PORTLAND, Oregon — We're deep into the gift buying time of the holidays. Cooking gadgets are always a great idea for anyone from college students to the best cooks. So we asked local store Kitchen Kaboodle to show us five things that would be a slam dunk as gifts.
Kitchen Kaboodle has four locations from Portland to Beaverton to Hillsboro. Paul Olguin at the Northeast Broadway store in Portland is our gift guide. Let the countdown begin!
1) Dutch oven
Staub 4qt, $99.99 on sale
"I'm partial to the red! These are made my Staub, a French company that's been making beautiful, enameled cast iron for many years," Olguin said. "You have the advantage of seeing what's cooking with a glass lid. It's a great gift for any cook. You can make stews and soups and even bake bread. A lot of people are bread bakers these days. It's something that's going to last for decades."
Staub makes the 4qt glass lid oven in seven colors.
2) A cast iron pan
Finex 12-inch skillet $230
"Finex, born and built right here in Portland, Oregon. These are gorgeous, heirloom cooking pieces," Olguin said. "This particular one is a 12-inch fry pan, it's made of cast iron, pre-seasoned, and it's got this beautifully designed handle and great innovation to have this octagonal shape which allows you to pour from any direction. They're durable and guaranteed forever. It's something you can buy, use for 30 years and then give it to your children to use for 30 years or longer."
3) Good, sharp knife
Zwilling 7-inch chef's knife $79.99 on sale
"This is a great size for most folks. This is an incredible value," said Olguin. "Normally a knife like this is close to $150, but we bought a whole bunch from Zwilling and they gave us an incredible price so we can offer it for $79.99. Really good knives are always the perfect gift for graduates or moms or dads or kids moving out on their own because they will tend not to spend what they need to spend for a really good knife."
4) Bundt cake pan
Nordic Ware $13-$40
"It's like bringing something special to a party. It's not jut a pan with a cake in it, it's a beautiful creation," said Olguin. "They've been around a long time. They're made by Nordic Ware which is a U.S. company and they're made in the U.S. They're beautiful, you can leave them out because they're so decorative."
You can even take boxed cake mix and just pour it inside and bake according to directions! Just make sure to cool the cake completely before turning it over and taking it out of the mold.
5) Kitchen drawer gadget
Spoonula $12.95
"This is called a Spoonula. It's a real useful tool in the kitchen because it has the quality of a spoon, but also is like a spatula so you can get all that sauce or batter out," Olguin said. "It's super easy to clean. It's made of silicone, so they're safe, really long lasting, very innovative. A great gadget for the cook who has everything."
