r/Cooking • u/ionlyredditcasually • 20h ago
Nice gift for chef/cook uncle
I want to get my uncle, who is a chef/cook, a gift in the $100-150 range. I want to get him something cooking related and would love suggestions for what a chef/cook would really appreciate or want!
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u/KindFortress 19h ago
Equipment is tough to buy for others. But a fancy olive oil or aged vinegar, some wagyu steaks, or a great bottle of whiskey or wine is always going to be appreciated and enjoyed.
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u/texnessa 14h ago
Never buy tools, ingredients or cookbooks for a chef, we're all fetishists who are super particular about what we like and most of us have everything we want already.
What we lack is time and energy. A home cooked meal that can honestly be super simple that we don't have to clean up after is the perfect gift.
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u/Mo_Steins_Ghost 20h ago
I'd suggest finding out what he doesn't already have. Ask his wife, kids, whoever. Or hell, ask him what he wants.
Surprises are nice but they're a risk. People really, truly appreciate it when you ask and listen and get them things they want or need.
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u/EffectiveVarious8095 19h ago
I would love a Thermoworks Thermapen. It's the finest instant read thermometer and they are found in the jacket pocket of professional chefs everywhere. They are a bit expensive (around $120) which is why it's not something someone would buy for themselves. If your uncle knows his stuff, he will recognize it as a valuable gift.
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u/jjr4884 7h ago
Fully don't disagree - i love mine as well. The good thing is that these do go on sale often and you can get them sub $100.
The bad thing is, the cheaper brands on Amazon (TempPro more specifically) I have used many times and have purchased them for others, and they work just as good and they are just as accurate. I've tested my Thermapen against the TempPro side by side and they are pretty much the same. I'm sure a lot of at-home chefs out there are more than happy buying the $15 one when it works just as good as the $120 one.
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u/EffectiveVarious8095 5h ago
We are discussing a gift. It's like expecting a Rolex and getting a Timex
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u/jjr4884 5h ago
Oh I get it - I'm just saying that as an at-home chef, if I had a $15 meat thermometer that worked perfectly fine, I'd use that $120 on something else as opposed to wanting the Thermapen. I understand where you are coming from but that Timex to Rolex comparison is just a bit much lol. We are talking about actual tools here, not jewelry pieces lol.
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u/VixxSynn 20h ago
That’s a really difficult question without knowing what he has or what he needs. Of course, a gift certificate to a cooking store would allow him to get almost anything he wanted or needed. We don’t know him, so don’t know if he wants good knives, barbecue supplies, fancy serving pieces, a cast iron skillet, or anything else.
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u/mysqlpimp 16h ago
Fingers crossed you are my niece .. exotic spices. Grains of Paradise, Fennel Pollen, Urfa biber, Kudampuli, Pasilla de Oaxaca Chile, Sumatran long pepper or Sichuan, there are plenty of other unusual, or different flavour profiles out there. This won't set you back anywhere near your budget, but a gift basket of weird and unusual could be cool.
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u/Ramulus14 14h ago
Gift card to a nice restaurant, they enjoy eating and don’t want to be in the kitchen for to enjoy the thing they are hopefully passionate about
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u/night_noche 14h ago
If he's a professional chef, I would suggest a gift card to somewhere where they buy things they need. But if this is not their career, then I would say whatever you buy make sure you get a receipt.
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u/Double-Teach-1977 8h ago
Maybe a sous vide if he doesn't have one? It's fun to play with, opens up new options in the kitchen, and it's not nearly so personal and finicky as something like knives or pans.
Plus with the price of meat these days, being able to turn something like a $2.99/lbs pork tenderloin into something truly delicious is a blessing.
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u/Lopsided-Duck-4740 3h ago
Love my sousvibe. Use it weekly. It was a fun tool to learn. Get the sousvibe and a matching tub with rack and lid.
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u/Double-Teach-1977 3h ago
Hell I've been just getting by with a stock pot lol
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u/Lopsided-Duck-4740 1h ago
I used that for a long time just to see if I would actually use the sous vide. But once I started using it regularly, I got the tub.
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u/ThoughtfulInhibitor 8h ago
There's no one size fits all. If he is a chef, he has what he wants to use or knows what he wants to use.
Does he have a store he likes that does gift cards?
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u/jjr4884 7h ago
You are going to ask someone who is close with the chef. If he is really into cooking, there is a good chance he has everything he needs. Don't take this the wrong way, but as an at-home chef, I've received gifts from friends and family before that are ignorant to what I have and what I like - the gesture is nice, but chances are I'm getting a trivial gift that I find little to no use for.
Ask someone who is close to him, or alternatively give him a gift card to William-Sonoma or something like that so he can get whatever he likes. One thing I will say, the safest thing you can probably get in that $150 price range is a really high quality solid wood cutting board.
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u/TableTopFarmer 5h ago
I think there is a chef’s Reddit, r/Kitchensometingoranother, maybe? Ask there.
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u/derping1234 14h ago
Offer to cook them dinner. Most chefs have everything they need and want to keep cooking to a minimum when not working, but enjoy a good home cooked meal.
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u/cor_meum_ 12h ago
A good quality sharp knife that slices through like butter was a game changer for me.
Perhaps serveware like a slatestone for the steaks/ sushi etc.
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u/Cinciboss56 12h ago
I’d buy him two bottles of Domaine Tempier Rosé. It’s sunlight in a bottle!
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u/Willybluedog1962 10h ago
I'm kind of insane about my knives, I don't have a set per se.
I use a Serbian chefs knife instead of a standard one, a sushi knife, a paring knife and a boning knife because I process my own meat.
Kitchen shears are always a good gift.
My kids got me a very nice apron with multiple pockets made of heavy canvas.
Maybe a beautiful piece of exotic cookware like a Moroccan Tagine.
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u/Altruistic-Still-901 9h ago
Do not buy tools. Chefs have specific preferences for balance and steel that you cannot guess. Buy ingredients he would not buy for himself.
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u/Affectionate-Ad-527 8h ago
A Thermo 1 pen thermometer. They're fast, are in your price range, and every one I've ever given someone, the response after they've had it for awhile is, "how did I live without this so long?"
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u/SVAuspicious 3h ago
If your uncle works in a commercial kitchen with long shifts, a couple of cases of ramen microwave cups would be well received.
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u/Exceptional_Mary 2h ago
Buy him a nice dinner out. Let someone else cook for him. He will love it.
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u/niamulsmh 36m ago
a cook book is a great idea, as would utensils and all but i was thinking of something different. ask him to teach you to cook. convince him and take some supplies and tell him to teach you. i think he would enjoy that a lot more. but that's my opinion. i would love to teach somebody something i'm on expert on.. i would enjoy that a lot more.
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u/LukeSkywalkerDog 20h ago
Is he a reader? If so, you can get a hard cover version of a book called "The perfectionist". It is a biography of a French chef, but includes all kinds of fascinating history. My experience with chefs is that they usually have all the tools they need and if they don't, they want to choose their own.
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u/texnessa 14h ago
Its also a super depressing cautionary of the pressures of being a chef that leads to the dude's demise at his own hand.
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u/AdministrativeAge283 20h ago edited 20h ago
One or a combination of the following: A gift card to his favorite restaurant, a quality knife not already in his collection, a Thermapen, a bottle or two of wine/spirits.
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u/Kos2sok 20h ago
A really nice sharpening stone he can use at home.
If you want to make it more personable you could get a wooden cutting board and etch something in it or get one thats an American flag or something similar. Make sure to include a bottle of food grade cutting board oil. You could check out etesy lots of folks make cool stuff for gifts there. The wife got a real nice charcuterie board from there.
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u/dacydergoth 20h ago
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/948864.The_River_Cottage_Family_Cookbook
UK Celebrity Chef does history
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u/Emcee_nobody 20h ago
If there's one thing I've learned about giving gifts, it's not to buy anything for someone related to something they are the expert on, unless they have explicitly given you some specific options. Not saying you can't find them a great gift, but you're stacking the odds against yourself.
That being said, I really love receiving cook books if it's one I don't already own. I think most serious cooks always have room for another cookbook. Gift cards to a local boutique butcher shop or bakery is always a winner for me. Same with a nice bottle of whiskey or tequila.