KettlePizza Holiday Gift Guide 2016!

Kettle Pizza Holiday Gift Guide – Treat Your KettlePizza Capo to a Few Practical, Affordable, Fun Accessories for Enhancing His Backyard Wood Oven Pizza Game.

By Mindy Merrell and R.B. Quinn of CheaterChef.com.

Another year-end celebratory season is upon us, which means it’s time focus on the holiday gift list. What about your Pizza Prince of the Patio, the King of the KettlePizza? If you’re looking for some great gift ideas, we’ve got some.

One of the great things about a KettlePizza kit is that, unlike most activities and hobbies guys love, it doesn’t require an endless need for accessories and upgrades. Once you’re in the KP game, you’re in the game. Add dough, sauce, toppings and fuel and you’re making wood oven pizza at home. That’s the good news.

As a KP Capo builds up his skills and dials in his pies (and other dishes), however, there are a few cool tools and other gear to add to the KP equipment room that can further raise the bar and add to the convenience and enjoyment of the KettlePizza experience.

We’ll look at some great ideas you can shop for at www.kettlepizza.com, and we’ll also show you our recommendations available at Walmart and online retailers, like Amazon.com. Let’s take a walk around and see what we find. If you’re the Pizza Don in your house, go ahead and just tell everyone what you want this year!

KettlePizza Holiday Gift Guide:

Heavy Duty Welder’s Gloves ($24.95)

Good quality heavy-duty gloves provide real protection for hands and arms from the heat generated by KettlePizza. And since they’re designed for welders who require durability and dexterity, welder’s gloves are plenty flexible (and comfortable) for maintaining the charcoal and wood fire and managing hot pizza stones and Baking Steels while also allowing plenty movement for the occasional sip of a cold beverage.

Long Metal Tongs ($12)

Charcoal grill, fire pit, barbecue and fireplace guys know the value of sturdy, long (16-inch) metal tongs. Tongs are extensions of your hands and are never far from the fire. Metal tongs can, however, wear out and occasionally walk away. A simple but good quality hinged-style tong offers good grip for lifting and moving and are better than the flimsier, clumsier tongs often bundled in grill tools sets, which bend under pressure of a strong grip.

Long Handled Metal Spatula ($20)

A long handled metal spatula (18″ to 20″) can be as useful at KettlePizza time as good metal tongs. Think of it as a mini-peel that can slide, shift, and lift a pizza for optimum placement on the stone. And when your wood chunk toss is off a bit, use the spatula to finish the shot and push the wood into the fire basket, save the horseshoe and cornhole practice for when you’re off KP duty.

Another reason for a good spatula is that, after a couple of pizzas, the flour dusting that helps the pie easily slide off the peel and onto the stone can build up and char. A spatula pointed down quickly scrapes away the left-behind excess flour and prepares the stone for the next pizza. It’s the KettlePizza equivalent of the wide shovel used by the NHL’s mid-period clean-up skater crews.

Long Handled Wire Brush ($14.95)

This long handled wire brush available at KettlePizza.com is another great tool for sweeping off your stone between pizzas and for cleaning the stone when the party’s over. The extra length of the handle allows for sufficient downward pressure on the brush when used through the narrow KP opening. Very handy, indeed.

Infrared Thermometer ($39.95)

Another good idea from KettlePizza.com, a high-temp infrared thermometer will tell you with laser accuracy the temperature of your stone so you know it’s ready for pizza. Just point and pull the trigger. This model reads the high temps that KettlePizza generates. And think of all the nearby things you’ve never known the surface temperature of. This gadget makes science fun.

Dough Cutter ($11.00)

No matter what kind of dough your KP guy prefers, a stainless steel dough scraper is a must have. This sharp-edged cutter divides homemade, store-bought, or pizzeria-made dough into perfect pie-sized sections. This scraper is made by fellow U.S. manufacturer and not-far neighbor of KettlePizza, Dexter Russell, the largest maker of cutlery in the U.S. in Southbridge, MA. A quality, long-lasting product.

Pizza Cutters—Rocking & Rolling ($17.75 & $14.95)

Guys, this is not the time to pull out the cleaver. Save it for the next smoked meat fest. Slicing a pizza calls for a lighter touch. Sure, a long kitchen knife will work well enough, but consider a couple different-style tools designed for just this job. Part of being a pizza pro is looking the part, so use the right tool for the job.

The Cuisinart Alfrescamore rocking stainless pizza cutter slices pizza in a press-down and rock side-to-side fashion.

The KettlePizza stainless rolling pizza cutter makes a clean cut through your creations with a steady hand. Run it across the pie, spin, and cut again.

Large Cutting Board

Once your pizzas start coming out of the KP they need to slide off the peel and land on a flat surface to get them sliced up and served. A large (18″ x 24″) polyethylene cutting board is sturdy and easy to clean and store. Get at least one (maybe two), depending on your pizza plans. Boards filled with just-made KP pizzas are truly impressive.

And a few stocking stuffer ideas….

Plastic Pizza Dough Sealable Containers

Good storage for your homemade dough is nearly as important as the dough. Small (25-oz.) plastic food storage containers with tight-fitting lids are the right size to hold the dough for one pie as it rests in the fridge and develops its flavor. Separating the dough balls in advance makes KettlePizza night that much more streamlined and fun. Find these at any supermarket. Be sure that they are in the 25-oz. size range.

A Bag of “00” Italian Flour

It’s inevitable that a serious Pizza Prince will want to putter around with dough recipes (be sure to try our KP dough) and different flours, including classic 00 pizza flour from Napoli, the original home of pizza. Purists may want to use this all the time. We say, KP man, give it a try so that you know what you like and how it works.

Bags of Dough

We love the idea of having a couple of balls of your favorite dough from the supermarket or pizzeria in your guy’s stocking rising overnight and ready for a Merry Kettle Pizza Christmas. Who doesn’t want pizza for Christmas dinner? Ask the kids, they’ll tell you!

 Bags of Wood Chunks

A bag of wood chunks will have your Capo headed in the right direction (outdoors to light the charcoal!). Look for bags of oak, hickory, pecan, apple…any mild-flavored hardwood will do. You need real hardwood for wood-fired pizza, and these bags offer an easy way to keep a good supply.

Apron

This makes a terrific stocking stuffer for obvious reasons. Dough, flour, sauce … it’s a hands-on project, and a good apron makes cleanup a little easier. And a guy in an apron is very sexy.

Charcoal

Hardwood or briquette or a combination of both, what guy doesn’t love a manly supply of <Kingsford> charcoal? Talk about a lump of coal. Now you can actually give one and it will be happily received.