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$1,966.67
Look like you’re exploring the arctic in your own neighborhood. This should become more readily available for purchase once The Real McCoy’s London website returns online.
$3,100–4,740
Put the cart before the horse? Maybe when it’s this one. You’ll figure out what to do with it. Holds over half a ton, and it can fold up for carrying.
$302.52 (out of stock)
Nothing says “I love you” like tracking down this rare Japanese hamburger lamp.
$99
It’s very soft, comfortable, and it looks like a typical bathrobe. There’s pockets to keep sandwiches or whatever you typically use bathrobe pockets for. I don’t know what else you need. Do you need a hood?
$28
If you’re anything like me, you’ve spilled water all over yourself just thinking about wide-mouthed water bottles. Embrace the world of narrow-mouthed bottles with Brain Dead.
$830
Made with oil-impregnated Russian leather by Vienna-based bootmaker Ludwig Reiter—the link above is for the women’s version of the boot, and there’s free-returns because it’s from Net-a-Porter. But if you need a men’s boot, or the boot you want is out of stock, you can order from the Ludwig Reiter website, but everything shipped to the US will be final sale.
$181.01
For when a hood on your bathrobe isn’t really what you want, but it’s what you need.
$4,950
It won’t work for everyone, but if it does work, it doesn’t get much better than this biker jacket.
$67
Safe for any temperature that is possible on this earth. My brother bought me these, so I could recreate the Peter Luger experience without having to eat a mediocre porterhouse.
$204.95
There are five people living who have closed the #4 gripper. I am two of them. Shoot for the moon. Standalone grippers also available.
$169
These are my knives; they were a gift from my mother. They’re excellent knives. These are mine, though, so I would suggest you use these knives as a guide—this is a gift guide, not a gift prescription—and do not buy these exact ones. Find your own knives, please.
$35
I can’t claim this is the best insulated water bottle, but I really like the S’well bottle we got for free, and I’d imagine so will the person to whom you give this. I spill water all over myself when I try to drink from wider mouthed water bottles, so this is great.
$18.90
Perfect for burgers, steaks, and everything else that would be trash without a good sear.
$41.64
Morton’s kosher salt is garbage—it has anti-caking agents, and it’s saltier per volume than Diamond Crystal’s kosher salt. Buy someone a box of salt, give them salt for a month. Buy someone a case of salt, buy give them salt fora lifetime.
$3,815
If you pilot a plane without a sheepskin B-3 jacket, are you really flying? This should become more readily available for purchase once The Real McCoy’s London website returns online.
$161
Great for those in a new home in need of interior painting. This is great quality paint. Get this paint in a dark color, and see if they paint a room with it. If you notice that they’ve used the paint, follow up with a discordant color for the next holiday or birthday, and see if they continue to paint. If so, you should assume that the recipient will paint ad infinitum, and you should proceed with caution, but probably also with more paint gifts.
$99 (20-inches) to $199 (16-feet)
Does the quality of a TOSLINK cable actually matter? Who’s to say? But nothing shows that you care more than spending $100 on a cable that probably doesn’t do much at all.
$18.90
My favorite RPG, and one of my favorite games ever. You do not have to play the previous Persona games first, and I certainly did not. Persona 5 Royal will see its worldwide release in the spring, and that will be an expanded rerelease of the game, but the original is incredible, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself wanting to play it again as soon as you beat it.
$719
If your ice cream sucked before, it’ll probably still suck, but now you’ll know that it’s you, and it’s not the ice cream maker.
$139.95 (36oz)
Extremely high-quality dry-aged porterhouse. The American wagyu version is also great, but it comes in five packs only and is limited only to 20 or 24oz steaks.
$537 (originally $790)
Pockets guaranteed to be big enough for an entire sandwich with hidden velcro patches and incredibly soft fleece. One of the greatest hoodies money can buy.
$36–85
A sustainable way to have the look of a paper plate. The large plate (pictured above) is one of my favorite plates. filter bowls also available to match.
$5-500
OK, so don’t run out and buy a Marathon gas card thinking you’re going to cause distress for someone—you won’t necessarily. What you need to do is get a gas gift card for a gas station in the area in which Christmas is taking place, for a person that flew to that area. So get a Marathon gas gift card for the person from California that flew into northeast Ohio. Or a Stewart’s gas gift card for the person from Ohio that flew into upstate NY.
$9.40
The best film of 2018 or so. This film was never released in the US for Blu-Ray, so you’ll have to stick to the DVD unless it’s being played on a Blu-Ray player that can play European Blu-Rays. Also, The Favourite, Free Solo, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Burning, and Venom are all excellent films, though the latter is only incidentally so.
$24.99
Sharpening rods are great when used properly—most chefs using them on TV are doing more damage to their knives than anything else when they’re banging the blades haphazardly against a honing rod. Sharpening rods can also be particularly bad when the rod material is softer than the knife blade, which can be the case with many high-end knives. A leather strop accomplishes the same thing as a rod for blades of any type of hardness, that is, it aligns the edge of the knife, to keep the blade usable between resharpenings. And you use it just like a sharpening stone.
$25+
The Donas is a women-centric food publication helmed by New York-based tastemaker Donna “Dee” Guerreros. The Donas’ first event was a hugely successful brunch, and more events will be coming up. Email The Donas to purchase a gift card.
$210
Fantastic cut. It’s not impressive fabric or construction compared to the likes of Joe McCoy, The Flat Head, or The Strike Gold, but that’s not really the point. You may want to size down depending on the look you’re after, but it’s 100% cotton, so there will be a break-in period after which they’ll soften significantly and loosen up slightly.
$25+
L’Industrie is consistently regarded as one of the best pizzerias in New York (the world). In Williamsburg, Chef Massimo Laveglia has reimagined the classic New York slice shop with an Italian sensibility to bring offerings like the burrata-topped New York-style pie above, Roman style pizza, in addition to stuffed focaccia sandwiches. Email for a gift card.
$8.48
Put it on fried chicken, ricotta toast, ice cream, make your own version of Paulie Gee’s Hellboy, put it on a different ice cream, maybe make more ricotta toast—I don’t know, the world is your oyster I don’t want to keep telling you how to use this stuff (maybe put it on oysters too, though).
$18.99
Cotton kills. These are the greatest socks, and there should be a women’s version in-store, too, but they’re not online.
$89.99
Oh! We ain’t got a gallon of honey. Maybe we’re ragged and funny. But we’ll travel along. Singing a song. Side by side.
$25–300
The highest quality denim repairs I’ve seen; Rain Delisle is at least as good with working on denim as anyone who has made a pair of my jeans, and it’s the only place where I want to send mine. You can purchase hems and tapers readily, but there’s a wait list for repairs, so sign up for her VIP list on the Indigo Proof website.
$124 (Mini Griddle), $139 (Skinny Griddle), and $159 (Griddle)
They’re expensive, but they’re great stove-top griddles. The mini griddle in particular is ideal for smash burgers on a single stove burner. Get your griddle to 500F (confirm with an IR thermometer). Form 3oz balls of no more than 75% lean chuck, and smash them with a heavy spatula, smearing the meat along its edge so it thins out. Salt generously and uniformly after smashing as the meat cooks for a minute. After a minute, scrape with a fish spatula (or that blue-handled Dexter Russell spatula in this guide), flip, and add a slice of American cheese. When the corners of the cheese start to cling to the meat, the burgers are done. If you’re unable to get the cheese to melt sufficiently in a reasonable amount of time, spray some water on the griddle and cover with a bowl.
$17.99
You can get the corn cookie recipe from The Washington Post, and you do need to buy freeze dried corn and corn flour to do the Milk Bar’s corn cookies—you can’t skip that. You can get the the Milk Bar Pie recipe from Bon Appétit. Serious Eats has reprinted the Cereal Milk recipe. No one really needs to buy the book, but it’s a heck of a lot nicer than a greeting card full of URLs. If you do buy the book, note that the ice cream recipes are very much intended for soft-serve machines or soft churns—they’re made entirely with milk rather than cream and milk, and the taste reflects that, and the texture can be gritty from ice crystals. I recommend BraveTart (also in this guide) as a reference for ice cream bases.
$25
Commemorate America’s greatest hot dog with this Famous Lunch print. Buy it for your friends, kids and neighbors. You can never have enough of these.
$1,050
This jacket probably wears too warm for most places, but I’ll say this: there’s no jacket I’d rather have during the worst of the winter here in the Twin Cities. For warmer climates than that, look at their less intense jackets, or consider if a Canada Goose jacket is actually necessary.
$96.95 (28oz)
These won’t have quite the same size ribeye cap of Flannery’s Jorge, but they’re an incredibly well-marbled rib steak with fewer large sections of fat than a steak cut from the chuck-end of the rib section. The American wagyu version is excellent, too, but you’ll have to buy two.
$12.95
It’s pricey, but it’s the best seasoning fat I’ve ever used, and in an extremely convenient form. Store it far away from your deodorant, trust me.
$18.99
Maybe this was the best film from 2010— I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s the third Jesse Eisenberg movie on this list. Other contenders could be Black Swan, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Blue Valentine, and from the team that brought us Succession and Peep Show, Four Lions. The actual best film very well could be Four Lions, but I haven’t seen it in nearly a decade.
$450
Thoughtfully distressed by the famed French fashion house to make simple essential tees that you can wear separately or all at once to make a statement. Photo by SSENSE
$15
The world’s greatest butter. I’ve had every cultured butter under the sun; we’ve made butter countless times with good cream; this is the best, and it’s not even close. Also, it’s embossed with a cow—it’s great.
$1,499.95
Seriously, I want one for cooking various things confit, making corned beef, making stocks, etc.
$129.95
Sauciers are excellent for making sauces, cooking pasta, making ice cream bases, and generally swirling food around while cooking. The one that we use has become very expensive, and may be discontinued, but the d5 variant, which is supposed to be a higher-end line, is available for less.
$11.90
This is my spoon. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My spoon is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My spoon, without me, is useless. Without my spoon, I am useless.
$7.97
Great for pastries or bar pizza dough. Do not use this for pizza launched from a peel lest your soul be eternally damned.
$99
This is the gold standard for instant-read thermometers (and it’s waterproof). Stop doing the finger test and actually know the internal temperature of your food.
$34
A third of the price of the Thermapen, and not quite as accurate or quick, but still very good (splash proof, not waterproof).
$200–$280 (small–large)
Fantastic artisan-made carbon steel skillet. Great wall design for searing and butter basting meats, and it’s extremely well made. Hang it so you can show off to your friends how fancy your life is.
$25.40
Perfect for making things into four-inch circles, like hamburger meat, hamburger buns, hamburger cheese, etc.
$25.40
Perfect for making things into four-inch squares, like hamburger meat, hamburger buns, hamburger cheese, etc.
$350
Another incredible artisan-made carbon steel skillet. The handle shape makes it really nice to move around. These are next to impossible to just buy, so I’ve linked to the Flickr account from which I got the picture. If you’re really interested, I suggest entering Blu Skillet’s monthly lotteries or trying to grab a pan during their annual sale.
$69
Why would you put food in your pan if you don’t know how hot the pan is? Also great for finding drafts in your home. This IR thermometer lets you adjust emissivity so you can use it for a variety of surfaces (lower-end IR thermometers are generally tuned for dark matte surfaces).
$43
It’s just as accurate as the more expensive ChefAlarm but without the frills—you’ve got two buttons to adjust the target temperature, a backlight, and that’s it.
$37.43
Ideal spatula for removing pizzas from pizza pans. You’ll probably need to go to a restaurant supply store to hunt this down, but you have all of the information that you’ll need.
$119.96
I’m constantly asked about deep fryers—I have an older discontinued version of this. It’s fine. It has a reasonably large basket for a retail fryer, and they seem to last up for a while. The next step up would be a commercial 220V fryer that has more power and can handle more food without a temperature drop, but that won’t work for most home kitchens.
$49.95
This is a good scale for measuring 5g to 11 lb (yes, I mixed units for this range, fight me). Less than that, and you’re going to want a scale with more granularity, which is also in this list. This scale’s nice because the display can pull out, which lets you measure large objects without obfuscating the readout. Or there’s a cheaper version that sheds the backlight, most of the capacity, and the cost.
$20.39
For turning and retrieving pizzas. Does not need to be as large as the pizza to remove the pizza.
$229
Great for cooking four things concurrently, or for the maniac that really wants four probes in a steak.
$12.66 (12"), $17.58 (18")
The best way to store knives without damaging the edge. Knife blocks tend to dull knife edges, generally aren’t very sanitary, and are a waste of countertop space.
$36.90
It’s not going to do a great job with grinding pepper very finely, but short of that, it’ll grind pepper with ease. You’ll spill that Kalustyan pepper everywhere trying to refill this thing if you’re not careful (or if you’re anything like me), so have someone competent do it.
$51
Surprisingly useful cleaver. Great for parsing poultry, breaking up chocolate, crushing things, and cutting into gourds.
This costs more than you'd hope, but less than it ought to.
They say that the best home pizza oven is the one in your kitchen. But really, it’s a PizzaMaster. Forza Pizza is now a PizzaMaster dealer, and you can request a quote from their website. If the oven is going in a home, don’t forget to ask for the oven to be built with 240V single phase wiring. This is a high-end commercial deck oven, but single phase 240V (the same as a typical electric range or a dryer) will work for at least the single-chamber countertop ovens.
$182 (3-rib)–$432 (7-rib)
My mother, whose roast stands as one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, recommends going no smaller than three ribs. Buy a roast for the holidays, cook it expertly using one of the leave-in thermometers in this guide, and then count it as a gift for everyone who ate it. The methodology on the Flannery listing is similar to what I’d recommend. Just add in a dry-brine step a day or two before, and be sure to rest the roast (uncovered!), and count on the temperature increasing while you do so.
$29.11
At the very least, it’s excellent for smash burgers. It’s heavy, and it has a vaguely sharp edge that can be used for breaking up ingredients in a pan
$46
It really is a fantastic pie. And you should throw in some corn cookies while you’re at it. Or just get the cookbook, which is also in this guide.
$799 (Pixel 4), $899 (Pixel 4 XL)
For the person you desperately need out of a group chat. Or, if not, direct the ire of the group chat toward them once the chat balloons become irreparably green.
$255.96
If someone needs a Dutch oven, this is a great one, and it can handle higher temperatures than cheaper Le Creuset dutch ovens. Despite The Strategist’s claims to the contrary, this is an enameled Dutch oven that directly competes with the higher end Le Crueset Dutch ovens; the Staub just has dark enamel, hence The Strategist author’s confusion. And don’t forget to include the coupon for the snail knob.
$45
Maria’s Pastry Shop of Boston’s North End is closed. You cannot buy a cannolo from Maria’s now, nor will you ever be able to do so again. But Maria’s cannoli are the best cannoli, and your loved ones deserve the best. Order some cannoli for them from Mike’s Pastry (Modern Pastry is trash), but be sure the recipient knows that you really wanted to buy them Maria’s but that you could not—they’re worth it.
$699.95
This is a truly excellent monitor for photographers and others who need great color reproduction. But it’s really built for Mac (and to a lesser extent, the iPad), that is to say, there isn’t a single button to control the monitor, and all functionality is controlled through MacOS or iPadOS. So get it for the Windows-using photographer in your life. They’ll eventually probably be able to use this, but it’ll never be quite right.
$53.60
Great mandoline with interchangable and replacable blades. This is an improvement over the older model because it only has one set screw for adjusting thickness, so no more guessing whether or not your two set screws are at equal lengths.
$1+
The best restaurant in the Twin Cities is in Saint Paul? Yes. Email or call (651) 478-1822 to purchase a gift card, or make a reservation for their Hanukkah dinner or their dinner for The Feast of the Seven Fishes.
$78.67
Need to shed a friend that just won’t take a hint? Set them up with with a proper doomsday prepper lifestyle, and they’ll probably never want to deal with you again. Or they’ll get sucked into the whole thing; they’ll make prepper friends, and they’ll be too busy fortifying their home and collecting resources to bother you ever again. Especially effective for friends in apartments. Stick with the pail and multiples thereof—I don’t know what the packs are precisely, and no one answering the questions on Amazon seems sensible.
$1799 (plus $122.50 for fitted cover)
You’re going to have a hard time finding a pellet smoker with thicker steel. For more details on the smoker, read the Gear Diary review.
$25+
Founded six years ago by my friend and Chicago expat Emmett Burke, Emmett’s is one the spots I’m most looking forward to trying on my next visit to the city. Perfect for the homesick Chicagoan marooned in New York that wants a fun hangout with an extensive wine list. Emmett’s features the bar pizza shown above, deep dish, Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef, and a burger that some have said is the best in the city. To purchase a gift card, call (917) 639-3571.
$241.49
This is not the latest Nintendo console—this is an old one. It will not play the new Pokémon game. And this will be pretty frustrating when you combine it with a gift of Pokémon Sword or Shield that they won’t be able to play (or maybe just include the suggestion that the recipient can now play those games).
$599
New and improved over the old Rec-Tec Mini with a stainless steel cooking chamber and ceramic ignition rod. Great little smoker, though note that there’s no smoke stack. Nicer than Traeger.
$5+
Absolutely incredible pizza, and the best sign in the business—I can’t stop thinking about their white grandma pie.
$250
Include a note ‘Enjoy the Hoagie Room with six of your friends. Call to make a reservation.’ They won’t be thrilled when they learn that the Pizzeria Beddia Hoagie Room costs $75 per person for six people, plus the cost of drinks, tax, and tip. This gift card doesn’t really cut it. Bonus points if they’re not in the Philadelphia area.
Priceless
The greatest gifts are the intangibles. This holiday season, surprise your loved ones in the Twin Cities by requesting Martin’s Potato Rolls (including Big Marty’s) be stocked at Kowalski’s, Lunds and Byerlys, Cub Foods, and Hy-Vee lest they be doomed to buy the buns online and have a freezer full of Martin’s.
$19.95
Great for puzzle enthusiasts. No one has completed this puzzle, and no one ever will.
$1,799.98 (originally $2,499.99)
The active version of the LS50, like the LSX, these do not require an amplifier or digital-to-audio-converter; everything you need is built in. These are generally too big for a desk, but are excellent.
$19.99
God of War explores fatherhood and masculinity within the world of Norse mythology in this incredible soft reboot of the original God of War trilogy.
$35
These are a rare circular prototype of The Chef Press. Once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.
$20–$200
The gift card can be redeemed at Paulie Gee’s locations in Greenpoint, Brooklyn only. Go to Paulie’s original wood-fired pizzeria (60 Greenpoint Avenue) for incredible neo-Neapolitan pizzas cooked to perfection at 1000°F. Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop (110 Franklin Street) offers New York-style slices and the excellent sesame seed-bottomed Freddy Prince Sicilian square. And if you see Paulie, be sure to compliment him on the excellent Photoshops as of late, especially the Emmett’s x Gucci loafers, of which he is very proud.
$849–1,799
This is a very nice and extremely heavy mattress—the queen-sized is 184 pounds. For the small apartment-dweller, you can go the route of buying a mattress that’s a size larger than the current one owned by the recipient (and possibly repeat this the next year). Or there’s the riskier option of going one size smaller than the recipient’s current mattress, and you emphasize how incredible the mattress is. If you end up getting someone to transition to a twin-sized mattress, you’re a monster, but please let me know.
$1,196.95
One of the best values in photography. Be sure to select the “With Free Adobe Software” option for a year of Photoshop and Lightroom. The NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G lens is also a great starting point for a lens. And if you’re buying it for someone that demands 45.7 megapixels and can’t buy their own damned camera, get them the D850.
$10
Part of Tom King’s run of Batman, Batman Annual #2 stands as my all-time favorite issue of a comic, and it works as a standalone story.
$299.95 (8-inch), $349.95 (10-inch)
Carbon steel knife Western-style chef’s knife. Great handle ergonomics, and I’m a huge fan of the blade shape, which is great for rock-chopping.
$19.95 (2 x 1lb pack)
It’s 75% lean, and this beef actually tastes dry-aged, which is much less common than you’d expect for retail 75% lean dry-aged beef.
$54
Perfect pairing with Virginia Sin’s paper plates and filter bowls. Also available in a porcelain paper mugs’> variant.
$19.99
Buy as much as you can afford and undermine their bathroom experience for a lifetime with what some say is the most uncomfortable toilet paper that you can buy. The value proposition of this large supply of toilet paper may pit partners against each other and destroy lives—use with caution. And if you need convincing, read this review.
$10.73
The best film of 2013. But, uh, maybe watch this one before you give it to someone.
$80
A 1,000 grit stone is a good stone for maintaining a knife that’s already in reasonable condition. The Chosera 400 grit is a much better stone to use for a knife that’s been neglected for a long time and needs a lot of material removed to bring it back to life (subsequent sharpening would then be done with a 1,000 grit stone). I like the Chosera 5,000 grit to follow up as a finishing stone. 10,000 grit works to take the finish a step further for knives with very hard blade steels only. Such a high grit is a bad idea for softer steels that will rapidly dull from such a fine edge.
$25–100
The Leftovers and Succession are two of the best series to come out in the decade. Also, you will need to buy two gift cards to cover a year of HBO Now.
$195 (8.2-inch), $236 (9.4-inch), $283 (10.5-inch)
A carbon steel Japanese chef’s knife with a Western-style handle. This knife is sharpened for right-handed users. The rest of the blade and the handle are both symmetrical, so left-handed users can call Korin’s customer service number and pay an additional $20 for the edge to be reground for lefties.
$54.98
Created by Gen Urobuchi, this is one of the best seasons of television I’ve ever seen. There’s other Psycho-Pass seasons and a movie, but this one is all you need. Excellent as a standalone series.
$59
Great paring knife. And this one’s sharpened for righties, so call if you need it for a lefty.
$119.98
Another Gen Urobuchi gem. An incredible series, and I’ll say this: don’t judge this series by its cover. I don’t know of any other source of this Blu-ray that works on American Blu-ray players, but it’s worth noting this is also available on Netflix as of the time of writing.
$69.87
There’s still not a retail 16" square steel readily available from anyone, and yes, square is important, since a circular 16"steel won’t fit a 12" Sicilian pizza pan. Dough Joe is a good option for what it is, but if you call up Metal Supermarkets and ask them for a 16"3/8" steel with a beveled edge, they should be able to come in cheaper than this. And note, you really only want a steel for pizza if your oven can hit at least 550F, and if you have convection or a broiler at the top of the oven compartment.
$44 per pound
If you don’t like this smoked salmon, there’s no smoked salmon in the world that will satisfy you. Bring your own bagels.
$59.96 (10.2-Inch), $89.95 (12.6-Inch)
Lighter than cast iron, a smoother cooking surface, and faster to heat up. Great at searing steaks, and easy to hang for storage. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for initial seasoning. I would go with the pan size appropriate for your burner size, so if you can support it, go with the 12.6-inch.
$18.95
Will get you relatively thin and wide shreds compared to the Rösle coarse grater, and I’ve come to much prefer this for grating mozzarella for pizza.
$10
Great for parties if your friends and family are worth the $2.50 a dog. Nice beef flavor.
$5.99–16.99
It’s really good at being a black pepper. Remember, don’t put pepper on steaks, burgers, etc. until after you sear (if at all), otherwise it’ll burn.
$18.95
OK, so you’ve got the Whirley-Pop, and the Flavacol and the coconut oil, and so now you’ve perfected movie theater popcorn, right? Wrong. Your popcorn sucks. You need this to top your popcorn. It’s got enough transfat to kill the entire Kentucky Derby, but it’s legit.
$43.95
I don’t care what happened on Throwndown with Bobby Flay; this is the “most fabulous cheesecake.”
$44.95
Probably the best hard toffees in the world. And the crunchy peanut butter cups are excellent too.
$10.50
Put it on sandwiches, or eat it with a spoon, or don’t—your loss. Great for giving grilled cheese an Italian flair.
$44.95
Is it really that green? Who’s to say? But what I can say is that it’s really great olive oil—buttery, peppery, uh, olivey? Yeah, olivey, that sounds good.
$9.99
The best film of 2015. Rocky and Star Wars each faced the same problem of having to reboot 40-year-old beloved B-movies. Each series released films in 2015 with strong parallels to the first films of their respective series. Only one of those films made this gift guide.
$629.95
It’s a KitchenAid with metal gears. Don’t buy any of the attachments: there’s better ice cream makers than the KitchenAid ones; there’s better pasta makers than the KitchenAid ones; there’s better meat grinders than the KitchenAid ones. It’s a mixer, just use it for that. And my favorite way to get dough out of the mixer is one of these flexible bowl scrapers.
$23.79
Must have cookbook for anyone even vaguely interested in making desserts. And it now comes with a James Beard Foundation seal.
$159.84
Everyone else might be sponsored by Boos, but we’re not. This is the good stuff. If you follow the maintenance directions, it’ll last a lifetime.
$29.99
You’ll also want season one and season two of the Justice League series that precede this (really, Justice League Unlimited is essentially season three and four), but realistically, I can’t clutter the gift guide with three Blu-ray listings for the same series.
$64
Critical for cooking roasts and other meats in the oven. Add the Pro-Series High Temp 2.5-Inch Straight Penetration Probe ($18) for temping smaller items, like steaks, in the oven. The low temperature alarm is great for knowing when food has cooled sufficiently, or if food is reaching an unsafe temperature. It also comes with a carrying case. I have no complaints about this, except I wish it had a numerical pad. Please add a numerical pad, ThermoWorks.
$24.80
Left-handed fish spatula. Ideal for cleanly turning intensely seared meat without damaging the crust, and for flipping fish.
$64.97
The stock blade will cut standard-thickness french fries, so throw in a 1/4-inch blade for shoestring fries. Cut some russet potatoes and put them immediately into water with a small amount of vinegar added. Boil briefly or let them sit for a few hours, and then fry low for ten minutes or so. Freeze when cool, and then fry them hot just before serving.
$11.99
I have one that looks exactly like this, but it’s discontinued. I think this is probably the same. This is ideal for measuring quanities less than 5g, and it can do with with 0.01g resolution. You’ll need a 500g mass to calibrate this. Honestly, I hate that I have two scales in this list
$2.13
I love mine for holding things like thinly sliced or diced vegetables. You can get these at Restaurant Depot and save the shipping, or you can buy them at Amazon for a decent bit more.
$30.46
Good for making bar pizzas and pan pizzas. Does not require any peels. Oven safe at over 700F. Do not dishwash at all, not even once.
$33
Light, easy to clean, extremely convenient, and not bad for knife edges. Do not dish wash. Been there—just don’t do it. If you do, contact me, and I’ll try to help you fix it. There’s other sizes, but for most folks, I recommend sticking to the half-inch thickness— it’s still very robust, and it makes the larger cutting boards more managable.
$15.99
Great for handling raw meats, and they can protect you slightly while slicing hot food. These are a size medium. They’ll probably fit most people. If you’re not usually a medium in gloves, look at their other sizes.
$17.24
You don’t need a half sheet pan for reheating a slice of pizza. Stop. Use this; it’ll fit in your dishwasher easily, and if you get the cooling rack, it opens up a ton of options for you.
$6.95
For proofing balled pizza dough. Look, everyone’s proofing in those 2qt round Cambro containers, and they’re really kind of awful for that. The diameter is too small, and you end up misshaping your dough before you’ve even got it out of the container. Use this instead. And don’t forget the matching lid.
$35
You can open it with the flick of a finger, and the lid is hinged, so you don’t have to worry about finding a place for that. It’s an ideal salt cellar.
$11.86
Ideal for dry-brining turkeys, rib roasts, and the like. Great for cooling breads and other foods. Most people have a half sheet, so that doesn’t have its own listing, but if you need one, Nordic Ware (this link is specifically for one that doesn’t seem to have a Nordic Ware logo embossed in the baking surface, but I can’t promise that’s what you’ll receive) or Volrath are my picks.
$999.98 (originally $1,249.99)
All but the white model are draped in fabric from Kvadrat, and the speakers fit well on a desk—what’s not to love? Play Kiss from a Rose for hours on end to be sure you break it in.
$19.96
The best film of 2019. An exploration of loneliness and toxic masculinity through a karate-centric black comedy.
$11.99 (32GB), $19.99 (64GB), $29.99 (128GB), $49.99 (256GB)
Excellent stocking stuffer. Has a convenient built in adapter that lets you connect this with USB-A, or you can leave it off to connect with USB-C. Wish the protective cap were tethered on (I think the holes are for key rings unless there was a tether in the packaging that I missed and accidentally threw out), but you can toss it away and live dangerously.
$249 ($278 with AppleCare+)
There’s other wireless headphones that can beat them on sound quality, but nothing comes close to AirPods as far as convenience for Apple users. Be sure to add AppleCare+ to the purchase to cover the battery for two years.
$319.95
It’s not the flashiest, but it’ll do the job. And it has a continuous LED modeling lamp. Don’t forget the CyberSync™ Trigger Transmitter 2, a stand, and a softbox or other modifier.
$699.95
It’s a monitor that’s only supported with Apple products, but if that’s all you want to use, it’s a tough monitor to beat. You can connect to a Mac with the included Thunderbolt 3 cable, and the monitor will automatically turn on; it’ll charge laptops with 85 watts, and it’ll connect whatever accessories are attached to the monitor, including a second monitor, which you can daisy chain to this. It doesn’t get more convenient than this monitor for Mac users.
$295
Smell a little bit like rum, but not like you’ve been drinking it— smell like you’re exuding rum.
$14
An enthralling sci-fi mystery plot with some of the best gameplay around. One of the all-time greats.
$87
Mine was a gift from my in-laws that has “No Substitutions” embroidered on it, and I love it.
$17.98
Include the note from the box, ’even better than the original,’ which is great if they’ve never seen the original Red. Even better if they don’t have a Blu-ray player. Get everyone their own copy if you’re dealing with a group—everyone must own a copy.
$299
Ideal for hooking up devices with USB output to sound systems without USB input (like the KEF LSX). And it glows blue.
$19
The inaugural issue of a new national food-focused print publication based out of the Twin Cities. This issue will have some local Twin Cities stories, but generally, the publication focuses on food throughout the world. This issue will ship between December 22nd and January 1st.
$89.95
Better than the worthless bread knife from the knife block that you got as a wedding gift. Stop mangling great bread with that garbage knife, and get a real bread knife (this one). This is a right-handed knife, but it works very well for left-handed users as is for all but the crustiest of breads (as opposed to the oft-recommended Tojiro bread knives, which are strictly right-handed).
$68 (32oz)
A real steak eater’s steak, the Jorge is cut from the chuck end of the rib section, and so it has a large rib cap, which is the most flavorful beef in the whole steer. Intensely flavorful California Holstein rib steak from the father-and-daughter duo of Flannery’s.
$295
The heaviest and slubbiest sweatshirt fabric I’ve ever handled. It’s intended to shrink a full size after washing, and it’s Japanese, so it runs small—pay particular attention to measurements and shrinkage estimates.
$15.65
This trade paperback collects all 12 issues of Tom King’s phenomenal run of Mister Miracle with artist Mitch Gerads.
$199.95
A bit larger than the average paring knife, but I’m a big fan of this one for delicate knife work.
$22 (6oz), $30 (8oz), $38 (10oz)
Excellent California Holstein tenderloin steaks. And if you’re buying meat from Flannery for yourself, throw in an order of their mismatched filet mignon.
$1,495
Designer Hiroki Nakamura does some sort of alchemy to remove the oil from the cotton fabric, giving the jeans an ultra-soft feel. Along with Hedi Slimane, Nakamura is doing the best washed denim around.
$9.99
There’s probably someone who will love this, and you won’t upset them by giving them this gift, but you’ll contribute to the mediocrity of their home decor, and you can relish in that fact, I guess.
$32 (Snack plate), $52 (Breakfast bowl), Dinner plate ($62)
Great color, and I love those Helen Levi bowls.
$34.99
Must have for the kids of someone you deeply dislike. It’s like Nerf, except it shoots toilet paper instead. Probably pairs really well with the Scott toilet paper in this Rift Ride, but note that the Toilet Paper Blaster suggests double ply toilet paper. I don’t know exactly what will happen with single-ply paper, but I’d imagine it’ll be a mess.
$89.95
My spouse hates racks because they view themselves as an expert at stacking wet dishes. But I like this rack, and a rack is the only real way to dry drinking cups. This one’s tilted so you can set it to drain into your sink.
$107.88
Buy the gift card, use it to create a Netflix account for them on the Basic Streaming Plan and give them the account information. You should have enough on the card to cover a year. The Basic plan isn’t high-definition, so they’ll be stuck watching garbage-looking low-resolution videos for a year.
$1,185.75
An office chair is an extremely personal item that only the sitter can decide is right—make sure you size the Aeron appropriately for the recipient.
$24.30/Case
Perfect for those in small apartments who like to make pizza. Be sure to leverage the volume discount for three cases or more to get them over 100 pounds of tomato. It will likely have to become a chair in their living room. Throw in a bag or two of flour to go with it.
$2,300
Discovered in 1957 by Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard in an effort to bring outdoor seating elegance to the world. Buy four to create a statement patio.
$970
For the walking anachronism. This should become more readily available for purchase once The Real McCoy’s London website returns online.
$26.73
Baking steels are great for pizza (given an oven that can get hot enough), but for bagels and some breads, stones are great to have in order to avoid burnt bottoms. These are cheap and easy to store, and given their size, less likely to crack (and if they do, you can just buy another set and rotate out squares as needed). There’s a seam between each square, but for less than $30, I’m not complaining.
$58.75
I own Pokémon Sword. I haven’t played mine much. But this is a great game for someone with a Switch that has an interest in Pokémon, and I’d include it if I were giving a Switch as a gift. Or you can get Pokémon Shield which is more or less the same thing.
$299.99
It holds less than you’d expect, but it’s extremely effective at keeping things at temperature when used properly.
$1,325
The jacket has straps, so you can take it off and wear it as a backpack if you become too warm indoors. This is a heavily insulated jacket, and this is mostly appropriate for very cold climates.
$331.95 for four
I love this steak, but you now have to purchase four at a time, so maybe count this gift toward multiple people.
$29.99 (Coarse), $34.95 (Fine)
The coarse grater is perfect for grating potatoes for Hanukkah latkes or shredding cheese. The fine model is ideal specifically for Skyline Chili cheddar, but also other hard cheeses depending on the context.
$10.99
The best film of 2014, and Michael Keaton is the best actor to play Batman in a live action movie.
$25–200
Give the gift of watching the best show of 2019, Russian Doll, and check out Alexis Guerreros play multiple hooded individuals in BoJack Horseman. Not including tax (if you’re in a place that taxes streaming services), you’re looking at around $191.88 for a year of 4K streaming on Netflix, or $155.88 for a year of the regular HD Netflix.
$9.96
The best film of 2016. I will pass along the same advice that was given to me: “do not read anything about this film.” Just watch it. Also, excellent are Moonlight and Hello, My Name is Doris.
$25.95
You’re going to purchase Fateful Findings from Neil Breen’s website. And then you’re going to respond to the PayPal receipt email and ask to change the order to Double Down. You probably won’t end up with Double Down, and that’s OK, Fateful Findings is still an incredible film, but you have to try.
$15.98
One of my favorite albums, and easily one of the best album covers. Plus the back is a lotto-style scratch-off.
$140
Yeah, it’s weird that Una Pizza Napoletana got a second review less than a year after their first (starless) review in an effort by Pete Wells to keep the restaurant from leaving Manhattan. Don’t know what to say about that, but this is a great gift for friends and family. Note that this isn’t a recurring subscription, and you pay for the entire year in advance.
$55.99
This is the cake stand that I would get if we had the bandwidth and interest in dealing with cakes more. We also have an Ateco offset spatula. We use Fat Daddio’s cake pans when we use a cake pan, or you can just bake in a baking sheet and cut to size after it bakes.
$16.99
This is the second IR thermometer on this list—do you understand how important this is yet? Get one for each hand, or buy it for someone who isn’t worth the $69 for the ThermoWorks. This is what we use every day in our kitchen.
![The Elements of Style [Illustrated] by Strunk, White and Kalman by Penguin Books](https://static.richardeaglespoon.com/images/gifts/19/strunkandwhite.jpg)
$2700
If you want to make Liège waffles, the Cuisinart Belgian waffle iron will not work, nor will anything else The WireCutter or Cook’s Illustrated rates as their best Belgian waffle iron pick. They’re all comparatively trash. The HVD is the best there is.
$18.99
Great for making popcorn at home. Be very careful when operating this popper, as you can burn yourself with the escaping steam. I like using these pre-measured packs with a bit of Flavacol. And no, you can’t use any old salt, Flavacol is micronized and is ideal for sticking to popcorn. My favorite butter-flavored topper is also in this guide, available from the same shop.
$379.95
Yeah it’s a refurb. But it’s as good as new, and comes with a five-year warranty. Buy a new model if you must, but these really are the best blenders, and I would outright refuse a smoothie made with any other blender.
$470.90
I hate that there’s two scales in this list. So here’s a third. This one combines the two: 6lb max capacity and 0.01g resolution (yes, again, I mixed units—I am aware, and it doesn’t matter),so you can just have one almost $500 scale. Perfect.
$49
For launching pizzas only. Do not ever retrieve pizzas with this peel. Dust with semolina flour, and wipe the peel with a dry cloth to clean it. Do not get this peel wet. Do not oil this peel. Never going to steer you wrong with these gift descriptions.
$28.73 (pan), $16.58 (lid)
Used to make Richard Eaglespoon’s famous Sicilian pizzas. Oven safe at over 700F. Lid for convenience. You can maybe dish wash the lids, but don’t put the pan itself in the dishwasher ever. Never ever.
$26.09
Cylinders aren’t an efficient use of space, so this is my favorite Cambro container of this volume. This tape is excellent for labeling them (and other containers).
$11.95
Perfect for dry-brining chicken and steaks, roasting small things, resting meats, breads, etc. Grab the half-sized one for fitting into standard half-sheet pans, which is useful for serving pan pizzas.
$9
Great for reheating small foods, serving small foods, and generally everything to do with small foods. It’s surprisingly great.
$5.75
Love these for removing pizza pans and baking sheets from the oven (you’ll want to stick with using this on quarter and eighth sheets). If you’re nervous about scratching non-stick surfaces, there’s a nylon version available, but I prefer using the metal one for bare aluminum pans.
$1,499
Spare no expense on a deli slicer for your loved ones. Or don’t, and get this BESWOOD slicer that’s smaller and much cheaper. The numbers on the thickness dial of my BESWOOD slicer faded away seemingly overnight, which was devastating, but besides that it’s fine.
$1,966.67
Look like you’re exploring the arctic in your own neighborhood. This should become more readily available for purchase once The Real McCoy’s London website returns online.
This costs more than you'd hope, but less than it ought to.
They say that the best home pizza oven is the one in your kitchen. But really, it’s a PizzaMaster. Forza Pizza is now a PizzaMaster dealer, and you can request a quote from their website. If the oven is going in a home, don’t forget to ask for the oven to be built with 240V single phase wiring. This is a high-end commercial deck oven, but single phase 240V (the same as a typical electric range or a dryer) will work for at least the single-chamber countertop ovens.
$999.98 (originally $1,249.99)
All but the white model are draped in fabric from Kvadrat, and the speakers fit well on a desk—what’s not to love? Play Kiss from a Rose for hours on end to be sure you break it in.
$182 (3-rib)–$432 (7-rib)
My mother, whose roast stands as one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, recommends going no smaller than three ribs. Buy a roast for the holidays, cook it expertly using one of the leave-in thermometers in this guide, and then count it as a gift for everyone who ate it. The methodology on the Flannery listing is similar to what I’d recommend. Just add in a dry-brine step a day or two before, and be sure to rest the roast (uncovered!), and count on the temperature increasing while you do so.
$19.96
The best film of 2019. An exploration of loneliness and toxic masculinity through a karate-centric black comedy.
$3,100–4,740
Put the cart before the horse? Maybe when it’s this one. You’ll figure out what to do with it. Holds over half a ton, and it can fold up for carrying.
$29.11
At the very least, it’s excellent for smash burgers. It’s heavy, and it has a vaguely sharp edge that can be used for breaking up ingredients in a pan
$11.99 (32GB), $19.99 (64GB), $29.99 (128GB), $49.99 (256GB)
Excellent stocking stuffer. Has a convenient built in adapter that lets you connect this with USB-A, or you can leave it off to connect with USB-C. Wish the protective cap were tethered on (I think the holes are for key rings unless there was a tether in the packaging that I missed and accidentally threw out), but you can toss it away and live dangerously.
$302.52 (out of stock)
Nothing says “I love you” like tracking down this rare Japanese hamburger lamp.
$46
It really is a fantastic pie. And you should throw in some corn cookies while you’re at it. Or just get the cookbook, which is also in this guide.
$799 (Pixel 4), $899 (Pixel 4 XL)
For the person you desperately need out of a group chat. Or, if not, direct the ire of the group chat toward them once the chat balloons become irreparably green.
$255.96
If someone needs a Dutch oven, this is a great one, and it can handle higher temperatures than cheaper Le Creuset dutch ovens. Despite The Strategist’s claims to the contrary, this is an enameled Dutch oven that directly competes with the higher end Le Crueset Dutch ovens; the Staub just has dark enamel, hence The Strategist author’s confusion. And don’t forget to include the coupon for the snail knob.
$249 ($278 with AppleCare+)
There’s other wireless headphones that can beat them on sound quality, but nothing comes close to AirPods as far as convenience for Apple users. Be sure to add AppleCare+ to the purchase to cover the battery for two years.
$99
It’s very soft, comfortable, and it looks like a typical bathrobe. There’s pockets to keep sandwiches or whatever you typically use bathrobe pockets for. I don’t know what else you need. Do you need a hood?
$45
Maria’s Pastry Shop of Boston’s North End is closed. You cannot buy a cannolo from Maria’s now, nor will you ever be able to do so again. But Maria’s cannoli are the best cannoli, and your loved ones deserve the best. Order some cannoli for them from Mike’s Pastry (Modern Pastry is trash), but be sure the recipient knows that you really wanted to buy them Maria’s but that you could not—they’re worth it.
$28
If you’re anything like me, you’ve spilled water all over yourself just thinking about wide-mouthed water bottles. Embrace the world of narrow-mouthed bottles with Brain Dead.
$699.95
This is a truly excellent monitor for photographers and others who need great color reproduction. But it’s really built for Mac (and to a lesser extent, the iPad), that is to say, there isn’t a single button to control the monitor, and all functionality is controlled through MacOS or iPadOS. So get it for the Windows-using photographer in your life. They’ll eventually probably be able to use this, but it’ll never be quite right.
$830
Made with oil-impregnated Russian leather by Vienna-based bootmaker Ludwig Reiter—the link above is for the women’s version of the boot, and there’s free-returns because it’s from Net-a-Porter. But if you need a men’s boot, or the boot you want is out of stock, you can order from the Ludwig Reiter website, but everything shipped to the US will be final sale.
$53.60
Great mandoline with interchangable and replacable blades. This is an improvement over the older model because it only has one set screw for adjusting thickness, so no more guessing whether or not your two set screws are at equal lengths.
$319.95
It’s not the flashiest, but it’ll do the job. And it has a continuous LED modeling lamp. Don’t forget the CyberSync™ Trigger Transmitter 2, a stand, and a softbox or other modifier.
$181.01
For when a hood on your bathrobe isn’t really what you want, but it’s what you need.
$1+
The best restaurant in the Twin Cities is in Saint Paul? Yes. Email or call (651) 478-1822 to purchase a gift card, or make a reservation for their Hanukkah dinner or their dinner for The Feast of the Seven Fishes.
$78.67
Need to shed a friend that just won’t take a hint? Set them up with with a proper doomsday prepper lifestyle, and they’ll probably never want to deal with you again. Or they’ll get sucked into the whole thing; they’ll make prepper friends, and they’ll be too busy fortifying their home and collecting resources to bother you ever again. Especially effective for friends in apartments. Stick with the pail and multiples thereof—I don’t know what the packs are precisely, and no one answering the questions on Amazon seems sensible.
$4,950
It won’t work for everyone, but if it does work, it doesn’t get much better than this biker jacket.
$1799 (plus $122.50 for fitted cover)
You’re going to have a hard time finding a pellet smoker with thicker steel. For more details on the smoker, read the Gear Diary review.
$699.95
It’s a monitor that’s only supported with Apple products, but if that’s all you want to use, it’s a tough monitor to beat. You can connect to a Mac with the included Thunderbolt 3 cable, and the monitor will automatically turn on; it’ll charge laptops with 85 watts, and it’ll connect whatever accessories are attached to the monitor, including a second monitor, which you can daisy chain to this. It doesn’t get more convenient than this monitor for Mac users.
$67
Safe for any temperature that is possible on this earth. My brother bought me these, so I could recreate the Peter Luger experience without having to eat a mediocre porterhouse.
$25+
Founded six years ago by my friend and Chicago expat Emmett Burke, Emmett’s is one the spots I’m most looking forward to trying on my next visit to the city. Perfect for the homesick Chicagoan marooned in New York that wants a fun hangout with an extensive wine list. Emmett’s features the bar pizza shown above, deep dish, Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef, and a burger that some have said is the best in the city. To purchase a gift card, call (917) 639-3571.
$204.95
There are five people living who have closed the #4 gripper. I am two of them. Shoot for the moon. Standalone grippers also available.
$241.49
This is not the latest Nintendo console—this is an old one. It will not play the new Pokémon game. And this will be pretty frustrating when you combine it with a gift of Pokémon Sword or Shield that they won’t be able to play (or maybe just include the suggestion that the recipient can now play those games).
$295
Smell a little bit like rum, but not like you’ve been drinking it— smell like you’re exuding rum.
$599
New and improved over the old Rec-Tec Mini with a stainless steel cooking chamber and ceramic ignition rod. Great little smoker, though note that there’s no smoke stack. Nicer than Traeger.
$169
These are my knives; they were a gift from my mother. They’re excellent knives. These are mine, though, so I would suggest you use these knives as a guide—this is a gift guide, not a gift prescription—and do not buy these exact ones. Find your own knives, please.
$5+
Absolutely incredible pizza, and the best sign in the business—I can’t stop thinking about their white grandma pie.
$250
Include a note ‘Enjoy the Hoagie Room with six of your friends. Call to make a reservation.’ They won’t be thrilled when they learn that the Pizzeria Beddia Hoagie Room costs $75 per person for six people, plus the cost of drinks, tax, and tip. This gift card doesn’t really cut it. Bonus points if they’re not in the Philadelphia area.
Priceless
The greatest gifts are the intangibles. This holiday season, surprise your loved ones in the Twin Cities by requesting Martin’s Potato Rolls (including Big Marty’s) be stocked at Kowalski’s, Lunds and Byerlys, Cub Foods, and Hy-Vee lest they be doomed to buy the buns online and have a freezer full of Martin’s.
$14
An enthralling sci-fi mystery plot with some of the best gameplay around. One of the all-time greats.
$35
I can’t claim this is the best insulated water bottle, but I really like the S’well bottle we got for free, and I’d imagine so will the person to whom you give this. I spill water all over myself when I try to drink from wider mouthed water bottles, so this is great.
$19.95
Great for puzzle enthusiasts. No one has completed this puzzle, and no one ever will.
$18.90
Perfect for burgers, steaks, and everything else that would be trash without a good sear.
$1,799.98 (originally $2,499.99)
The active version of the LS50, like the LSX, these do not require an amplifier or digital-to-audio-converter; everything you need is built in. These are generally too big for a desk, but are excellent.
$87
Mine was a gift from my in-laws that has “No Substitutions” embroidered on it, and I love it.
$41.64
Morton’s kosher salt is garbage—it has anti-caking agents, and it’s saltier per volume than Diamond Crystal’s kosher salt. Buy someone a box of salt, give them salt for a month. Buy someone a case of salt, buy give them salt fora lifetime.
$19.99
God of War explores fatherhood and masculinity within the world of Norse mythology in this incredible soft reboot of the original God of War trilogy.
$17.98
Include the note from the box, ’even better than the original,’ which is great if they’ve never seen the original Red. Even better if they don’t have a Blu-ray player. Get everyone their own copy if you’re dealing with a group—everyone must own a copy.
$3,815
If you pilot a plane without a sheepskin B-3 jacket, are you really flying? This should become more readily available for purchase once The Real McCoy’s London website returns online.
$35
These are a rare circular prototype of The Chef Press. Once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.
$299
Ideal for hooking up devices with USB output to sound systems without USB input (like the KEF LSX). And it glows blue.
$20–$200
The gift card can be redeemed at Paulie Gee’s locations in Greenpoint, Brooklyn only. Go to Paulie’s original wood-fired pizzeria (60 Greenpoint Avenue) for incredible neo-Neapolitan pizzas cooked to perfection at 1000°F. Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop (110 Franklin Street) offers New York-style slices and the excellent sesame seed-bottomed Freddy Prince Sicilian square. And if you see Paulie, be sure to compliment him on the excellent Photoshops as of late, especially the Emmett’s x Gucci loafers, of which he is very proud.
$19
The inaugural issue of a new national food-focused print publication based out of the Twin Cities. This issue will have some local Twin Cities stories, but generally, the publication focuses on food throughout the world. This issue will ship between December 22nd and January 1st.
$161
Great for those in a new home in need of interior painting. This is great quality paint. Get this paint in a dark color, and see if they paint a room with it. If you notice that they’ve used the paint, follow up with a discordant color for the next holiday or birthday, and see if they continue to paint. If so, you should assume that the recipient will paint ad infinitum, and you should proceed with caution, but probably also with more paint gifts.
$89.95
Better than the worthless bread knife from the knife block that you got as a wedding gift. Stop mangling great bread with that garbage knife, and get a real bread knife (this one). This is a right-handed knife, but it works very well for left-handed users as is for all but the crustiest of breads (as opposed to the oft-recommended Tojiro bread knives, which are strictly right-handed).
$99 (20-inches) to $199 (16-feet)
Does the quality of a TOSLINK cable actually matter? Who’s to say? But nothing shows that you care more than spending $100 on a cable that probably doesn’t do much at all.
$68 (32oz)
A real steak eater’s steak, the Jorge is cut from the chuck end of the rib section, and so it has a large rib cap, which is the most flavorful beef in the whole steer. Intensely flavorful California Holstein rib steak from the father-and-daughter duo of Flannery’s.
$18.90
My favorite RPG, and one of my favorite games ever. You do not have to play the previous Persona games first, and I certainly did not. Persona 5 Royal will see its worldwide release in the spring, and that will be an expanded rerelease of the game, but the original is incredible, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself wanting to play it again as soon as you beat it.
$849–1,799
This is a very nice and extremely heavy mattress—the queen-sized is 184 pounds. For the small apartment-dweller, you can go the route of buying a mattress that’s a size larger than the current one owned by the recipient (and possibly repeat this the next year). Or there’s the riskier option of going one size smaller than the recipient’s current mattress, and you emphasize how incredible the mattress is. If you end up getting someone to transition to a twin-sized mattress, you’re a monster, but please let me know.
$295
The heaviest and slubbiest sweatshirt fabric I’ve ever handled. It’s intended to shrink a full size after washing, and it’s Japanese, so it runs small—pay particular attention to measurements and shrinkage estimates.
$719
If your ice cream sucked before, it’ll probably still suck, but now you’ll know that it’s you, and it’s not the ice cream maker.
$1,196.95
One of the best values in photography. Be sure to select the “With Free Adobe Software” option for a year of Photoshop and Lightroom. The NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G lens is also a great starting point for a lens. And if you’re buying it for someone that demands 45.7 megapixels and can’t buy their own damned camera, get them the D850.
$139.95 (36oz)
Extremely high-quality dry-aged porterhouse. The American wagyu version is also great, but it comes in five packs only and is limited only to 20 or 24oz steaks.
$10
Part of Tom King’s run of Batman, Batman Annual #2 stands as my all-time favorite issue of a comic, and it works as a standalone story.
$537 (originally $790)
Pockets guaranteed to be big enough for an entire sandwich with hidden velcro patches and incredibly soft fleece. One of the greatest hoodies money can buy.
$299.95 (8-inch), $349.95 (10-inch)
Carbon steel knife Western-style chef’s knife. Great handle ergonomics, and I’m a huge fan of the blade shape, which is great for rock-chopping.
$36–85
A sustainable way to have the look of a paper plate. The large plate (pictured above) is one of my favorite plates. filter bowls also available to match.
$19.95 (2 x 1lb pack)
It’s 75% lean, and this beef actually tastes dry-aged, which is much less common than you’d expect for retail 75% lean dry-aged beef.
$15.65
This trade paperback collects all 12 issues of Tom King’s phenomenal run of Mister Miracle with artist Mitch Gerads.
$5-500
OK, so don’t run out and buy a Marathon gas card thinking you’re going to cause distress for someone—you won’t necessarily. What you need to do is get a gas gift card for a gas station in the area in which Christmas is taking place, for a person that flew to that area. So get a Marathon gas gift card for the person from California that flew into northeast Ohio. Or a Stewart’s gas gift card for the person from Ohio that flew into upstate NY.
$199.95
A bit larger than the average paring knife, but I’m a big fan of this one for delicate knife work.
$54
Perfect pairing with Virginia Sin’s paper plates and filter bowls. Also available in a porcelain paper mugs’> variant.
$22 (6oz), $30 (8oz), $38 (10oz)
Excellent California Holstein tenderloin steaks. And if you’re buying meat from Flannery for yourself, throw in an order of their mismatched filet mignon.
$9.40
The best film of 2018 or so. This film was never released in the US for Blu-Ray, so you’ll have to stick to the DVD unless it’s being played on a Blu-Ray player that can play European Blu-Rays. Also, The Favourite, Free Solo, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Burning, and Venom are all excellent films, though the latter is only incidentally so.
$19.99
Buy as much as you can afford and undermine their bathroom experience for a lifetime with what some say is the most uncomfortable toilet paper that you can buy. The value proposition of this large supply of toilet paper may pit partners against each other and destroy lives—use with caution. And if you need convincing, read this review.
$1,495
Designer Hiroki Nakamura does some sort of alchemy to remove the oil from the cotton fabric, giving the jeans an ultra-soft feel. Along with Hedi Slimane, Nakamura is doing the best washed denim around.
$24.99
Sharpening rods are great when used properly—most chefs using them on TV are doing more damage to their knives than anything else when they’re banging the blades haphazardly against a honing rod. Sharpening rods can also be particularly bad when the rod material is softer than the knife blade, which can be the case with many high-end knives. A leather strop accomplishes the same thing as a rod for blades of any type of hardness, that is, it aligns the edge of the knife, to keep the blade usable between resharpenings. And you use it just like a sharpening stone.
$25+
The Donas is a women-centric food publication helmed by New York-based tastemaker Donna “Dee” Guerreros. The Donas’ first event was a hugely successful brunch, and more events will be coming up. Email The Donas to purchase a gift card.
$10.73
The best film of 2013. But, uh, maybe watch this one before you give it to someone.
$9.99
There’s probably someone who will love this, and you won’t upset them by giving them this gift, but you’ll contribute to the mediocrity of their home decor, and you can relish in that fact, I guess.
$210
Fantastic cut. It’s not impressive fabric or construction compared to the likes of Joe McCoy, The Flat Head, or The Strike Gold, but that’s not really the point. You may want to size down depending on the look you’re after, but it’s 100% cotton, so there will be a break-in period after which they’ll soften significantly and loosen up slightly.
$80
A 1,000 grit stone is a good stone for maintaining a knife that’s already in reasonable condition. The Chosera 400 grit is a much better stone to use for a knife that’s been neglected for a long time and needs a lot of material removed to bring it back to life (subsequent sharpening would then be done with a 1,000 grit stone). I like the Chosera 5,000 grit to follow up as a finishing stone. 10,000 grit works to take the finish a step further for knives with very hard blade steels only. Such a high grit is a bad idea for softer steels that will rapidly dull from such a fine edge.
$32 (Snack plate), $52 (Breakfast bowl), Dinner plate ($62)
Great color, and I love those Helen Levi bowls.
$25+
L’Industrie is consistently regarded as one of the best pizzerias in New York (the world). In Williamsburg, Chef Massimo Laveglia has reimagined the classic New York slice shop with an Italian sensibility to bring offerings like the burrata-topped New York-style pie above, Roman style pizza, in addition to stuffed focaccia sandwiches. Email for a gift card.
$25–100
The Leftovers and Succession are two of the best series to come out in the decade. Also, you will need to buy two gift cards to cover a year of HBO Now.
$34.99
Must have for the kids of someone you deeply dislike. It’s like Nerf, except it shoots toilet paper instead. Probably pairs really well with the Scott toilet paper in this Rift Ride, but note that the Toilet Paper Blaster suggests double ply toilet paper. I don’t know exactly what will happen with single-ply paper, but I’d imagine it’ll be a mess.
$195 (8.2-inch), $236 (9.4-inch), $283 (10.5-inch)
A carbon steel Japanese chef’s knife with a Western-style handle. This knife is sharpened for right-handed users. The rest of the blade and the handle are both symmetrical, so left-handed users can call Korin’s customer service number and pay an additional $20 for the edge to be reground for lefties.
$89.95
My spouse hates racks because they view themselves as an expert at stacking wet dishes. But I like this rack, and a rack is the only real way to dry drinking cups. This one’s tilted so you can set it to drain into your sink.
$8.48
Put it on fried chicken, ricotta toast, ice cream, make your own version of Paulie Gee’s Hellboy, put it on a different ice cream, maybe make more ricotta toast—I don’t know, the world is your oyster I don’t want to keep telling you how to use this stuff (maybe put it on oysters too, though).
$54.98
Created by Gen Urobuchi, this is one of the best seasons of television I’ve ever seen. There’s other Psycho-Pass seasons and a movie, but this one is all you need. Excellent as a standalone series.
$107.88
Buy the gift card, use it to create a Netflix account for them on the Basic Streaming Plan and give them the account information. You should have enough on the card to cover a year. The Basic plan isn’t high-definition, so they’ll be stuck watching garbage-looking low-resolution videos for a year.
$18.99
Cotton kills. These are the greatest socks, and there should be a women’s version in-store, too, but they’re not online.
$59
Great paring knife. And this one’s sharpened for righties, so call if you need it for a lefty.
$1,185.75
An office chair is an extremely personal item that only the sitter can decide is right—make sure you size the Aeron appropriately for the recipient.
$89.99
Oh! We ain’t got a gallon of honey. Maybe we’re ragged and funny. But we’ll travel along. Singing a song. Side by side.
$119.98
Another Gen Urobuchi gem. An incredible series, and I’ll say this: don’t judge this series by its cover. I don’t know of any other source of this Blu-ray that works on American Blu-ray players, but it’s worth noting this is also available on Netflix as of the time of writing.
$24.30/Case
Perfect for those in small apartments who like to make pizza. Be sure to leverage the volume discount for three cases or more to get them over 100 pounds of tomato. It will likely have to become a chair in their living room. Throw in a bag or two of flour to go with it.
$25–300
The highest quality denim repairs I’ve seen; Rain Delisle is at least as good with working on denim as anyone who has made a pair of my jeans, and it’s the only place where I want to send mine. You can purchase hems and tapers readily, but there’s a wait list for repairs, so sign up for her VIP list on the Indigo Proof website.
$69.87
There’s still not a retail 16" square steel readily available from anyone, and yes, square is important, since a circular 16"steel won’t fit a 12" Sicilian pizza pan. Dough Joe is a good option for what it is, but if you call up Metal Supermarkets and ask them for a 16"3/8" steel with a beveled edge, they should be able to come in cheaper than this. And note, you really only want a steel for pizza if your oven can hit at least 550F, and if you have convection or a broiler at the top of the oven compartment.
$2,300
Discovered in 1957 by Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard in an effort to bring outdoor seating elegance to the world. Buy four to create a statement patio.
$970
For the walking anachronism. This should become more readily available for purchase once The Real McCoy’s London website returns online.
$124 (Mini Griddle), $139 (Skinny Griddle), and $159 (Griddle)
They’re expensive, but they’re great stove-top griddles. The mini griddle in particular is ideal for smash burgers on a single stove burner. Get your griddle to 500F (confirm with an IR thermometer). Form 3oz balls of no more than 75% lean chuck, and smash them with a heavy spatula, smearing the meat along its edge so it thins out. Salt generously and uniformly after smashing as the meat cooks for a minute. After a minute, scrape with a fish spatula (or that blue-handled Dexter Russell spatula in this guide), flip, and add a slice of American cheese. When the corners of the cheese start to cling to the meat, the burgers are done. If you’re unable to get the cheese to melt sufficiently in a reasonable amount of time, spray some water on the griddle and cover with a bowl.
$17.99
You can get the corn cookie recipe from The Washington Post, and you do need to buy freeze dried corn and corn flour to do the Milk Bar’s corn cookies—you can’t skip that. You can get the the Milk Bar Pie recipe from Bon Appétit. Serious Eats has reprinted the Cereal Milk recipe. No one really needs to buy the book, but it’s a heck of a lot nicer than a greeting card full of URLs. If you do buy the book, note that the ice cream recipes are very much intended for soft-serve machines or soft churns—they’re made entirely with milk rather than cream and milk, and the taste reflects that, and the texture can be gritty from ice crystals. I recommend BraveTart (also in this guide) as a reference for ice cream bases.
$26.73
Baking steels are great for pizza (given an oven that can get hot enough), but for bagels and some breads, stones are great to have in order to avoid burnt bottoms. These are cheap and easy to store, and given their size, less likely to crack (and if they do, you can just buy another set and rotate out squares as needed). There’s a seam between each square, but for less than $30, I’m not complaining.
$25
Commemorate America’s greatest hot dog with this Famous Lunch print. Buy it for your friends, kids and neighbors. You can never have enough of these.
$44 per pound
If you don’t like this smoked salmon, there’s no smoked salmon in the world that will satisfy you. Bring your own bagels.
$58.75
I own Pokémon Sword. I haven’t played mine much. But this is a great game for someone with a Switch that has an interest in Pokémon, and I’d include it if I were giving a Switch as a gift. Or you can get Pokémon Shield which is more or less the same thing.
$1,050
This jacket probably wears too warm for most places, but I’ll say this: there’s no jacket I’d rather have during the worst of the winter here in the Twin Cities. For warmer climates than that, look at their less intense jackets, or consider if a Canada Goose jacket is actually necessary.
$59.96 (10.2-Inch), $89.95 (12.6-Inch)
Lighter than cast iron, a smoother cooking surface, and faster to heat up. Great at searing steaks, and easy to hang for storage. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for initial seasoning. I would go with the pan size appropriate for your burner size, so if you can support it, go with the 12.6-inch.
$299.99
It holds less than you’d expect, but it’s extremely effective at keeping things at temperature when used properly.
$96.95 (28oz)
These won’t have quite the same size ribeye cap of Flannery’s Jorge, but they’re an incredibly well-marbled rib steak with fewer large sections of fat than a steak cut from the chuck-end of the rib section. The American wagyu version is excellent, too, but you’ll have to buy two.
$1,325
The jacket has straps, so you can take it off and wear it as a backpack if you become too warm indoors. This is a heavily insulated jacket, and this is mostly appropriate for very cold climates.
$12.95
It’s pricey, but it’s the best seasoning fat I’ve ever used, and in an extremely convenient form. Store it far away from your deodorant, trust me.
$331.95 for four
I love this steak, but you now have to purchase four at a time, so maybe count this gift toward multiple people.
$18.99
Maybe this was the best film from 2010— I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s the third Jesse Eisenberg movie on this list. Other contenders could be Black Swan, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Blue Valentine, and from the team that brought us Succession and Peep Show, Four Lions. The actual best film very well could be Four Lions, but I haven’t seen it in nearly a decade.
$29.99 (Coarse), $34.95 (Fine)
The coarse grater is perfect for grating potatoes for Hanukkah latkes or shredding cheese. The fine model is ideal specifically for Skyline Chili cheddar, but also other hard cheeses depending on the context.
$450
Thoughtfully distressed by the famed French fashion house to make simple essential tees that you can wear separately or all at once to make a statement. Photo by SSENSE
$18.95
Will get you relatively thin and wide shreds compared to the Rösle coarse grater, and I’ve come to much prefer this for grating mozzarella for pizza.
$15
The world’s greatest butter. I’ve had every cultured butter under the sun; we’ve made butter countless times with good cream; this is the best, and it’s not even close. Also, it’s embossed with a cow—it’s great.
$10
Great for parties if your friends and family are worth the $2.50 a dog. Nice beef flavor.
$1,499.95
Seriously, I want one for cooking various things confit, making corned beef, making stocks, etc.
$10.99
The best film of 2014, and Michael Keaton is the best actor to play Batman in a live action movie.
$129.95
Sauciers are excellent for making sauces, cooking pasta, making ice cream bases, and generally swirling food around while cooking. The one that we use has become very expensive, and may be discontinued, but the d5 variant, which is supposed to be a higher-end line, is available for less.
$5.99–16.99
It’s really good at being a black pepper. Remember, don’t put pepper on steaks, burgers, etc. until after you sear (if at all), otherwise it’ll burn.
$11.90
This is my spoon. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My spoon is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My spoon, without me, is useless. Without my spoon, I am useless.
$7.97
Great for pastries or bar pizza dough. Do not use this for pizza launched from a peel lest your soul be eternally damned.
$18.95
OK, so you’ve got the Whirley-Pop, and the Flavacol and the coconut oil, and so now you’ve perfected movie theater popcorn, right? Wrong. Your popcorn sucks. You need this to top your popcorn. It’s got enough transfat to kill the entire Kentucky Derby, but it’s legit.
$25–200
Give the gift of watching the best show of 2019, Russian Doll, and check out Alexis Guerreros play multiple hooded individuals in BoJack Horseman. Not including tax (if you’re in a place that taxes streaming services), you’re looking at around $191.88 for a year of 4K streaming on Netflix, or $155.88 for a year of the regular HD Netflix.
$99
This is the gold standard for instant-read thermometers (and it’s waterproof). Stop doing the finger test and actually know the internal temperature of your food.
$9.96
The best film of 2016. I will pass along the same advice that was given to me: “do not read anything about this film.” Just watch it. Also, excellent are Moonlight and Hello, My Name is Doris.
$34
A third of the price of the Thermapen, and not quite as accurate or quick, but still very good (splash proof, not waterproof).
$43.95
I don’t care what happened on Throwndown with Bobby Flay; this is the “most fabulous cheesecake.”
$25.95
You’re going to purchase Fateful Findings from Neil Breen’s website. And then you’re going to respond to the PayPal receipt email and ask to change the order to Double Down. You probably won’t end up with Double Down, and that’s OK, Fateful Findings is still an incredible film, but you have to try.
$200–$280 (small–large)
Fantastic artisan-made carbon steel skillet. Great wall design for searing and butter basting meats, and it’s extremely well made. Hang it so you can show off to your friends how fancy your life is.
$44.95
Probably the best hard toffees in the world. And the crunchy peanut butter cups are excellent too.
$25.40
Perfect for making things into four-inch circles, like hamburger meat, hamburger buns, hamburger cheese, etc.
$10.50
Put it on sandwiches, or eat it with a spoon, or don’t—your loss. Great for giving grilled cheese an Italian flair.
$15.98
One of my favorite albums, and easily one of the best album covers. Plus the back is a lotto-style scratch-off.
$25.40
Perfect for making things into four-inch squares, like hamburger meat, hamburger buns, hamburger cheese, etc.
$44.95
Is it really that green? Who’s to say? But what I can say is that it’s really great olive oil—buttery, peppery, uh, olivey? Yeah, olivey, that sounds good.
$350
Another incredible artisan-made carbon steel skillet. The handle shape makes it really nice to move around. These are next to impossible to just buy, so I’ve linked to the Flickr account from which I got the picture. If you’re really interested, I suggest entering Blu Skillet’s monthly lotteries or trying to grab a pan during their annual sale.
$9.99
The best film of 2015. Rocky and Star Wars each faced the same problem of having to reboot 40-year-old beloved B-movies. Each series released films in 2015 with strong parallels to the first films of their respective series. Only one of those films made this gift guide.
$629.95
It’s a KitchenAid with metal gears. Don’t buy any of the attachments: there’s better ice cream makers than the KitchenAid ones; there’s better pasta makers than the KitchenAid ones; there’s better meat grinders than the KitchenAid ones. It’s a mixer, just use it for that. And my favorite way to get dough out of the mixer is one of these flexible bowl scrapers.
$140
Yeah, it’s weird that Una Pizza Napoletana got a second review less than a year after their first (starless) review in an effort by Pete Wells to keep the restaurant from leaving Manhattan. Don’t know what to say about that, but this is a great gift for friends and family. Note that this isn’t a recurring subscription, and you pay for the entire year in advance.
$23.79
Must have cookbook for anyone even vaguely interested in making desserts. And it now comes with a James Beard Foundation seal.
$55.99
This is the cake stand that I would get if we had the bandwidth and interest in dealing with cakes more. We also have an Ateco offset spatula. We use Fat Daddio’s cake pans when we use a cake pan, or you can just bake in a baking sheet and cut to size after it bakes.
$159.84
Everyone else might be sponsored by Boos, but we’re not. This is the good stuff. If you follow the maintenance directions, it’ll last a lifetime.
$69
Why would you put food in your pan if you don’t know how hot the pan is? Also great for finding drafts in your home. This IR thermometer lets you adjust emissivity so you can use it for a variety of surfaces (lower-end IR thermometers are generally tuned for dark matte surfaces).
$29.99
You’ll also want season one and season two of the Justice League series that precede this (really, Justice League Unlimited is essentially season three and four), but realistically, I can’t clutter the gift guide with three Blu-ray listings for the same series.
$16.99
This is the second IR thermometer on this list—do you understand how important this is yet? Get one for each hand, or buy it for someone who isn’t worth the $69 for the ThermoWorks. This is what we use every day in our kitchen.
$64
Critical for cooking roasts and other meats in the oven. Add the Pro-Series High Temp 2.5-Inch Straight Penetration Probe ($18) for temping smaller items, like steaks, in the oven. The low temperature alarm is great for knowing when food has cooled sufficiently, or if food is reaching an unsafe temperature. It also comes with a carrying case. I have no complaints about this, except I wish it had a numerical pad. Please add a numerical pad, ThermoWorks.
$43
It’s just as accurate as the more expensive ChefAlarm but without the frills—you’ve got two buttons to adjust the target temperature, a backlight, and that’s it.
$24.80
Left-handed fish spatula. Ideal for cleanly turning intensely seared meat without damaging the crust, and for flipping fish.
$2700
If you want to make Liège waffles, the Cuisinart Belgian waffle iron will not work, nor will anything else The WireCutter or Cook’s Illustrated rates as their best Belgian waffle iron pick. They’re all comparatively trash. The HVD is the best there is.
$37.43
Ideal spatula for removing pizzas from pizza pans. You’ll probably need to go to a restaurant supply store to hunt this down, but you have all of the information that you’ll need.
$18.99
Great for making popcorn at home. Be very careful when operating this popper, as you can burn yourself with the escaping steam. I like using these pre-measured packs with a bit of Flavacol. And no, you can’t use any old salt, Flavacol is micronized and is ideal for sticking to popcorn. My favorite butter-flavored topper is also in this guide, available from the same shop.
$119.96
I’m constantly asked about deep fryers—I have an older discontinued version of this. It’s fine. It has a reasonably large basket for a retail fryer, and they seem to last up for a while. The next step up would be a commercial 220V fryer that has more power and can handle more food without a temperature drop, but that won’t work for most home kitchens.
$64.97
The stock blade will cut standard-thickness french fries, so throw in a 1/4-inch blade for shoestring fries. Cut some russet potatoes and put them immediately into water with a small amount of vinegar added. Boil briefly or let them sit for a few hours, and then fry low for ten minutes or so. Freeze when cool, and then fry them hot just before serving.
$379.95
Yeah it’s a refurb. But it’s as good as new, and comes with a five-year warranty. Buy a new model if you must, but these really are the best blenders, and I would outright refuse a smoothie made with any other blender.
$49.95
This is a good scale for measuring 5g to 11 lb (yes, I mixed units for this range, fight me). Less than that, and you’re going to want a scale with more granularity, which is also in this list. This scale’s nice because the display can pull out, which lets you measure large objects without obfuscating the readout. Or there’s a cheaper version that sheds the backlight, most of the capacity, and the cost.
$11.99
I have one that looks exactly like this, but it’s discontinued. I think this is probably the same. This is ideal for measuring quanities less than 5g, and it can do with with 0.01g resolution. You’ll need a 500g mass to calibrate this. Honestly, I hate that I have two scales in this list
$470.90
I hate that there’s two scales in this list. So here’s a third. This one combines the two: 6lb max capacity and 0.01g resolution (yes, again, I mixed units—I am aware, and it doesn’t matter),so you can just have one almost $500 scale. Perfect.
$2.13
I love mine for holding things like thinly sliced or diced vegetables. You can get these at Restaurant Depot and save the shipping, or you can buy them at Amazon for a decent bit more.
$49
For launching pizzas only. Do not ever retrieve pizzas with this peel. Dust with semolina flour, and wipe the peel with a dry cloth to clean it. Do not get this peel wet. Do not oil this peel. Never going to steer you wrong with these gift descriptions.
$20.39
For turning and retrieving pizzas. Does not need to be as large as the pizza to remove the pizza.
$30.46
Good for making bar pizzas and pan pizzas. Does not require any peels. Oven safe at over 700F. Do not dishwash at all, not even once.
$28.73 (pan), $16.58 (lid)
Used to make Richard Eaglespoon’s famous Sicilian pizzas. Oven safe at over 700F. Lid for convenience. You can maybe dish wash the lids, but don’t put the pan itself in the dishwasher ever. Never ever.
$229
Great for cooking four things concurrently, or for the maniac that really wants four probes in a steak.
$33
Light, easy to clean, extremely convenient, and not bad for knife edges. Do not dish wash. Been there—just don’t do it. If you do, contact me, and I’ll try to help you fix it. There’s other sizes, but for most folks, I recommend sticking to the half-inch thickness— it’s still very robust, and it makes the larger cutting boards more managable.
$12.66 (12"), $17.58 (18")
The best way to store knives without damaging the edge. Knife blocks tend to dull knife edges, generally aren’t very sanitary, and are a waste of countertop space.
$15.99
Great for handling raw meats, and they can protect you slightly while slicing hot food. These are a size medium. They’ll probably fit most people. If you’re not usually a medium in gloves, look at their other sizes.
$26.09
Cylinders aren’t an efficient use of space, so this is my favorite Cambro container of this volume. This tape is excellent for labeling them (and other containers).
$17.24
You don’t need a half sheet pan for reheating a slice of pizza. Stop. Use this; it’ll fit in your dishwasher easily, and if you get the cooling rack, it opens up a ton of options for you.
$11.95
Perfect for dry-brining chicken and steaks, roasting small things, resting meats, breads, etc. Grab the half-sized one for fitting into standard half-sheet pans, which is useful for serving pan pizzas.
$36.90
It’s not going to do a great job with grinding pepper very finely, but short of that, it’ll grind pepper with ease. You’ll spill that Kalustyan pepper everywhere trying to refill this thing if you’re not careful (or if you’re anything like me), so have someone competent do it.
$6.95
For proofing balled pizza dough. Look, everyone’s proofing in those 2qt round Cambro containers, and they’re really kind of awful for that. The diameter is too small, and you end up misshaping your dough before you’ve even got it out of the container. Use this instead. And don’t forget the matching lid.
$9
Great for reheating small foods, serving small foods, and generally everything to do with small foods. It’s surprisingly great.
$51
Surprisingly useful cleaver. Great for parsing poultry, breaking up chocolate, crushing things, and cutting into gourds.
$35
You can open it with the flick of a finger, and the lid is hinged, so you don’t have to worry about finding a place for that. It’s an ideal salt cellar.
$5.75
Love these for removing pizza pans and baking sheets from the oven (you’ll want to stick with using this on quarter and eighth sheets). If you’re nervous about scratching non-stick surfaces, there’s a nylon version available, but I prefer using the metal one for bare aluminum pans.
$15.96
Really good for scooping out approximately two ounces of ice cream without bending your prized spoons.
$11.86
Ideal for dry-brining turkeys, rib roasts, and the like. Great for cooling breads and other foods. Most people have a half sheet, so that doesn’t have its own listing, but if you need one, Nordic Ware (this link is specifically for one that doesn’t seem to have a Nordic Ware logo embossed in the baking surface, but I can’t promise that’s what you’ll receive) or Volrath are my picks.
$1,499
Spare no expense on a deli slicer for your loved ones. Or don’t, and get this BESWOOD slicer that’s smaller and much cheaper. The numbers on the thickness dial of my BESWOOD slicer faded away seemingly overnight, which was devastating, but besides that it’s fine.
Next up in Vapid Consumerism
The 2018 Holiday Gift Guide
Tried and tested by the Richard Eaglespoon team, or not, but still pretty good too.
Tried and tested by the Richard Eaglespoon team, or not, but still pretty good too.
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