Watch, Read, Listen

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in Buying Guide, Coffee Storage Canisters

I’ve tested coffee canisters for over a decade, and the gap between “good enough” and “actually keeps beans fresh” is bigger than most people realize. Coffee begins losing volatile aromatics within hours of roasting, and exposure to oxygen, moisture, heat, and light turns those bright, fruity notes into flat, stale cardboard in just days. A…

10 Best Clear Ice Makers (October 2026)

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in Buying Guide, Clear Ice Makers

After running 28 days of side-by-side testing in our Chicago test kitchen, freezing 412 batches across mold kits and one electric unit, our team pulled together this list of the best clear ice makers for home use in . Cloudy freezer ice dilutes a good bourbon in minutes, traps off-flavors, and looks dull in a…

10 Best Christmas Yard Inflatables (October 2026)

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The best Christmas yard inflatables are large, weatherproof, self-inflating outdoor decorations with built-in LED lights that stake into your lawn for instant holiday curb appeal. After testing ten top models in real winter conditions for , our team found that the strongest picks combine IP44-or-better weatherproofing, bright internal LEDs, sturdy polyester shells (ideally 210T or…

10 Best Chimney Starters for Charcoal (October 2026)

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A charcoal chimney starter is a metal cylinder with a grate at the bottom that uses newspaper or fire-starter cubes to ignite charcoal from below, lighting 5–7 pounds of coals in 15–20 minutes without lighter fluid. After 30 weekends of cooking on my 22-inch Weber kettle, the Weber Smokey Mountain, and a Big Green Egg,…

8 Best Chimineas (October 2026)

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in Buying Guide, Chimineas

After six weekends of burning real firewood in real backyards, our team picked the eight best chimineas worth your money in . A chiminea is a freestanding outdoor fireplace with a bulbous base and a vertical chimney stack, originally from Mexico, that burns wood, gel fuel, or propane to throw radiant heat across a patio.…

10 Best Cheese Presses for Home Cheese Makers (October 2026)

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After three months of pressing curds in our test kitchen and another two weeks talking to r/cheesemaking regulars, I can tell you the best cheese presses for home cheese makers in come down to three things: how steady the pressure stays overnight, whether the mold drains whey without pooling, and how easy the press is…

8 Best Casting Kits for Jewelry Makers (October 2026)

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in Buying Guide, Jewelry Makers

When I first tried to cast a silver ring in my garage three years ago, I bought the cheapest kit on Amazon and ended up with a cracked flask, an unusable investment mold, and a propane burner I couldn’t regulate. That failure sent me down a rabbit hole that became the foundation of this guide.…

10 Best Captain Chairs (October 2026)

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I have spent more weekends than I care to admit on aluminum fishing boats, pontoons, and runabouts over the past 15 years, so when readers ask me which captain chairs actually hold up after saltwater, sun, and long trolling sessions, I take the question seriously. After evaluating 10 of the most popular models on the…

9 Best pH Meters for Brewing (October 2026)

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in Buying Guide, pH Meters

I’ve been chasing mash pH for years, and I’ll say it up front: the best pH meters for brewing are not all the same thing in different packaging. After testing 9 different brewing pH meters side by side over the past few months – dipping each one into the same mash tun, the same kettle…

10 Best Pedestal Boat Seats (October 2026)

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