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Foodie Gift Ideas: Top 10 Everyday Use Kitchen Tools
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by Huggingthecoast.Com | December 11, 2008 at 03:18 pm
1260 views | 48 Recommendations | 12 comments
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Here’s our recommendations for the top 10 kitchen tools and gadgets we’ve come across for everyday use…enjoy!
This clever measuring cup allows you to check your liquid measurements by looking straight down at your cup, instead of craning your head to the side.
This dishwasher safe measuring cup features a soft, non-slip handle.
Long known for their line of well designed and ergonomic kitchen tools, this measuring cup is one of my favorite Oxo items.
2. Acacia Wood Mortar and Pestle
Many serious cooks rely on a mortar and pestle to grind their fresh herbs and spices.
Made of durable plantation-grown acacia wood, like all good mortar and pestle sets, this should be hand washed.
3. Punk-U-Pine
This fun red little fella makes a great mushroom brush as well as a general use vegetable brush.
4. Lodge Logic 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet
Known for its even heating and superior heat retention, this skillet from Lodge works just as well over a campfire as it does on your stovetop.
Has two heavy duty handles for easy lifting.
12″ diameter, 2″ deep.
If you enjoy growing your own sprouts (a healthy and easy hobby that allows you to have a never ending supply of fresh sprouts for pennies a week) this Handy Pantry Sprouting Lid fits most wide mouth mason and round mayonnaise jars.
Made of a durable food-grade plastic with mesh holes large enough to drain well but small enough to hold in tiny sprouting seeds.
I have 3 different lids so I can rotate my “crops” as well as grow a variety of sprouts in different jars such as wheat and alfalfa.
6. Pizza Stone
If you like your bread and pizza crusty, the secret is having a pizza stone. Pizza stones are known for their ability to both hold and distribute heat evenly, keeping oven temperatures steady.
14″ x 16″.
7. Cuisinart SmartStick Hand Blender
Immersion blenders are a great, convenient, and one-handed way to mix soups, pudding, batter, sauces, vegetable purees, and salad dressing, as well as juice blends, shakes, and other beverages.
Best of all, using an immersion hand blender helps keep extraneous dish use at a minimum.
Using a stick blender, one can easily puree liquids and sauces right in the cooking pot without having to interrupt the cooking process and transfer them to a standard mixing bowl.
Measures approximately 3 by 3 by 14-1/8 inches.
Three-year limited warranty.
This does everything you expect you colander to do…plus it folds completely flat to conserve space!
If you often spend time cooking somewhere with little or no counter space (like a dorm or RV), this colander can really come in handy for rinsing produce or pasta.
Dishwasher safe.
There’s nothing quite like homemade ice cream…especially when you can add your own flavors and fixins to create your own custom flavors!
To help you find inspiration for your own custom ice cream flavors, please see this post about exotic ice creams as well as this one.
The double-insulated freezer bowl holds up to 2 quarts and a large ingredient spout provide plenty of room to add your favorite mix-ins.
I use my dehydrator to make my own dried berries to extend the flavor of the season (great for muffins, pancakes, or as part of a homemade trail mix). When we lived in Western Upstate New York, I also used my dehydrator to dry my own garlic scape (sprout) pesto and spice.
You can also make your own fruit rolls, dried fruits, and jerky.
The Aroma’s reversible, rotating drying tray ensures that foods dehydrate evenly in the machine.
Comes with 5 stackable trays, 1 roll-up sheet for making fruit leather, a drying screen and instructional cookbook.
Measures 8-1/2Hx13″.
More Holiday Gift Recommendations for Foodies on NowPublic:
--Doug DuCap/ HuggingtheCoast.Com
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (12)
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Terri Potratzat 15:54 on December 11th, 2008
Jordan, another NP staffer, recently wrote a great post on the art of pizza pie making. I am after a pizza stone now...
at 16:27 on December 11th, 2008
Some good ideas here!
at 16:51 on December 11th, 2008
Not eco friendly gift Ideas though. However some are nice.
at 17:37 on December 11th, 2008
Agreed...That vegetable brush is hard plastic (melamine) straight out of a China factory.
at 18:03 on December 11th, 2008
No matter what, if you do not have a cast iron skillet or if you loved one doesn't - start there. You'll never regret it. We are using a cast iron Dutch oven passed down by my great-grandfather.
That flat colander sounds kind of neat too.
French bread cooked on a pizza stone is just great.
The measuring cup got some good play on Splended Table recently.
By the way, about the brush - the listing says it may or may not have been made in the USA or imported, perhaps.
Source: target.com
I did some checking and never did find the country of origin.
My complaint is it is too cute. It's going to get thrown around, put in a drawer or tossed into a sink. It's a brush. I don't want to feel guilty about marring it up.
As for eco friendly, there's nothing more eco-friendly than a cast iron skillet. The mortar and pestle is plantation grown wood, and using it could save using the coffee grinder so many TV chefs recommend for "grinding" herbs and such. Pizza stone is terra cotta and helps distribute heat and reduce consumption.
Other parts contain plastic and steel and cost money to make and will never go away in a landfill or anywhere else. However, when something keeps you off the streets and out of restaurants (no offense, chef), where you are fending for yourself, it's got to earn a few Gore points.
at 19:29 on December 11th, 2008
I used to work for a manufactuerer that used chinese factories for hard plastics. It's a safe bet that if it doesn't say made in America or any other specific place that it is made in China. I'd bet money on it that it is. This is how they get rich. They're not going to manufacture in countries where people have rights. If it was made in an ethical manner they'd highlight where it was made.
Savitri D. of the Church of Stop Shopping is always challenging people to think about the "life cycle of a product," so we have to keep ourselves from being duped by whether or not something is cute. Plenty of items are cute - dolls, stuffed animals and obviously toys, but if we do some research into the origin we find its not pretty.
Green Restaurant Association
http://www.dinegreen.com
Granted this website can't ensure that workers are being paid a fair wage.
I understand that transportation plays a role as well.
at 19:32 on December 11th, 2008
Yep, when it said "Made in the USA or Imported" it pretty
at 19:40 on December 11th, 2008
it's pretty suspicous, yes. And on Boston Warehouse's website it says the owner chose the location in 1974 because it would be an ideal location to recieve goods from Europe...But that was in 1974. It doesn't go on to state they're still exporting from Europe.Noneof the items are marked in terms of where they're made. It should be a law!
at 19:55 on December 11th, 2008
Huggingthecoast.Com. I enjoyed the post very much and there are some good ideas there.
I shut up now.
:)
at 21:55 on December 11th, 2008
I dont think there's any reason to feel guilty about raising awareness about where things are made. We've been conditioned at this time of year to get all warm and fuzzy and buy sweat shop goods such as these.
at 23:01 on December 11th, 2008
Great ideas. Thanks! How about the Magic Bullet? I've gotten someone that for Christmas. It sure looks nice!
http://www.buythebullet.com/
at 10:35 on December 12th, 2008
I'm really enjoying the useful discussion and comments on this post! Just thought I'd take a minute and share a brief explanation about the philosophy behind some of my choices...
I admit, some items are eco friendly, some definitely less so.
Whenever possible, I tried to balance my gift recommendations with items based on my own personal experience and/or sense of long term utility and usefulness in the kitchen. For me, if something is visually appealing yet useful I find I am more likely to use it on a regular basis.
For example, cast iron skillets are truly wonderful and have a build quality you can pass down to others if you no longer need them. My first cast iron skillet was 25 years old when it was passed down to me. Its history only enhanced my enjoyment every time I used it, and when I moved into a place with less storage options, I myself passed it down and bought myself a smaller sized one.
I admit, the Punk-U-Pine mushroom/vegetable brush is a whimsy, although for me a useful one. In my experience, most small mushroom brushes tend to be designed in such a way that they are easy to accidentally misplace or throw out.
(Unfortunately, I'm not the only one with that problem; years ago, sociologist/author Vance Packard revealed in a chapter on planned obsolescence that many potato peelers are available in dull colors by design to increase the likelihood that the consumer would accidentally throw them out and have to buy another.)
Another compromise product due to its plastic content:
The Sprouting Strainer Lids are also plastic, but anyone who loves the joys of growing (and eating) their own sprouts will uses lids like these hundreds and hundreds of times, without having to wonder if they're buying tainted sprouts (like the alfalfa sprout scare a few years ago) from the store. My first batch of lids has lasted for years and is still in use.
(Yes, you can use cheesecloth and a rubber band for a similar effect, or recycle a leftover plastic embroidery mat by cutting it to fit the inside of a canning jar lid. Arguably these are not the most festive gift/stocking stuffers, especially if the intent is to introduce someone to the idea of having a supply of fresh sprouts in their home at all times.)
When I give items like these to friends, it is always with the hope that it will help them easily expand their options in the kitchen over the long run, as well as to encourage them to enjoy the simple pleasure of good home cooked food.