18 Best Kitchen Appliances of 2024, Lab-Tested and Reviewed

The best ranges make meal prep quicker and easier and help your baked goods emerge looking and tasting their best. From budget-friendly coil tops to decked-out pro-style ranges, the choices run the gamut, and the most expensive models aren’t necessarily the best.

To find the best refrigerator, you’ll need to first decide which configuration you want for your household. French-door models are popular because of their high-end aesthetic, bottom-freezers are less expensive and put fresh food at eye level, and side-by-side models fit better in a smaller kitchen because of their narrow doors.

The best dishwashers now can wash your dishes squeaky-clean and dry them almost completely, all while using minimal water and energy—and they run quietly enough that you might forget they’re running at all. The trick is finding a reliable dishwasher that accomplishes all that and comes with the features you need to suit your needs.

An over-the-range microwave oven is a good choice if you have limited counter space or prefer a built-in appliance that matches the rest of your kitchen suite—plus, you can get a new one for as little as $200. They don’t vent cooking gases as well as a dedicated range hood, though, and they may be tough to reach (at least 18 inches above your stovetop).

One of the most significant benefits of choosing a separate cooktop and wall oven for your kitchen as opposed to a range is the freedom to customize. You can mix and match the best cooktops and wall ovens from different brands and freely mix heat sources—opting for a gas cooktop and an electric wall oven, for instance.

Like cooktops, the best wall ovens offer the kind of flexibility that you won’t find in a range. They can be installed on just about any wall and at any height in your kitchen. A majority of wall ovens are electric, so that’s what we test. That also means you won’t need a gas or propane service to install one.