Editorial Guidelines
Our commitment to honest, independent reviews that you can trust when making purchasing decisions.
Our Editorial Independence Promise
Brands and manufacturers never pay for reviews or influence our ratings. Our editorial team operates independently from our business operations. The products we recommend are chosen based solely on their merit and how well they serve our readers.
How We Select Products to Review
We carefully curate the products we review based on several factors:
- 1Market research: We track best-sellers, new releases, and trending products across major retailers.
- 2Reader requests: We listen to what our audience wants to know about and prioritize those products.
- 3Price range coverage: We aim to review products at every price point — budget, mid-range, and premium.
- 4Innovation: We cover products with new features or technologies that could benefit home cooks.
We typically purchase products ourselves. When we receive review units from manufacturers, we clearly disclose this in our review and apply the exact same testing standards.
How We're Funded
KitchenGearLab is primarily funded through affiliate commissions. When you click a link to Amazon or another retailer and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Important: Affiliate commissions do NOT influence our ratings or recommendations. A product with a higher commission rate will never receive a better score than a superior product with a lower commission.
This funding model allows us to maintain editorial independence while providing free content to our readers. We believe it creates the right incentives: we succeed when we help you find products you'll actually be happy with.
Ratings Are Never Influenced by Commissions
We want to be crystal clear about this:
- Our reviewers don't know commission rates when testing products
- Ratings are finalized before any monetization decisions are made
- We frequently recommend products we can't monetize if they're the best option
- Poor products receive poor ratings regardless of affiliate potential
Our reputation depends on providing trustworthy recommendations. Short-term commission gains would never be worth compromising that trust.
Fact-Checking and Update Process
Before Publication
- All specs verified against manufacturer documentation
- Prices checked at time of publishing
- Editorial review for accuracy and clarity
- Testing data double-checked against notes
After Publication
- Regular reviews of older content (quarterly minimum)
- Updates when products are discontinued
- Price updates as market changes
- New recommendations added as we test more products
All articles show a "Last Updated" date so you know how recent our information is.
Corrections Policy
We strive for accuracy, but we're human and occasionally make mistakes. When errors are identified:
- Minor errors (typos, formatting) are corrected immediately without notation
- Substantive errors are corrected with an "Update" note explaining the change
- Major errors that affected recommendations include a prominent correction notice
If you spot an error, please contact us and we'll investigate promptly.
More About Our Process
Want to know exactly how we test products or learn about our affiliate relationships?