Tis the season to be cooking, Fa la la la la, la la la la. Don we now our kitchen gadgets, Fa la la la la, la la la la. Whether you love cooking and gadgets or someone who does, there’s plenty of great stuff out there to get your geek cook on. Prepare your wish list for a few additions or delight the geeky cook with these gift ideas.
Turkey fryer. Fried turkey may be delicious, but cooking them takes work with the risk of hot oil splatter. That won’t be a problem with Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Infrared Turkey Fryer. Instead of oil, the infrared technology fries the turkey and takes only eight to ten minutes per pound. An eight-pound turkey cooks in one hour and 20 minutes. Compare that to roasting an unstuffed turkey in the oven, which takes roughly three hours to cook.
When you think Butterball, you think turkey. It’s no surprise Butterball has its own electric fryer in the Masterbuilt Butterball Professional Series Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer. Unlike Char-Broil, this one uses oil and cooks a 14 pounds of turkey in less than an hour with its four minutes per pound time. Although it uses oil, the fryer is safe for indoor cooking plus it uses 33 percent less oil than a typical fryer. If 14 pounds or Char-Broil’s 16 pound limit aren’t enough, an extra-large 20 pound Butterball fryer is available. If frying isn’t your thing, the trick to moist turkey is brining.
Meat thermometer. Not all thermometers provide accurate temperatures, which is scary because undercooked meat isn’t anything to trifle with. Check out the Maverick Wireless BBQ Thermometer Set that can monitor meat’s internal temperature and from 300 feet away. The Maverick works with poultry, beef and fish. If maverick is overkill, the simple ProAccurate Quick-Read Thermometer does the trick. Stick the pocket-sized thermometer to any meat for a read out on its large screen.
Digital spoon measure. Measuring spoons are simple. Just dip them into the ingredient and level off. However, if you want to geek it and be precise, look to the Admetior Stainless Steel Digital Spoon Scale. Add the ingredient in the scoop and the monitor reveals the weight.
Kitchen scale. You can never go with wrong weighing food and ingredients. For example, some bags of chips say one ounce makes a serving. This is more accurate than stating five chips makes a serving. Randomly pick five chips a few times and they’ll be in different sizes. With the EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale, put a plate or bowl on the scale before adding food and reset it to zero with its tare feature. The scale reveals the weight without counting the weight of the dish.
S’mores without the campfire. Not everyone has access to a fireplace for perfect marshmallow roasting to make s’mores. Even if you do, it can become a mess to clean up. You could nuke the marshmallow in the microwave, but that risks overcooking the fluff or expanding it too much. Add water to the Progressive International Microwavable S’Mores Maker, build the s’mores and put them on the two trays for 30 seconds. Perfect s’mores every time.
Ice. Yes, ice. This special ice doesn’t water down your drink. Put Whiskey Stones in the freezer for a few hours and they’re ready to keep any drink cold, not just whiskey. Now that’s worth a toast.
Pizza cutter. This may not use batteries or electricity, but the Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise Pizza Cutter has a high geek factor. If the pizza cutter feels lonely, pair it up with the Star Trek Enterprise Bottle Opener. Boldly cut pizza or open bottles where no man has gone before!
What’s your favorite kitchen gadget? What do you like about it?