The 10 Best Gifts for Foodies

November 5, 2026:

The 10 Best Gifts for Foodies

Every year, TIME’s editors and correspondents work together to compile a collection of the most interesting and groundbreaking new products and innovations for the Best Inventions list. As holiday season approaches, the TIME team has pulled out a selection of 10 best food and drink items from the list that would make a perfect gift for the food connoisseurs and cooking enthusiasts in your life.

—Courtesy of Dough Dissolve

Dough Dissolve

Better cleanup for baking gunk 

“I think the a-ha moment was when I clogged my drain for the third time and my family was like, ‘You cannot bake bread in this house anymore,’” says Alex Gold, cofounder of Dough Dissolve. To save her hobby and help other bakers, she and friend, cofounder, and fellow sourdough enthusiast Alexis Dalinka set out to solve the sticky problem of cleaning dough and sourdough starter off of surfaces and tools. The gel uses amylase, a starch-targeting enzyme, and plant-based soap nut powder to help get baking gear clean after a 10-minute soak. The combo liquifies leftover dough, letting it rinse easily off of starter jars and mixing bowls—and helps protect your plumbing. —Nina Elder

Buy Now: Dough Dissolve on Doughdissolve.com

—GoveeLife

GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro

Ultra-quiet countertop ice maker

This countertop nugget ice maker features a patented AI NoiseGuard system that detects and resolves noise-causing issues autonomously, keeping sound levels at around 40 dB. It can deliver soft, chewable ice in as little as 6 minutes, and up to 60 lbs. per day. —TIME Staff

Buy Now: GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro on Amazon

—Ooni

Ooni Volt 2 

Restaurant-quality pizza at home

The difference between doughy homemade pizza and a restaurant-quality slice isn’t necessarily fresh ingredients or a passed-down family recipe—it’s temperature. Ooni’s Volt 2, an electric countertop pizza oven, solves that problem, reaching commercial temperatures of up to 850 degrees Fahrenheit safely. Ooni founder Kristian Tapaninaho says customer feedback led to new features in the company’s second-generation Volt. The Volt 2 is 30% smaller than its predecessor, but has the same size cooking chamber. It’s also equipped with Ooni’s Pizza Intelligence system, which adjusts the oven’s temperature in real time based on the pizza style you select. —Derek Rose

Buy Now: Ooni Volt 2 on Amazon

—Typhur

Typhur Sync Oven

A temperature-tracking countertop oven

After releasing wireless meat thermometers, smart kitchen appliance company Typhur Robotics has added that technology to the oven itself: its Sync model is the first countertop oven with a built-in wireless probe that provides real-time temperature updates as your food cooks. Users simply stick the probe into meat or seafood, set a target temperature, and wait for the Sync Oven to turn off automatically when the food reaches the desired doneness. “Once you nail that perfect doneness,” says Allen Fung, managing director at Typhur, “you realize what a difference it makes.” —Derek Rose

Buy Now: Typhur Sync Oven on Amazon

—Leaven Foods

Leaven Foods Instant Sourdough

Shelf-stable sourdough starter

The labor of making sourdough bread famously filled hours of free time during the COVID pandemic. But now schedules are tighter. Leaven CEO Cameron Martino and fellow microbiologist James Gaffney spent three years developing the world’s first powdered, shelf-stable sourdough starter, that—when mixed with flour, water, and salt—provides the signature taste and health benefits of a traditional starter without the hassle of tending to a ravenous creature bubbling inside a glass jar. According to Martino, Leaven’s proprietary process could be applied to other fermented foods like coffee, chocolate, and yogurt. “The hope is to make sourdough, but also all fermented foods, accessible,” Martino says. —Derek Rose

Buy Now: Leaven Foods Instant Sourdough on Amazon

—Lavazza North America

Lavazza Tablì

Plastic-free coffee pods, and a maker to match

To make single-serve coffee without the stream of plastic and aluminum waste, Lavazza changed the medium, not the machine. Its new Tablì machine brews single, double, and lungo shots using compressed coffee pucks that arrive by the dozen in plant-based packaging between two sheets of thin plastic film, rather than individually packaged pods. The pucks, about $1 each, reportedly stay fresh for about 14 days after opening. The espresso itself, brewed with the push of a button in about 35 seconds, tastes pleasantly complex and features a satisfyingly heady layer of crema. —Sal Vaglica

Buy Now: Lavazza Tablì on Amazon

—Weber

Weber Kettle Smart Ring

A smart attachment for classic charcoal grills

Charcoal grills are the benchmark for high-heat cooking, but smoking barbecue requires fussing over vents to maintain a steady temperature for hours. The Weber Kettle Smart Ring, a removable metal collar, uses a fan to regulate airflow, adding the option for predictable heat to the manual charcoal grill millions already own. Unlike previously available third-party fan kits, the Smart Ring sits between the grills base and lid—there’s no drilling required for installation. A probe inside the ring monitors air temperature and sends the data to your phone, where you can both adjust the heat and review your food’s current internal temperature. —Sal Vaglica

Buy now: Weber Kettle Smart Ring at Weber

—Ooni

Ooni Halo Core Spiral Mixer

Bakery-style mixing at home

Ooni’s Halo is a countertop mixer with a dual-kneading function usually seen on professional machines, plus a precision dial that allows for more control of mixing speed. —TIME Staff

Buy Now: Ooni Halo Core Spiral Mixer on Amazon

—SharkNinja

Ninja Crispi Microwave and Airfryer

No more soggy reheats

Ninja Crispi combines dual microwave and airfryer functions to heat food up quickly without sacrificing crispy texture. —TIME Staff

Buy Now: Ninja Crispi on Amazon

—King Arthur Baking Company

Sourdough Sidekick

Simplifying sourdough

Sourdough baking may be an art, but maintaining a starter can feel like a chore. The Sourdough Sidekick, developed by King Arthur Baking Company and FirstBuild, a General Electric innovation hub, automates starter feeding. Its Auto Mode allows users to set a target—such as having starter ready at 3 p.m. the following Thursday—and maintains it hands-free for up to a week. Engineers also designed the countertop appliance to account for how different flours pack and hydrate. “We’re not trying to change anything for the person who loves the craft of sourdough,” FirstBuild president André Zdanow says. “We just don’t think starter maintenance is the fun part.” —Lauryn Higgins

Buy Now: Sourdough Sidekick on King Arthur Baking and Sourdough Sidekick

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