Why Everyone Is So Obsessed with OXO's Kitchen Tools and Cooking Gadgets

I don’t know if you’re a well-adjusted adult with normal hobbies, or someone like me, with strong attachments to inanimate objects that have come into my life and changed it forever. Oh, you’re the latter? Cool—then let me please introduce you to my husband, Spinner, or as I refer to him in less open-minded circles, the OXO Salad Spinner of my dreams. 

Spinner and I actually met at a friend’s place—it was beshert. I was in charge of making the salad, and as soon as I pressed down on his retractable button with a rubber stopper, I knew things were going to be… different. (That large helping of hand-torn romaine was the only thing in the kitchen that was bone-dry—if you know what I mean.) He can truly handle anything, even tender herbs, because nobody likes a soggy salad. They do, however, like one tossed and perfectly dressed. Plus, the OXO Salad Spinner cleans up real nice (and quickly) in the dishwasher, and even comes in glass, for formal or black-tie occasions.

While I could wax poetic about OXO’s magical product for hours, it’s not the only heaven-sent item in the brand’s bevy of products, which range from silicone baby bibs and grape cutters to ingenious vegetable peelers and cherry pitters. I live in a tiny apartment with zero extra storage space, and the thought of single-use gadgets spilling out of already overstuffed drawers makes my skin crawl. But the beauty of my favorite—and soon-to-be your favorite—home accessories brand, OXO, is that its team of geniuses have remedied loads of design flaws in traditional, everyday products to make your life easier—whether you live on a sprawling ranch with a massive kitchen or have one cabinet and an IKEA kitchen cart to hold all your culinary tools. 

If there’s anything I’ve learned from (legally) snooping around the kitchens of the fancy Manhattanites I occasionally rub elbows with, it is that they absolutely love OXO gadgets. These are the type of folks who don’t bat an eyelash at the price tag on a full matching set of Le Creuset cookware or Yoshihiro knives. If Esther Povitsky is the Jane Goodall of Hot Girls, I’m the Harriet the Spy of fancy Tribeca working moms, and I’m here to tell you that next to their GOOPGLOW and Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee is an OXO eight-8 cup coffee maker. I’ve also clocked at least three kitchens stocked with the brand’s ergonomic can opener, and its garlic press is the only one that’s (actually) better than just using a knife. The best thing about OXO, though, is that it’s affordable—and I guarantee that its products will outlast and outperform most competitors. In addition to the almighty salad spinner, here are a few of the brand’s top-rated products to which you will soon be whispering sweet nothings. 

If you thought all vegetable peelers were created equal, think again. The OXO swivel peeler has a 4.8-star average rating from nearly 40,000 reviews on Amazon, and thousands of satisfied customers praise the golden peeler for coming into their lives. “This one by OXO is like finding a long-lost friend!” one reviewer writes. “It WORKS! It peels away in long neat strips!” Aren’t we all looking for a product that will peel a pound of sweet potatoes like butter? The answer is yes—and this twin-blade model is also made of Japanese stainless steel, has a built-in potato eyer, and features a non-slip rubber grip for comfort and ease of use. 

It’s quite gratifying, finding a group of people that understand and accept you—in this case, the magical Amazon reviewer who isn’t afraid to shout her love for the OXO can opener from the rooftops. ”My old, faithful friend, OXO Good Grips, bit the dust after almost 15 years,” she writes. “[So] we bought a different can opener. Garbage. We bought another one. Complete garbage. Went to Amazon, praying they could replace my old OXO, and there it was: my new Bae.” Extra-cushy handles and a giant knob makes it easy to open cans in two big twists—the only tiny caveat is that it can't go in the dishwasher. 

Nearly 30,000 users have reviewed OXO’s idealized version of the garlic press, and due to its roomy chamber for crushing multiple cloves at once, it requires almost no strength to pulverize garlic, and has garnered a 4.7-star average rating. In one fell swoop, you can also flip the press inside-out over the trash, and it releases the flattened skins every time. “I have crushed so much garlic since my new garlic press arrived,” one reviewer writes. “I don't think I'll be seeing any vampires again any time soon.” Phew—this was actually her second satisfied purchase after her first press “got overworked from an abundance of vampires that swarmed somewhere around the 2016 election.” Glad to know she’s safe and satisfied.

OK, so people can get VERY particular about their morning brew. With the amount of variables there are for achieving a damn fine cup of coffee (e.g. temperature, type of grind, ease of use), we can all agree with this five-star reviewer, who writes, “All I want is a coffee machine that makes a great cup of coffee, [and] the OXO delivers.” Its rainmaker shower head evenly distributes water over grounds, and features a super-convenient cleaning mode—not to mention it’s only 13 inches tall, so it fits under cabinets and in compact spaces. The consensus by most reviewers is that it outperforms other top-of-the line machines in ease of use, and has the ability to make equally tasty single-serve portions as well as an entire eight-cup carafe. “Better than the Bonavita [and] cheaper than the Breville,” one happy customer writes. 

Another one of my personal favorite products—one that makes me feel like a bougie, spotless-marble-countertop-having, Dyson-owning adult (a girl can dream)—is the brand’s line of POP containers. They are sturdy, transparent, stackable, and Kardashian-approved. They will make your life seemingly more put-together, and they might even save your pantry from a massive ant infestation. “EVERYTHING in them was untouched!” one reviewer with an ant problem writes. “The ants didn’t even go near the cabinet. It was like they couldn’t smell the sugar whatsoever!” The magic is in the air-tight silicone seal that activates when you push the button on the lid.

Let us all hold hands and pray to our Lord and savior, OXO Good Grips. Amen.

The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals? Sign up for our newsletter.