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By Michael Sullivan and Marilyn Ong metal display stands
We tested three new stands and changed our pick to the Clear Solutions Original Hinged Cookbook Holder. It’s smaller and sleeker than our previous pick (which we still recommend for larger kitchens).
It may be the digital age, but we’re still here: those of us who love pulling out our cookbooks and thumbing through to find our favorite pages wrinkled by steam, splatters, and spice, palimpsests of meals past.
Apart from the sense of lore, it’s practical too. Cookbooks don’t run out of batteries or go to sleep, and their recipes don’t disappear from the internet.
For making those pages just a bit more legible as you chop and stir, we love a good cookbook stand. Our favorite is the Clear Solutions Original Hinged Cookbook Holder, which has a sturdy adjustable base, a hinged splatter shield, and simple, old-world charm.
This stand’s slotted wooden base is sturdy and adjustable, and its brass hinges allow you to fold down the acrylic shield for easy page-turning. It’s the best marriage of form and functionality we’ve found.
The Clear Solutions Original Hinged Cookbook Holder is just right.
It’s not too big and not too small. With a fairly sturdy 5-by-12-inch base, it holds even the largest cookbook in our test kitchen with ease. But it takes up much less space—on the counter and in storage—than our other pick, which has a footprint that’s over 50% larger.
The backing is adjustable. The stand’s base has four slots for its acrylic backing to slide into, so you can adjust the depth and angle of the stand to fit a range of cookbook sizes.
Compared with the larger version of this stand, the acrylic backing is shallower, so it doesn’t hold up a single piece of paper perfectly. But in a pinch, it can work.
The whole stand folds flat for easy storage. When folded, it has a slim enough profile that it could go on a bookshelf right alongside your cookbooks. The acrylic backing has a curved edge that can hook onto the slots in the wood base when laid flat, so the backing doesn’t slide around when stored—a small but thoughtful touch.
While this stand’s size is much more manageable in the average kitchen than our larger pick, its 10-by-12-inch acrylic shield doesn’t fully cover most cookbook spreads. So the occasional splatter will likely get through. If that’s not the sort of thing you find charming, and space is not an issue for you, you may prefer the Clear Solutions Deluxe Large Cookbook Holder below.
This generously sized cookbook holder has a larger base and splatter shield than any other model we’ve tested. If you have large cookbooks and lots of counter space, this is a great choice.
For larger kitchens and big cookbooks, we recommend the Clear Solutions Deluxe Large Cookbook Holder. It takes up a lot of counter space, but it came in first in our tests on stability and protection.
It has the largest, sturdiest base of all the stands we’ve tested. Its base is roughly 16 by 6 inches, so it’s capable of supporting books with the widest range of thicknesses and weights. But be warned, it hogs a lot of real estate. Senior staff writer Michael Sullivan used the Deluxe Large Cookbook Holder at home for six months before deciding it was too big for his compact NYC kitchen.
It’s also adjustable. Like the smaller Clear Solutions stand we recommend, this holder’s base has four slots for the acrylic backing to slide into, but they’re spaced further apart across a much larger base, making more room for gargantuan tomes.
It offers the most protection and versatility. Its generous, hinged acrylic shield offers the greatest overall protection against splatters and still allows for easy page turning. Because this stand’s acrylic backing is taller, it holds single sheets of paper (like recipe printouts) better than on our top pick. The backing is also perfectly flat (there’s no curve on this one), so for extra support you can place the backing vertically when holding sheets of paper or taller books.
It folds flat for storage, but not as nicely as our top pick. Even when folded flat, this stand is so large that it may not slide into a bookshelf. In fact, it may feel more at home among your cutting boards. And since this stand’s acrylic backing lacks a curve, it won’t hook onto the base when folded flat for storage. That means it slips and slides around a bit, which can be a mild annoyance.
And its hinges can be difficult to clean. If the stand gets splattered with sauce and left to dry, it can take some finagling to get it out of the hinge’s nooks and crannies. For easy cleanup, we recommend wiping the hinges clean with a damp paper towel or cloth as spills occur.
This metal stand is less sturdy than our other picks and doesn’t have a shield against splatters, but it makes up for that with some extra style, a lower price, and super-easy storage.
Of all the stands we brought into our test kitchen, the Hightide Metal Book Stand was the one our New York–based writers and editors, with their diminutive kitchens, were most drawn to. The size was, of course, a huge factor, but its industrial chic vibe and pop of color didn’t hurt, either.
It’s cleverly designed and even adjusts for various sizes and angles. As far as barebones cookbook stands go, this one has some good functionality built in: The bookstand’s wire frame cradles book spines of various sizes, the backing can adjust to one of three angles, and two rubberized nubs in the front hold a book’s pages in place.
It’s not quite as sturdy as our other picks, but it works. Since everything rests on one flat, thin piece of metal, it’s hard to expect this cookbook stand to hold big, heavy books as firmly as our other picks. But we were impressed that the Hightide stand still managed to hold up the biggest cookbook in our collection—albeit with a bit of wobble. And, surprisingly, it can also prop up a piece of paper pretty effectively.
It has no shield. Unlike our other picks, this stand won’t protect against splatters. But that means turning pages is even easier, and you’ll actually be able to build up that treasured patina on your cookbooks (some of us like that!).
It folds and tucks away like a dream. When it comes to storage, this one definitely takes the cake. When folded, it’s no larger than 9 by 7 inches and can tuck into the slimmest of spaces—on a shelf, in a drawer, or in a cabinet.
Cookbook stands can range from stately, counter-hogging pieces to minimalist and sculptural, and prices can run the gamut too. We looked for the middle-of-the-road ideal: a functional and durable yet inexpensive cookbook stand that would help you enjoy using your cookbooks more, but could also look nice on the countertop and be tucked away.
We tried out many cookbook stands, and these are the features that stood out:
Adjustable stands: We wanted holders that could accommodate different book thicknesses and angles for ease of reading. We tested holders using a large range of hardcover cookbooks (ranging from 5.25 by 7.75 inches when closed to 10.5 by 13.25 inches when closed), as well as paperback books and a piece of standard printer paper.
Large, solid bases: We looked for stands sturdy enough to hold heavy cookbooks without wobbling.
Large, hinged shields: A good shatterproof acrylic shield protects your book pages from splatters. And having a hinge on that shield allows for easier page flipping; shields without a hinge require you to lift the entire book out of the stand just to turn the page.
Foldability: While it can be lovely to display your cookbooks on the countertop, sometimes you need that valuable real estate for other tasks. We prioritized cookbook stands that could fold flat for easy storage.
For budget- or space-saving contenders, we relaxed some of these criteria (particularly the need for a larger base or shield).
This is not a comprehensive list of all the stands we’ve tested. We have removed any that have been discontinued or no longer meet our criteria.
Clear Solutions Deluxe Cookbook Holder: This is a smaller version of Clear Solution’s Deluxe Large Cookbook Holder. We prefer the more neutral look of our top pick’s brass-plated hinges, but if you like the look of our larger pick but want it in a smaller size, this is a good option.
Crate and Barrel Acacia Wood Cookbook Stand: At first glance, this nice-looking stand functions similarly to our picks. It has a hinged shield for easy page turning and a hinged backing for some adjustability. But since the backing isn’t solid, it didn’t hold a piece of paper or recipe cards very well. This stand also lost its little rubberized feet too easily.
Actto BST-09 Green Portable Reading Stand: The biggest drawback to this model (besides its cheap 1990s faux-futuristic aesthetic) is that its page clips don’t fold down, so you have to lift the book out of the stand to turn the page.
We’re curious about Clear Solutions’s Under Cabinet Mounted Cookbook Holder. But although this cabinet-mounted holder frees up valuable counter space, it doesn’t provide enough overhead space to hold a large cookbook. And you can’t store this holder completely out of sight, since you permanently attach it to your cabinet.
This article was edited by Marguerite Preston.
Michael Sullivan has been a staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter since 2016. Previously, he was an editor at the International Culinary Center in New York. He has worked in various facets of the food and restaurant industry for over a decade.
Marilyn Ong is a supervising editor for Wirecutter’s kitchen team, covering everything from ice cream makers and Instant Pots to toasters and trash cans. Prior to this, she was an arts and then restaurants editor in Beijing, and she also took time away from blinking cursors to be a caretaker for her three young kids. Cooking for her family gave her a healthy obsession with finding the best affordable tools for the kitchen—but when she’s cooking for herself, all she needs is instant ramen and an egg.
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