Scam or Score: Last-Minute Gifts
Welcome to Scam or Score — the single-player game show where I list a bunch of things you can buy and tell you whether or not the thing is a scam (not worth buying) or a score (a must-buy).
It’s the middle of December and you’ve still got gifts to buy. You’re looking through lists of gift ideas for foodies and some of them seem too good to be true. What gifts are good ideas and what are bad ones. Let’s decide.
Cast Iron Pan
A forever pan that can last a lifetime, if not several generations, if properly cared for and maintained. A cast iron is a versatile kitchen tool that any home cook can make use of regardless of their preferred cuisine. Best of all, high-quality cast iron is very easy to find (Lodge is a tried and true brand that I will always recommend) and available at most big box retailers. This means you won’t have to spend a lot of time tracking down a good one.
Verdict: Score
Garlic Press
There is no piece of kitchen gear I hate more than a garlic press. The garlic press is a complete and utter scam. First of all, you cannot clean a garlic press. You simply cannot. Which means you cannot do anything with it but press garlic.
Now, I get it, we don’t always have time to mince garlic. That’s fine, that’s fair. There are other tools that can do the job of finely mincing garlic quickly and easily that are also capable of being cleaned and serving multiple functions. A Microplane, for example, can do all kinds of things. It can shred garlic, or ginger, or turmeric. It can grate hard cheeses. It can zest citrus.
Verdict: Scam
A Microplane
My love, my light. See above.
Verdict: Score
Fancy Metal Utensils
You don’t need one. There is almost no scenario in which a metal cooking utensil will be better than a silicone one. I get it, metal looks nice, it looks like a nicer gift and the idea of metal evokes high quality. But, silicone while it is a synthetic material was specifically and intelligently designed to make our lives easier instead of harder. It’s not toxic, it won’t give you cancer. Here’s what it will do — everything a metal utensil does without ruining all your pots and pans.
Verdict: Scam
Magazine/Food subscriptions
I’m sure some people think gifting a subscription is a little bit like giving someone a gift card, which is say a little faux pas. But, like a gift card, subscriptions can be thoughtful gifts if you know the person you’re shopping for. There are two ways you can do this. You can either gift a subscription to a periodical or set them up for a subscription box that delivers real food. Either way, it’s a gift that (literally) keeps on giving
If you simply must put something in a box. Consider getting some merch from the periodical or just a few issues to wrap up along with the gift subscription. Some subscriptions I recommend:
Verdict: Score
Gadgets
First off, we’re not talking about your regularly scheduled kitchen tools and appliances here. I’m not talking about things like rice cookers, toaster ovens, air fryers, mandolins, etc. I’m talking about the weird kitchen gadgets — the three-in-one breakfast sandwich makers, the whisk wipers, the zucchini spiralizers, the automatic bedside coffee pots, the AI-controlled waffle makers.
Based on my takedown of the garlic press you might be thinking that I am anti-gadget. On the contrary, I am more gadget-curious than anything. I don’t mind a kitchen gadget as long as it isn’t totally useless. The thing is, when it comes to gadgets, they have such a wide range of usability. Some kitchen gadgets do exactly what they say they’ll do, some don’t even come close to what they say they’ll do, and some do what they say they’ll do but beg the question why?
In general, if you’re going to give a gadget, don’t give one last minute because you saw it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and thought it looked like fun. Do your research, know the person you’re buying for, know what they’ll find useful, and give them that.