Tuesday, April 30, 2024

How to Avoid Being Added to Spammy WhatsApp Groups

Do you keep getting unwanted messages from random WhatsApp groups you never asked to join? Spammy groups can be annoying, but you can change a single setting to limit them. Let's see how you can adjust your WhatsApp settings and keep yourself from being barraged with spam messages. After that, you can adopt better privacy habits to keep your chats clear of unsolicited content.

Set up the WhatsApp Group invite settings

The instructions and screenshots below are from the WhatsApp app for iOS. The steps are similar for Android, with minor variations.

  1. Open WhatsApp and tap Settings. In Android, Settings is located under the kebab menu (three vertical dots) at the top right.

  2. Tap on Privacy on the Settings screen.

  3. Select Groups. You'll see multiple options for "Who Can Add Me to Groups?".

  4. By default, it's set to Everyone. Anyone with your phone number can add you to any group. Here are three more settings that give different levels of control.

  • My Contacts: Only people in your address book can add you to groups. They'll need to send a private invite for you to approve within 72 hours.

  • My Contacts Except: This offers more granular control. Choose this option and select specific contacts to exclude from adding you to groups.

  • Nobody: This gives you complete control and is the recommended setting. You have to explicitly give your permission when you receive an invite from a WhatsApp group. WhatsApp on Android doesn't display this option (and some users on iOS may not see it, either)—choose "My Contacts" instead, or "My Contacts Except" and manually select people, if you have contacts who are trying to spam you. (If you don't have the "Nobody" option and you really don't want invites, choose "My Contacts Except" and then "Select All.")

WhatsApp for iOS group privacy settings showng the "Nobody" option
Credit: Saikat Basu

You will still receive invite links in a private DM to join a group. But now you have the choice. If you want to join a group, you'll have three days to accept the invite before it expires.

Note: Group privacy settings can’t be changed on WhatsApp Web or Desktop. When you change the settings on your phone, they will be synced with WhatsApp Web and Desktop. Also, this setting doesn't apply to community announcements; if you're in a community, you'll always be added to these.

More tips to avoid unwanted WhatsApp Groups

WhatsApp makes texting and sharing easy—which makes it easy to overlook some basic privacy guidelines.

  1. Don't share your number publicly online. Spammers can scrape contact information from social sites.

  2. Don't click on unknown links or phishing messages that use link shorteners from unknown sources.

  3. Be cautious of messages with urgent language or unknown senders.

  4. If you accidentally join a spam group, you can report it by tapping on the group info and selecting Report Group. Then, select Exit Group to leave the group. You can archive the WhatsApp group and hide it from view.

  5. WhatsApp also has a Privacy Checkup tool. It's like a guide that takes you to the ideal settings to apply and control your privacy on the app.

Tip: While you're at it, tweak another setting to silence all unknown and spam callers on WhatsApp. 


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How to Stop Birds From Pecking at Your Window

While I appreciate the occasional check-in from a neighborhood bird on my windowsill, I don't appreciate incessant pecking at the window's glass. During mating season, male birds will seek to claim the best nesting spots in town, and your window sill might seem like a nice location. Under the right conditions, though, your window becomes reflective, and that male bird sees his reflection and thinks he's got competition. All that pecking is him attacking the “other” bird to defend his spot. 

And it’s not just pecking, sadly—that reflection can cause birds fly into windows, too, which can cause much more damage (to the window and the bird). But as we enter mating season, there are a few things you can do to protect those birds and your windows.

Since birds can’t perceive glass well, they merely see what is reflected in it. If it reflects the sky and clouds, birds don’t realize they’re flying into a barrier. If they see their own reflection, they’ll think they’re seeing another bird. The key is to remove the reflection—and there are a variety of ways to do that. Keeping your shades, curtains, or shutters closed can help, but the glass may still reflect from some angles. In fact, if you don’t obscure the glass in some way, birds can see large plants just inside the window and perceive them as safe, outdoor plants to fly into. 

Frosted or patterned glass has less of a problem, and you can purchase film to create a frosted look on your windows  You can also use soap or tempera paint on the window to cut the glare—both are temporary and removable. Decals or mylar strips may help, but not as effectively as a solution that covers the whole window. In order to best deter birds, the solution is to cover the whole window in a grid that is small enough to deter even small birds from trying to “fly through.” 

Acopian BirdSavers are a paracord grid you hang outside your window, and you can purchase them or make them yourself. This is the method used by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Ultimately, if you have a pecking bird at your window and you want to protect the bird and stop the noise, the solution is to find a way to obscure the window from forming reflections.


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How AI Will Change the Way You Cook

I love cooking so much, I treat it like a sport, and look for excuses to make complicated or unique dishes. I think developing a menu for a bunch of people with differing allergies and preferences sounds like a good time. Until recently, smart cooking tech hasn’t appealed to me, because I assumed it was aimed solely at people who feel clueless enough in the kitchen that they want an assist from a machine.

But over the past year, I’ve interacted with cooking devices—from ovens, to grills, to fridges—that don’t just utilize smart tech, but incorporate AI and machine learning. While AI can’t remove all the labor of food prep or make you love cooking if you don’t, it can make the process of cooking easier by an order of magnitude...not just for novices, but for experienced cooks too. 

AI can help you avoid undercooking (or overcooking) your food

For many people, the dislike of cooking is based in anxiety. It’s hard to screw up a salad, but making anything you can screw up can be intimidating—what if you undercook it and give yourself or others food poisoning? What if you overcook it and destroy an expensive cut of meat? I’ve cooked alongside friends with these common fears—friends who lack my ability to use visual cues to know if a proteins is done, or who have trouble trusting that a little pink is safe.

Tools like a Combustion predictive thermometer can alleviate that anxiety. A smart thermometer probe, the Combustion can be used in almost any situation—a grill, a pot of boiling water, sous vide, the oven or the stovetop. The device has eight sensors along the length of the probe to get measurements of the inside and the outside of whatever you're cooking. Next, AI and a an algorithm are applied to predict when, precisely, you should pull the food off the heat. This means you don’t have to stand over the stove waiting and watching (the app and probe handle that part). It also means that you won’t overcook the food out of fears around food safety, which is something that 50% of people admit to doing.

Combustion specifically altered its algorithm late last year to ensure that food will hit USDA recommended standards, which go beyond simple temperature thresholds. For example, although you commonly think of chicken as being "done" when it measures 165°F, USDA has established you can achieve the same food safety by cooking for a longer time at a lower temperature, as you would using sous vide cooking. The Combustion thermometer can determine whether your food is “safe”, depending on the entire cook history of your protein. This can give the confidence they need to work with protein and, as they see better results, to gain confidence with their cooking. Even as an experienced chef, I love that Combustion does this math for me, so I don’t have to rely on external cues, like how a protein feels to the touch.

There are plenty of other temperature probes with feature's like Combustion's, including the ThermaPro (which i haven’t tested) and the Meater 2 (which I found underwheling).

AI can help cut down on food waste

When I'm grocery shopping, I often forget what is already in my fridge and pantry, and the result is a lot of extraneous purchases—most egregiously when I'm buying fresh foods with short expiration dates. Companies are working to solve this problem. Samsung’s latest fridges incorporate “Food AI,” and use cameras inside your fridge to tell you what you might need to buy more of. Part of their Bespoke line, these fridges come with with AI Family Hub+ and AI Vision Inside. It’s not just that the hub can recognize the fresh foods inside your fridge (up to 33 of them, anyway); it will also offer recipes based on those ingredients.

I haven’t tested the Bespoke yet, but videos of the fridge in action show clear enough imagery that you should be able to easily identify what’s in your fridge from the app, meaning you’ll never have to wonder if you’re out of butter or eggs while you're in the supermarket. 

AI can help you figure out what to make for dinner

Newer technology is taking things farther. AI voice assistants are already embedded in many cooking devices. You can offer the assistant a list of ingredients, or a mood, or a craving, or just allow it to ask you questions, and it will develop meal suggestions for you. 

Even if you don’t have an appliance that can have conversations with you, there are apps aplenty to provide suggestions on the fly. DishGen, MealsAI, and MealPractice all use AI models like Gemini as the underlying engine to produce suggestions based on the language you input, whether that’s a bunch of ingredients or a request based on your mood. 

Using AI while cooking can actually be fun, and save you time

There are a number of “smart” ovens on the market from Tovala, Breville and June, but for the last few months I’ve been using the Brava, an expensive toaster oven with a brain. From a graphical interface on the toaster, you look up any ingredient, and it will generate a list of possible recipes. Choose one, and you'll be guided through inserting a thermometer probe, told where to put the food on the tray and where to put the tray. Then you push a button and walk away. The oven will send you a live video of the food cooking, monitor its progress, and turn off precisely when the food is done.

The oven relies on light technology instead of the normal heating elements you expect in an oven. It focuses heat only where it's needed, for as long as it's needed, specifically to the precise foods you're cooking. Instead of heating up an entire oven, food is cooked from above and below in a very small space. As a result, cooking times are routinely slashed by half, sometimes more. Last week I made sweet potato fries out of raw potatoes. They were perfectly crisped and baked through, in eight minutes.

While the Brava uses only very light AI behind the scenes right now, it’s easy to imagine that in the future, machine learning can help companies process the data coming back from the their appliances to create more recipes and refine the ones that exist, though the tech isn't there yet—I spoke with Brava product manger Zac Selmon, who noted how difficult it is to create a set of parameters to ensure everyone who makes a recipe gets the same results when so many variables involved can differ, from the ingredients, to the environment, to the cook. For that reason, Brava still uses a human team of cooks alongside its data engineers. 

What’s surprised me about the Brava is how much I enjoy not having to think about what I’m cooking. It turns out the tedious part of the process, which involves keeping an eye on a dish as it cooks, is skippable; that the oven that cuts cooking time by half or more, even better: You can enjoy the prep and the results, and not worry about the in between.

I’m excited about the future of AI kitchens

As a self-certified control freak, I shouldn’t like surrendering the cooking or prep process, but it turns out I do. It saves me time and allows me to focus on the parts of cooking I really enjoy. I’ve gifted smart thermometers to a few friends, and the devices have altered mealtime in their homes too. They buy better cuts of meats because they are less afraid of ruining them. They take more risks, and are more confident.

In the future, AI tech will streamline the process more, giving you the ability to manage meal-making from your couch or deck while you spend more time with family and friends. No, a gadget isn’t going to turn you into someone who loves to cook, but it can make cooking a lot more manageable.


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How 'Loss Mitigation' Can Help You Avoid Foreclosure

Falling behind on your mortgage payments is an incredibly stressful situation. When you miss multiple payments, the lender may start the foreclosure process to take possession of your home. However, foreclosure is generally a last resort for lenders, as it is an expensive and time-consuming process. That's why mortgage servicers have "loss mitigation" options to help homeowners avoid foreclosure when possible.

What is loss mitigation?

Loss mitigation refers to the various solutions and processes that mortgage companies use to work with homeowners and attempt to avoid foreclosure. The goal is to find an alternative that is acceptable to both the borrower and lender. Some common loss mitigation options include:

  • Loan modification: Permanently changing the loan terms, such as extending the payoff date or reducing the interest rate to make payments more affordable.

  • Forbearance: Allowing you to temporarily pay a lower or no payment for a set time period, with the missed payments being repaid later or added to the loan balance.

  • Repayment plan: The lender allows you to repay missed payments, along with an affordable portion of the overdue amounts, as a supplement to your regular monthly payments.

  • Short sale: Allowing you to sell the home for less than the amount owed on the mortgage if the lender agrees to the terms.

  • Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure: Transferring the deed to the home back to the lender if they agree to accept it as payment and release you from the mortgage.

How to pursue loss mitigation options

The key is to be proactive and contact your mortgage servicer as soon as you realize you are having difficulty making payments. Most have loss mitigation departments to explore options tailored to your situation. Be prepared to explain why you fell behind and provide documentation like pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, etc.

You may have to go through a loan modification application process where you submit information to allow the lender to determine if you meet the requirements for an option like a loan modification. Be responsive to all requests for documents and persistent in your communications.

Foreclosure is a lengthy process, so there is typically time to work with the lender on a loss mitigation solution. However, don't wait until you have missed multiple payments to seek help. Lenders are far more willing to work with homeowners before a foreclosure has been initiated.

By taking advantage of loss mitigation programs, many homeowners can get financial relief and avoid the significant impact of foreclosure on their credit and finances. With an open dialogue and commitment to providing requested information, it may be possible to find an alternative path forward. For more, here are the first steps you should take whenever you're facing foreclosure.


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Monday, April 29, 2024

The Simple Waffle Iron Is Actually a Multi-Meal Cooking Appliance

Your kitchen should have the right tools. Welcome to A Guide to Gearing Up Your Kitchen, a series where I help you outfit the space with all the small appliances you need (and ditch the ones you don’t).

The waffle iron is an indispensable tool in my kitchen. Naturally, it allows me to make waffles, but that’s just the tip of the breakfast bread. The dual plates of coordinated, dimpled squares is an opportunity. With a firm press in this electric kitchen appliance, you have the ability to add caramelization, texture, and flavor to countless foods, and even cook entire meals. If you’ve only ever seen a breakfast bread pop out of a waffle machine, allow me to expand your world. The waffle iron is a multi-meal cooking appliance.

Watch this video to hear me explain:

Here are some of the highest-rated waffle irons you can buy, and a list of the first things you should put between those plates. 

Buying a waffle iron

Before you waffle, you need a waffle iron. When it comes to buying a waffle iron, you have a few options. You can’t make a bad choice, so just trust your gut (and your budget). 

Presto Ceramic FlipSide Belgian Waffle Maker

This machine turns out a classic Belgian waffle with deep divots and tall sides. The overall shape is circular with four quadrants. This model includes a flip feature with a handle, so it’s low-profile but you can still turn out an impressive breakfast. 

Dash Mini Waffle Maker

If you’re looking for something a little smaller and more budget-friendly than the typical Belgian behemoth, try this model, which cooks up one wee waffle at a time. Its small size fits easily in cabinets, and it's the perfect size to make a quick sausage biscuit for one. But I'm getting ahead of myself—there's more on that later.

Krups Breakfast Set Large Waffle Maker

Maybe a large waffle maker is more your speed. That’s completely understandable for feeding a crowd, and once you take a look through this list of foods to waffle, larger might be better (it’s easier to fit a whole sandwich in there). This waffle maker can turn out four square waffles at a time, giving you almost 12 inches diagonally of pure waffling real estate. 

Waffle these foods immediately

Meats

I once moved into an apartment where it took about a month to get the gas stove working. That didn’t stop me from making entire home-cooked meals—after all, the electricity was working just fine. I waffled chicken, steak, and sausages to juicy, browned perfection. Waffle meats just like you would cook it in a pan. Marinate or season it first, then grease the waffle iron with a brush of oil (not aerosol spray, as that can damage the non-stick coating). Press the meat in the preheated iron. If you’re using a particularly thick cut of chicken breast or steak, consider butterflying it or cutting it into smaller pieces before waffling. Use a meat thermometer to help you decide on doneness. 

Waffled SPAM that's on a plate
Credit: Claire Lower

Cheeses

Cheese is perfect, and yet, melted cheese is a higher level of its existence. Melted cheese with crispy edges? That is cheese enlightenment. Waffling cheese is a great way to create lines and squares of exquisite crunchy frico encasing a soft, gooey center. What’s more, waffling cheese couldn’t be easier. Cheese supplies plenty of its own fat, so you can just heat the iron, tuck a slab of cheese in there, and close the waffle maker. Depending on the cheese and how crispy you want it, you’ll be finished waffling in a minute or two. Read here for more tips on waffling cheese.

A whole sandwich

You should waffle your meat first to create some delicious flavors, but after that, you should waffle the whole darn sandwich. This works especially well if you have a semi-soft bread that you can slather in butter before you press it in the iron. Then the grid pattern can fully plunge into the soft crumb of the slices and thoroughly brown the butter and crisp the toast. Better still, spread mayonnaise onto the bread and press it into grated parmesan cheese before you waffle it. You’ll be rewarded with a crunchy cheese crust on your sandwich. 

A waffled breakfast sandwich.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Tofu

If you’ve ever wondered how to crush a whole pack of tofu, here it is: waffled tofu. It’s another simple technique (read the post for details on how to salt it before waffling) that leaves you with a treat full of texture, and the quintessential dimples of a waffle—dimples that gently cup any sauce you like, or sprinkles of sesame seeds or chili crisp that you spread over the top.

Leftover pizza

The best way to revive cold, dry pizza has been long debated by many, but I don’t think those folks have tried waffling it yet. If they had, all debating would be laid to rest. You can re-crisp the crust and summon luxuriously melted cheese all over again with a waffle iron. The trick is to waffle two pieces at once, like a pizza sandwich with the crusts facing out. Here are the details and some tips on making your waffled pizza even better.

Pizza on a waffle iron
Credit: Claire Lower

Boxed cake batter

This might not be a far stretch from putting waffle mix in your waffle iron, but that’s the beauty of it: Cake batter works perfectly in this setting and produces tender, spongy cake-waffles. Just prepare the cake according to the package’s directions, swipe some oil onto the waffle iron plates, and ladle in some batter once the waffle iron is hot. In seven to 10 minutes, depending on the size of the waffle, you’ll have a scrumptious cake-waffle to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Leftover mac and cheese

The brilliant part of waffling mac and cheese is that leftover mac actually fares best, making this the go-to move for any hard, congealed leftovers that you’re no longer tempted by. Slice your leftover mac into slabs, or just plop a spoonful into the center of the hot waffle iron plate. Once again, there’s no need to grease the waffle maker because mac and cheese brings along its own helpful oils. Press the top plate down and listen to the bubbly, sizzling magic. Open the machine to claim your frico-encrusted, molten cheese prize.

Mac and cheese that's been waffled.
Credit: Claire Lower

A sausage biscuit

Waffling a sausage biscuit isn’t exactly a sandwich, but it’s more than just waffled meat and butter-laced carbs. It’s a toast to pork fat, a nod to smashing things together because, united, they make each other better. It’s dead simple if you use canned biscuit dough and packaged, but raw, sausage. Preheat the waffle iron and press a round of biscuit dough into the center. Top it with a sausage patty and press. There’s no need to oil the plates since the biscuit dough and sausage will be bathed in rendered pork fat. Serve the tender, fried delight with a drizzle of maple syrup. 

This is just a sampling of the possibilities that will emerge from your waffle iron. Consider this the very beginning of your waffling journey. Try these delicious ideas, but don’t be afraid to branch out. Maybe you noticed the trend: Fatty stuff does best, and all of it is easy. When in doubt, brush the waffle iron’s plates with a bit of oil, and you’re set to get wafflin’. 


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Why Your Kitchen Still Needs a Toaster (Even If You Have an Air Fryer)

Your kitchen should have the right tools. Welcome to A Guide to Gearing Up Your Kitchen, a series where I help you outfit the space with all the small appliances you need (and ditch the ones you don’t).

In the age of smart tech, it can be difficult to assess when simple is actually better. Such is the case with the modest toaster. Why even buy this clunky, single-task appliance when you can use your conventional oven or, better yet, your prized air fryer? Even with the exciting advancements in modern kitchen gadgetry, when it comes to perfectly toasted bread, the slot toaster outperforms them all.

My partner and I are obsessed with our basket-style air fryer. Its high-velocity, convection-forced winds roast veggies quickly, and crisp crusts like no other, but I’ll never toast bread with it. The problem is, both the conventional oven and the air fryer dry out your bread in the worst way.

Perfect toast has some dryness, naturally, as evaporation is part of the process, but it should have a flexible, tender element too. The edges and sides should be slightly crisp and browned, and the crumb should still be hydrated in the center. This is best accomplished with close, direct heat, for a short period of time. That means all the pressure falls on where the heating elements are placed in relation to your precious carbs. 

If you want to hear me explain, watch this video:

Where the conventional oven and air fryer fail

The conventional oven heats food with ambient, indirect heat. The air inside of this 3.5 cubic foot box has to come up to temperature first, and that is what cooks the food, not direct, high heat from the electric coil or gas flame. The heating elements may be on the top or bottom of the oven, which is good for heating both sides of the bread at once; however, they’re usually eight to 10 inches away from the actual food. These factors combined mean your slice of sandwich bread needs to sit in there for quite some time. By the time the toast takes on any color at all, it’s completely desiccated. (The broiler can work, but that much firepower requires flipping and undivided attention if you don’t want charcoal.)

The air fryer has a different problem: The heating element is much closer, but it’s only coming from the top. This requires you to flip your bread halfway through the cooking time to toast the other side. While that added time is not a huge inconvenience, there's still the issue of the hurricane-level winds from the convection fan. The convection function is indispensable for rapidly whisking away moisture, which makes the air fryer excellent at crisping the skin on chicken wings or fried foods, but sadly, leaves bread utterly brittle. 

For perfect toast, you need a toaster

The simple slot toaster solves all of these problems. Instead of ambient heat, there are electric coils that sit a quarter or half-inch away from the bread. There’s not just one giant heating coil at the top; instead, there are multiple small ones that hit both sides of each piece of bread. This double-sided direct heat decreases the overall cooking time and toasts just the outside of your carbs. The slot toaster saves the day with slightly crunchy edges, perfect color, and a warm but hydrated and tender interior. 

There’s a slot toaster out there for you:

If you’re on team toaster oven, I get it. Growing up, we had one in our kitchen and the toast was pretty good. It’s better than using an air fryer and it’s much more reasonable than toasting bread in a conventional oven. That being said, if you’re a big toast lover and you have the means and the space, there’s nothing better than a good, old-fashioned slot toaster. You deserve it.


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Everything to Consider When Buying a Stand Mixer

Your kitchen should have the right tools. Welcome to A Guide to Gearing Up Your Kitchen, a series where I help you outfit the space with all the small appliances you need (and ditch the ones you don’t).

Buying a stand mixer isn’t a purchase made lightly. You have to consider size, power, capabilities, and, of course, price. Shopping for the right one kind of feels like you’re buying a tiny new car for your kitchen, but it’s worth it. This powerful tool is indispensable for professional chefs, avid bakers, and home cooks alike. Once you’ve used one, it’s hard to go back to a twee hand mixer. Here’s what to look for as you shop around for your next stand mixer. 

Stand mixers vs. hand mixers

Hand mixers and stand mixers perform similar tasks, on paper. They both mix ingredients in a bowl faster and more powerfully than you could with your arm and a spoon. The difference lies in what you’re mixing. A hand mixer is a small, hand-held appliance with long beater arms that can take down a box of cake mix or whip a bowl of brownie batter in no time. Kneading bread or making flaky pie crust? Well, that might be a problem.  

The shape of the beaters, the engine’s power, and the fact that you have to hold and navigate a hand mixer, all factor in to make the stand mixer a more capable and versatile appliance. When you’re comparing models, considering these factors will help you narrow down your choices. (I should mention that commercial machines are in a whole different category, and I’m referring only to at-home options in this article.)

Size 

A stand mixer is small when compared to a stove or a refrigerator, but all factors considered, they can still command a large footprint in your kitchen. Scope out your kitchen before you start browsing models. Think about where this oddly-shaped machine is going to live. How often will you use it? Whether you need it once a week or once a year will help you decide if you need to measure cabinet storage space or counter space. 

How do the parts move? Some mixers have levers to pull the bowl up into position, and others have tilt heads. You’ll want to consider those extra inches and how they can fit under cabinets or next to other appliances. 

Consider weight. A heavier model will probably require a permanent spot on the countertop, whereas a smaller, lighter model is reasonable to carry back and forth to a low shelf. Is this a gift for your great grandmother? Maybe a lighter model will be more attractive. 

Generally, the more expensive models are greater in size. They have bigger bowls, heavier engines, and wider bases for more stability.

Power

How powerful a stand mixer is depends on how the beater attachments are shaped in conjunction with how much wattage the engine can put to work. Stand mixers have a range from around 275 to 600-watts. The lowest-price machines pull less power and are overall smaller than the higher-priced powerhouses. Consider what you plan on using the mixer for. If you’re looking for a quick assist with brownie batters, mashed potatoes, or cake batter that you make on a weekly basis, you won’t need a ton of power. If you’re planning on increasing your sourdough bread production, you’ll need a strong machine that can handle kneading stretchy dough consistently day after day. 

Attachments

I think attachments are one of the coolest perks of stand mixers. Since mixers have a big powerful engine that’s just spinning and spinning, some genius out there thought, “Why don’t we fit other helpful tools onto this engine?” Great idea. You can buy a pasta roller so you can finally give your rolling pin a break, a sausage grinder because sausage is delicious, or even a spiralizer for some zoodles. If this is an added benefit you’re looking forward to, be sure to check for the mixer’s attachment capabilities. 

Price point

I’ve kept you waiting long enough. Let’s talk about the most important thing: price range. It’s the first thing I think of when buying pretty much anything. If a certain line of equipment is out of my budget, I won’t even be teasing myself with those models. Since everyone has a different amount they’re willing to put toward a stand mixer, here are the brands and models that tend to hover in distinct price brackets. 

Under $80

There aren’t as many options in this price range, but that doesn’t mean finding a stand mixer is impossible. The following brands offer reliable products and seem to be trying to meet customers where they can. In this case, you’re essentially buying a hand mixer with a stand to hold it. It won’t provide a heap of power, but at least you can multitask in the kitchen. 

These are options for a home cook on a budget that could use a hands-free appliance but doesn’t need a machine to do heavy-duty mixing. If you’re interested in a stand mixer that can handle kneading bread and mixing thick doughs, go to the next price bracket and keep a keen eye out for sales. 

$99 to $150

These trusted names in at-home kitchen gear offer true stand mixers for affordable prices (as you’ll see later on in the list, it gets wild), but they may lack in bowl size and power. Unlike the hand-mixer-meets-stand-mixers above, these models are the true stand mixers in the sense that their shape and beater rotation allow you to create a wider range of recipes.

As I mentioned above, these products often go on sale, so if $100 is still out of range, check back every now and then to lock-in one of their deals. 

$200 to $500

Now we’re entering the thick of stand mixer offerings available. These machines offer a nice balance of price and capabilities. The following are listed from lower to higher retail price, but keep in mind that the Instant Pot mixer offers a larger bowl, and the KitchenAid is popular for its numerous attachment accessories. 

$500 and up

These are the premium models of home stand mixers. Yes, they’ll cost you, but with proper use, they should churn out batters and doughs for a generation. For the cost of a new computer, you’d expect these machines to provide some kind of special feature. Well, they do. These mixers work with anywhere from 500 to 600 watts of power, which is nearly double that of some of the mixers mentioned above. This lineup includes a smart mixer that has an embedded digital scale, a mixer that is excellent at kneading large batches of bread dough, and one with plenty of attachments.

Soon, you'll be well on your way to effortlessly mixing cakes and batters, or rolling out homemade ravioli. But don't let all that power go to your head. You should sometimes whip egg whites by hand just to keep yourself in check. (Just kidding, it's not fun.)


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UK enacts IoT cybersecurity law

The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) Act has come into effect today, requiring manufacturers of consumer-grade IoT products sold in the UK to stop using guessable default passwords and have a vulnerability disclosure policy.

IoT cybersecurity law

“Most smart devices are manufactured outside the UK, but the PSTI act also applies to all organisations importing or retailing products for the UK market. Failure to comply with the act is a criminal offence, with fines up to £10 million or 4% of qualifying worldwide revenue (whichever is higher),” Carla V, National Cyber Security Centre’s Citizen Resilience Officer, pointed out.

About the legislation

The PSTI Act covers internet- and network-connectable products, including “smart”:

  • TVs, streaming devices, speakers
  • Games consoles, smartphones, tablets
  • Base stations and hubs
  • Home automation and alarm systems
  • “Wearables”: smart watches, fitness trackers, etc.
  • Home appliances (thermostats, washing machines, light bulbs, fridges, home assistants, etc.)
  • Security devices (doorbells, security camers, baby monitors, etc.)
  • Children’s toys

According to the Act, each product must be secured “out-of-the-box” with a unique password that’s not based on incremental counters on or derived from publicly available information or unique product identifiers, and not easily guessable. Users must also be able to change it.

“The manufacturer must provide information on how to report to them security issues about their product. The manufacturer must also provide information on the timescales within which an acknowledgment of the receipt of the report and status updates until the resolution of the reported security issues can be expected by person making the report. This information should be made available without prior request in English, free of charge. It should also be accessible, clear and transparent,” the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology explains.

Finally, the manufacturers must make available – “in English, free of charge and in a such a way that is understandable for a reader without prior technical knowledge” – information on how long the product will be receiving security updates.

“This legislation must now be backed by strong enforcement, including against online marketplaces that are flooded with insecure products, to prevent consumers purchasing internet-connected devices that threaten their security and may leave them needing to replace otherwise usable products,” said Rocio Concha, Director of Policy and Advocacy at UK’s consumer champion Which?

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) – which is part of the Department for Business and Trade – will be responsible for enforcing the Act.

IoT cybersecurity laws in the EU and US

It could be argued that the disruptive 2016 DDoS attack on Dyn by miscreants that gathered “un-updateable” IoT devices with hardcoded passwords into a botnet was the moment when the need for legislation such as the PSTI Act became obvious.

A variety of government and standards organizations have since published guidelines and recommendations for IoT manufacturers to improve the cybersecurity of their products, but this is the first national law that mandates specific security-related improvements.

In Europe, the Cybersecurity Act (2019) has introduced voluntary cybersecurity certification schemes for ICT products, services, and processes, but the upcoming Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) is expected to introduce mandatory cybersecurity requirements.

In the US, the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019 outlined minimum security standards for IoT devices used by the federal government, and California and Oregon passed a state law that requires manufacturers of Internet-connected devices sold in those states to equip them with “reasonable security features” such as a unique default password.

These laws are hopfully just the first of many and will be strengthened throughout the years. The responsibility of keeping IoT devices secure is finally being partially shifted on manufacturers.


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