Best for most people
Mac
Mac MTH-80 8" Chef Knife
Buy this once, learn to sharpen it, and never think about knives again.
$175$150–$400
Category 032 guides · 5 live recommendations
Kitchen
Fewer, better objects. Most of your gadgets are storage problems.
The counter is finite. Everything on it should earn the square footage.
Kitchen
Current winners
The short answers
If you only came here for one line, these are the lines.
Recommendations
Everything we recommend in Kitchen
Including the value pick, the specialist and the one we'd only buy if money were no object.
Best for most people
Best value
Victorinox
Victorinox Fibrox 8" Chef Knife
Forty-five dollars. Used in more professional kitchens than anything else here.
$45Under $50
Money is no object
Breville
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
Not an air fryer. A small oven that also air fries, which is what most people actually wanted.
$449$400–$1,000
Best quiet one
Latest guides
Read the working
The full argument, the competitors we considered, and what would change our mind.
Kitchen
The Best Air Fryer
WinnerNinja Max XL AF151
It gets hot, it cleans in ninety seconds, and it has survived fourteen months of frankly hostile use. Buy it and stop reading.
Verdict standsUPD Aug 26, 2026
Kitchen
The Best Chef Knife
WinnerMac MTH-80 8" Chef Knife
Buy this once, learn to sharpen it, and never think about knives again. That is the whole guide.
Verdict standsUPD Aug 20, 2026
Recently changed
Nothing in this category is currently being re-tested. Every verdict here stands as published.
In the works
- Best espresso machine under $1,000
- Best cookware set
- Best blender
Committed, not published. We list these so you can see what is missing rather than assume it doesn’t exist.
Tucker's Rules
One good knife beats a block of fifteen bad ones.
If it only does one thing, it had better do that thing weekly.
Nonstick is a consumable, not a feature.