This years Holiday Gift guide includes stocking stuffers, as well as homemade gifts for the gourmand who loves to cook outdoors.
OMG the Holidays have snuck up on us again. What are you going to get that person that has everything? Or the foodie who loves gadgets? Or the cook who loves cooking over live fire? Here is my 2013 gift guide for the fire obsessed foodies in your life. Everything on this list I have tested and recommend!
This year I’ve separated everything out in price brackets to make it even easier:
Stocking Stuffers (Gifts under $50)
My cast iron grates make it easy to grill on the coals and on the grates at the same time since different pieces can be removed to get to the coals
The Time Stick– No need to use your phone to keep track of time anymore! This is a neat timer with count up and down feature with alarm that you can hang around your neck while cooking. It is water resistant and easily fits in your pocket or attaches to the fridge via magnet.
Cast Iron Grill Grates– I put these in my gift guide ever year because they are awesome! They maintain heat well, come already seasoned, and leave awesome char marks!
Bourbon Smoked Spices– cooking with spices smoked in bourbon barrels takes everything you cook to the next level. I recommend these spices to everyone I meat and often leave them as a parting gift when people have me over for dinner.
Outdoor Gourmet Grilling Planks– sustainably sourced wood grilling planks from Idaho. Check out their new Fromagier line made especially for smoking cheese! Wouldn’t that be a super cool thing to serve at this year’s Superbowl party!?
Nitrate and MSG Free Grass Fed Beef Jerky – I love any kind of jerky, but the stuff that goes into your average beef jerky is HORRIBLE for you. Steve’s Paleo goods makes beef jerky you can feel good about putting into your body, plus a percrentage goes to charity!
On the Nice List (Gifts from $50- $150)
This thermometer will keep all your cooking conquests on track! No under or over cooking ever!
Chef Alarm– The Chef Alarm is the Thermometer that will NOT let you burn the turkey this year as it constantly monitors the internal temperature temperature of your meat, and the oven/grill you are cooking it in. This thermometer literally takes the guess work out of cooking anything as it will alert you of minimal and maximum cooking temps so you can consistently monitor temp to do anything from making yogurt, sous vide or even smoking a brisket.
ThermaPen – the instant read internal read ThermaPen, used by foodies and BBQ aficionados everywhere is the thermometer I put on my list every year because it is the BOMB! Always know when to pull off your meat with this tool so you never under/over cook anything again!!
Prime Beef, Grass Fed artisanal butchery delivered to your door via Genuine Choice– I’ve been much more
Here I am smoking Grass Fed Beef shortribs from Genuine Choice. These were DELISH!
conscious lately of what I’m putting into my body and what to eat for optimal health and Genuine Choice is artisanal, organic meat delivered straight to your door. I recently just smoked some of their Grass Fed Beef short ribs- OMG!! It was like having the tenderness and flavor of smoked meat, with the meatiness of a steak.
Looftlighter
-the loof lighter is one of the coolest gadgets I own. It looks like a huge barrel curling iron, but it can help you ingite charcoal in about 1 minute and 30 seconds. If you love playing with fire, which you probably do if you are reading this, then you will enjoy using the Looflighter
Santa Really Loves You this Year ($150 +)
The FlameBoss is the perfect tool for someone who needs to maintain steady control of their grill or smoker’s temperature to ensure no fluctuations.
Flame Boss Grill & Smoker Temperature Controller 
– the Flame Boss is THE gadget to have for someone who does a lot of smoking on a ceramic smoker like the Big Green Egg or the Kamado (it will be available for other types of grill/smokers soon). It maintains the temperature of your grill according to the temp you set it to (with a computer controlled fan you install into your grill), as well as monitoring the internal temp of the meat. I tested FlameBoss thermometer against my others and it was dead on FYI! If you really need to micromanage your meat, such as in the instance of an overnight cook, or even just for grilling purposes, this gadget is for you. It is pricey, but if you are putting the time into a serious cook- then this tool is worth the investment as a BBQ competition will cost you a lot of money, and temp fluctuations could kill your chances of winning!
Pit Barrel Cooker– This is a commercially available Ugly Drum Smoker that, for whatever reason that I can’t figure out, makes everything you cook on it turn out amazing. And it cooks really fast too! You can read my original review here as well as the recent spatchcocked turkey I did on the Pit Barrel Cooker. Another bonus in addition to being an awesome grill/smoker is that this is made in the USA by a small business, owned by an Iraq war vet. I like supporting good people who make our country great with my purchases!
Homemade Gift ideas:
Homemade gifts are by far the most thoughtful. Why? Because time is everyone’s most valuable resource and it really shows you care. Here are some gift ideas for you- I have personally made these as gifts and people LOVED them!
BBQ Gift Basket – take a Chimney started and stuff if full or your favorite rubs, sauces, and grilling gadgets (see photo at the very top)
Make Santa very happy this year with these cookies!
Bake These Sea salted Dark Chocolate chip and candied bacon cookies– bake these for friends and family and you will stand out amongst the other BLAH Christmas cookies!
Candied Bacon (aka “Pig Candy) everyone loves bacon, so make them candied bacon. Great in recipes or straight out of the container!
My preserved Meyer Lemons in front of my Meyer Lemon tree. Dogs in the background not included! 🙂
A Jar of Preserved Meyer Lemons (you can do this with regular lemons or oranges- great for making marinades, like this Rosemary Lemon Marinade recipe)
Infused Spirits– last year I took the same Meyer lemons and infused vodka with them. I put the vodka in cute bottles I bought at Homegoods, put thinly sliced meyer lemons in them, and put pretty color coordinated ribbon at the top. They were a big hit with my neighbors who I gifted them to. Let’s face it we need a little vodka just to help us get through the craziness of the holidays and this was a welcome gift!
For more homemade gift ideas, check out my “DIY Foodie Gift Guide for the Holidays, that includes some really great recipes like smoked nuts, as well as vintage cookbook ideas.
