5 great kitchen gadget gifts

An Immersion blender: It's just what your favorite home cook wanted.

​It may seem like your foodie friend has every kitchen gadget known to man, but with a little bit of snooping you may learn there's one that they're missing, or always wanted to buy but never got around to picking up. Here are five options for relatively inexpensive gadget gifts for your favorite foodie. Find them at local kitchen supply stores or even at many co-ops.

1. An immersion blender
So there you are, making a delicious winter soup. To get it creamy, you need to blend it, but to do that ou have to awkwardly try to pour the soup into the blender, you'll have a dirty blender to wash, and if you're impatient and don't wait for the soup to cool you could even crack the glass. The solution to all that hassle? The immersion blender. It allows you to simply blend your food right in the pot. Fewer dishes, no spills, no broken glass, voila. An immersion blender will run you around $20 to $35. You might want to buy one for yourself, too.

​2. Mandoline slicer

If you've ever read a recipe asking for julienned vegetables, a mandoline slicer is the way to do it. Thin, uniformly sliced vegetables not only help with presentation but provide new options as well (such as stuffed cucumber or carrot rolls). A mandoline slicer starts as low as $16.

​3. Compost pail

Let's face it, everyone wants to compost in theory, but in reality it's often a messy and smelly process. Stainless steel compost pails not only absorb odor but fit right under most kitchen sinks for maximum convenience. They'll run you around 40 bucks.

​4. Bamboo steamer

A bamboo steamer is not only beautiful in its simplicity, it can come with multiple tiers, enabling the user to steam twice as much vegetables as they could with a regular steamer. An added bonus is that it makes a beautiful gift box: Fill it up with other presents of your choice. A three-tier bamboo steamer is just over $20 at the Seward Co-op

​5. Large salad spinner

If your foodie friend only has a small salad spinner or none at all, they will be grateful for this gift. Don't get the hard-to-use pull strings; go for the kind with a push top (ideally flat for easy storage). Salad spinners typically cost less than $15.

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