Skip to content

Amazon Basics

The price floor, and where it stops being a bargain

Eight products here, and in most of their hubs they are the cheapest thing listed.

Where the specification is genuinely good

The whetstone states 1000/6000 grit with an angle guide and a bamboo base — that is the whole specification a whetstone needs, and it is published. The box grater states 22.9 cm and 18/0 stainless at 95 %, which is more material honesty than several dearer graters manage.

Where it is thin

The chimney starter says “large capacity” without a figure. The kitchen shears say “sharp blades” without a steel. Those are the listings where the price is the argument and nothing else is.

The pattern

Where the product is simple — a stone, a grater, a splatter guard — the specification is complete and the price is unbeatable. Where the product has a coating or a mechanism, the listing goes quiet exactly where a dearer brand would publish.

The one to look at first

The 1000/6000 whetstone. It is the cheapest way into sharpening on this site, and nothing about the specification is compromised.

Every Amazon Basics product we have reviewed

  • Amazon Basics 28 cm stainless nonstick

    28 cm · nonstick over stainless with aluminium core · oven safe · dishwasher safe · pouring rim

    Stainless steel outside, aluminium core inside, nonstick within — and unusually for this price, the maker states it is both oven safe and dishwasher safe, with a pouring rim right around.

    Best for: A household that wants one coated pan that can follow a dish into the oven.

    ≈ £18 / 28 €