When selecting a kitchen gift for a serious cook, it’s essential to invest in quality. Nothing is more disappointing than a tool or appliance that fails after a few uses. A thoughtful splurge can be fun and introduce new possibilities in the kitchen. Here’s a gift guide featuring top-notch food-related gifts that are worth every penny. They’ve all passed our rigorous product testing protocols.
Kitchen Essentials for Serious Cooks
It kneaded dough easily, blitzed together a mirepoix speedily, and made perfectly emulsified mayonnaise. It comes with tons of handy attachments—three dicing blades, three slicing disks (including a French fry disk!), three blades, and a mini bowl for small tasks—that all pack up into two lidded plastic boxes. Don’t think your gift recipient wants quite so many attachments to keep track of? The similar, simplified Breville Sous Chef also excelled at any task we threw its way.
Serious Eats / Nick Simpson The Absolute Best Kitchen Scale OXO 11-lb. Stainless Steel Food Scale With Pull-Out Display PHOTO: Amazon $56 $53 at Amazon $56 at Williams Sonoma $53 at Walmart For a myriad of kitchen tasks—measuring dry ingredients for baking, feeding a sourdough starter, portioning meatballs, you name it—this tried-and-true kitchen scale has been our favorite for years. It’s accurate for everyday cooking and has a pull-out display that makes it easy to read, even with extra-large mixing bowls or sheet pans placed on top. Give the gift of precision and fewer dishes to do—something every cook can appreciate! Serious Eats / Ashlee Redger The Most Accurate Instant-Read Thermometer ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE PHOTO: King Arthur Baking $115 at Amazon View on Thermoworks View on Kingarthurbaking.com Yes, every serious cook should have an instant-read thermometer, and the Thermapen ONE is the best. Whether your gift recipient is roasting, deep-frying, poaching, grilling, or baking, this highly accurate thermometer will help them avoid over- and under-cooking. It works quickly and has a large digital screen that automatically lights up and rotates so it can be read at any angle. Serious Eats / Irvin Lin For Outdoor Enthusiasts A Versatile Pizza Oven for Perfect Pies Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven PHOTO: William Sonoma $799 $649 at Amazon $650 at Williams Sonoma View on Ooni.com Ooni makes many styles of pizza ovens, but this is our favorite. It’s one of the brand’s most advanced models and can run on charcoal, wood, or gas, making it ideal for a variety of cooking scenarios and setups. It’s ultrafast, ultra-hot, and one of the only pizza ovens of its kind to be “Recommended for Domestic Use” by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN)—the authorities on Neapolitan pizza. Serious Eats / Nick Simpson An Outdoor Griddle for Aspiring Short Order Cooks Traeger Flatrock Flat Top Grill PHOTO: Traeger Grills $900 at Amazon $900 at Williams Sonoma $900 at Home Depot Let your gift recipient live their ultimate diner dreams by smashing burgers, toasting up grilled cheeses, or making bacon and eggs for a crowd on an outdoor flat-top grill. This pricey model by Traeger got the nod for “best splurge” in our testing of outdoor griddles for its helpful extras like multiple cooking zones and indicator lights. The Weber 36 Inch Gas Griddle is also an excellent choice. Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore An Excellent Pellet Grill Traeger Ironwood TFB61RLG Pellet Grill PHOTO: Traeger $1,800 at Amazon View on Traeger.com $1,800 at Ace Hardware Pellet grills make it easy to achieve smoky, well-browned food (they’re about as set it and forget it as it gets for a grill).Traeger’s digital control panel and simple app have propelled it to the top of our favorites list. This feature-rich grill makes outdoor cooking a breeze.
For the outdoor chef, the Yeti Roadie 48 Rolling Wheeled Cooler is a game changer. It keeps perishables icy cold for extended periods, offering excellent insulation and storage space. Its compact cube shape, wheels, and telescoping handle make it highly portable and easy to maneuver.
Yeti also excels in soft coolers with the Hopper Flip 18 Insulated Personal Cooler, perfect for picnics and other outdoor dining occasions.
The Solo Stove Ranger 2.0 Fire Pit is a versatile outdoor cooking and heating solution. It pairs well with a Cast Iron Grill Top + Hub and a griddle for open-flame grilling or can be enjoyed as a traditional fire pit for toasting marshmallows.
Dyna-Glo Signature Series Heavy-Duty Vertical Offset Charcoal Smoker & Grill is a space-saving charcoal smoker that still offers ample space for smoking. It features five separate racks and a sixth in the fuel box, burning fuel efficiently and maintaining the desired temperature throughout testing.
Fable New York’s Colorful Bamboo Dinnerware set elevates outdoor dining. Made from bamboo and melamine, these plates and bowls are durable, lightweight, and easy to stack, carry, and store, making them a superior alternative to paper plates.
For the star baker, the Wolf Gourmet WGSM100S High-Performance Stand Mixer is a professional-grade appliance. Its 500-watt motor handles various baking tasks with ease, and the seven-quart bowl is large enough for double batches of any recipe.
Brod & Taylor Compact Dough Sheeter 12″ is a tabletop dough sheeter that ensures the best homemade croissants.
Making laminated pastry doughs by hand is a daunting task, especially for beginners. However, using a dough sheeter can simplify the process, allowing you to create croissants, puff pastry, and Danish with professional ease. This tool eliminates the tedious hand-rolling, turning any home into a boulangerie. For those who want to make large quantities of laminated pastries, consider upgrading to a larger 15.5-inch model that is still compact and fold-away!
If your gift recipient is a sourdough enthusiast, the Brod & Taylor Sourdough Home is a must-have. This precise, temperature-controlled cabinet can enhance the potency of their starter by cooling (or warming) it to within 2˚F of the set temperature and maintaining it there indefinitely, ensuring optimal baking results.
For pizzas and flatbreads, a heat-conducting baking surface like the Original Baking Steel is essential. It helps the bottom of the dough bake quickly before any toppings can burn, delivering the crispiest crusts for indoor pizzas and artisan breads.
The Goldtouch Pro Nonstick Leakproof Springform Cake Pan from Williams Sonoma is a top pick for making cheesecake and quiches without the worry of leaks. Its vertical closure system ensures even baking of beautiful desserts.
For those interested in sous vide cooking, the Breville Joule Turbo is the best immersion circulator. It is accurate, heats water quickly and quietly, and features a magnetic base that clings to the bottom of many pots. It also comes with an app that offers recipes and helpful videos.
The Anova Precision Oven is a steam-injected smart oven that can add a precise amount of steam to the oven’s chamber while you roast, sous vide, toast, or bake. It connects to your smartphone, offering diverse and delicious recipes, and can be controlled with Alexa for a hands-off cooking experience.
The Rocco The Super Smart Fridge is the ultimate beverage fridge, designed to keep your beverages at the perfect temperature.
Introducing the comView smart fridge on Goop.com – a sleek and multifaceted appliance designed for connoisseurs of wine, beer, or seltzer. This refrigerator boasts the capacity to store a vast array of beverages at their optimal temperatures. Users can manage dual-temperature zones via their smartphones, ensuring the perfect chill for each drink. Additionally, the fridge shields bottles from damaging UV rays and regulates humidity to maintain quality. The recessed top serves as an elegant bar or display area for photos and collectibles.
For those who desire homemade bread with the press of a button, the Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus Bread Maker is a standout choice. It excels in mixing, kneading, stretching, and proofing, resulting in soft white bread and hearty rye loaves. Its dual paddles and rectangular pan shape make for bread that is easy to slice and perfect for sandwiches. If your gift recipient craves ice cream on demand, the Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker is a game-changing device. Unlike traditional ice cream makers, it features a compressor that chills the bowl during the churning process, allowing for continuous batch production of velvety ice cream and gelato. The Breville InFizz Fusion Sparkling Beverage Carbonator takes home soda making to the next level. With its FusionCap, it can carbonate not only water but also juices, lemonades, cocktails, and more, under increased pressure. It’s an ideal gadget for those who love their beverages bubbly. Finally, the Ooni Volt 12 Electric Pizza Oven brings the pizza experience indoors for those without outdoor cooking space or in cold weather. This powerful oven reaches up to 850F, cooking pizzas in just 90 seconds with beautiful leopard spotting and a soft crust. For a more compact option, the Breville Pizzaiolo is also a great choice.Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore
A Consistently Great Air Fryer
Instant Vortex Plus 6-Quart 6-in-1 Air Fryer
PHOTO: Amazon
Price: $140 at Amazon, $150 at Williams Sonoma, $209 at Walmart
Give the gift of the crispiest-ever fries, chicken wings, or veggies thanks to an air fryer. These trendy countertop appliances heat and cook efficiently, work faster than an oven (or toaster oven), and actually minimize cleanup. Year after year, this powerful air fryer by Instant Pot has come out on top in our testing, cooking items the fastest and most evenly of any we’ve tried.
Serious Eats / Will Dickey
A Highly Accurate Probe Thermometer
ThermoWorks Chef Alarm Cooking Alarm Thermometer and Timer
PHOTO: ThermoWorks
View on Thermoworks
When you’re roasting, baking, grilling, or smoking, it’s great to have a way to track temperature over time and to even set an alarm so that the rib roast you paid big bucks for doesn’t end up a dry hunk of meat. A probe thermometer displays the food’s internal temperature (via wired probe) on a remote unit outside the grill or oven, so you don’t need to keep opening it up to check with a handheld thermometer. This model by ThermoWorks is accurate, fast, and incredibly easy to use.
Serious Eats / Will Dickey
An Impressive Countertop Composter
Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50
PHOTO: Amazon
Price: $400 at Williams Sonoma, $400 at Sur La Table, $274 at Amazon
For the gift recipient who loves to garden or just wants to reduce food waste, this countertop composter effectively grinds food scraps and dries them into fertilizer in mere hours. One of our editors used it for six months with great results.
For Elegant Entertaining
A Gorgeous Dinnerware Set
Made In The Tabletop Set Complete
PHOTO: Made In
Price: $399 at Amazon, $703, $599 at Made In Cookware
Made of luxurious but durable English porcelain, this dinnerware set boasts beautiful, glossy finishes and striking visual appeal. It includes dinner plates, appetizer plates, bread and butter plates, side bowls, and very spacious entrée bowls, plus silverware and a beautiful platter. Your gift recipient will be ready to entertain for years to come.
Serious Eats / Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm
A Stunning Pair of Universal Wine Glasses
Josephinenhütte Josephine No. 2 Universal Wine Glass
PHOTO: Amazon
Price: $220 at Amazon
View on Josephinen.com
View on Bergdorfgoodman.com
With a universal wine glass in hand, you can enjoy red, white, or sparkling wines equally well. Featuring a sharp-angled bowl and unique indent, this splurge option is a standout modern glass. It’s comfortable to hold and has a design that quickly opens up wine, concentrating its aroma for a richer tasting experience.
Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore
Luxuriously Thick Cloth Napkins
Coyuchi Sonoma Textured Organic Napkins
PHOTO: Coyuchi
View on Coyuchi.com
No table setting is complete without beautiful linens. These organic cotton napkins were standout performers during our testing of cloth napkins, boasting luxe thickness. The colors are gorgeous and made from nontoxic dyes, and the stitching is impeccable.
Looking to elevate your home bar or coffee setup? Here are some top picks for enthusiasts.
For a whimsical touch in your home, consider the scallop trim napkin set by Schoolhouse.
A Modern Bar Cart: Pottery Barn Hugo Metal Bar Cart
At $399 at Pottery Barn, this sleek cart is not only functional but also adds an aesthetic appeal to your home decor. It features three shelves, perfect for a budding mixologist to showcase their collection of bottles, glassware, and accessories.
An Elegant, Traditional Fondue Pot: All-Clad Cast Aluminum Fondue Pot
Available at Amazon, Williams Sonoma, and Sur La Table for $200, this traditional fondue pot is ideal for creating cozy après ski vibes. Its clever double-boiler design ensures even creaminess for cheese and chocolate fondues, with no hot spots under the flame.
The Best Coffee Grinder for Serious Coffee Geeks: Baratza Virtuoso+ Conical Burr Coffee Grinder
Ask any coffee professional, and they will tell you that a good burr grinder is the biggest upgrade one can make. This Baratza model, priced at $250 at Amazon, Williams Sonoma, and Sur La Table, is highly recommended with over 40 grind sizes, catering to any coffee lover’s brewing preference.
The Best Coffee Maker for Automatic Drip: Ratio Six Coffee Maker
In our testing, the Ratio Six Coffee Maker, available at Amazon for $359, made the best-tasting coffee from a home machine. It’s a durable piece of equipment, built to last and preferred by multiple Serious Eats staffers.
An Excellent Espresso Machine: Breville Bambino Plus Espresso Machine
This espresso machine, priced at $486 at Amazon, $500 at Williams Sonoma, and $500 at Sur La Table, is suitable for both beginners and professionals. Known for its quick heat-up and ease of use, it can compete with models twice its size.
An Innovative Coffee Canister: Fellow Atmos Vacuum Coffee Canister
For $40 at Amazon, $40 at Williams Sonoma, and $41 at Target, this vacuum-sealed coffee canister keeps coffee beans fresh, making a noticeable difference in taste compared to other storage methods.
An Electric Kettle with Ultimate Temperature Control: Fellow Corvo EKG Electric Kettle
Tea enthusiasts will appreciate this variable electric kettle, available for $165 at Amazon, $195 at Williams Sonoma, and $166 at Target. It allows for precise temperature settings, perfect for brewing different types of tea.
The kettle also automatically holds water at the set temperature for 60 minutes, which was the longest of the lineup in our testing. Make tea time tip-top with this ultra-precise kettle! Serious Eats / Grace Kelly
A Fancy Frother for Coffee or Tea Lattes Breville Milk Cafe Frother PHOTO: Breville $160 at Amazon $160 at Williams Sonoma $160 at Target For a truly cozy gift, recreate a luxurious tea or coffee house experience at home with a milk frother. This handy device can help you or your giftee execute a perfect foam for everything from matcha lattes to cappuccinos to decadent hot cocoas. This model by Breville has a custom temperature dial so you can pick exactly how hot or cold you’d like your milk to be for the perfect morning beverage. Serious Eats / Nick Simpson Gourmet Gift Subscriptions A Wide-Ranging Coffee Subscription Bean Box Gourmet Coffee Sampler PHOTO: Amazon $29 at Amazon View on Beanbox.com Bean Box’s Coffee Sampler gives your recipient four 1.8-ounce sampler bags (enough for two to three pour-overs or one larger batch of drip coffee) from four roasters every month. It’s a great gift option for any coffee fanatic—they’ll get to try numerous beans without having to open a full-sized bag. A Cheese Subscription Curated by Experts Murray’s Cheese Cheese Explorer’s Club PHOTO: Murray’s View on Murrayscheese.com For cheese enthusiasts, this decadent cheese subscription features three to four cheeses selected by expert cheesemongers and is available via three-, six-, or 12-month subscriptions. When we gave this subscription a whirl, the cheese arrived in pristine condition and was some of the best our editors had ever tried. Serious Eats / Grace Kelly Incredible Oysters, Delivered to Your Door Real Oyster Cult Monthly Membership PHOTO: Real Oyster Cult View on Realoystercult.com A family-owned business located in Duxbury, Massachusetts, Real Oyster Cult sources some of the freshest bivalves around. Treat your giftee to oysters that arrive ice cold and in separate mesh bags, with wonderful accompaniments like Mignon-Nips or excellent caviar. Plus, if your recipient lives in New England, shipping is free. Serious Eats / Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm A Vibrant Spice Subscription Burlap & Barrel Spice Club Gift Subscription PHOTO: Burlap & Barrel View on Burlapandbarrel.com When it comes to buying spices online, this spice subscription has long been a favorite of Serious Eats staffers. The quarterly subscription includes four jars of spices (including ones that haven’t been released yet) and a collaboration food product, like a box of Sfoglini x Burlap and Barrel pasta. Your giftee will love cooking with these vibrant, versatile single-origin spices. Serious Eats / Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm A Wine Subscription for Newbies Wine Access Membership PHOTO: Wine Access View on Wineaccess.com If your gift recipient is just getting into wine, the Discovery Club is a truly excellent place to start. It comes with a quarterly delivery of six bottles, YouTube videos detailing tasting notes and stories on the winemakers and vineyards, and sheets for each bottle for them to write down tasting and olfactory notes.Serious Eats presents a selection of gifts that chefs would appreciate. What’s the best gift for a chef? It depends on their interests. Are they into sous vide, baking, or live-fire cooking? We have ideas for all these culinary passions. You can also count on popular kitchen tools that any chef would love. If unsure, a gift card to their favorite local restaurant is a safe choice.
For a personalized touch, consider The Boardsmith’s wooden cutting boards, which offer personalization. Hedley & Bennett, known for their high-quality aprons, also provides embroidery and patch customization options. Why trust our expertise? Afton Cyrus, a food blogger, recipe developer, culinary instructor, and food writer and editor, has eight years of experience as a test cook and editor at America’s Test Kitchen. She contributes to Serious Eats, with her recipes and food writing featured online and in print. Afton’s rigorous and objective equipment testing protocols are evident in her reviews of various kitchen tools. Serious Treats: Discover 38 Food Items That’d Make Truly Wonderful Gifts for any culinary enthusiast.
