If you spend enough time testing and comparing pans, and knives, and air fryers, you will eventually reach the conclusion that it’s really hard to make something for the kitchen that’s both new and great. It’s certainly the conclusion I’ve come to after six years of working as a shopping and reviews editor at Bon Appétit. You can only make the surface of a pan so slick, only add so many presets to an appliance before they become a nuisance. Every year, though, brands try to upgrade their products, and a few succeed.

In our ongoing project to find ways to make the work in your kitchen easier and the results more delicious, we’ve put the year’s new releases through the wringer in the BA Test Kitchen.

Appliances

Kitchen tools

Cleaning and organization

Outdoor

The result of hours of chopping, searing, and mixing is our second annual Gear of the Year list. We considered more than 200 appliances, pieces of cookware, tools, and containers, and these 20 made the final cut.…