When it comes to choosing gifts for chefs in our homes, we can often run into difficulties especially if they have enjoyed carrying out all the home cooking for quite some time. With Christmas and birthdays etc. coming up every year we can soon run out of ideas of what to buy. In this article we will uncover some ideas that will surely prove to be useful.
More often than not the home chef we grew up adoring was our Mother. The aromas that would meet us at the door coming home from school still linger in my mind and no doubt many of you reading this. Today things are quite different mainly due to the vast number of TV stations featuring cooking programs. This has encouraged many members of our households to put themselves forward as the home chef simply because they absolutely love to cook.
They often have their specialties which they proudly present up to us. They prepare the feast for every holiday we celebrate. They consider their love of cooking simply as a hobby and a pleasure to be able to serve it up to us. Little wonder why we feel the need to find that special gift for them.
The Top Five Gifts for Chefs
Fortunately for us cooking requires many different tools and accessories which are sure to make handy gifts for our home chefs. See a list of our top five selection below.
Not only do we already have a large list of requirements a cook will need, but there seems to be an abundance of newer improved models coming out year after year.
Probably the last thing we need in our kitchens are more items that are barely used. They are fine if the kitchen is not already cluttered up with large items that are only used once in a blue moon. In our top five selection we have concentrated on only kitchen items that will be used on a weekly basis if not daily.
Chefs Cookware Needs to Be Up to Scratch
Fortunately, cooking is one of those hobbies that does require a lot of tools as well as a good array of accessories. Cookware needs to be of a high quality and can make the world of difference to the success of the food being cooked. Pots and pans are always evolving, and the latest versions might well make an ideal gift.
For example, the existing sets of cookware could perhaps be losing their non-stick capabilities. And when replaced with brand new versions in all shapes, sizes and styles will certainly be appreciated.
Fashionable Sous-vide the Ideal Cooks Presert
Food cooked with Sous-Vide technique
No home chef should be without their sous-vide cooker. These and slow cookers have seen a big rise in popularity recently and will allow chef to serve up some new dishes for their admirers. No doubt your home chef will be tuned into the conversations of professional chefs and sous-vide cooking as served up in restaurants.
Both sous-vide and the slow cookers can be responsible for making certain dishes a lot easier. Whether the food will be cooked in vacuum-sealed bags or not or using a temperature-controlled water bath the results will be consistent. And consistency of food flavor and texture are what good chefs do produce. What other gifts for chefs could be more welcomed than those that help them do what they already do but do it even better.
Sealed Containers for Safe Food Storage
If you nose around the kitchen area when your home chef is not around, you might just see what has started to wear out and in need to be replaced. Often overlooked are the items we store food in. Checking seals of plastic containers to ensure they do in fact seal properly is a good idea. These and mason jars seals being replaced if need be will improve the shelf life of stored ingredients.
These sealed containers are as important today as they ever were. We are all aware of the problems contaminated food can cause and any present you would make of safe storage containers could be a wise decision. A well-organized kitchen makes both the preparation and the cooking of food more pleasurable and easier.
Good Quality Knife Sets Make Great Presents for Home Cooks
It goes without saying, quality knife sets are crucial tools and when blunt, worn or broken make simple cutting chores that much more tedious. Slicing and chopping meat and vegetables always requires to be done and if not razor sharp and fit for purpose will make the life of a cook really difficult.
Sure, sharpening can be carried out without too much trouble providing there is still plenty of metal left on the blade. Some old well used knives can become too fine for certain tough jobs. They could very easily cause a bad accident if a blade should brake unexpectantly.
Most people when getting a meal ready, will prefer spending a greater part of their time doing the cooking process and enjoying eating it, than they do in food preparation.
There are knives designed specifically for most food types. To name a few, of course is the chef’s knife, a serrated knife, a paring knife, carving knife, boning knife, cheese knife and bread knife. Apart from stainless steel knife sets, they come made in many different materials.
You might be thinking that the list of knives is long, but there is one more item in any chef’s itinerary more abundant than knives and that is cookbooks.
Not Another Cookbook? Yes Please Says Chef
cookbooks
Fair comment but there are many who will tell you that they can’t get enough cookbooks. This is indeed understandable when you consider the range of foods types we have become accustomed to these days.
Every year there are an abundance of new books created. Some with recipes and dishes you may not have heard about before.
Although you, may not have heard about these things, is not to say that the main cook of the household hasn’t heard about it. More likely than not they will probably be able to explain that type of cooking to you in some detail.
Be it traditional, continental, eastern or whatever these new editions will have something new. That may not mean much to you, but to the enthusiastic chef, these new recipes and cooking ideas are like gold. They present new challenges and provide greater enthusiasm as well as a joy for them to conjure up a fresh new untried meal for the family.
A new barbequing ingredient could be included in a book or a baking treat never before thought about. So, although on first thoughts you might shun the idea of a cookbook, they actually do make perfect gifts for chefs.
Hopefully these few ideas might have helped to solve the problems of what to buy for the top chef in your home.