Photo illustration by Lille Allen
Summer may be ending, but ‘tis the season for discounts on all the best stuff to outfit your kitchen, from spatulas to pizza ovens
We refuse to believe summer is over, and yet, here we are, awash in tweed fashion ads and Halloween candy displays and the Starbucks fall menu launch. Luckily, nothing takes the sting out of the season’s end like a little retail therapy, using the Labor Day dealfest as an excuse to upgrade our baking and braising gear ahead of cooler temps, or just stock up on more of our kitchen must-haves.
Here, Eater’s writers and editors have compiled the items they’ve deemed too good not to buy right now, from brands and retailers that are chopping prices so we can chop… vegetables. Happy Labor Day!
The Space Saver
I have one cabinet in my kitchen that houses an ever-growing collection of Pyrex containers, and nearly every time I open it, a flurry of lids rains down upon me (Pyrex bowls may stack nicely into each other, but the lids tend to just be carelessly tossed in there). Time to invest in one of these smart little lid organizers to solve that problem — I have similar ones for pans and pot lids that’ve been game-changers for those cabinets, as well. — Erin DeJesus, executive editor
The Perfect Spatula
One tool I find myself reaching for the most in my kitchen is my tiny spatula. It’s perfect for scraping out every last bit of pesto from my mini food chopper, scooping out the final smears of kewpie mayo from the tube, and mixing together sandwich spread in a tiny bowl, then getting every last bit out. I like that this pack comes with two widths; the very thin spatula looks perfect for narrow containers like honey bottles. — Bettina Makalintal, senior reporter
The Required Armor
We’ve said it once (maybe twice, even) and we’ll say it again: if you’re going to use a mandolin, please use a cut glove. Cuke influencer Logan Moffit has everyone getting daring with professional grade slicers, which is all well and good, but it just takes one slip to put a nasty end to your whole-cucumber moment. These cut gloves are easy to use, easy to clean, and — especially now — ridiculously cheap. Stitches, it turns out, are not. — Lesley Suter, special projects director
The Travel Brewer
I am a morning coffee addict. I require a cup of coffee to go get my first cup of coffee. This is often an issue when traveling, where there’s either some mediocre lobby coffee that requires putting on pants (again, I require caffeine for this), or some questionably clean in-room coffee situation that is, at best, a Keurig and, at worst, a Keurig. Coffee obsessives swear by the Aeropress system as the ultimate coffee situation — mobile or not — and the ultra-compact travel version is currently on sale at REI. It brews one-to-three cups in about a minute, which is about as long as I can wait before I fall back into my plush hotel bed. — LS
The Practical Impulse Buy
Any time there’s some seasonal sale going on, I tend to convince myself to buy something I ultimately don’t need, just because it’s usually expensive and now it’s slightly less expensive. But you know what I always need and are always affordable but are now even more so? Kitchen towels. You probably also need more kitchen towels to clean up messes and dry dishes and sling over your shoulder so you can pretend to be on The Bear. And even if you don’t need them now, you will need them in six months when a few inevitably burn or rip or get too grimy to use anymore. Just stock up. — Jaya Saxena, correspondent
The Trend Setter
This was indisputably the summer of the snackle box — a portable, maximalist, give-me-one-of-everything approach to bringing copious snacks to a beach day, or a picnic, or wherever essentially a charcuterie platter’s worth of snacks feels appropriate. The box we called out earlier this year is now on sale on Amazon, with eight separate compartments for maximum variety and handles on top for easy portability. — EDJ
The Table Saver
As someone who owns a wooden dining table that develops water stains if you so much as look at it sideways, I have strong opinions about placemats, chief of which is that Uashmama’s are basically perfect. They look good, are easy to clean, come in a variety of nice colors, and, most crucially, prevent any condensation from reaching my table. I own four but have always thought about getting more, and now that Food52 is having a sitewide 20 percent sale, it’s time to add to my collection. — Rebecca Flint Marx, Eater at Home editor
The Summer Preserver
It might be Labor Day weekend, but on the west coast, we (hopefully) still have at least a solid month of warm weather ahead of us, so it’s finally time to pull the trigger on this large portable picnic blanket that I’ve been considering all summer. Its waterproof backing will provide a nice buffer on slightly damp mornings and when the fall-weather creep starts. — EDJ
The Grill Griddle
Flattops are the gadget du jour for outdoor cooking enthusiasts, with companies like Traeger and Weber marketing massive griddles as alternatives to a full-size barbecue grill. But what if I told you that you didn’t need to squander thousands of dollars on a big rig to live out your fantasies of being a short-order cook? The lightweight Carbon Steel Griddle from Made In transforms your existing grill into a surface worthy of cooking the perfect smash burger, complete with crispy edges. — Ashok Selvam, editor Eater Chicago
The Oven MPVs
Baking sheets are my kitchen MVP — great for vegetable prep, grilling, one-dish dinners, and of course, baking. I love the way Great Jones’s bright pink ones look. The Sheet Show set is on sale now, and includes a large pan and two smaller ones, and I’m really into the idea of picking up some cooling racks in a contrasting color to brighten up my small kitchen space. — Stephanie Wu, editor-in-chief
The Double Duty Salt Well
For months, I’ve been making do with a wooden salt container that’s on its absolute last legs: There’s a huge crack in the side and the tiny screw is doing all it can to keep it together (somehow, the salt remains inside it!). Recently, I saw someone using these tiny Le Creuset cocottes for holding salt. It looked adorable. This generous discount is the final push I need to finally replace my salt container. — BM
The Fancy Toaster Plus
My toaster oven is inarguably the most-used appliance in my kitchen, and as a result, it’s the most disgusting — my parents have been agitating that I upgrade to a cleaner, less-battered version for literal months now. So I think it’s finally time to invest in the Cuisinart toaster-air fryer hybrid, a decidedly fancier version that I’ve been eyeing for a while — at 35 percent off, a total steal to get my parents off my back. — EDJ
The Pasta Pro
I’ve been eyeing a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid mixer for years. I usually roll out my pasta by hand with a rolling pin, which results in perfectly edible but rustic (read: sloppy) strands. How much faster could I roll out pasta — and how much more even would it be — if I had my KitchenAid do it for me? Because the attachments are on sale, I might actually find out now. — Kat Thompson, associate editor
The Kettle Upgrade
I’m a pragmatist to my core, and that extends to my special interests. So, when I saw the price tags that come with many of Fellow’s most suped-up, tricked-out kettles and grinders and kits, I felt more like the accountant managing the budget for a Fast and the Furious franchise. This streamlined version of the Stagg Kettle is much more friendly to the aspiring beverage makers who don’t need their kettles to come with over-the-top features or a handsome bald man in an oil-stained tank, although that would be a nice addition. — Jesse Sparks, senior editor
The School Supply
It’s back-to-school season, is it not? There is no denying the absurdly star-studded kitchen power that is the lineup of Masterclasses instructors: Eater favorites like Mashama Bailey, Alice Waters, Dominique Crenn, José Andrés, Madhur Jaffrey, Niki Nakayama. It’s just namedroppy enough to impress my parents, who — at 50 percent off through Labor Day — will most definitely be receiving one of the programs for Christmas this year. — LS
The Investment Pan
I know stainless steel can be intimidating, but all you need is to ensure the pan is hot enough before you use it and I promise the proteins, eggs, or whatever else you’ll cook in this magic contraption will eventually release. I’ve had my All-Clad frying pan for years and it has never wavered. The magic of an All-Clad pot or pan is that it is an investment for life, and it can go from the stove to the oven with ease. — KT
The Classic Braiser
Is it even fall if you don’t have something braising in a Dutch oven? Make the most of soups and stews season with the creme de la creme, a Le Creuset enameled cast iron Dutch oven that is currently a whopping 42 percent off. Mine is the signature flame color, but go moody with Oyster or the peppy purple Shallot. — LS
The Baking Trio
Baking season is upon us, and if you’re still using those grocery store aluminum baking pans, it is time for an upgrade. This four-piece baking set from restaurant favorite Staub is 50-ish percent off for Labor Day, and comes in red, white, and blue — how election-appropriate. — LS
The Hail Mary
Okay, let’s try this again. Ahem… Hello family! This is me, your relative, saying very loudly and clearly that I would like an outdoor pizza oven for my holiday gift this year! I repeat, someone please purchase an outdoor pizza oven for me. [I have made this request the last three years in a row and yet, still no oven.] Here, let me make it easy for you: this highly rated five-in-one Ninja oven is super practical, working as a smoker and a roaster and a pizza oven and is currently on deep discount at Walmart, which is a store that I know has a branch very near to each of you, and shipping is free. Gee, if only someone who loved me would finally get this for me. Okay, here’s hoping. — LS
