewing, and makes it super-easy to remove the leaves once your cup is ready.”

An easy way to make your dishes look more sophisticated is by slicing ingredients with a mandoline, which helps them appear uniform and cook evenly. Eater’s restaurant editor,Hillary Dixler Canavan, added OXO’s to her kitchenafter interviewing more than 100 chefs. She says this one is best for beginners because “unlike a typical mandoline, where you hold the bladed component with one hand and your ingredient in the other, this one can stand on its own and has sturdy rubber feet so it won’t slip around as you slice.” It also comes with an ingredient holder that holds ingredients steady and keeps your fingers a bit further from the blade.

In the last six months, this egg poacher has nestled its way into theStrategist canon. Wartzman discovered it after testing eightegg poachersand finding that OXO’s was the only one that actually rendered a poached egg as it should be: with “a delicate but distinct outer layer of soft whites encompassing a fully liquid yolk that streams out beautifully upon contact with your fork,” writes Wartzman.

If you’d like to pair a restaurant-quality salad with those professional-level poached eggs, you’ll do well with OXO’s salad spinner. It’s best used to clean greens — and herbs if you buy thesmaller version— but Strategist contributor Rebecca Firkseruses it to wash loads of other fresh produce, including Brussels sprouts, green beans, snap peas, and cherry and grape tomatoes.

If you crave a return to the basics, consider ahumble food mill. Strategist contributor Joseph Truini describes it best: “It’s a simple, hand-cranked tool that’s used to mill (or crush) various fruits and vegetables for creating velvety-smooth sauces, soups, preserves, and purées.” This one comes with three interchangeable milling discs that determine how fine or coarse you’d like to mill your food. Truini sees their purposes as such: The fine-mesh disc is best for making tomato-based sauces, the medium-coarse disc can beused to make baby food, and the coarsest blade is ideal for ricing potatoes.

These simple squeeze bottles are fit for a chef who craves a clean kitchen, like Saffitz. “We have all of our oils and vinegars in these because they’re easy to clean and look more organized than having everything in its own type of bottle,” she says, calling them a “convenient, practical upgrade for the kitchen.” They also have measurements on the side, making it easy to measure out ingredients while cooking.

Though I included a lot of pie-baking tools above that come recommended by pie-making experts, this tool is meant for pie novices, like former Strategist editor Maxine Builder. She addedthis rolling bagto her repertoire after finding it impossible to nail her piecrusts. With printed guidelines and a nonstick silicone interior, the gizmo is easy to use and minimizes the mess in the process. “I just lightly flour the inside, pop the chilled pie dough into the bag, zip it up, then roll it out,” writes Builder.

Strategist contributor Maria Yagoda defines a good garlic press as such: It “should push out thoroughly and evenly minced garlic with little effort, and it should extract the most possible bits of garlic out of the clove without unpressed chunks getting lodged anywhere.” While OXO’s does this all, it also happens to be very comfortable to use, earning it a spot inour guide to the best garlic presses.

Here’s another Best-in-Class winner, this time inour guide to the best pepper mills.Edy Massih, caterer and owner of Edy’s Grocery, calls the grinder “the best bang for your buck” and notes that adjusting the ceramic grinding mechanism is particularly easy with this mill. It’s also durable: “I have my pepper mill right by my stovetop. I want to make sure that it is heatproof and will not melt or crack,” he says. This one passes the test.

Former presidential and New York City mayoral candidateAndrew Yangfirst tipped us off to this set of reusable straws. “They are the best we found — extendable, easy to clean, and they have just enough color that the kids find them interesting enough to use,” he says. Since then, we’ve named them thebest affordable reusable straws.

I couldn’t write an article about OXO without mentioning one of my favorite tools the brand makes: a corn peeler. As someone raised in the Midwest, I can never pass up some sweet summer corn, but I hate eating corn on the cob. As a result, this corn peeler, which easily strips corn off the cob without the hazards associated with a knife, was a beloved tool in my childhood home.

Bartendertools

If you’re planning on whipping up some cocktails to go with all of the food you’ve made with your OXO tools, guess what: OXO still has you covered. Amuddler, best used for extracting aromatics and oils from your cocktail ingredients, is essential for perfecting drinks like mojitos, mint juleps, and hot toddies. OXO’s comes recommended by Jordan Deis, bar manager at the wine barSaint-Germainin New Orleans. “It’s an affordable yet durable option with a comfortable grip handle, and its textured surface provides efficient muddling without damaging delicate ingredients,” he says.

Whenstocking your bar cart, you can’t forget about a cocktail strainer, which will only allow small ice chips and liquid to enter your cocktail glass. “Most strainers have a long handle, which might make them easier to pick up than this one, but the robust coil and ergonomically genius rubber tab at the center of the device are winners in my book,” Strategist contributor John deBary writes about the cocktail strainer he discovered while working at Momofuku Ssäm Bar.

For those who prefer a piña colada over a martini, consider adding a pineapple slicer to yourtiki bar setup. Vincent Bright, a bartender at Chicago’sLost Lake, recommends this one to avoid nearly losing a finger trying to cut around the core. “It saves a ton of time when getting fresh pineapple chunks for drinks,” he says.

Smallappliances

Alas, it’s time to bring in electricity. We’ve explored many a tool that you can use manually, but, unsurprisingly, OXO makes many fine small appliances, too. Notably, the brand makesour favorite less expensive small coffee maker. Though it can brew up to eight cups of coffee at once, the coffee maker has an insert that allows you to brew one to four cups of coffee instead of five to eight, and another that allows you to brew only one. Recipe developer andcookbook authorSamah Dadaappreciates this feature, saying, “In the morning I’ll brew a larger pot, but then in the afternoon when I need to chill a bit on caffeine and only want a cup, I’ll use that setting,” she says.

This grinder is for the coffee snobs out there. If you’re serious enough about your coffee to buy the beans and grind them yourself, something tells me you might be serious enough to weigh your beans before you grind them, too. The weighing is made possible by the integrated scale in ourfavorite coffee grinderof its kind. After selecting one of 15 grind sizes, you’ll set the machine to weigh the ground coffee one of three ways: manually, by grams, or by the number of cups of water you brew in a standard electric maker. Wartzman preferred the latter during her testing, but adds that if you don’t need an integrated scale, recipe developer andcookbook authorSamah Dadarecommendsthis model, which costs $150 less.

This cold-brew maker isn’t actually electric, but I’m including it here anyway because it functions similarly to a small appliance, doing the hard work for us for hours at a time. Wartzman crowned it the best cold-brew coffee maker after learning about it from Dennis Ngo, co-owner and chef of Brooklyn restaurantDi an Di. “I got hooked on the smoothness and low acidity of cold-brewed coffee,” says Ngo. “It lets me tinker with different beans and concentrations. It also stacks for storage, which is an absolute requirement for my tiny New York apartment.”

Tea-party hosts, rejoice! You can make enough tea for a crowd using ourfavorite large temperature-controlled electric kettle. With temperature control, the kettle can be used for perfect coffee and tea, but its nearly two-liter capacity means you can make more than enough tea for a party. Wartzman adds, “I appreciate that the glass lets you easily see how much water is inside, and I find the pour spout to produce a clean pour even though it’s a larger opening than a gooseneck.”

OXO’s food scales are the gold standard of kitchen scales in many professional kitchens. This one’s standout feature is its pullout display, which, according toNew Yorkerfood writerHelen Rosner, “is just one of those absolutely genius things that makes you angry and sad that you ever lived without it.” Another benefit: a 15-minute auto shut-off time that you’ll be grateful for after getting distracted by another step in a recipe.

There’s also this larger scale thatDominique Anselsays he can’t live without. Like the five-pound scale above, this one also has a pullout display that lights up, which Ansel appreciates when he’s using a larger bowl that might obstruct the view of the display or when he finds himself in a darker kitchen. Also, since the metric system is more precise than our imperial system, Ansel says, “The great thing about the scale is that you can convert from U.S. measurements to metrics in case you have to use both.”

Storageandorganization

Since OXO makes so many superior cooking gadgets and gizmos, it only makes sense that the brand would make a few things to help withstorage and organization. Whether you place this in yourfridgeor yourcabinet, it’ll help you keep track of everything you use on a daily basis. “You know how things muck up the bottom of your shelf? This is like a shelf liner that moves,” Faith Roberson ofOrganize with Faithsays. “The lazy Susan really allows you to have stuff within a space that you don’t have to find, because you’re seeing them around a circle.”

Here isour favorite compost bin, “a great, fits-everyone bin, first recommended to us by Tonne Goodman, sustainability editor atVogue,” says Strategist writer Erin Schwartz. When Schwartz tested it, they found that it checked all the boxes: “It comes in two sizes, the larger of which is high-capacity enough for households that cook often, and it has a non-airtight lid. It’s made of easy-to-clean plastic that can handle a few dings, and it is lightweight enough to carry to a drop-off site,” Schwartz writes. If you’d rather an especially stylish compost bin, go for thecharcoal one.

A simple yet integral organizational tool for a kitchen is a paper-towel holder. It prevents you from endlessly searching around the kitchen for your roll du jour while simultaneously preventing you from having multiple rolls milling about. Strategist writer Ambar Pardilla marked this one thebest overall paper-towel holderbecause of its spring-powered tension arm that keeps the roll rolled.

If you’ve taken up fridgescaping, you might be interested in OXO’s transparent egg holder, which chefJJ Johnsonuses in his fridge. “You no longer have the carton in there, so you can see all your eggs,” he says. “There are plenty of times in the past where I would reach in my fridge and there’d be one egg left, and I was like,Who did this?”

Food-storage containersare nothing without an effective lid. But for these glass containers, the winning feature is a click-lock lid. “It’s really satisfying to hear that snap when they lock on,” says food writerCathy Erway, who adds that she can throw these into her purse without the threat of leakage.Julia Turshen, the cookbook author who gave us the founding recommendation for these containers, agrees. “If it turned over in my car while I was driving, I wouldn’t worry about it,” she says.

Cleaning

Now, to clean all these kitchen utensils, we’ll need some good dishwashing tools — and some effective drying racks. Enter this simple folding dish rack from OXO, which is actuallyMoMA-approved. “The collapsible nature of this one means it can be tidied away when not in use, which is an improvement on the Rubbermaid wire rack I’d been using previously,” Strategist writer Katherine Gillespie says. She adds, “This thing is solid and sturdy, with the grooves on the top rack perfectly spaced to hold my on-the-chunkier-side stoneware plates and bowls.”

Those with a fear of theirdirty kitchen spongewill appreciate this small OXO brush with an easy grip.

If you’re reviled by your sponge’s appearance rather than its potential for holding bacteria, you might consider this handsome sponge holder thatlongtime professional home organizerDiane Lowy uses. A much better-looking option than classic plastic sponge holders, this aluminum one gets added to Lowy’s clients’ homes in a pair. “One each for gentle and abrasive sponges. This saves valuable counter space and keeps that area around the sink cleaner, too.”

This little electronics cleaning brush is a Strategist best seller for good reason. The two-sided brush is tiny enough to help extract any crumbs or bits of lint from your keyboard.

For heavy-duty grime, there’s this laptop cleaner that’s fitted with a microfiber pad that can remove smudges, along with a brush that can handle keyboard crumbs.

Moving from technology to pets, you’ll want to use this lint roller for removing pet hair from your couch. “This is really easy to use and effective,” says Jisu Kim, co-founder and CEO of dog-apparel companyLittle Beast. He adds that the brush results in less waste because there are no peel-off sticky pieces required.

As with dish-drying racks, OXO also makes a dependable clothing-drying rackfor sweaters (though this one isn’t MoMA-approved). Laundry experts — including Strategist senior editors Winnie Yang and Jen Trolio — stress the importance of drying a sweater flat, and a drying rack like this one makes that possible. It’s made of breathable mesh and thus “better for airflow than laying it out on a towel or a bed,” Trolio says.

Bathroom

Like its kitchen organizational tools, OXO’s toothbrush organizer is simple and well thought-out. Pardilla says it’s thebest stainless-steel toothbrush holderfor its design. “It can fit up to four toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste (or you could squeeze in another brush),” she writes, adding, “There’s a divider on the inside for each to have its own place, and it slides out for easy cleaning.”

Last but not least is OXO’s travel potty (and our favorite of its kind). You might consider buying one if you’repotty trainingand nervous about being unprepared for the bathroom while out and about. Plus, Strategist writer Lauren Ro finds that it’s versatile: “It has foldable legs that, when engaged, make it usable as a stand-alone potty. When you fold the legs flat, it converts into a seat that can sit atop a regular toilet seat,” she writes.