2023 Vacation Present Information for Cooks and Bakers

Welcome to my 2023 Vacation Present Information for Cooks and Bakers! Are you on the lookout for a present for somebody who cooks or bakes? (Don’t overlook to get one thing good for your self too!) Listed here are some present solutions solutions primarily based on issues I take advantage of on a regular basis!

Final up to date November 22, 2023 – Initially posted in 2017

Going via this listing of things is like visiting with me in my kitchen. You’ll be able to see what instruments I take advantage of as I’m making bread.

Let’s get began!

Wet Measuring Cup – For measuring liquids like milk or water you want a see-through measuring cup. I’ve a group of sizes to accommodate numerous recipes.

This type of measuring cup is useful for making apricot bread.

16.5 by 11.75 inch baking and cooling rack – In 2019, I wanted a brand new cooling rack.  

As I used to be studying the critiques for various cooling racks, I seen that the large grievance was rust.  Individuals purchased a cooling rack, solely to find that it rapidly turned rusty.  This appeared to occur on each cooling rack I examine.  

It made it tough to decide on a rack.  I crossed my fingers and ordered this one.

It’s November of 2023 and I’m joyful to report that my new cooling rack hasn’t rusted in any respect!  It’s as vivid and glossy because the day I acquired it.

Right here’s the cooling rack in motion beneath a loaf of eggnog bread.

Zester  – A few of my bread recipes, just like the one for orange bread, name for zest.  After I first began making bread, I didn’t personal a zester.  I attempted to make use of a carrot peeler as a substitute.  What a ache!  Zesters don’t price that a lot and make zesting a breeze.

The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook – I acquired this as a present a couple of years in the past.  It’s an amazing cookbook with 300 recipes! The recipes are for 2 pound machines in addition to for one and a half pound machines.  There’s an orientation part that covers subjects like bread components and troubleshooting.

Bread Knife – If you happen to’re going to make home made bread, you want a great bread knife.   Identical to my bread machine, I take advantage of our bread knife on a regular basis.

 

Bench Scraper Set– I’ve began utilizing a bench scraper when working with dough.  It helps me transfer sticky dough round and I adore it after I’m dividing dough for rolls or buns.  I take advantage of a plastic one, however this set additionally comes with a chrome steel scraper for these of you with extra sturdy working areas.

Challah dough is SO sticky. The bench scraper helped rather a lot!

Gamma Lids – We purchased this set of eight 2-gallon buckets with Gamma Seal lids to retailer flour and different food merchandise.  I like them!!  (If you happen to’d like to purchase them one after the other, right here’s another link for single two-gallon buckets with Gamma Lids.)

See extra about how we retailer flour in bulk with our Gamma Lids

If you happen to’re not accustomed to Gamma Seal lids, you’ll wish to verify them out.  It makes opening buckets of flour a breeze!   Word the highest of the buckets.  I can simply seize the highest of the bucket and twirl.

And transferring from 5-gallon buckets to 2-gallon buckets makes my life a lot simpler!  I may carry the 5-gallon buckets . . . barely.  Right here’s extra details about how we retailer flour in bulk.

Pizza Stone – The Man of the Home, TMOTH, has at all times made nice pizza.  It’s even higher now that we personal a pizza stone!

We questioned if a pizza stone would actually make that a lot of a distinction.  It completely did! We’re thrilled that we purchased it.  

This pizza recipe has a couple of pictures of the pizza stone in motion.

Questioning what bread machine to purchase?  I’d purchase a Zojirushi machine. 

Zojirushi bread machines are properly constructed and make nice bread.

I make all of the bread, hamburger buns, dinner rolls, pepperoni rolls and scorching canine buns for our family.  That implies that I take advantage of my bread machine two to 3 occasions each week.  In my expertise, Zojirushi bread machines will final 4 to 6 years beneath these situations.  

Zojirushi at present presents two fashions of two-pound bread machines.  These are the the BB-CEC20 Home Bakery Supreme and the BB-PDC20 Home Bakery Virtuoso Plus.  

Each are good machines.  I’m providing you with the highlights right here, however if you wish to know extra I’ve acquired an article dedicated to selecting out a bread machine.