This is a homemade, handmade Christmas for many of us, and over the last two weeks we've shown you a great deal of homemade treats and sweets. But perhaps you don't have the time to make food gifts, or you would prefer to buy something new for a friend?
Here is our roundup of Really Useful Things for the kitchen -- items that are not trendy or specific to this season, but classic and perpetual good ideas. They are all very useful, practical, and inexpensive, and we think that any one of them would make an excellent gift.
We call these "Un-Gifts" because they don't really fit the idea of a fancy or impractical gift. They are plain, practical, and useful. Some of them, though, are still things that people don't think to buy for themselves but will enjoy enormously once they have them -- our idea of the perfect gift.
- Cast Iron Skillet This Lodge cast iron skillet is a timeless classic. Inexpensive, endlessly practical, lasts forever. Every cook should own one or two. $15.95 at Lodge.
- Oven Thermometer Make their oven more functional. An oven thermometer is the perfect stocking stuffer for a baker. $6 (or less) at Amazon or your local grocery store.
- Chef's Knife This Victorinox chef's knife is a killer deal, and a great knife too. Ours is going strong; it's a wonderful knife. $22 at Amazon.
- Glass Storage Containers We are moving all our leftover and fridge storage containers from plastic to glass, gradually. These sturdy, attractive glass storage containers would make practical gifts. $5.99-$7.99 at The Container Store.
- Porcelain Ginger Grater We use our ginger grater all the time -- it's useful for garlic too. $3.95-$9.95 at The Wok Shop.
- Chinese Cleaver These cleavers are so awesome -- cheap, sharp, and long-lasting. We would love to unwrap one of these on Christmas morning! Prices range, but our favorite is only $10.95 from The Wok Shop in San Francisco.
- Tiffin Lunch Pail A new lunch box is always a good gift, especially when it's as classy and cool as this one. $9.99 at World Market.
- Perfex Pepper Mill At $80 this is a little more expensive than most of the things on this list. But we love its classic shape and heavy weight; it's an heirloom-quality pepper mill. $80 at Sur La Table.
- Dutch Oven Another slightly higher-ticket item, but sure to be well-loved. We use our Dutch oven probably every other day. It's a $40 model from Target, and it still looks great. The one pictured here is $52.99 at Target.
- Japanese Mandoline Oh how we love this mandoline, which we also received as a gift. It makes short work of onions, fennel, carrots, and other vegetables that need to be shaved thin. It's a wonderful tool, but one that many cooks don't think to buy. $23 at Amazon.
- Heat-Resistant Spatulas We always want more spatulas; we reach for them constantly. Here's a very pretty Le Creuset set for about $30 at Amazon, but we would probably prefer these Lehman's spatulas for $3.95-$6.95 apiece.
- Slow Cooker Want to encourage a friend to cook at home more often? Buy them a slow cooker! We think these are the perfect tool for busy city cooks. Hamilton-Beach 5-quart programmable slow cooker, $39.99 at Amazon.
- Microplane Zester We use our Microplane all the time; it's the best way to zest lemons and other citrus, and we love creating soft piles of Parmesan cheese with it too. 2-Piece Microplane set, $27.50 at Sur La Table.
- Stainless Steel Bowls with Lids We have tons of bowls in our cupboards. Guess which ones we use? The two stainless steel mixing bowls. They are almost never in the cupboard; they are either in the fridge or the drying rack. This is a very practical and economical gift: 5 nesting stainless steel bowls with tight-fitting lids for $14 at Amazon.
- Wooden Spoons Wooden spoons are a classic gift -- beautiful in their simplicity and functionality. They can be $2 spoons from Crate & Barrel, or heirloom, handmade spoons from Jonathan's ($18-$20).
That's our list! Do you have other ideas for practical and long-lasting kitchen gifts?
Related: Good Question: Tools for a New Kitchen
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Excellent list.
Remember that not all Chinese cleavers are created equal. The king of the pack is made in Hong Kong, the make is CCK.
CCK cleavers come numbered, from thin bladed #2 to the thick bladed #3 meat cleaver. They are all made from carbon steel and they are scary sharp. A friend of mine remarked "they make everything you cut with them feel like soft butter". True that.
They're not always easy to find, here in Toronto the Tap Phong Trading Company on Spadina sells them, but worth keeping an eye out for. I use my CCK for 80% of all my prepping.
PS: They're only about $45.00 (Canadian), so really affordable.
Haha, I already have a cast-iron skillet and microplane grater on my Amazon wishlist. In addition, I have a food scale and Silpats on there.
My mom has had the same Chinese cleaver for over 20 years, if not more, and I don't think she ever sharpens it!
Great list!
Another tip for glass storage containers-- search for vintage glass and/or Pyrex refrigerator dishes at yard sales, thrift shops & eBay. I have amassed quite a collection over the years. Now I have enough of these little dishes so that I can store almost all of our leftovers in glass instead of plastic.
Question: Should you get a microplane grater in addition to one of those 4-sided box graters? Space is at a premium for me so I'm wondering if I really "need" the former.
Squirrely - i have a microplane grater (one of the thin ones, without a handle), and a 1-sided grater with larger holes for grating things like cheese that i intend to melt. i personally like the 1-sided grater more than the box because it fits in my utensils drawer, and it's easier to clean, but i suppose it is probably slightly more unstable and accident-prone, not that i've had a problem. i do think a microplane is necessary though - it's a good multitasker (zest, nutmeg, ginger, etc.)
can anyone recommend a good pepper mill that's more in the $30 range? or should you just expect to pay upwards of $80 for something worthwhile there?
i have a zassenhaus mill that I got from penzey's, and now penzey's has their own mills.
i recommend them for everything spice related.
(penzey's)
Bokeh,
If you don't buy it from Sur La Table, that particular pepper mill costs more like $50. I'm sure you can find a different one in the $30 range but I personally own the one listed above and adore it. My sis bought one from a rummage sale for about $2 and it still works great. Good luck!
I forgot to mention, I bought my sister one of the Lazy Spatula's from Johnathan's. Now I'm jealous and thinking of getting one for me after the holidays!
I have the same Victorinox knife and love it...can anyone recommend a good knife sharpener? I have a cheap-o one and it doesn't do very much...
While these are all great gift ideas, I couldn't get past this part:
"over the last two weeks we've showed you a great deal of homemade treats and sweets."
I know it's the professional copy editor in me, but it should read shown...
i have a set of 3 nesting melamine mixing bowls (the kind with the pour spout) from the crate and barrel outlet, and i'm starting to annoy people because every time i use them now i sigh and say, "this was the best $12 i ever spent. i love these bowls." no lids, though.
I just tried to find the Chinese CCK cleavers online and to no avail. Does anyone have any online sources?
almost all the ikea pepermills have the same grinding element. it consists of 2 ceramic grinding stones, and a locking adjustment screw. they're about $8, not quite as nice looking, but the mechanism works great, i've had one for years without a problem.
as for the microplane grater, i'd suggest one in the normal size tooth (quite small, good for zesting, hard cheeses, nutmeg, cinnamon) and one in a larger tooth for softer cheeses or bigger hunks of parmesan. box graters are useless (with the possible exception of the trick to crush tomatoes)
Ah Lorena - thanks! I knew there was something wrong with that sentence, but it was too late and I was too tired to figure it out. Ha!
Thank you for this list!
I'm going to buy a Chinese cleaver for the hubby. Been thinking about buying him a good knife for a long time, but most of them, Wusthofs and Henckells etc. are so darn expensive!
And if the Chinatown ones are good AND inexpensive... what more can you hope for?
I love this list - but I would have loved to have had it 3 weeks ago, when I still had shopping to do!
bokeh,
Peugeot makes the best peppermills in the world.
The Lodge pan is a great recommendation. An awesome pans for very reasonable prices - I own two, one of which I got for Christmas last year.
But for the cast iron newbie - beware - acid foods with cut through the seasoning real quick and you will likely have to re-season (easy to do). I learned that recently when I was making a frittata and poured some tomato sauce into the pan.
Definitely recommend the skinny microplane. I use it for lots of stuff-- zesting, nutmeg, cinnamon, grating garlic, parm, whatever. Very glad I got it. And I also highly recommend the Le Creuset spatulas. I only have one, which I kind of bought on a whim... But love it so far. Much better quality than anything else I've ever used. Seems like it'll last many years.
These post make me remember why I joined and love, love, love this community. Hmmmm...where do I begin, have a few things on this list, bowls sans lids, "homemade grater," have been storing stuff in glass/jars for a while since I end up with a lot of homemade sauces/condiments --bbq sauce, ketchup, etc-- definitely have a pepper mill but never stick to the same one---uugggghhhhh---but this is definitely a great list to start from.
Only thing I would recommend, if not already mentioned, is an apron! I'd love someone to purchase one for me!
Though xmas eve, I will also suggest kitchen dish towels - you really can't have enough of them. I have about 20 inexpensive ikea ones - blue and white - that I use to wash dishes, clean spills on countertops and floors, dry hands. Also, they are a greener alternative to paper towels.
In addition, cloth napkins make really nice gifts. Again, can't have enough of them.