6 Father's Day Gifts For Any Dad Who Likes to Spend Time In the Kitchen

While my otherwise perfect dad was never a cook—his specialty was instant coffee—I married a guy who loves to cook. I recall the exact moment I fell in love: he was pan-frying a couple of cornmeal-dusted whole trout in a cast-iron skillet, and in my innermost seafood-loving, skill-appreciating heart I knew, “This is The One.” He still delights me with great dinners, and wakes up early to bake for our kids (this morning, scones). 

So if you have a dad in your life who enjoys cooking, and want to treat him on Father’s Day, I have a few ideas for you. Each product is the winner of our rigorous testing process against competitors in its category, and won’t let you down. They’re at a wide range of prices, but if you are on a budget, also check out my teammate Riddley’s story with some excellent kitchen-gift choices under $25.

Check out even more great gift ideas in the America's Test Kitchen Shop.

• ThermoWorks DOT ($43.00): The day I gave my husband a Thermapen instant-read digital thermometer was the last time I had to argue with him about when meat is properly cooked. The guy is talented, but he used to routinely buy good steaks and overcook them just a bit on the grill. As an engineer, he adores data, so I just tell him the target temp and we’re good. For low, slow barbecue, and grill- or oven-roasted food, where you need to keep the oven door or grill lid closed to trap the heat inside, the Thermoworks DOT is just the ticket. You stick the probe in the food, and a 4-foot wire snakes out the oven door or grill lid to a round, big-numbered display that shows the current food temperature and your target. It beeps when it hits the target. Not complicated, just easy. (Our overall winner, the ThermoWorks ChefAlarm, is also a great product, just not my personal preference!)
  
  
• Technivorm Moccamaster Automatic Drip Coffee Maker ($319.00): If your dad appreciates great coffee but doesn’t want to fuss around, this is the machine to splurge on. It hits the right metrics for perfect flavor extraction every time: the water is rapidly heated with a copper coil (one of the most heat-transfer-efficient metals) to the ideal temperature zone between 195 and 205 degrees, drips over the grounds into the thermal carafe, which protects its fresh-brewed flavor and temperature, and it brews a full pot within 7 minutes. 
  
  
• The Perfect Drink Smart Cocktail Maker (on sale for $69.99): This is a surprisingly good little gadget for guiding even the most novice mixologist through a huge variety of recipes for cocktails, non-alcoholic drinks, and frozen blender drinks. A scale (that doubles as a kitchen scale), cocktail shaker and app take you step by step. (I gave one of these to my husband last Father’s Day expecting maybe some scorn, and instead got terrific drinks for a year. Just saying.)
  
  
• Matfer Bourgeat 11⅞ in Carbon Steel Skillet ($69.99): We truly love our winning carbon-steel skillet for putting a crisp crust on juicy burgers, delicate char on Szechuan green beans, and turning out a perfect omelet, among other things. If your dad won’t mind putting an initial seasoning on the metal and doing some minimal care going forward, he’ll see that it’s a pleasing project to watch carbon steel develop a gorgeous patina in the months to come. He can use it outside on the grill as well as indoors.
  
  
• Nexgrill 4-Burner Propane Gas Grill in Black with Griddle Top ($299.00): If your dad already has a grill, I bet he hasn’t tried a flat-top grill. Our winner offers a spacious surface of carbon steel with great propane-driven heat control, and lets him unleash his inner short-order cook. Just like the carbon-steel skillet, this cooking surface is perfect for getting crisp golden crusts on food, from smashed burgers to grilled cheese sandwiches, and offers plenty of space for frying bacon, eggs, pancakes and sausage (with an efficient and easy-to-clean grease catcher), or he can use it like a teppanyaki grill to make gorgeous shrimp, steak, stir-fry and vegetables.
    
• Camp Chef Mountain Series Everest High Pressure Two-Burner Stove ($129.99): Car-camping dads will appreciate the features of our winning camp stove, a big step up from the weak, cramped camp stoves of yore. Its 20,000 BTUs per burner let it get ripping hot, so it boils water in just 4 minutes, but can also hold a low simmer without flaming out. Its cooking surface has plenty of space for two full-size pans, unlike other camp stoves we tested, but folds up to a compact size that’s easy to slide into a fully packed car.