Gifts for the home baker: 7 gift ideas that actually get used

You probably know someone who bakes: a mother with wholemeal loaves on the counter every week, or a friend who has caught the sourdough bug. A birthday or Christmas is coming up, and you are looking for a gift that hits the mark. The challenge is that someone who bakes a lot usually already has most things. Here are seven gift ideas that actually get used.

Only one of these ideas is our own; the rest is equipment we recommend anyway.

1. The beeswax bread bag: the gift for the person who already has everything

Anyone who has baked for a while usually has the whole toolkit: baskets, scrapers, tins and knives. But almost no one has covered the days after baking: the loaf that was perfect on Saturday is sitting in a plastic bag with a clammy crust by Wednesday.

A Bivoks™ bread bag solves exactly that. The bag is sewn from cotton and linen with a thin layer of natural beeswax on the inside: the fabric breathes, the crust stays crisp, and the crumb does not dry out. Bread stays fresh for 7-10 days, against 2-3 days in a plastic bag. Read more in the guide on how long home-baked bread stays fresh.

The bag measures 30 × 43 cm, closes with a simple clip and can be reused for 12 months or more, just as good for someone who buys their bread at the bakery.

2. Proving basket: for the beautiful loaf

A proving basket supports the dough during its final rise and sets the fine spiral pattern into the crust. For anyone who bakes sourdough or other Dutch-oven loaves, it is almost essential.

Look for rattan or another natural fibre, ideally with a removable linen liner, in a size that suits a dough of 750 grams to one kilo. If the recipient already has a round basket, an oval one is a safe choice.

3. A proper bread knife

Many homes have expensive chef's knives but a blunt bread knife. And it is the good bread knife that makes the difference between neat slices and a loaf squashed flat.

Look for a long blade, at least 23 centimetres, with pronounced serrations and good balance in the handle. A quality bread knife rarely needs sharpening and lasts for decades, one of the safest gifts on the list.

4. Baking steel or baking stone

A baking steel is a gift in the slightly larger class. The steel stores heat and gives the bread strong bottom heat that ordinary baking trays cannot manage: a crisper base and a taller, airier loaf.

Steel heats up faster than stone and withstands rougher handling, but both work well. Choose a thickness of six to eight millimetres, and check that the size fits the oven. This is the gift for someone whose hobby is baking.

5. Dough scraper: small, inexpensive and indispensable

The dough scraper is the baking world's best buy: it divides the dough, scrapes the counter clean and helps with shaping. A stiff metal one for the counter and a soft plastic one for the bowl is the classic combination, perfect as the little extra on the parcel.

6. Good bread flour: or a flour subscription

Flour is a consumable gift, and that is precisely its strength: it gets used up, and no one who bakes has too much good flour in the cupboard.

Look for stone-ground flour from a Norwegian mill, ideally organic: the difference in flavour is clear even in a simple wholemeal loaf. Several mills offer a subscription, so the gift arrives in the post several times through the year.

7. Sourdough starter kit: for someone who wants to get going

A starter kit suits someone who talks about getting into sourdough but has not got going yet. Anyone who already has a living starter does not need a new kit.

A good kit contains a wide-mouthed jar, a thermometer and a simple basic recipe. Give it together with a bag of good flour, and the threshold stays low.

The most important choice: a gift that gets used

The best gift is rarely the most expensive or the most advanced. It is the one that gets used the same week, and is still in use by next Christmas. So think everyday over special occasions.

If you want to add something personal, you could print out a good recipe, or point them to our guide on common mistakes when storing bread. Anyone who bakes good bread deserves for it to keep well too.

Frequently asked questions