Christmas is the time when we exchange Christmas gifts with each other. Christmas is also a busy time for chef and home cooks. They like to experiment with the recipes to make a variety of Christmas dishes. Food is a main aspect of Christmas celebration just like the Christmas decoration. So, people who love cooking will be delighted to know that you have decided to gift them the Christmas gifts for cooks, something different than conventional Christmas gifts. Here I am going to discuss about the 12 Christmas gifts for chefs. These kitchen gift ideas will win you appreciation.
Apron with kitchen utensils
For any chef or cook this will be one of the simple, but useful gifts for Christmas. When you gift an apron, ensure there is something to symbolize Christmas on that. This will motivate them to cook; who knows you may even get a delicious Christmas cake from them. In this Christmas gifts for cooks add some utensils too, to make it a complete kitchen set (rather kitchen accessories kit). When I say utensils you may even buy a set of wooden kitchen tools. The selection of the apron depends upon whom you are going to present them. If it is for female friends, collection of aprons in Santa style will be ideal as Christmas gifts for chefs. If you are collecting Christmas gifts for cooks (male friends) who work in restaurants then the apron in red color will be apt for them in this Christmas season.
Recipe of Christmas dishes
Christmas is a time when you cook lot of special dishes for your family and So having a Christmas dish recipe book will be quite helpful. This is the next gift in my kitchen gift ideas list. You can select the book you want to gift. It can be the recipe book for cookies, cakes, main dishes, side dishes or pie recipes. You can even get a book that covers all these recipes and can make your Christmas gifts for cooks, a complete Christmas recipe book. If your loved one is interested in cakes particularly, you will be able to get books with ideas about cake decorations.
Cookie cutters
This is one of the simple kitchen gift ideas that came to my mind. I know everybody like to munch cookies in the time of Christmas and it is easy to use these cookie cutters to make different shapes of cookies. If you are planning to add these to the Christmas gifts for chefs in your family, get a collection of different shapes of cookie cutters and give them the freedom to make cookies in almost any shape they want to. If they are smart and creative enough they will combine shapes in the cookie cutter set and make new designs.
Wine bottles
These are ideal Christmas gifts for chefs who are professional cooks because they need to know how to cook using wine. I was trying to select a cooking wine for my friend and searched online for that. I came to know that it is better not to buy bottles labeled ‘Cooking wine’ since they may contain additives and salt. Instead buy un-oaked dry white wines. Before buying the bottle, make sure that the alcohol content is moderate (between 10-13%) because higher alcohol content won’t help cooking much. Usually these are used to prepare main dishes like chicken recipes.
Oven mitt
Oven gloves or oven mitt are used as the protective cover for cooks to take hot objects kept in the oven or stove. It is a great idea to gift a pair of oven gloves as Christmas gifts for cooks who work with oven a lot. These are made of heat insulation material covered with cotton cloth (sometimes silicone) so that your hand is protected from the heat. Christmas is a season when we cook a lot, or bake a lot. There is another type of gloves called furnace mitts, which can withstand even more heat. So select the furnace gloves or oven mitt as you think would suit your friend.
Pastry cutter
The next in my kitchen gift ideas is the pastry cutter. The pastry cutter also knows as the pastry blender is the tool used to mix the flour with hard fats to make pastries. These contain narrow and thin metal stripes or strings on a wooden handle. Pastry blenders are ideal Christmas gifts for cooks and chefs. These blenders can also be used to make breads and pie crusts. There are two types of blenders, one with blades and the one with wires. Pastry cutters with blade are more effective and for sure will make your friends happy.
Snow cone maker
This is one of the kitchen gift ideas that popped into my mind when I had snow cone near a candy shop. These are desserts that are made of ground ice or shaved ice. This is known by different names in different countries. The shaved ice will be served in a paper cup or cone and sugar syrup will be poured on top of it. The flavors of the sugar syrup will vary. The snow cone maker is the small machine used to shave the ice and you can make those flavored deserts at home within seconds.
Hand Mixer
In the list of Christmas gifts for cooks, the next is the mixer. This comes in different variants. It can be an eggbeater, a hand mixer, a spiral mixer or a stand mixer which are more powerful. Here I am talking about the hand mixer which can be used for mixing or whipping. Some models come with different mixing attachments for different uses. Using this chef can beat or whip cream and egg whites and knead dough. I would suggest you select the models with different attachments as the Christmas gifts for chefs you know. It will make their life easy in baking cakes and cookies.
Baking pan
Christmas is a season when everyone makes cakes and cookies more than in any other season of the year. Christmas cake is the tradition that dates back to 16th century which began as an enhancement to the pudding people used to eat after the Christmas meal. So gifting baking pans as Christmas gifts for chefs will a great idea. Give them a set of Bakeware so that they can make cakes in different shapes and sizes. You know that these are great kitchen gift ideas since in one gift itself you get to give more gifts.
Decorating / icing pen
Decorating pens or icing pens are next in my list of Christmas gifts for chefs. These are usually used to decorate cakes and pastries using the cream in different shapes and designs. When you want to write ‘Merry Christmas’ on your cake you baked or bought this is the tool that you would use. Mostly the pack comes with different shape tips, couplers, decorating bags and decorating pen. The icing pens can also be used on cupcakes and pastries. Decorating pens (Icing pens) personalizes your cake with a hand written Christmas wish or New Year wish.
Pasta machine
Next in my kitchen gift ideas, is the pasta machine. Even though pasta is a traditional food of Italy, it is prepared and cooked all around the world. You can gift these pasta machines as the Christmas gifts for cooks. The pasta makers are used to make fresh pasta at home. The pasta dough made as sheets are fed through the pasta machine and the pasta noodles come out when the cook turns the hand crank. Like hand mixer pasta machine also comes with attachments to make different types of pasta. You can make ravioli, spaghetti or lasagnette using these attachments.
Chef’s torch
The last in my kitchen gift ideas or Christmas gifts for cooks is the Chef’s torch. The fundamental use of these torches (also known as butane torches) is for caramelizing sugar over crème Brulee. There are other names for this kitchen tool as cooking torch, kitchen torch or culinary torch. Even though these are mainly used for sugar caramelizing, this can also be used for melting cheese, char vegetables (charred onions) or to brown toppings. Buy the combo of chef’s torch with the butane fuel as the Christmas gifts for chefs so that they can use the torch for Christmas without searching for the fuel.
This concludes my kitchen gift ideas. Decide on which one you want to gift and which one you can afford. Buy the best available in the market for your wife, mother, sister or friends who love cooking and wrap them in gift wrappers. Your Christmas gifts for cooks are ready and do not forget to add greeting cards too. See for yourself how delighted your loved ones are. It will be a merry Christmas for them indeed.
