When shopping for the cooking enthusiasts in your life this holiday season, one secret is choosing something that speaks to their particular culinary passion, instead of yet another generic gadget that ends up in the back of a drawer.
Here are some kitchen gift ideas for the grilling maven, the pizza maker, the aspiring bake-off contender, the pasta maker or the ice cream aficionado. For each, there’s an affordable tool and a splurge.
Most of these items are available on the companies’ websites. You’ll also find many at specialty cooking shops and at chains like Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma.
For the griller
Moderately priced: ThermoPop 2 Instant Read Thermometer
Every griller needs an instant-read thermometer. ThermoWorks’ ThermoPop 2 is compact and gives a reading in two to three seconds. The display flips right-side up whichever hand you hold it in, and has a backlight for checking burgers after dark. It’s waterproof, so it can take a splash or a dunk. $39.
Splurge: Traeger Westwood Grill Series
This spring, Traeger — known for wood-fired cooking — launched its Westwood series, which lets grill jockeys grill, smoke and even bake with consistent results. Set the temperature and press ignite. The controls and setup are straightforward, so wood-fired cooking feels approachable. Wi-Fi connectivity lets you monitor and adjust the heat from your phone. The Westwood is $699.99; the Westwood XL is $799.99.
For the pizza maker
Moderately priced: Witt Pizza Peel
If your pizza maven doesn’t own a pizza peel yet, you can save them from precariously transferring pies with spatulas and crossed fingers. Witt, the Danish company, makes a 14-inch aluminum peel with a detachable handle. It’s easy to store and easy to grab when it’s time to shimmy pies in and out of the oven. $59.99.
Splurge: Witt ETNA Rotante
This high-end, gas-powered outdoor pizza oven has an autorotating stone, available in 13- and 16-inch sizes, so pies bake evenly without the hassle of turning them by hand. Witt says it reaches about 950 F in roughly 15 minutes. One burner sits beneath the stone and another above the pizza to cook evenly. Thin-crust pizzas are ready in about 90 seconds, which means your favorite pizzaiolo or pizzaiola can churn out pies for a crowd. The oven comes in four matte colors (the orange is awfully hard to resist). Around $900 for the 16-inch model, and worth watching for holiday sales.
For the baker
Moderately priced: Escali Primo scales
Ask serious bakers for the one tool they can’t do without, and many will say a kitchen scale. Depending on how you scoop, a “cup of flour” can vary quite a bit, and weighing your ingredients makes every batch consistent. The Escali Primo is simple and sturdy, holds up to 11 pounds (5 kilograms), and switches between grams and ounces. It also has a tare button, so you can zero it out and add the next ingredient right into the same bowl. $26.95.
Splurge: KitchenAid Artisan Plus Stand Mixer
The KitchenAid stand mixer has been a dream gift for home bakers for decades. The company calls the new Artisan Plus the biggest update to its tilt-head design since 1955. A precision dial glides through 11 speeds, a Soft Start feature keeps flour from puffing out of the bowl, and a new half-speed handles folding in delicate ingredients like whipped egg whites. There’s a light that shines into the bowl so you can see when the butter and sugar are properly creamed. The most fun (and challenging) part is picking the color: KitchenAid built its reputation on a rainbow of choices, and the Artisan Plus comes in 15, including four new shades. $599.99.
For the pasta maker
Moderately Priced: Tacapasta Pasta Drying Rack
Pasta makers share one challenge, whether they roll by hand, crank a machine or use an extruder: finding somewhere for the fresh noodles to dry. The Marcato Tacapasta is a fan-shaped drying rack with 16 arms that holds up to 2 pounds (910 grams) of fresh pasta. It folds flat when not in use. About $60 to $85.
Splurge: The Marcato Atlas 150
If there’s a pasta lover in your life who still wrestles dough with a rolling pin, this is the upgrade. The Marcato Atlas 150 is the classic, Italian, hand-crank pasta machine, made from chrome-plated steel. It clamps to the counter and has 10 thickness settings, from a sturdy 4.8 millimeters (about 3/16 inch) for rustic noodles down to a paper-thin 0.6 millimeter for ravioli and lasagna. A built-in cutter turns the sheets into fettuccine or thin tagliolini. Separate attachments make other shapes, and an optional motor frees up both hands for feeding the dough. About $100 to $140, and the motor runs about $140 to $200 more.
For the ice cream lover
Moderately priced: Zeroll Ice Cream Scoop
Whether you’re shopping for a dedicated ice cream maker or simply an avid ice cream eater, they’ll love a Zeroll scoop. It’s a classic that ice cream parlors have relied on since 1935, and it comes in several sizes. The handle holds a heat-conductive fluid that uses the warmth of your hand to glide through even the hardest pint, with no levers or moving parts to break. Just keep it out of the dishwasher, which ruins it. About $25.
Splurge: Breville Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker
One of the pain points of homemade ice cream is remembering to freeze the bowl the night before. The Breville Smart Scoop has a built-in compressor, so a batch can start the minute the mood strikes. The machine senses how firm the mixture is getting and stops churning when it hits the texture you picked. There are 12 settings, from sorbet and frozen yogurt to gelato and scoopable ice cream. It beeps when it’s time to add mix-ins, and it promises to keep a finished batch cold for up to three hours. It’s a splurge for sure, and takes up real counter space, but it’s a dazzling gift for a serious ice cream household. $599.95.
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