Photo: Maki Yazawa

There is one kitchen tool staff writer Maki Yazawa is never without. She uses it for everything: transporting heaping piles of parsley, perfectly portioning flour, frosting homemade birthday cakes, and even smashing garlic.

The workhorse in question? A $12 bench scraper, an unassuming tool with a wide, flat surface, an edge sharp enough for a number of meal-prepping tasks, and a nonslip handle for extra stability. It works exceptionally well as a mode of transportation—cleanly and efficiently moving piles of chopped ingredients around the kitchen without making an absolute mess. “The design is, in my estimation, flawless,” she writes.

An unsung kitchen hero→

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Photo: Connie Park

Ahead of cozy fall baking season: We’ve been testing stand mixers for more than a decade, and nothing else has come close to a KitchenAid. This sturdy, durable, and repairable stand mixer can knead the densest bread doughs or whip up an airy sponge cake in no time, and it can last a lifetime. Plus, it’s one of the quietest mixers we’ve ever tested.

Why we love this (on-sale!) workhorse→

Illustration: Dana Davis; Photo: Maki Yazawa

The key to making perfect ultra-thin smash burgers? A heavy-duty stainless steel grill press. Not only is her preferred one great at flattening beef into gloriously crispy and topping-ready patties, it’s also good at smashing plenty of other foods: grilled cheeses, mini potatoes, and more.

Maki calls it “The Hulk”→

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