Cooking

Beginner's guides for cooking hobbies — gear that matters, gear that doesn't, and a real plan for your first month.

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  Espresso

  Espresso is the most equipment-dependent way to make coffee at home. It's also, for the people who get into it, the most rewarding — a shot pulled exactly to your taste is a specific kind of daily pleasure that no other method quite delivers. Here's what you actually need, where the investment is, and what you can skip.

  Read the Espresso guide →
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  Pour-Over Coffee

  Pour-over has a reputation for being precious — small ceramic cones, careful pours, grams instead of scoops. Most of that reputation is unearned. Here's what you actually need, where the one real expense is (the grinder), and the long list of things you'll be told to buy that you genuinely don't need.

  Read the Pour-Over Coffee guide →
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  Sourdough

  Sourdough has a cult around it. The good news for you: that cult exaggerates the difficulty and the gear required. Here's what you actually need — a scale, the right baking vessel, a few small tools — and the things people will tell you are essential but really aren't.

  Read the Sourdough guide →