How We Test and Evaluate Products

Our Mission

As Taste of Home’s shopping editors, we cover products that make everyday life better. Through extensive research and hands-on testing, we strive to deliver the best, most-trusted product reviews, recommendations and inspiration on the internet.

Our Team

Our team of shopping experts and product reviewers has more than 25 combined years of experience in professional product selection and testing. But we’re also everyday shoppers who aim to purchase the best products for the lowest price. Meet our team:

Katie Bandurski, Senior Shopping Editor
Emily Way, Shopping Editor
Annamarie Higley, Product Testing Manager
Sheri Kaz, Associate Product Tester
Dylan Fischer, Associate Product Tester
Sydney Manning, Editorial Coordinator
Daria Smith, Senior Updates Editor
Madi Koetting, Shopping Editor, Social Video
Reina Galhea, Deputy Shopping Editor
Nicole Doster, Content Director, Affiliate

Why You Should Trust Us

We’ve built a first-rate testing program that showcases our commitment to authenticity and rigorous testing. Our team of in-studio and on-location testers methodically yet authentically put products through their paces so that our audience can click “add to cart” with confidence.

Our team’s biggest responsibility is to our readers. You can trust that when a product appears on our site, it’s been hand-chosen by one of our shopping experts, each with years of experience under their belt. We’re truly fans of every single recommendation we publish—we’ll never push a product we find faulty or unworthy of coverage.

We’re always on the lookout for the latest products and brands that can make your lives easier and your days brighter. When we’re not sending products to expert freelancers, we’re speaking to leading professionals in the fields of food, kitchenware and home to incorporate their tips into our work.

How We Select and Test Products

As shopping experts, testing products is one of the most important—and most fun!—parts of the job. After all, how can we recommend products in good faith without getting our hands on them ourselves?

We follow rigorous guidelines and testing methodologies to arrive at the very best products. Whether we’re sampling meal delivery subscription boxes or pitting toasters against one another to see which achieves the perfect shade, we treat each product with the care and journalistic curiosity it deserves.

When possible, we test products side-by-side with similar competitors, comparing qualities our readers care the most about such as pricepoint, accessibility, durability and design. We often include multiple testers to remove bias and personal preference from the equation. We also factor in reviews from across the internet from real, everyday people to form a more complete picture of a product’s worthiness.

Some other qualities we evaluate:

Customer experience: When you order a meal delivery service or coffee subscription, you want the product to taste good, but what about the company’s selection, shipping, customer service or delivery? We assess how well products stack up to each other from the first time you click to long after you’re finished using them.
Longevity: Most products need to work more than once, and even more still should last for years. In addition to our rigorous initial evaluations, we keep testing products, incorporating those vacuums and espresso machines and kitchen mats into our lives to see how they hold up to continuous use.
Test Kitchen evaluation: Our product reviewers don’t just trust their own findings; they also consult our Test Kitchen experts, who have over seven decades of combined culinary expertise, and advise on and evaluate products that need a little extra scrutiny, like food dehydrators, masticating juicers and stainless steel pans.

Our Product Testing Lab

Based in Milwaukee, our dedicated lab offers 400 square feet of space to put products through their paces. The lab space is specifically designed to handle an array of products, from vacuums to subscription boxes to anti-theft bags, ensuring a thorough evaluation process across various categories. Our team, led by experts in product testing and editorial standards, manages the operations of our lab. Here’s a snapshot of our day-to-day inside the lab:

We test roughly 70 products monthly, collecting more than 1,500 data points for consideration.
Logistics are an integral part of the job. We have scrupulous processes for intaking, storing and long-term testing products.
We take the time to carefully research each product to understand its features and specs better. This includes reading each owner’s manual front-to-back and scouring product pages for testaments and customer feedback.
Any products that do not require long-term testing are donated. Items that need disposal are done in an ethical and responsible manner.

How We Make Money

Our website participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may earn a commission if you make a purchase or take certain actions through links on our site. However, it’s important to note that our participation in these programs does not influence our editorial content. We maintain editorial independence and the inclusion of any product or brand on our lists is based on our assessment of their quality, value and relevance to our readers. We are committed to transparently sharing products and services that we believe will be of interest and benefit to our audience.