Treat Yourself to the Best Food With These Cooking Utensils
If there is time to ask for some super cool, but perhaps not-so-essential kitchen utensils, this is the season of the holidays. Sure, you could probably do without some of the items on this list, but do you really want to? Holiday gifts should be fun, and the following items cross the line between “practicality” and “something that you will never buy for yourself, but will improve your quality of life.”
Anova Precision range cooker
This is the number one item on my Christmas wish list, with a bullet . If you’ve paid any attention to kitchen gadgets, you’ve heard of sous-video cooking and you’ve probably heard of the Anova Precision Stove ($ 180). If you’ve somehow managed to avoid using a gadget (or any of the countless articles on sous-video cooking ), it’s actually pretty straightforward. Sous-vide means vacuum, but technically you don’t need a vacuum sealer to use the Anova like any sealed bag. The sealed bags are dipped in a constant temperature water bath to ensure food never gets warmer than the set temperature. If you are cooking a steak, this means that the whole piece of meat is at the temperature you want it to be all the way , not just in the center. You can then fry it if you want to get the perfect crust. ( To learn more about the science of sous vide, check out this article on the Serious Eats website .) In short: I want one, and Anova is an easy-to-use compact version that you can control with your phone .
Universal set of kitchen tools
Whether you’re struggling with a shortage of kitchen space, live in one of these tiny houses, or recently read a book on how to get rid of all your belongings , this super functional kitchen multifunctional tool ($ 10) comes in handy. This tool has it all . Measuring glasses, cheese grater, funnel, even a lid handle for opening tough jars. It is also quite pleasing to the eye and takes up as much space as a wine bottle.
Hot and cold soapstone bowls
I am very attentive to the temperature of the food. I like to keep my soup hot throughout the entire soup-eating process, and I don’t like soft ice cream. These soapstone bowls ($ 60 for a set of 2) can be placed in the freezer to keep the dessert warm, or baked in the oven (up to 500!) To keep sauces, soups, and snacks hot. If you’re worried about severe burns or frostbite, don’t worry: there’s a second layer of rustic acacia wood to protect your mitts from extreme temperatures. At $ 60 per set, they’re a bit of a luxury, but a great gift for those who are serious about their food temperature. (However, this would be a terrible gift for my mother, who prefers all food at room temperature.)
Joseph Joseph TriScale Compact Foldable Digital Scale
I love this foldable digital scale so much that I kind of want to throw my existing food scale away for being so silly and awkward. As someone with an ever-expanding collection of kitchen gadgets, I really appreciate it when a company can provide a product that folds on its own. ( A collapsible stand mixer would be worthy of a Nobel Prize.) Joseph Joseph’s TriScale ($ 29) measures both metric and imperial units, making European recipes easier for us Americans, and if you’re the one weighing your food for a dietary For this reason, this little man can be placed in your purse or briefcase so that you can maintain your diet while traveling.
Bamboo wine table
Do you know what I like? Drink on the street. Do you know what I don’t like? I hold my glass of wine, trying to balance the cheese plate on my knee. (I don’t dare put cheese on the ground because I don’t want to share with the ants.) The Tovolo Outdoor Bamboo Wine Table ($ 20) is designed to hold two glasses, from champagne flutes to large old bowls, and hold a delicious snack for yourself and your loved one. Alternatively, he can just hold your snack and your two wine glasses if you are in the habit of fisting the wine twice while watching the beautiful sunset.
Whiskey Wedge
I admit I’m a little skeptical about whiskey cooling gadgets and gizmos (fool me one day, whiskey stones!), But I love the giant ice block and intrigued by the Corkcicle Wiskey Wedge ($ 18). The theory is that the lack of an open surface makes the ice melt more slowly and the melt water collects at the bottom. (However, I would recommend keeping the glass on the side that is not occupied by the ice wedge, especially if you have hot little hands.) If nothing else, it looks pretty cool and it would be fun to do a drunk experiment with a giant cube versus a giant sphere against a wedge … He also enjoys the support of this drunk guy , and somehow I trust him. Retails on Corkcicle for $ 17.95 .
Columbia River Knife and Eat N Tool Multi Tool
Here is a great little stocking padding for outdoor enthusiasts. The Columbia River Knife ($ 5) is essentially a spork Rolls Royce, it comes with a bottle opener, a flat head screwdriver and not one, not two, but three hex keys, my friends, all with a thin 1.6 oz. The above video doesn’t really tell you much more than I do, but I really liked the narrator’s vivid description of the colors available.
Tanors Hand Ceramic Coffee Grinder
If the coffee snobs in your life always clap their gums against the grindstones (which provide a more consistent grind), this handcrafted version from Tanors ($ 21) is a great gift for freshly ground coffee wherever they go. It’s also great for small households that don’t need to brew large quantities of coffee in one go, and can be set to coarse or super fine, depending on what you’re brewing. The glass bottom is also removable and comes with its own small lid, which means you can take the ground with you to work to fight any midday subsidence.
Espresso Machine Handpresso Wild Espresso Machine
This expensive product is an ideal gift for someone who simply cannot and will not be rude about drinking coffee. The Handpresso ($ 128) is an eight and a half inch portable device that can take your shot literally wherever you are, although it won’t replace your fancy home espresso machine. All you need is an espresso (ground or in pods), some hot water, and the strength of your hands.
Blomus Tistik
If you need a gift for tea connoisseurs, don’t insult them with tea bag packaging. In fact, I wouldn’t give them tea at all (too risky), but instead opt for this sleek stainless steel teastick infusion ($ 23) which they can fill with premium sheets of their choice and then take on work, book club or lecture about the plants growing in their region. (These are just a few of the activities in which I envision tea lovers.)
Kettle Breville One-Touch
Coffee lovers seem to get all the cool gadgets, but this Breville kettle ($ 250) is a very chic appliance. It is as convenient as a coffee pot, and the temperature and time can be adjusted depending on the variety you intend to brew.
Klean Kanteen Isolated
For some reason, I enjoy my drinks slowly and my coffee gets cool before I even have a cup. Likewise, iced drinks are diluted before I finish half of them, usually because I’m too busy talking to people, gesticulating wildly. But even people who drink liquids at a reasonable rate need an insulated drinking vessel, and Klean Kanteen is a good option. Double-walled vacuum insulation keeps hot drinks hot for twelve hours and chilled drinks ice cold twenty-four without condensation. This is certainly great news for slow drinkers like me, but also fantastic for those who want cocktails to stay cool by the pool or need a steady stream of hot coffee throughout the day. Klean Kanteen is available in four sizes (12, 20, 32 and 64 ounces) and retails for $ 24.95, $ 30.95, $ 36.95, and $ 59.95, respectively. Oh, and they also do drug growls ($ 69.95) .
Zojirushi Stainless Steel Lunch Cans
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I disagree. The lunch promise is what pulls a person through the morning, and the lunch break divides the work day into smaller chunks. A bad lunch can really ruin the mood, and the Zojirushi breakfast jars ($ 42 each) are designed to help you get breakfast at your dream table. The video details the systems, but the two-tiered system keeps the soup and main course hot (or cold if you’re sipping gazpacho and noodle salads) until six o’clock, and the top is for snacks at room temperature.