Appliances that make worthy gifts
Instant Pot Ace
Cnet rating: 4 stars out of 5
The good: The blender handled a variety of foods during testing, including almonds, spinach pesto and smoothies. The pitcher contains a builtin heater so you can cook and blend food simultaneously, which works well for soup, baby food and dairy alternatives like rice milk. And the preset modes are useful to make commonly blended foods. The bad: The blender was only adequate at crushing ice, and there are no manual controls if you want to use the heater without a preset blending mode. The cost: $99 to $139 The bottom line: The Ace is a useful and affordable appliance.
FirstBuild Paragon Mat
Cnet rating: 4 stars out of 5
The good: The Mat is the latest addition to the $299 Paragon Smart Cooking System. It lets you set specific temperatures when you’re using a pan to cook, and it will automatically maintain a steady temperature. The automation makes it easy to cook multiple items like eggs or pancakes that are nearly identical to one another, and the accompanying app is helpful. The bad: There’s a limited number of food guides in the app that take you through temperature-controlled pan cooking. The cost: $299 The bottom line: The countertop system is a good investment for enthusiastic beginner cooks who aren’t afraid to use technology to give them a hand with common dishes.
June Intelligent Oven
Cnet rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
The good: The second-generation version of the oven can recognize more foods than its predecessor, thanks to a built-in camera and smartphone-like software. The Wi-Fi-connected appliance also has more cooking programs and opportunities to alter settings to get food exactly the way you like it. And it cooks food well, be it cookies or chicken. The bad: It stumbles with toast. The oven has a tendency to slightly undercook foods, though it’s easy to add more cook time. And all the changes you can make to cooking programs means that cooking becomes more hands-on than you’d expect with a smart oven. The cost: $599 The bottom line: The June is a fun and useful kitchen addition, especially as the company continues to update the software.
Bonavita Metropolitan 8-Cup brewer
Cnet rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 The good: The Bonavita brews excellent coffee for a reasonable price. It’s simple to use, compact and easy to clean. The bad: It doesn’t have a thermal carafe. Coffee in its glass carafe cools quickly. Its body is plastic. The cost: $83 to $92
The bottom line: Buy the coffee maker for its low price and excellent drip, but slow drinkers should save up for a thermal carafe model.
These Cnet staff members contributed to this review: Brian Bennett, Ashlee Clark Thompson, Ry Crist, Andrew Gebhart and Laura K. Cucullu. For more reviews of personal technolog y products, visit www.cnet.com.