Gadgets
Kitchen gadgets and gizmos make a great gift for your culinary-centric friends, family, or lovers. The list below contains some real doozies guaranteed to make them grin, and all are available online and at better local cookware stores. – Mick Vann
OXO Angled Measuring Cup Set This one-, two-, and four-cup nesting set has soft grips – now you can fill from above and tell how much is in there without stopping your pour and looking sideways! These are the best measuring cups out there. $19.99.
Füri FUR626 Ozitech Diamond Fingers Pro Knife Sharpener Fold it together and eight diamond-coated fingers have make your knife razor-sharp in five or six strokes. It’s fast, safe, light, and small. Füri makes high-quality knives and, as it turns out, sharpeners as well. $16.99.
Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler A handheld tool that cranks out perfectly identical julienne with every pass, whether fruit or vegetable, it comes with a blade protector to keep it sharp. This tool will stay top-front in your gadget drawer. $20.
KitchenAid KHB300OB 8-Inch Immersion Blender With whisk and chopper attachments, it’s a magic wand in your hand that can whip cream with the whip attachment and blend or puree soups, sauces, or baby food. Snap on the chopper, and it becomes a mini food processor – a powerful kitchen tool that’s so easy to use and ultra practical. $90.
Looftlighter Fire Lighting Tool For the griller or barbecuer (or fireplace dude) who has it all, this Swedish-made handheld jet-of-a-lighter blows 1,256-degree air at your briquettes or firewood and starts them burning in 60 seconds. Safe, effective, and sleek; with Looftlighter, you’ll never buy, smell, or taste charcoal starter again. $80.
Kuhn Rikon Handheld Mandoline An adjustable, quick, and simple way to make perfect slices of anything, this is the ideal tool for the salad lover or the scalloped potato junkie. Its hand guard doubles as a blade cover. $30, julienne version for $20.
This article appears in December 3 • 2010.