- MSRP: $99.99
Nuwave PIC
I’ve seen the future of cooking and it is induction. I’ve been playing with the Nuwave PIC for a couple of weeks now and it has really changed the way I cook. It is the simplest, most easy to control, and easiest to clean cooking device I’ve probably ever dealt with. It also seems to be the safest by a long shot. Because it uses magnets to heat the pan, it doesn’t end up heating the actual cooking surface. That means the “burner” doesn’t get hot. I’ve spilled food on it while cooking and it just sits there, and doesn’t burn on like it would to a traditional burner. This thing heats up super fast and can be controlled digitally to within 10 degrees. One of the big selling points that it uses in the ads is that it can boil water in 90 seconds. For me, it won me over when it took me less than 3 minutes from the time I plugged it in to when I was stuffing scrambled eggs into my mouth.
Get yours today at: Nuwave
- MSRP: $138.45
Cuisnart Yogurt Maker
It used to be that making your own yogurt was a royal pain the butt. You’d have to sterilize a bunch of jars and wait several days. We tried out the Cuisnart Yogurt Maker and we’ll probably never buy our daily yogurt at the store again. It really was pretty cool. Before going to bed, I just mixed milk and some existing yogurt together in a bowl for a few seconds, poured the whole thing into the machine and set the timer for 6 hours. When it was done, it shifted into automatic cooling mode, where it stayed until we woke up for breakfast. It would have kept cooling for 12 hours. All in all, we got 6, 8 oz servings of yogurt for 30 seconds of work. Just thinking about how much less plastic I’ll be wasting by not buying yogurt cups makes it worth it.
Get yours today at: Amazon
- MSRP: $249.99
VMatter
There is probably no other single kitchen tool more important than a good knife. Vmatter is a brand new company that’s come out with a whole new spin on cutlery that is going to blow the minds of any good chef. Right now there are two trends in knives: high quality steel and ceramic. The new metal alloy that Vmatter is using in their knives actually combines the best aspects of both materials. It doesn’t hold bacteria, it’s inert so that the flavors of the food don’t get that little tinge of metal that some knives impart. It’s even dishwasher safe. We tried it and there’s no impact on the blade, which has been staying sharp through a variety of big tests and abuse here at Wookie central. Look. we know that $249.99 seems like a lot of money for a knife if you haven’t haver had to buy a good chef’s knife. The fact is that a good knife will last you for years and years. I’ve played with several knives that cost a lot more and aren’t as fun or well made as this one.
Get yours today at: Vmatter
- MSRP: $39.99-$59.99
Crock-Pot Hook Up
The Crock Pot Hook Up is one of the best gifts you can get for your friends who like to entertain a lot. Think of it as an unholy marriage between cooking and LEGOS. You can connect up to 6 different sized crock pots together so that they only need one power cord, but are still able to individually heat to whatever temperature they need to. You can have a soup in one, while you warm cocktail wienies in another, and melt cheese in yet another. Maybe you can come up with a better combo that won’t give you heart-burn, the point is, this makes entertaining easier than ever.
Get yours today at: Crock-Pot
- MSRP: $19.95
Kyocera Revolution Ceramic Paring Knife
If you need a stocking stuffer for someone spends a lot of time in the kitchen, this is a great gift for you. This is one of the most impressive and affordable paring knives we have ever seen. For a week, we abused the heck out of it doing everything from peeling apples, to slicing tomatoes, to boning out a whole lamb shoulder. Even after all the abuse and cutting into bone, it went right back to those tomatoes like it was nothing.
Get yours today at: Williams-Sonoma
- MSRP: $199.00
Oster Versa Blender
People are blending stuff a lot more than in the past. We make smoothies, grind our own nut butters, make our own sorbets. Part of it is because it is better for us, and part of it is just because it is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying everything pre-made. We put the Versa through it’s paces on everything from almond butter, to pancake batter, to mango lassies and it excelled at every task. If you’ve got a friend or loved one who has been saying they’ve been wanting a vitamix, but doesn’t want to spend 500 dollars on a blender, this might be the perfect gift for them.
Get yours today at: Amazon
- MSRP: $79.95
Cuisinart Soda Maker
Making your own soda has become very popular in the last couple of years and now Cuisinart has gotten into the game. I’ve tested out other other brands of soda makers over the years, and I just liked this one better. You can still use all the other brand’s flavor mixes and you can even add in a bit of fruit juice at the end and it will keep you away from all the fake sugars that the mixes have in them.
Get yours today at: Amazon
