With so many people getting into cooking and baking during quarantine, this holiday you may find yourself turning to the kitchen for gift ideas. Greg Antioho, Executive Chef at Smith & Co., gave his recommendations for gifts for home chefs at every experience level and price point.
Antioho started off at the beginner level, pointing out that even simple tools like a peeler can level up your cooking game. Investing in a relatively nice (yet still fairly inexpensive) piece of equipment like a carbon-steel blade peeler from Kuhn Rikon can change the way you cook. “You don’t know how inefficient you are until you use something like this.” Antioho said about the peeler.
Other tools he said are great for the beginner chef include tweezer tongs, and a budget Thermopop thermometer, which make great stocking stuffers.
One surprising gift Antioho suggested was to get a nice set of spoons. Professional chefs have spoon collections, and you use them in almost every dish, so make sure you have some that work for what you’re cooking. He also recommended a garlic press from Männkitchen that is designed to be easy to clean.
For gifts for a more experienced chef, Antioho recommends carbon steel pans. They are a little lighter and a little more agile than cast iron, and give you a great sear. One higher budget item on Antioho’s list was The Pepper Cannon, a $149 peppermill from Männkitchen. The high price point may raise some eyebrows, but Antioho says that it will be “the first and last peppermill you’re ever going to use.”
As always, simple quality ingredients can also easily up your cooking game, so it’s a good idea to stuff stockings with locally made products.
For more cooking gift tips from Greg Antioho, watch the video above.