Check Out These Gifts For Cook Who Seems To Have Everything

Ah, you gullible galoots. You just couldn’t get enough of those electric hot dog cookers, could you? So for your buying pleasure this holiday season, we present the Presto Bread Slicing System.

The practically pointless gadget consists of a plastic rack fitted with evenly spaced plastic rods and an electric knife. All for only $39.99.

Then there’s the Dazey Stripper, a Rube Goldberg-type device that, for $29.95, will peel a potato. And check out the Mr. Coffee Potato Perfect, a $13.99 appliance that can bake up to two (count ‘em!) potatoes at a time.

Save your money and buy your honey a good chef’s knife instead.

In a whirlwind tour of discount stores, department stores and cookware shops, we found duds aplenty, but also terrific cookware and cook’s tools in every price range, from $10 to the-sky’s-the-limit.

Here are some gift suggestions in four price ranges for the cook in your life:

Up to $25

Lansome Turner Tong, $20. This great barbecue tool is a cross between a spatula and tongs. Slide the burger or whatever onto the spatula, then clamp into place with the tongs to prevent burger-in-grass accidents. The long wooden handles keep the cook from sizzling.

Zyliss cheese grater, about $17. Cookware stores can barely keep these hand-held gadgets in stock. A chunk of cheese such as Parmesan is clamped into a little metal grater, and a hand crank churns out feathery filaments of cheese.

CushionAire baking sheet, about $18. The Cadillac of cookie sheets features two layers of aluminum separated by a layer of air, to prevent cookies from burning on the bottoms before they’re browned on top.

Rival Little Dipper, $10.97. A miniature version of the Crock-Pot, this two-cup cutie is great for keeping cheese or crab dip warm.

$25 to $50

European coffee press, $40. Coffee doesn’t get any fresher or better, some say, than when made in a coffee press. Ground coffee goes into the bottom of the small, clear-glass pot. Hot water is poured over the grounds and left to steep for a few minutes. A hand plunger forces a disc to the bottom of the pot, trapping the grounds. Prices range from about $20 up; a handsome chrome-and-glass version is about $40.

Cuisinart Mini Prep, about $35. This baby version of a food processor is great for chopping garlic and herbs.

Cuisinart scale, about $30. The handy, compact scale weighs up to 10 ounces or the equivalent in grams. A clear plastic bowl holds items being weighed.

Stainless steel, 12-quart stockpot, $35. Although fancy ones cost $100 or more, a perfectly adequate stockpot can be bought for about $35.

Electric Fondue Pot, about $45. They come cheaper, they come dearer. West Bend makes a typical middle-of-the-road pot for $30 to $45, depending on where you shop. Fondue is making a comeback as a no-fuss way to entertain. The pots can also hold party dips such as chile con queso.

$50 to $100

Fine chef’s knife, about $80. An 8-inch knife with a wedge-shaped blade is probably the most-used knife in the kitchen. Any good cook would love to own a really good one, such as the beautifully balanced Lansome Sharp ($80), the Sabatier au Carbone ($76) or a Henckle ($74). Those on budgets can’t go wrong with a Chicago Cutlery knife (about $32).

Krups Ice Cream Maker, $60. This cranks ice cream almost as well as the deluxe $600, no-ice electric counter-top models, say those who own one. The difference is that the canister must be chilled in the freezer before use - a small inconvenience considering the savings.

Krups Fun Grill, $69.99. Several brands of indoor electric grills are on the market, and all are selling like crazy. Krups’ grill is typical. An electric element similar to the ones in electric ovens is positioned below a rack that holds the food. The grills don’t exactly produce a char-grilled flavor, but grilling on them is easier than using the oven broiler.

$100 and up

Copper cookware. To a cook, this stuff is sexier than a string of pearls. Check out the Jacques Pepin solid copper sauteuse pan ($299) and the All Clad rounded-bottom copper sauce pan ($154) at cookware stores.

KitchenAid Mixer, about $240 and up. The ultimate home mixer, powerful enough to knead bread and cookie doughs, and handsome enough to display on the counter. The trendy new chrome model is $419.

All Clad cookware set, $300. The heavy, stainless-steel pans have fans in the top ranks of food professionals. The pots can be bought singly or, this holiday season, in a boxed set comprising an 8-inch frying pan, a 2-quart saucepan with lid, a 3-quart saute pan with lid and a 6-quart stockpot.