The Best Rolling Pin

A rolling pin is such a simple tool that we wondered if there could be much difference among models, but after nearly 20 hours of research and a dozen conversations with bakers and cooks—both professional and amateur—we learned that small variations matter.

When we tested 12 carefully selected rolling pins (out of nearly 30 we considered) on three types of dough, the timeless maple 23-inch Whetstone Woodenware French Rolling Pin proved to be a superior tool and a great value. It’s more agile than a handled pin, doesn’t stick to the dough as much as cheaper models, has just enough heft to do some of the work for you without smashing fragile dough, and is one of the easiest to clean.

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How to Clean a Flooded Basement

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No one is immune to the calamitous force of water, no matter how much people try to control its various entry and exit points throughout a home. Bathtubs overflow. Water heaters leak. Snow and rain … sometimes just find a way in. And no matter how it gets in, all that water can be deleterious to your home.

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The Best Pie Plate

Whether you fill your pie with crisp apples, sour cherries, pumpkin custard, or chocolate cream, a great pie plate can help it look good and taste great, preventing slumping crusts and soggy bottoms. We’ve tested 19 pie plates since 2013, and we recommend the affordable OXO Good Grips Glass 9″ Pie Plate With Lid. It’s just the right size, it bakes evenly, and it allows you to check if the bottom of your pie is browned.

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If You Hate Ironing, Try This Handheld Steamer Instead

For some, ironing freshly laundered clothes is a soothing ritual—there is something meditative about pulling out the board, plugging in the iron, and melting away creases and wrinkles. But if you view ironing as a tiresome nuisance, you can still avoid walking around in crinkled clothes by using a handheld clothing steamer.

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8 Cheap(ish) Things to Bring Leaf Peeping

Halloween candy lines supermarket shelves and Starbucks brought back the Pumpkin Spice Latte—it’s officially fall, y’all. And that means it’s time to step into your boots, pull on your flannels, and head outdoors to admire the changing colors. Whether you’re planning to take in the foliage on a long, scenic drive, a rigorous hike, or just a casual stroll, the right gear ensures that your outing isn’t spoiled by bugs, fluctuating temperatures, or a phone that’s running on empty. Here are seven not-too-expensive things that’ll make your leaf-peeping experience one to remember.

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The 28 Best Gifts for 1-Year-Olds

When it comes to gifts, many 1-year-olds aren’t very picky. In fact, they may be as excited by the packaging as by what’s inside. (Be sure to save those boxes!) Other kids this age have already begun to develop their own unique preferences, personalities, and abilities. With the right toys and gifts, you can set your child up for years of fun.

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The Top 10 Tools for Earthquake Preparedness

Earthquakes can strike without warning. So taking small steps now to prepare can help reduce injuries and make living in the immediate aftermath a bit easier (this applies to any natural disaster). Aside from learning the basics on what to do during the event—drop to the ground, cover your head, and hold on—here are 10 of the most essential items experts and earthquake survivors recommend having on hand.

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Why We Love the Staff-Favorite Technivorm Moccamaster

Wirecutter’s expert testers have long been fans of the OXO Brew 9 Cup Coffee Maker for its consistently good coffee, thermal carafe, and automatic presets. But it’s hardly the only good coffee-making option out there. And plenty of coffee obsessives have many, many opinions on their preferred methods and machines, including the Technivorm Moccamaster.

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Which iPhone Should I Get?

If you have an iPhone that you’re happy with, keep it. We don’t think you should upgrade just because Apple has released new phones.

But if your current phone is running too slow or is damaged, or if you’re simply ready for an upgrade and want a new phone now, we recommend the Apple iPhone 15. It offers an almost Pro-like iPhone experience, with an all-day battery, a snappy processor, and versatile cameras—and, finally, a USB-C port.

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Lodge Cookware Can Last a Lifetime, and It Costs Less Than $100

Few kitchen items inspire love and devotion like cast-iron cookware. Pans are carefully passed down through generations as family heirlooms, and vintage pieces—rescued from yard sales or swap meets and restored to their original glory—sell for thousands of dollars on Etsy and similar sites.

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The Best Insulated Vest

When you want to add a little more warmth but are seeking greater freedom of movement than a jacket allows, a vest is the perfect cozy addition.

To find the best insulated vest to keep you warm on your most active days, we sent 22 adventurers with 25 vests to nine states and two countries.

After all of those adventures, we’ve determined that the Patagonia Down Sweater Vest (men’s and women’s) is the best down vest both for technical performance and for everyday commuter or office use.

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The Best Hurricane Preparedness Supplies and Strategies

Hurricanes have terrifying power, and because of their sheer scope and unpredictability, each one presents variables that are totally out of your control. How destructive will it be? Will it shift direction and come right at you? Will you have to evacuate? As unsettling as these questions are, there’s a lot you can do to get ready for one of these megastorms, from staying informed to making sure you have the right gear and completing a few relatively simple home improvements.

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The Best Down Jacket

A high-quality down jacket can keep you comfortable during everything from backyard social gatherings to winter snowshoe adventures. To choose our favorites, 10 testers romped across every corner of New Hampshire’s iconic Presidential Range and throughout the Pacific Northwest in 45 insulated jackets, covering more than 220 miles. We took on conditions that ranged from frosty to wet to mild. After all that, we concluded that Montbell’s Alpine Light Down Jacket (in women’s and men’s sizes) is the best puffy jacket for most people because it is lightweight, warm, and weather-resistant.

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The Best Audiophile Headphones for Everyday Use

If what you seek in a pair of headphones is the best sound possible for serious listening sessions, but you don’t want to drop thousands of dollars, this is the guide for you. We’ve tested hundreds of audiophile headphones and picked our favorites for specific uses. Most of these over-ear headphones forgo features such as Bluetooth and active noise cancellation, and just focus on delivering a great sonic experience.

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The Best Winter Boots

Snow and freezing rain can turn a typical grocery-store trip or post-office visit into a slippery, cold, wet affair for your feet.

You may encounter dry pavement, wet pavement, packed snow, fluffy snow, chunky ice, black ice, wet ice, slush, a slick cocktail of oil and grit, or some combination of all of these things.

After 125 hours of research and in-the-snow trials wearing 30 pairs of boots, we picked a variety of options to help you navigate the ever-changing underfoot topography of winter.

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5 Cheap(ish) Things for a Cozy Movie Night at Home

Fall afternoons are all about apple picking, tailgating, and leaf peeping. But on autumn nights, when temperatures start to dip, there’s nothing like putting on your softest PJs and hunkering down for a cozy movie night at home. Whether you're planning to screen that summer blockbuster you missed in the theaters, or rewatch a fave flick for the 70th time, these cheap(ish) Wirecutter picks will make your movie night cozier than ever.

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The Best Hair Dryer

Most hair dryers are effective at blowing hot air toward your head—sometimes quite fast—in order to speed along your hairstyling. It’s the small differences between models that can make a big difference overall, particularly with daily use.

After putting in over 20 hours of research and spending over 70 hours testing 42 hair dryers, we’ve found that some are far more pleasant to hold and use than others. Because it provides an excellent experience for the price, we think the Rusk W8less Professional 2000 Watt Dryer is the best choice.

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The Best Drip Coffee Maker

A cheap drip coffee maker can fulfill your basic need for a big, hot pot of coffee first thing in the morning. But only a great machine will ensure that your pot consistently tastes delicious.

To start the day off on the right foot—or with the right cup—we recommend the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker. It’s fast and convenient, with a programmable start time and a well-insulated carafe, and it makes great coffee.

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The Best Tea Steeper

After more than 30 hours researching dozens of tea steepers, interviewing experts, and drinking many cups of tea made in no fewer than 15 teapots and infusers, we’ve found that the Finum Brewing Basket (the large version) is the most versatile and well-made tea steeper available. The fine-mesh and plastic in-cup steeping basket allows more water flow than other infusers while more effectively keeping tea particles from escaping into the cup. It’s one of the only models that fit both mugs and teapots, and it’s among the easiest to clean.

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The Best Drones for Photos and Video

If you’re an aspiring aerial photographer or videographer, drones are your ticket to the sky.

They provide perspectives that you’d otherwise be able to re-create only with expensive, difficult-to-use equipment such as cranes or dollies, which is why these cheap, lightweight marvels have become a staple of many online creators’ gear lists.

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The Best Smart Window Shades and Blinds

Shades and blinds provide privacy, and they prevent harsh sunlight from heating up your home and aging your furnishings. Smart versions of those devices also do all of that, but they can run on autopilot so you don’t have to lift a finger.

When it comes to smart window coverings, Lutron is a standout. Its Serena Smart Roller Shades and Serena Smart Wood Blinds have both earned top spots for their sturdy hardware and quiet motors, user-friendly app, effortless automation setup, and wide range of design options. However, custom window coverings are often expensive, and Lutron’s Serena line is no exception.

If you don’t need custom sizing and are okay with gray, our budget pick, the IKEA Fyrtur, works well, is good-looking, and costs a fraction of the price.

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How to Buy a Camera Flash

In the world of photography, light is everything. Too much light, or too little, and you have no image. As for the abundant light source in the sky, weather can be unpredictable, and when you’re shooting indoors, sunlight may not be an option.

That’s why adding a camera flash to your photography toolkit can drastically level up your images and allow you to shoot in a wider variety of locations than just outdoors. But finding the right flash can be tricky. Since each camera brand uses a proprietary communication protocol between the camera and the flash, and so many flash units are available, we can’t really recommend one best flash unit for everyone. But we can advise you on what to look for.

To figure out the most important features your flash should have, I spoke to Alex Yuan, a studio-lighting instructor in the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and I drew on my own experience as a photographer.

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This Old-Fashioned Apple Peeler Is the Best Way to Peel Apples

If you’ve ever made an apple pie and peeled your apples with anything but an old-fashioned apple peeler, you’re doing it wrong. Absolutely nothing can peel, core, and slice apples as fast as this three-in-one rotary tool.

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My Favorite Hair Care Tool Is a Silk Pillowcase

My hair didn’t know peace until my partner bought me a set of LilySilk pillowcases for Christmas a few years back. Before receiving this thoughtful gift, I slept exclusively on cotton pillowcases, not knowing that smooth-seeming cotton fabric was, at a microscopic level, the equivalent of sandpaper rubbing against my curls and coils all night (or nap) long. I’d always wake up to frizzy hair, with long tendrils sticking up and out. Somehow I’d missed the lesson other young Black girls received on wrapping our hair at night in silk scarves or bonnets to protect our ends from rubbing against the sheets and breaking off.

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The Best Home Bluetooth Speaker

Using a Bluetooth tabletop speaker is the simplest way to get satisfying sound in the home, since it will work with almost any mobile device and doesn’t require a network connection or the use of a special app.

Klipsch’s The One II is the best all-around choice. This speaker has a full, clear, robust sound (which made it our panelists’ favorite in a brand-concealed listening test), and its operation couldn’t be simpler. Plus, the Klipsch speaker’s handsome, retro design should make it a welcome addition to practically any room.

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