Tips on cooking toolset as present for a friend

diogobotelho

Hi everyone,

Not sure this is the right place to ask this, but couldn't find a more appropriate one.

A good friend of mine's birthday is coming soon and, since he's really into cooking, me and a couple of his friends are thinking about gifting him a nice cooking toolset, so he can take it to the next level.

Since I'm really more into eating than cooking myself, I'm a bit lost on where to start:
- Is there such a thing as a complete (yet still affordable) toolkit? Or,
- Should I look more at specific stuff, like a knife set? Any other ideas of what's something really cool to gift a amateur chef?
- Should I order it online or are there specialized stores in town (Dublin) that I should look into?

Appreciate any pointer in the right direction here

Thanks,
Diogo

RasTa

Budget?

diogobotelho

Hi RasTA, not entirely sure I'm tempted to say up to 100€, but without a benchmark, this is flexible: if there's something nice for less, we'll obviously consider it. If, on the other hand, we can get something really nice for a bit more, we'll consider it and see if we can bear the effort.

Psychologeeee

I would imagine if he is into cooking, he probably had a few pieces of kit! What about something from the Joseph Joseph range? The nesting bowls are very handy.

Pkiernan

If budget is 100, then I'd spend it all on one chef knife. Best tool on the kitchen and 100 euro will get a reasonable one.

Tigger

Pkiernan wrote: »

If budget is 100, then I'd spend it all on one chef knife. Best tool on the kitchen and 100 euro will get a reasonable one.

https://www.nisbets.ie/victorinox-wooden-handled-chefs-knife-255cm/p_c43

i reccoment this

diogobotelho

Thanks everyone for the comments and recommendations!

I like the good knife idea and Tigger's recommendation would be nicely within our price range and still allow us to engrave his initials. Was also thinking of throwing in a knife pouch, so we could even carry it - thoughts?

BailMeOut

+1 on a good chef's knife but with a steel as well. You should be able to get both for €100.

Delphinium

Agree with knife. But some people are superstitious about getting knives or blades as presents. Can't understand it myself but was warned off from buying them more than once and quite recently. People are odd.

Dubl07

Delphinium wrote: »

Agree with knife. But some people are superstitious about getting knives or blades as presents. Can't understand it myself but was warned off from buying them more than once and quite recently. People are odd.

I was told that giving a knife severs a friendship. It's like giving an empty wallet. With either you also need to give a coin as a token to Hansel the gift.

Subzero3

What type off cooking would they be into. Some people like baking cakes and decorating. You could buy a set for decorating fondant icing to make nice pastries and cakes for special occasions.

If you are going to get a knife I recommend Victornox. Swiss made and can be bought in good catering/hotel supply stores. The Victornox santoku knife would make a nice gift.

If you have loads of money buy a kitchen aid which would last a lifetime

diogobotelho

BailMeOut wrote: »

+1 on a good chef's knife but with a steel as well. You should be able to get both for €100.

What's the "steel" in this case?

Dubl07 wrote: »

I was told that giving a knife severs a friendship. It's like giving an empty wallet. With either you also need to give a coin as a token to Hansel the gift.

@Delphinium @Dubl07 that's really interesting, had no idea :O I'll try to understand if he's superstitious (I'm not).

Subzero3 wrote: »

What type off cooking would they be into. Some people like baking cakes and decorating. You could buy a set for decorating fondant icing to make nice pastries and cakes for special occasions.

If you are going to get a knife I recommend Victornox. Swiss made and can be bought in good catering/hotel supply stores. The Victornox santoku knife would make a nice gift.

If you have loads of money buy a kitchen aid which would last a lifetime

@Subzero3 he's not really into baking, more savory cooking

Regarding the Victorinox, can someone help me understand what's the difference between the "normal" Chef's knife and the Santoku? Also, does the size of the knife matter (like, 18 vs 20.5 vs 25.5cm)?

the beer revolu

I'd be wary. Knives are such a personal thing. He could already have his perfect knife.

While the chef's Victorianox mentioned earlier is a fine knife, if it was given to me, it would be wasted as I just wouldn't use it.

I'd be looking at a voucher for a really good kitchen shop.

BailMeOut

diogobotelho wrote: »

What's the "steel" in this case?

There is no point having a very good knife if you cannot keep an edge on it. Looks like this.

RasTa

When I bought my Kamata they said you should only sharpen it every 6 months or so. I just drop mine into Sweeney's who sharpen for €2.50

BailMeOut

RasTa wrote: »

When I bought my Kamata they said you should only sharpen it every 6 months or so. I just drop mine into Sweeney's who sharpen for €2.50

correct but you do not use a steel to sharpen your knife, it just keeps it sharp.

RasTa

I don't know enough about sharpening to risk ruining this knife. It's always sharp which is a bonus.

arian

Dubl07 wrote: »

I was told that giving a knife severs a friendship. It's like giving an empty wallet. With either you also need to give a coin as a token to Hansel the gift.

The superstition I was told was that the recipient should "pay" the giver with a small value coin (some people say a silver coin) so they were "buying" the knife and the bonds of friendship wouldn't be cut.

Dubl07

arian wrote: »

The superstition I was told was that the recipient should "pay" the giver with a small value coin (some people say a silver coin) so they were "buying" the knife and the bonds of friendship wouldn't be cut.

Makes absolute sense. It was a since-deceased relative who told me the other version.

Tigger

arian wrote: »

The superstition I was told was that the recipient should "pay" the giver with a small value coin (some people say a silver coin) so they were "buying" the knife and the bonds of friendship wouldn't be cut.

yeah i make knives for friends and i always get them to give me a coin first

Subzero3

In Poland the superstition goes that you can't buy your partner shoes or they will run away from you. My oh has about 10 pairs from me so they don't always come true!

Dial Hard

People are strange. I love getting knives as gifts.

diogobotelho

Thanks everyone for the tips. In the meantime the plot took an interesting twist: He himself ordered a chef's knife as a birthday gift for himself.

So good news is: we got it exactly right on what gift to get him. Bad news is that he beat us to it, haha.

Now thinking about cooking classes/workshop. Any recommendations?

FYI, in case anyone's interested, he got a pretty good deal: €103 for the Kamikoto 7-inch Santoku knife, down from €605. Deal on the Kamikoto website directly (can't seem to be able to post links, but it's easy to find the deal)

RasTa

Tell him to cancel his order as that's a scam

diogobotelho

RasTa wrote: »

Tell him to cancel his order as that's a scam

Really? It's on their official website though...

RasTa

It's a fake site, no address for the premises even. All the reviews are fake etc

BailMeOut

RasTa wrote: »

It's a fake site, no address for the premises even. All the reviews are fake etc

I believe he will get the knife for €103 but the knife itself will be a fake. Some reviews on Reddit say the fake knife if actually quite good but who knows if those posts are real.

RasTa

Yeah even the discount should be enough to know

diogobotelho

Oh you're right, found plenty articles and reddit threads mentioning this being a scam. Thanks for flagging!

matban

Get him a mandolin V-slicer

Great kitchen tool, I use mine nearly every time I cook.

Search for "Borner V5 PowerLine vegetable slicer" on Amazon.

They are dangerous items however, this one comes with a safety device to store the blades, also a hand protector for the actual slicing bit

Tree

matban wrote: »

Get him a mandolin V-slicer

Great kitchen tool, I use mine nearly every time I cook.

Search for "Borner V5 PowerLine vegetable slicer" on Amazon.

They are dangerous items however, this one comes with a safety device to store the blades, also a hand protector for the actual slicing bit

If you're getting them a mandoline (and I got one recently, they're more useful than i thought), get them cut resistant gloves, they're magic.