How We Research

I'm Emily Prescott. I spent 15 years as a food scientist in CPG product development before moving to Portland, Maine. That background means I read spec sheets differently than most cookware reviewers — I understand heat transfer coefficients, why cladding layer thickness actually matters, and what "18/10 stainless" does and does not tell you about pan performance. It also means I have opinions, and I'm not particularly diplomatic about them.

Some of what I cover I've cooked on personally, sometimes for years. If I've owned a pan, used a knife weekly, or run a mixer through production-scale baking quantities, I'll tell you that and tell you what I actually think. Other products I evaluate using manufacturer documentation, independent materials testing data, and verified owner reports — particularly for equipment in categories I've covered professionally but haven't personally purchased in a consumer context. I'm clear about which is which. Claiming hands-on experience I don't have would be embarrassing, and I'm too old for that.

My threshold for a recommendation is whether I'd buy it at that price point given what I know. Not whether the PR contact was pleasant, not whether the star rating is high — whether the metallurgy, the construction, and the real-world performance data support the ask. A lot of cookware doesn't pass that test. I say so.

I don't accept free products in exchange for coverage. When something changes — new manufacturing run, updated design, price shift that breaks the value case — I update the article rather than leaving stale advice online.

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