Philly Food Guide

The two knives here actually designed for police work have 2.3-inch blades – shorter than every tactical folder beside them. Three of ten carry a seatbelt cutter or glass breaker.

Only four of ten extra wide toasters publish a slot width, and the range is 1.25 to 1.6 inches. Every measurement recorded, every missing one noted, from $15.99 to $69.99.

One listing publishes its duty cycle: 30 seconds on, 20 off. Ten machines compared on capacity and endurance – and why a tomato strainer, not a processor, is the right tool for sauce.

Protein bases freeze hard because they have almost no fat or sugar. Ten machines compared on mechanism – five freeze then shave, four churn while freezing, one is not an ice cream maker.

Ten mini pocket knives compared on published dimensions. The lightest weighs 6 grams, the heaviest 3.5 ounces – both cost $9.99, and one listing says it is not a knife.

Ten pocket knives from $34.90 to $200.00. One has High-End in its product name and costs $34.90 – the checkable markers are CPM steel, titanium and carbon fibre.

Ten portable cookers from $29.99 to $111.50. The search returns two unrelated appliances – full-size cookers with sealing lids, and lunch boxes that warm but cannot cook.

Ten french door ovens from $109.99 to $219.99. Capacity is quoted in quarts, litres and basket volumes – and one machine publishes none at all.

Ten four-slice toasters from $33.99 to $119.95. Seven have one shade dial for all four slots – which makes them two-slice toasters that happen to hold four slices.

Ten waffle makers from $29.49 to $269.95. There is no such thing as a stainless cooking plate – every one cooks on a coating, and only three let you remove it.

Ten small slow cookers from $17.99 to $54.99. All ten are manual High/Low/Warm – not one can switch itself off, which is the difference from the full-size appliance.

Ten 36-inch range hoods from $86.94 to $439.00, spanning 230 to 1050 CFM. Airflow is quoted at maximum and noise at minimum – and seven of the ten publish no noise figure at all.

Ten razor knives from $8.99 to $25.99. The blade costs pennies and lasts an afternoon – what you are buying is the mechanism that decides where it is when you are not cutting.