Independent buying guides
For home cooks replacing a pan, a knife or a whole set and tired of guesswork. Each guide answers one question, cites manufacturer and food-safety sources with check dates, and shows the arithmetic in the cost-per-use calculator.
| Guides published | 3 | Each one answers a single buying question. |
|---|---|---|
| Calculators | 3 | Formula, units and assumptions shown on the page. |
| Sources cited | 9 | Each with the date the link was checked. |
| Photographs | 12 | Free-licence images, photographer credited. |
The decisions that actually change what you end up with.
1
Photo: Modemac · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The method that changes the result.
0
Photo: Cullen328 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Energy, consumables and the cost of a year of use.
1
Photo: Taylorderek · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Intervals, parts and what they cost.
1
Photo: Mshuang2 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Filters, pods, pads and their real intervals.
0
Photo: Revital Salomon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Fixing it before you replace it.
0
Photo: Shixart1985 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Each guide answers one buying question and shows the figures behind the answer.
How to choose
Three skillet materials, three jobs. What each one is good at, what the nonstick coating really is, and the magnet test that settles induction.
Photo: Evan-Amos · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Running costs
Divide the price by the times you will cook on it. A $40 nonstick pan replaced every three years costs $280 over twenty years; a $25 cast iron pan costs $25.
Photo: Fowler&fowler · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Maintenance
What seasoning actually is, the manufacturer's own oven temperature and bake time, and how to deal with rust, sticking and a pan that has been left wet.
Photo: Taylorderek · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Every figure in a guide is taken from a named source, with the date it was checked. Where a number is an assumption or an example, it says so in the same sentence.
We do not run paid product tests, we do not publish reader reviews, and we do not claim to have handled every product mentioned. Where a claim needs a lab or a long-term test we do not have, the guide says that plainly.
Photographs are free-licence images from Wikimedia Commons or Openverse, credited to the photographer with the licence named. Charts are drawn from the figures printed in the same guide.
This site earns money from advertising and, where disclosed, from affiliate links. That does not change the order of a comparison or the conclusion of a guide.
Some links on this site can earn us a commission. That does not change which product a guide recommends, and it adds nothing to your price. Advertising is not enabled on this site yet. When it is, ads will be labelled and kept visually separate from the guides.
Each calculator shows its formula, units and assumptions. Nothing is estimated for you in secret.
Ingredient cost, consumable cost and machine cost in one figure per serving.
cost per serving = ingredient per serving + consumable per serving + (machine price - resale) / (servings per day x 365 x years)
Annual electricity cost from rated power, hours of use and your own tariff.
annual cost = power (W) / 1000 x hours per day x days per year x price per kWh, plus standby power (W) / 1000 x standby hours x days x price per kWh
What a cross-border order really costs once shipping, duty and tax are added.
landed cost = (item price + shipping) + duty + tax, where duty = item price x duty rate, and tax = (item price + shipping + duty) x tax rate