Christmas Gifts under $250...what are you wanting and what are you buying for others? (1 Viewer)

[Ministry of Pain]

I wanted to keep it under $100 so smaller items are welcome but it's hard to get all the kitchen gadgets at Williams-Sonoma with $100 ceiling.
We're not looking for 75 inch TVs and high end electronics here.
I have a couple smaller items to start with

Mando Whole Body Deodorant

Smell better naked! Mando Whole Body Deodorant is clinically proven to control odor for up to 72 hours on your pits, package, feet, and beyond. Try it in a Solid Stick, Invisible Cream 4-in-1 Bar, Body Wash, or Wipes.

shopmando.com

-The commercials have been spot on if not make you almost look away when the female who apparently started this line and I think has a woman's line where she is applying it under her arms, not pretty
Anyways, they seem to have a better product then a lot of the crap in your local drug stores. I'll admit I don't wear deodorant often, shower twice a day and anytime I exercise/work out. But some folks need it and might even re-apply. Also would make a good gift for a lot of different folks

-Remington Balder Pro

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

-Would not be something I would use BUT I know plenty of guys either bald or in between and something like this might push them into doing the right thing and shining that head up. I think men look pretty sharp that just shave it clean and are in relatively good shape, look they mean business. If I ever start losing mine, definitely not gonna do a comb over. We have a couple of guys in the tennis court that could really use these.

-Shark Steam MoP...yes MoP is making mop recommendations

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

-This thing is awesome, uses no chemicals. Only thing I would add is you might want to buy extra pads, it only comes with 2 and they are washable, you'll want to bleach them. Works on the kitchen floors, bathrooms, just about everywhere. There is a more expensive model that has attachments you might find useful but I like the base model. And if you have never used one of their vacuums, you are doing yourself a disservice.

That's a start, what you got?

 

[3C's]

what are you wanting? Nothing
what are you buying for others? Nothing

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Under the less than $250 rule:

buying for others : nothing
wanting: $249

 

[IvanKaramazov]

My wife replaced all of our cookware with ceramic cast-iron a few years ago. She does most of the cooking, and she likes that cookware, so that's great and I was highly supportive of her buying whatever she likes. The problem is that I absolutely hate cooking with this stuff. Specifically, the large skillet is way too heavy to cook with comfortably, the pot that she insists on using to cook pasta in (3 qt. sauce pot) is too small for that purpose, and clean-up is a bit of pain because of enamel coating. It's good Le Creucet cookware that she gradually pieced together from various sales over the years -- the issue is entirely my own personal preference. But the end result of all of this is that I barely cook anymore even though I used to sort-of enjoy it.

So I'm looking to shell out for some stainless steel that will get me back in the kitchen. Mrs. K is mostly a vegetarian, so I'm not looking to cook a lot of roasts or huge meals for a group of adults. Just (a) one-night things for me on nights or weekend afternoons when we do our own thing, which I imagine will normally be pan-cooking meat of some sort, and (b) stews, chilis, sauces, etc. that can be frozen.

Anyway, this set was highly recommended by the NYT and is only a touch outside the $250 cap. I'm going to sit tight for now and see if that or some similar set gets a sale, or maybe just assemble something piece-by-piece. I don't know that I really need a bunch of sauce pans (we do have those in cast iron), and it would make sense to go cheap on a stockpot. If they put skillets and the braising pan on sale, I might just go with those.

 

[Scoresman]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

My wife replaced all of our cookware with ceramic cast-iron a few years ago. She does most of the cooking, and she likes that cookware, so that's great and I was highly supportive of her buying whatever she likes. The problem is that I absolutely hate cooking with this stuff. Specifically, the large skillet is way too heavy to cook with comfortably, the pot that she insists on using to cook pasta in (3 qt. sauce pot) is too small for that purpose, and clean-up is a bit of pain because of enamel coating. It's good Le Creucet cookware that she gradually pieced together from various sales over the years -- the issue is entirely my own personal preference. But the end result of all of this is that I barely cook anymore even though I used to sort-of enjoy it.

So I'm looking to shell out for some stainless steel that will get me back in the kitchen. Mrs. K is mostly a vegetarian, so I'm not looking to cook a lot of roasts or huge meals for a group of adults. Just (a) one-night things for me on nights or weekend afternoons when we do our own thing, which I imagine will normally be pan-cooking meat of some sort, and (b) stews, chilis, sauces, etc. that can be frozen.

Anyway, this set was highly recommended by the NYT and is only a touch outside the $250 cap. I'm going to sit tight for now and see if that or some similar set gets a sale, or maybe just assemble something piece-by-piece. I don't know that I really need a bunch of sauce pans (we do have those in cast iron), and it would make sense to go cheap on a stockpot. If they put skillets and the braising pan on sale, I might just go with those.

Gas stove top?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

I cook everything in the Wok, chicken cutlets come out great, filet mignon makes us never look to eat out at a steakhouse, they rock.
Lots of different kind to choose from
And we also do popcorn over the stove top with it, might be favorite thing to use it for

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Good thread idea Mop. I almost started the same thread about an hour ago.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

My wife replaced all of our cookware with ceramic cast-iron a few years ago. She does most of the cooking, and she likes that cookware, so that's great and I was highly supportive of her buying whatever she likes. The problem is that I absolutely hate cooking with this stuff. Specifically, the large skillet is way too heavy to cook with comfortably, the pot that she insists on using to cook pasta in (3 qt. sauce pot) is too small for that purpose, and clean-up is a bit of pain because of enamel coating. It's good Le Creucet cookware that she gradually pieced together from various sales over the years -- the issue is entirely my own personal preference. But the end result of all of this is that I barely cook anymore even though I used to sort-of enjoy it.

So I'm looking to shell out for some stainless steel that will get me back in the kitchen. Mrs. K is mostly a vegetarian, so I'm not looking to cook a lot of roasts or huge meals for a group of adults. Just (a) one-night things for me on nights or weekend afternoons when we do our own thing, which I imagine will normally be pan-cooking meat of some sort, and (b) stews, chilis, sauces, etc. that can be frozen.

Anyway, this set was highly recommended by the NYT and is only a touch outside the $250 cap. I'm going to sit tight for now and see if that or some similar set gets a sale, or maybe just assemble something piece-by-piece. I don't know that I really need a bunch of sauce pans (we do have those in cast iron), and it would make sense to go cheap on a stockpot. If they put skillets and the braising pan on sale, I might just go with those.

Gas stove top?

No, it's electric. For some reason, Mrs. K was adamantly opposed to switching to gas when we built a new place a few years ago*. I went along with it because I didn't really care that much, but in hindsight I should have pushed on this one.

* The reason for her opposition was "I don't want to have to learn to cook with gas -- let's just stick with what we know." It wasn't a rational, well-thought-out concern, but like I said I just didn't care as much as she did about it. (She routinely bends on other issues where I care more about it than her. I just realize now that I should have cared more about our choice of range.)

 

[Chaos34]

I just ordered 7 of these knives.

My BiL gave me something similar last Christmas. A Viking Knife. He received one free, fell in love with it, knew I like knives and told me I'd love it. I do. It's a beast. I reach for it more than any knife and I have some very high end kitchen knives. It really surprised me.

5 of the ones I just ordered are going to married adult nephews and their wives. One to the BiL. I'll keep one. Kiritsukes are my favorite Japanese blade profile. This one looks pretty cool. I know the boys will dig it. They're kind of into swords and blades and stuff because of video game they play together. And to be a little nerdy - 9CR18MOV is a very nice steel used in $100+ dollar pocket knives. Neat gift, great price atm.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

I just ordered 7 of these knives.

My BiL gave me something similar last Christmas. A Viking Knife. He received one free, fell in love with it, knew I like knives and told me I'd love it. I do. It's a beast. I reach for it more than any knife and I have some very high end kitchen knives. It really surprised me.

5 of the ones I just ordered are going to married adult nephews and their wives. One to the BiL. I'll keep one. Kiritsukes are my favorite Japanese blade profile. This one looks pretty cool. I know the boys will dig it. They're kind of into swords and blades and stuff because of video game they play together. And to be a little nerdy - 9CR18MOV is a very nice steel used in $100+ dollar pocket knives. Neat gift, great price atm.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, I have a wedding for late March, any of these dates will do for those knives, good find.
$100 is not uncommon for a good kitchen knife, that may even be on the average to cheaper side

 

[Grahamburn]

If we all quit buying crap we didn’t need maybe prices of said crap would go down some?

 

[SWC]

My wife replaced all of our cookware with ceramic cast-iron a few years ago. She does most of the cooking, and she likes that cookware, so that's great and I was highly supportive of her buying whatever she likes. The problem is that I absolutely hate cooking with this stuff. Specifically, the large skillet is way too heavy to cook with comfortably, the pot that she insists on using to cook pasta in (3 qt. sauce pot) is too small for that purpose, and clean-up is a bit of pain because of enamel coating. It's good Le Creucet cookware that she gradually pieced together from various sales over the years -- the issue is entirely my own personal preference. But the end result of all of this is that I barely cook anymore even though I used to sort-of enjoy it.

So I'm looking to shell out for some stainless steel that will get me back in the kitchen. Mrs. K is mostly a vegetarian, so I'm not looking to cook a lot of roasts or huge meals for a group of adults. Just (a) one-night things for me on nights or weekend afternoons when we do our own thing, which I imagine will normally be pan-cooking meat of some sort, and (b) stews, chilis, sauces, etc. that can be frozen.

Anyway, this set was highly recommended by the NYT and is only a touch outside the $250 cap. I'm going to sit tight for now and see if that or some similar set gets a sale, or maybe just assemble something piece-by-piece. I don't know that I really need a bunch of sauce pans (we do have those in cast iron), and it would make sense to go cheap on a stockpot. If they put skillets and the braising pan on sale, I might just go with those.

can you use induction ready stuff on a regular stove top or what take that to the bank bromigo

 

[dino259]

My wife replaced all of our cookware with ceramic cast-iron a few years ago. She does most of the cooking, and she likes that cookware, so that's great and I was highly supportive of her buying whatever she likes. The problem is that I absolutely hate cooking with this stuff. Specifically, the large skillet is way too heavy to cook with comfortably, the pot that she insists on using to cook pasta in (3 qt. sauce pot) is too small for that purpose, and clean-up is a bit of pain because of enamel coating. It's good Le Creucet cookware that she gradually pieced together from various sales over the years -- the issue is entirely my own personal preference. But the end result of all of this is that I barely cook anymore even though I used to sort-of enjoy it.

So I'm looking to shell out for some stainless steel that will get me back in the kitchen. Mrs. K is mostly a vegetarian, so I'm not looking to cook a lot of roasts or huge meals for a group of adults. Just (a) one-night things for me on nights or weekend afternoons when we do our own thing, which I imagine will normally be pan-cooking meat of some sort, and (b) stews, chilis, sauces, etc. that can be frozen.

Anyway, this set was highly recommended by the NYT and is only a touch outside the $250 cap. I'm going to sit tight for now and see if that or some similar set gets a sale, or maybe just assemble something piece-by-piece. I don't know that I really need a bunch of sauce pans (we do have those in cast iron), and it would make sense to go cheap on a stockpot. If they put skillets and the braising pan on sale, I might just go with those.

can you use induction ready stuff on a regular stove top or what take that to the bank bromigo

Yes, Induction stove tops are the ones were everything doesn't work.

 

[snellman]

I wanted to keep it under $100 so smaller items are welcome but it's hard to get all the kitchen gadgets at Williams-Sonoma with $100 ceiling.
We're not looking for 75 inch TVs and high end electronics here.
I have a couple smaller items to start with


-Remington Balder Pro

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

-Would not be something I would use BUT I know plenty of guys either bald or in between and something like this might push them into doing the right thing and shining that head up. I think men look pretty sharp that just shave it clean and are in relatively good shape, look they mean business. If I ever start losing mine, definitely not gonna do a comb over. We have a couple of guys in the tennis court that could really use these.

Let me know how this works. I have tried multiple electric razors and none of them seem to quite do the trick. Nothing beats cream and a good old fashioned razor. Of course every once in a while I will take a 1/4" x 1=2" chunk of skin off my head with a new razor, but not very often.

 

[Snoopy]

I am assuming by using the 250 mark, you are talking about pesos, which also uses the $ sign, or 14.19 US dollars.

 

[AAABatteries]

Gift for Wife- $250 - $37k - new car I just bought - kill me
Me - $250 worth of whiskey so I forget I just spent 37k on a car

 

[Ron Swanson]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

The best woks are actually pretty inexpensive carbon steel woks. Check out :

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

 

[SFBayDuck]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

The best woks are actually pretty inexpensive carbon steel woks. Check out :

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

I assume you need a flat bottomed wok to work with a normal stove, no? Never have had one, but watching cooking shows the round bottomed ones always have a custom, gas fired burner.

 

[Chaos34]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

The best woks are actually pretty inexpensive carbon steel woks. Check out :

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

I assume you need a flat bottomed wok to work with a normal stove, no? Never have had one, but watching cooking shows the round bottomed ones always have a custom, gas fired burner.

I use a flat bottomed wok more than any pan I own, but using a round bottom with a wok ring is simple enough.

 

[Ron Swanson]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

The best woks are actually pretty inexpensive carbon steel woks. Check out :

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

I assume you need a flat bottomed wok to work with a normal stove, no? Never have had one, but watching cooking shows the round bottomed ones always have a custom, gas fired burner.

That or a ring or jet burner. I'm fortunate that I have a stove with a crazy hot burner that allows me to remove the grate and drop a round bottom wok right in.

Frankly, if you have electric I wouldn't bother using a wok on that. Get a gas powered jet burner for it. The magic of the wok (wok-hee or something like that) requires very high heat.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

The best woks are actually pretty inexpensive carbon steel woks. Check out :

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

I assume you need a flat bottomed wok to work with a normal stove, no? Never have had one, but watching cooking shows the round bottomed ones always have a custom, gas fired burner.

I use a flat bottomed wok more than any pan I own, but using a round bottom with a wok ring is simple enough.

Really good ones are not that expensive and they do absolute wonders with all kinds of food, not every dish you make needs to be Asian cuisine

 

[SFBayDuck]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

The best woks are actually pretty inexpensive carbon steel woks. Check out :

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

I assume you need a flat bottomed wok to work with a normal stove, no? Never have had one, but watching cooking shows the round bottomed ones always have a custom, gas fired burner.

That or a ring or jet burner. I'm fortunate that I have a stove with a crazy hot burner that allows me to remove the grate and drop a round bottom wok right in.

Frankly, if you have electric I wouldn't bother using a wok on that. Get a gas powered jet burner for it. The magic of the wok (wok-hee or something like that) requires very high heat.

We have electric not gas stove, so that's the other issue. Might have to look into a "jet burner".

 

[mr. furley]

asking for car seat covers. my upholstery (yes, it's not leather) gets stained by water. it's horrible. got the car when the kids were young and they just destroyed the back seats. nothing can clean them. it's embarrassing.

even water leaves a stain. it's unbelievable.

 

[Chaos34]

asking for car seat covers. my upholstery (yes, it's not leather) gets stained by water. it's horrible. got the car when the kids were young and they just destroyed the back seats. nothing can clean them. it's embarrassing.

even water leaves a stain. it's unbelievable.

my first thought was, hey that's a job for ebay...

yup

 

[Keerock]

Thought this was a cool, unique gift.

Looks like you can get a 5-pack at a discount too.

 

[HellToupee]

Thought this was a cool, unique gift.

Looks like you can get a 5-pack at a discount too.

Thanks I just bought 3 sets. They look really nice and it’s a great idea. Saw a couple of videos and the card stock looks like they are good quality
Preview video
Quick 1 minute review

 

[Chaos34]

Thought this was a cool, unique gift.

Looks like you can get a 5-pack at a discount too.

Good one. I ordered them from the guy's webpage (2nd link, but not the five pack). I mentioned in the coffee thread my kid bartends. She learned in a closed bar during big isolation. So many drinks I've never heard of are popular now, I wonder if this 100 recipes will be current or useful to her, but it doesn't matter. My favorite my kid's a bartender story goes like this. She came home from 12 hours learning in the closed bar and said, "Dad, have you ever had a Vegas Bomb?" I said no, I'd never heard of it and asked what was in it. She told me and I said it sounded good, but could she make a gin and tonic. She said no, how do you make those? It still makes me laugh. She'll love the cards even if they don't have the recipe for an Adios MFer.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

asking for car seat covers. my upholstery (yes, it's not leather) gets stained by water. it's horrible. got the car when the kids were young and they just destroyed the back seats. nothing can clean them. it's embarrassing.

even water leaves a stain. it's unbelievable.

I have seen some that go right over the head rest and just hand down almost like a towel. I really need them coming home form tennis
I have turned the beautiful white pebble leather in my Volvo into a darker shade of sweat is several spots/areas, it was a losing proposition when I bought it.

 

[cosjobs]

I've been looking at propane griddles. THis seems a small footprint, but still a nice sized flat top In store its only $129

43" QLED 4K UHD from TCL. Amazing pic for a 43" $190 with 3 yr warranty. 43 is a really good size because of its portability. I put it next to my main tv so I can watch redzone and my favorite game of the day at the same time

Wirecutter says this is the best knife sharpener.

 

[belljr]

I've been looking at propane griddles. THis seems a small footprint, but still a nice sized flat top In store its only $129

43" QLED 4K UHD from TCL. Amazing pic for a 43" $190 with 3 yr warranty. 43 is a really good size because of its portability. I put it next to my main tv so I can watch redzone and my favorite game of the day at the same time

Wirecutter says this is the best knife sharpener.

Blackstone are awesome

 

[cosjobs]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

The best woks are actually pretty inexpensive carbon steel woks. Check out :

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

I assume you need a flat bottomed wok to work with a normal stove, no? Never have had one, but watching cooking shows the round bottomed ones always have a custom, gas fired burner.

I use a flat bottomed wok more than any pan I own, but using a round bottom with a wok ring is simple enough.

Much cheaper and probably restaurant quality

 

[cosjobs]

My wife replaced all of our cookware with ceramic cast-iron a few years ago. She does most of the cooking, and she likes that cookware, so that's great and I was highly supportive of her buying whatever she likes. The problem is that I absolutely hate cooking with this stuff. Specifically, the large skillet is way too heavy to cook with comfortably, the pot that she insists on using to cook pasta in (3 qt. sauce pot) is too small for that purpose, and clean-up is a bit of pain because of enamel coating. It's good Le Creucet cookware that she gradually pieced together from various sales over the years -- the issue is entirely my own personal preference. But the end result of all of this is that I barely cook anymore even though I used to sort-of enjoy it.

So I'm looking to shell out for some stainless steel that will get me back in the kitchen. Mrs. K is mostly a vegetarian, so I'm not looking to cook a lot of roasts or huge meals for a group of adults. Just (a) one-night things for me on nights or weekend afternoons when we do our own thing, which I imagine will normally be pan-cooking meat of some sort, and (b) stews, chilis, sauces, etc. that can be frozen.

Anyway, this set was highly recommended by the NYT and is only a touch outside the $250 cap. I'm going to sit tight for now and see if that or some similar set gets a sale, or maybe just assemble something piece-by-piece. I don't know that I really need a bunch of sauce pans (we do have those in cast iron), and it would make sense to go cheap on a stockpot. If they put skillets and the braising pan on sale, I might just go with those.

Try these. High quality, no glamor.They usually last me five years. THese are the pans you need to be nimble with and they all fit in the sliding drawer under my oven. I do 90% of my cooking with these.Probably use them (or one of them) 10 times a week. I don't prefer heavy cookware, but its mostly the pans that aggravate me, the pots i can deal with.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

I've been looking at propane griddles. THis seems a small footprint, but still a nice sized flat top In store its only $129

43" QLED 4K UHD from TCL. Amazing pic for a 43" $190 with 3 yr warranty. 43 is a really good size because of its portability. I put it next to my main tv so I can watch redzone and my favorite game of the day at the same time

Wirecutter says this is the best knife sharpener.

My son has the full size Blackstone, he loves it.
It's like a big griddle like you might see in a diner, he makes everything from breakfast to chicken cutlets to grilled veggies, it does it all

 

[FatMax]

I wanted to keep it under $100 so smaller items are welcome but it's hard to get all the kitchen gadgets at Williams-Sonoma with $100 ceiling.
We're not looking for 75 inch TVs and high end electronics here.
I have a couple smaller items to start with


-Remington Balder Pro

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

-Would not be something I would use BUT I know plenty of guys either bald or in between and something like this might push them into doing the right thing and shining that head up. I think men look pretty sharp that just shave it clean and are in relatively good shape, look they mean business. If I ever start losing mine, definitely not gonna do a comb over. We have a couple of guys in the tennis court that could really use these.

Let me know how this works. I have tried multiple electric razors and none of them seem to quite do the trick. Nothing beats cream and a good old fashioned razor. Of course every once in a while I will take a 1/4" x 1=2" chunk of skin off my head with a new razor, but not very often.

I'm curious as well. I (ok, my wife) normally just goes over everything with clippers and no guard. But a shave is so nice, it's just a PIA

 

[Ministry of Pain]

If anyone has a good recommendation for a coffee bean grinder, had a Bosch we liked but it got abused.
Does not have to be the fanciest but easy to use and clean out once in a while would be ideal.

 

[Psychopav]

If anyone has a good recommendation for a coffee bean grinder, had a Bosch we liked but it got abused.
Does not have to be the fanciest but easy to use and clean out once in a while would be ideal.

We've used this one for the last probably 20 years. I think we're on our second one.

 

[Psychopav]

Here's what I want.

 

[Chaos34]

If anyone has a good recommendation for a coffee bean grinder, had a Bosch we liked but it got abused.
Does not have to be the fanciest but easy to use and clean out once in a while would be ideal.

I linked to these in the coffee thread a couple times. I doubt they're the be all end all grinders, but I can vouch for them. Bodum is a good coffee gear company.

budget

higher quality

The budget burr grinder has been a trooper. I ordered a new one last week, cuz mine is worn out after ten years. I've owned both. Like 'em.

 

[Psychopav]

If anyone has a good recommendation for a coffee bean grinder, had a Bosch we liked but it got abused.
Does not have to be the fanciest but easy to use and clean out once in a while would be ideal.

I linked to these in the coffee thread a couple times. I doubt they're the be all end all grinders, but I can vouch for them. Bodum is a good coffee gear company.

budget

higher quality

The budget burr grinder has been a trooper. I ordered a new one last week, cuz mine is worn out after ten years. I've owned both. Like 'em.

[snob]No offense, but I like my budget grinder better than yours. It's cheaper, has better reviews, appears to be equally rugged, and automatically stops when it's done based on the grind and brew sizes you set.[/snob]

 

[Psychopav]

Heh. I said "no offense but" lol. I'm THAT guy now.

 

[Brony]

This year I asked for a sous vide setup, a nice wok, and home depot gift cards for some raised vegetable gardens next year.

The best woks are actually pretty inexpensive carbon steel woks. Check out :

Site is undergoing maintenance

Site will be available soon. Thank you for your patience! Please try out our new site.

www.wokshop.com

I assume you need a flat bottomed wok to work with a normal stove, no? Never have had one, but watching cooking shows the round bottomed ones always have a custom, gas fired burner.

Flat bottomed woks make the rocking world go round.

 

[stbugs]

My wife replaced all of our cookware with ceramic cast-iron a few years ago. She does most of the cooking, and she likes that cookware, so that's great and I was highly supportive of her buying whatever she likes. The problem is that I absolutely hate cooking with this stuff. Specifically, the large skillet is way too heavy to cook with comfortably, the pot that she insists on using to cook pasta in (3 qt. sauce pot) is too small for that purpose, and clean-up is a bit of pain because of enamel coating. It's good Le Creucet cookware that she gradually pieced together from various sales over the years -- the issue is entirely my own personal preference. But the end result of all of this is that I barely cook anymore even though I used to sort-of enjoy it.

So I'm looking to shell out for some stainless steel that will get me back in the kitchen. Mrs. K is mostly a vegetarian, so I'm not looking to cook a lot of roasts or huge meals for a group of adults. Just (a) one-night things for me on nights or weekend afternoons when we do our own thing, which I imagine will normally be pan-cooking meat of some sort, and (b) stews, chilis, sauces, etc. that can be frozen.

Anyway, this set was highly recommended by the NYT and is only a touch outside the $250 cap. I'm going to sit tight for now and see if that or some similar set gets a sale, or maybe just assemble something piece-by-piece. I don't know that I really need a bunch of sauce pans (we do have those in cast iron), and it would make sense to go cheap on a stockpot. If they put skillets and the braising pan on sale, I might just go with those.

I highly recommend that brand. I’m 99% sure we have the big pots. I bought them at Costco, a set of 2 of the larger pots. I think we’ve had them for maybe about a decade. We had Calphalon or whatever the spelling is from out wedding, but these are better. Easy to clean and you’d never think they are old. We’ve never had the pans so not sure. Might be worth getting as our current T-Fals are getting long in the tooth. They were 3 pans for $20 at Costco. My wife and youngest son use them all the time. I may have to look at Costco again and see if they have the stainless steel pans.

 

[Chaos34]

If anyone has a good recommendation for a coffee bean grinder, had a Bosch we liked but it got abused.
Does not have to be the fanciest but easy to use and clean out once in a while would be ideal.

I linked to these in the coffee thread a couple times. I doubt they're the be all end all grinders, but I can vouch for them. Bodum is a good coffee gear company.

budget

higher quality

The budget burr grinder has been a trooper. I ordered a new one last week, cuz mine is worn out after ten years. I've owned both. Like 'em.

[snob]No offense, but I like my budget grinder better than yours. It's cheaper, has better reviews, appears to be equally rugged, and automatically stops when it's done based on the grind and brew sizes you set.[/snob]

lol, well yours is a blade grinder, sorry. not even a good comparison. burr grinders are always far better. /snobbier

 

[Chaos34]

my carbon steel woks are an incredibly cheap hack i'm almost embarrassed to share here, but they are excellent and more non sticky than any pans i've owned. but i am in need of regular pans atm, so i guess i'll use my sister's costco membership and give those a go. this thread is getting expensive one little budget buy at a time. :/

 

[Chaos34]

Heh. I said "no offense but" lol. I'm THAT guy now.

nah, you can't offend me here. all good.

 

[Chaos34]

Try these. High quality, no glamor.They usually last me five years. THese are the pans you need to be nimble with and they all fit in the sliding drawer under my oven. I do 90% of my cooking with these.Probably use them (or one of them) 10 times a week. I don't prefer heavy cookware, but its mostly the pans that aggravate me, the pots i can deal with.

Just noticed your link. i love scrolling thru restaurant supply sales at webstaurant and katom. definitely save money and get no nonsense built for the grind gear at great prices. my wok hack is even cheaper, but it requires some diy.

and i changed my mind on the costco pans. i'll use a restaurant supply for carbon steel pans and do the seasoning thing to get them non-sticking.

 

[berndog]

asking for car seat covers. my upholstery (yes, it's not leather) gets stained by water. it's horrible. got the car when the kids were young and they just destroyed the back seats. nothing can clean them. it's embarrassing.

even water leaves a stain. it's unbelievable.

I was in a similar spot with the cloth seats in my Tacoma. I ordered seat covers from this company 4 years ago and am very happy
Seat covers

 

[belljr]

Too late now but all you non leather seat people just buy cans of Scotch guard.

Apply everything 3 months or so easy peasy

 

[Chaos34]

my carbon steel woks are an incredibly cheap hack i'm almost embarrassed to share here...

Wth, I'm bored. I'll share because I've decided to hack three and give them to my sisters. One sister loves mine, so here's my incredibly cheap wok. I bought the first one cuz $5.76. Why not? It felt a little heavy and I understood the teflon wasn't going to last at that price, and I understand teflon is a bad idea for high heat wok-ing. So I didn't use it for stir fries and such.

Here's what I like about them. The handles. Nice to have two handles on big old 14 inchers. Handles have been the fail on all of my cheap-ish carbon steel woks. If not for discovering this dude, my next one would have been a welded handle from a restaurant supply. But these handles haven't budged. They are sturdy and already long-lasting. The size. 13.75" is perfect for me. 12s have been a little small. I have considered a 16, but then I found these. Carbon steel. Most of the teflon coated pans in the world are aluminum or stainless. Carbon steel is by far best for a wok. The flat bottom. I prefer flat to round but the cheap-ish flat ones I've had haven't been perfectly flat. This causes hot spots and possibly wobble. These are dead flat reminiscent of much more expensive woks. I also find the diameter of the flat bottom perfect. Some are smaller making the wok a bit unsteady. Some are bigger making the wok not so wokky. The weight. They are not heavy like some French carbon steel pans, but they're not super light like cheap-ish carbon steel woks. The weight is again reminiscent of high end gear.

The hack. When the teflon started failing, I realized I had a nice carbon steel wok under it and googled removing teflon from pans. It's simple and kind of strange. Coat it with Drano gel, put it in a bag, wait a few days and voila; it comes off no problem. The result was way better than what i saw on the google search. Not exaggerating, literally, a near mirror finish. It is lightly textured to help the teflon stick, but being so cheap, not nearly as textured as more expensive coated pans. I used a wet sanding sponge for metal at 400 grit and it wasn't a near mirror finish. It was as bright, shiny and smooth as any mirror. Crazy. Beautiful. Looked like a $200 pan. So I put it on the rocket stove outside and super-heated it. It blued. Like French armor from the middle ages. This blue carbon steel Made In wok was chosen as wok of the year somewhere. I think I prefer Walmarts sub $7 wok hacked. The blue remains gorgeous on the outside. The insides are now properly seasoned. Easily the most slippery pans I've ever had.

The problem. They may have been discontinued. I checked online before going to get them and it said out of stock. I hurried to my Walmart. Bought the last four. The price went up a dollar. $6.88.

I suspect few of you read all this and none of you will do it. Who knows? Maybe they're unavailable to you. But I think @Ron Swanson might be a good candidate for giving this a try. Wok Hei!! I yell that when I toss the food in my wok and get the flames right.