Editor-Favorite Kitchen Gifts

Our team isn’t afraid to spend money in the name of good kitchen gear. We all have tools we wouldn’t cook without—and even a few we’d repurchase immediately if they broke. But like most cooks (indeed, most people), we love a nice gift. I recently polled my colleagues about the best gear they’ve ever received. It takes a lot to impress this crew when it comes to cooking tools. However, we can safely say that while we may not have bought the 11 items featured below, we can’t don’t want to live without ‘em. 

My partner’s grandma gave me this hand mixer for my birthday years ago, and it’s one of my favorite baking tools. For cookies, cakes, brownies, and other bakes that don’t require the motor strength of a countertop stand mixer, this little machine brings the perfect amount of power. It does a great job of creaming butter and sugar, and it produces fluffy whipped cream. It can also get egg whites to stiff peaks without any trouble. — An Uong, writer

A few years back I really wanted to make ice cream. I dreamt up all kinds of fancy flavors and combos, but the ideas stayed dormant since I didn’t have an ice cream machine. But one Christmas my husband surprised me with our winning compressor ice cream machine, making my (and his) dreams come true. I even used it to make pints of wild Concord grape, mascarpone, and peanut brittle ice cream as wedding favors. (You can read all about it here.) Suffice it to say, this has been a great gift, both for me and my husband, the gifter! — Grace Kelly, senior editor

My husband got me a 7.25-quart Le Creuset Dutch oven for Christmas one year. You probably know how useful Dutch ovens are, so I won’t bore you with that. However, I will tell you my Dutch oven is in the now-discontinued color Fig, which is a stunning dark purple with a bronze knob. — Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm, associate editorial director

Riddley gave this toaster to me when I moved into my house. (She’s a great gift-giver.) It didn’t win our review, but I love how it looks on my counter, and it makes great toast. It’s definitely the fanciest, coolest toaster I’ve ever owned. — Rochelle Bilow, editor

During the pandemic, I was struggling with being stuck at home, so my father did what any good dad would do: He went to Costco to buy me a gift. He returned with a much better gift than I could have imagined—a KitchenAid stand mixer. He also managed to get one of the last bags of flour and a two-pound bag of yeast. Needless to say, I started baking bread and haven’t looked back. Thanks, Dad! — Kelli Solomon, senior social media editor

I squeeze citrus on just about everything. This manual citrus juicer that my brother bought for me years ago is used daily. — Leah Colins, senior culinary editor

This was another thoughtful gift from my husband. I was working at America’s Test Kitchen at the time, and he DM’d my coworkers to ask for their suggestions on a carbon steel knife and ended up going with this one from Zwilling. It’s held up for years, and I actually like its thick, rounded handle, which feels balanced in my palm. (The handle is why it’s not a winner in our review.) — Riddley

The three-cup rice cooker donabe from Toiro that my wife bought me many years ago remains one of my all-time favorite gifts. I love it on every level: It makes by far the best rice, better than any pot I own and even better than my electric rice cooker (which is still very good and unarguably more convenient); it makes incredible one-pot donabe meals (see the wonderful cookbook by Toiro’s owner for ideas); and it is, all on its own, a work of art that I love to look at. If I had the shelf space, I could easily slip into a donabe-collecting hole, buying different ones that, yes, would have different culinary purposes, but I’d also just be happy to have them as decorative pieces. — Daniel Gritzer, editorial director

My husband’s Scottish family members gifted me with a spurtle several years ago. Like Serious Eats contributor Nicole Rufus, I love my spurtle very much. I use it to make oatmeal, and it’s super handy for stirring or mashing things. — Genevieve Yam, senior editor

Ever since I shared one of our reviews in the family group chat, my husband started consulting our site for gifts for me. Based on our reviews, he’s gotten me a Le Creuset skillet, a wooden cutting board, and an air fryer, but so far, my most-used gift has been my Global nakiri knife. I use it almost every day. The grippy handle is everything. — Kelli

My parents gifted me one of their old Lodge cast iron skillets when I graduated college. It was my most-often-used pan for years, but I recently lost it in a move. I think (fondly and sadly) about it all the time. — Rochelle

Why We’re the Experts

• Rochell  Bilow is an editor at Serious Eats. Before joining the team full-time in 2024, she was a regular contributor to the site. 
• Rochelle is a culinary school graduate and former line cook. Previously, she worked at Bon Appétit and Cooking Light magazines. 
• At Serious Eats, we rigorously review kitchen equipment. We regularly revisit our reviews to re-test our winners, making sure our findings are current.