Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? No? OK, how about what your roommate/Hinge date/stepdaddy is stirring on the stove? Would you love to see them preparing some spicy wings in a carbon steel grill pan? Handling a razor-sharp mandoline that spits out paper-thin slices of cucumber? If you’re being handed a pineapple margarita, would you rather sip it from a Solo cup or an artisanal Mexican glass with a cobalt-blue rim? It’s the details that make the difference when it comes to cooking and entertaining, which is why kitchen supplies make the best gifts, because they’re practical and fun at the same time.
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We’re calling it now: 2023 has been, uh, a little weird, but 2024 will be the year of feeling good all the time! (We’re sure of it.) When it comes to food, the world is full of shiny things that were designed to make the process of cooking for yourself and your loved ones ever more enjoyable, and it’s not too late to gift them to yourself or others. These are our favorite tools, gadgets, glasses, and other miscellaneous things that should be in your kitchen cabinets.If you publicly express even a passing interest in cooking, you have likely been inundated with ads for about a bajillion different direct-to-consumer cookware companies—but perhaps most famous of them all is the highly Instagrammable, much sought-after Always Pan, a.k.a. the most aesthetic way to showcase that you’ve perfected a Dutch baby or shakshuka. Available in a variety of soothing Millennial-friendly colors like "Blue Salt" and "Terracotta," it's accrued 4.6 out of 5 stars from almost 35,000 reviews. Good news: it's on sale right now. If your cabinets are still full of scratched, Teflon, hand-me-down skillets from discount stores, toss ‘em all out and grab one of these instead.Speaking from experience, we can tell you that Misen’s elegant knives stay super-sharp for literally years, and are the easiest way to step up your slicing skills while also looking hella #adult. Time for your lucky recipient to banish all those dull-ass IKEA knives they stole from their roommates.
Still the “it” pan
Misen’s awesome knife set
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Haden’s stainless steel electric tea kettle
Leather oven mitts
Handcrafted Mexican cocktail glasses
Our editors and readers alike absolutely love this chef’s knife
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Your dad’s new favorite grill pan
A burrito thermos (yes, it’s real)
An Ooni pizza oven
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Drinking while cooking is always a good idea
OXO mini tongs
Wes Anderson’s Dutch oven
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One ticket to the Cool Club, please
Microplane’s classic stainless steel zester and cheese grater
Store food (and drink water) like a chef
The MUNCHIES cookbooks
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Gir spoonula
Breville’s Bambino espresso maker
Or just upgrade their pour-over and bean game
An aesthetic set of stainless steel cookware
That dang Benriner mandoline (again)
The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals? Sign up for our newsletter.