Kate Shannon

Aug 14, 2024 | americastestkitchen.com | Kate Shannon |Valerie Li Stack |Miye Bromberg

The best vacuum sealers for home cooks perform well and have simple, intuitive controls. Our overall favorite is the Nesco Deluxe Vacuum Sealer. This compact but sturdy external vacuum sealer excelled at vacuum-sealing food and has an easy-to-read display screen that indicated when the machine was vacuuming, sealing, or done with its cycle. A handful of settings offered all of the customization we needed.

Aug 14, 2024 | americastestkitchen.com | Kate Shannon |Sarah Sandler

A good electric ice cream maker makes it easy to produce customized ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet at home. The machines come in two main styles: canister-style and self-refrigerating. The former has a removable coolant-lined canister that must be frozen before use. Self-refrigerating machines are generally much pricier, with built-in compressors that chill the canisters so there’s no need for prefreezing.

Dec 14, 2023 | americastestkitchen.com | Kate Shannon

IngredientsWhat cheese should you buy for the holidays? Our resident cheesemonger compares truffle Brie, a microwavable fondue kit, and more. The holidays are here. Whether you’re looking forward to a festive party or a lazy night at home, you’re probably asking yourself one question: What cheese should I buy? In this December 2023 edition of our guide to Trader Joe’s cheeses, we’ve got you covered. (Want a refresher on our earlier recommendations?

Dec 10, 2023 | americastestkitchen.com | Eden Faithfull |Morgan Bolling |Caren White |Kate Shannon

Jun 30, 2023 | americastestkitchen.com | Kate Shannon

Equipment This hot tip will keep things icy cold. By Published June 30, 2023. When you load up a cooler with ice and fill it with food or drinks, that ice will eventually melt. A good cooler will keep ice frozen for longer, but it can’t make ice last forever. Eventually, you’ll find some water at the bottom of your cooler. My instinct has always been to dump it out. In my head, it was kind of like bailing out a boat. When I see water where it shouldn’t be, I want to get it out.