Gear Patrol

American Cookery ($10) is the first cookbook written by an American. Strangely, the only details that are actually known about its author come from the words “American orphan” found on the cover. Other hints from the book’s text suggest she was a domestic laborer who lacked formal education. The book was published originally in 1796…

Best Made Co. has slowly evolved from a handmade axe company into a brand known for anything woodsy. In that light, offering an enormous jug of organic maple syrup makes total sense, right? Don’t worry, the company hasn’t translated their hewning skills into making the sweet stuff. Instead, the pancake dressing comes from the organic…

Crack pie isn’t a label most bakeries would readily slap on one of their confections, but then again most bakeries aren’t run by Christina Tosi. Inspired by her nostalgia for the teeth-depleting sugared cereals of Saturday morning fame and probably more than a few hits off of the peace pipe, her offbeat sweet tooth captured…

Elk is similar to Bison, in that it packs a great beefy flavor while actually being high in protein and low in fat. Bison just happens to be a little more prevalent. If you’re looking to avoid developing a “winter coat” this season, or are just eager to try something different, famed mail-order meat company…

Living a healthy lifestyle can be confusing: Eat six times a day by reducing meal size and snacking. Don’t snack. Don’t eat carbs, focus on proteins. Too much red meat is bad for you. Drink soy milk because it doesn’t contain lactose. Don’t drink soy milk because it increases estrogen levels lest you risk a…

Nothing says love like a slab of sliced pork, but maybe it’s time you class up the gift of swine with a Di Bruno Bros. Bacon Basket ($150). Stuffed with all the wonderful bacon (bits) you’ve seen on the web, the basket is brimming with a drool-inducing list of provisions including: 1 lb of Loveless…

Consider the humble straw. Jabbed into a juice box or fast food beverage, discarded without a thought, it is a useful but overlooked tool. How else would you get that last bit of chocolate malt out of the bottom of your glass? But plastic is a four-letter word these days and straws suddenly seem wasteful….

Want a crash course on the “miracles” of modern industrial food science? Then take a gander at the ingredients of a bag of big brand microwave popcorn. What seems like a simple process apparently requires a labs worth of chemicals and GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) to flavor, preserve, and pop those gum aggravating kernels into…

Lucky Peach is the latest business venture of New York restauranteur David Chang. Based on the cover and Chang’s notorious personality, it’d be easy to dismiss this project as a simple exercise in brand extension (a la Skymag to Delta). A quick read of the first issue, however, proves that Lucky Peach is much deeper…

Summer’s here, and we can’t think of a better way to welcome it than grilling. Instead of reaching for the standard red meat, may we recommend bison? With only 45% of the calories and about 10% of the fat, bison meat is a far healthier option to its beef brethren. High Plains Bison offers a…

The odds of becoming a successful restaurateur on the level of New York’s Chef David Chang are about the same as Mel Gibson becoming a rabbi. Thanks to some business savvy merchandising, though, anyone with a mailing address can at least get a step closer to cooking like him. These Momofuku Cooking Sauces $24 are…

Carbo load like a king by having a tray of Beecher’s World’s Best Mac & Cheese ($50-$125) shipped over night to your door. Not familiar with the Beecher’s brand? Then you’ve been missing out friends. The company began in Seattle, in 2003, and quickly captured the hearts of foodies everywhere thanks to their dedication to…

One can’t help but think that when Stumptown decided to name this blend Hair Bender they were considering the origin’s complexity versus the zippy after-effect. Made from coffee sourced in all three coffee growing regions (Latin America, East Africa and Indonesia) Stumptown Hair Bender Espresso Blend ($12) is not only their most popular coffee but…

We love a great steakhouse but shelling out coin for a healthy dose of pomp and circumstance isn’t always our preference. The problem is, access to exceptional meat isn’t always readily available or convenient. Luckily there’s a secret on this fantastic thing we call the web that bestows its buyers access to premium butcher cuts…

Tabasco Family Reserve ($25) starts out life as the finest peppers grown on Tabasco’s Avery Island home, handpicked by the family. These superior specimens are then smashed and combined with Avery Island salt and set to age in white oak barrels for a minimum of three years. Certain amounts age for an additional five years…

Biofuel Caffeinated Popcorn ($3-8) is not the solution to the world’s energy problems, and it isn’t brewed from organic detritus. It is, however, a creative way to stave off afternoon narcolepsy. Taste-wise, Biofuel teeters between salty and sweet, a la Kettle corn, while packing a 150 to 200mg wallop of caffeine per bag (roughly two…

Unless you’re fortunate enough to call the state of Maine home, tracking down a decent local lobster roll can be — to use the native vernacular — wicked haard. Thankfully, Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. is around to help anyone with a mailing address indulge their crustacean cravings, granted they have the patience for overnight shipping….

Energy bars are a staple for endurance athletes, outdoor adventurers and people too busy to stop for a proper meal. But even though they’ve been around for over twenty years, most still taste like cardboard and are sticky enough to be used to patch a rusted muffler in a pinch. Why can’t they taste like…

Some men are grill-capable the day they leave the delivery room. Others have an uncanny ability to turn great cuts of meat into fresh sets of mud-terrains. If you or someone you know falls into the latter bucket, these Steak Button Thermometers ($20) will help. Their big, easy to read dials are essentially idiot-proof, even…

We all know that bacon is the proper foundation to any good diet. Zingerman’s Bacon of the Month Club ($99) is the easiest way we’re aware of to insure your bacon stockpile never runs out. Available in three or six month options, signing up guarantees you’ll receive a 12 to 16 ounce package of artisan…

Are you drinking straight from the gallon jar of Tabasco without even flinching? Then why not upgrade to cooking with the Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper. As the hottest pepper on the planet, it only has a Scoville heat rating of 1,041,427 — which happens to be over three times hotter than the Habanero and over…

The concept of Hyper-Caffeinated Coffee-Flavored Marshmallows ($6) is just plain dangerous. Why deal with guzzling over 16 oz of piping hot coffee, or down one of the billion or so energy drinks brands out there if you could get the same effects from popping a cloud of sugary goodness? Yes, these will power-destroyers are packed…

The biggest bone we have to pick with Food Network personalities — or any telegenic chef for that matter — is how much easier cooking looks when their ingredients are already on hand and nicely organized by an army of production minions. “Now just take seven- and-a-half peeled edamame beans wrapped in pancetta and mix…

We try to avoid talking about conceptual products on GP mainly because teasing cool things that might not be commercially developed can be frustrating to the gear obsessed – aka us. This Handle Me Cookware series was just so damn good looking though we had to make an exception. It’s the brain child of the…

Meat searing monuments like the Weber Ranch Kettle charcoal grill will always hold a special place in our carnivore hearts, but there’s something strangely attractive about the idyllic vision of grilling painted by the Holzpellet grill from Bob Grillson ($7,470). Ok, so maybe it’s just this German beauty’s magnetizing lines. Or maybe it’s just Bob’s…

Like food, great coffee is often created slowly. That means, everything from harvesting to brewing is done so with care — something mass brewers and roasters have a hard time with. Guilty verdict for Starbucks. Based in San Francisco, Sightglass Coffee is an independent company founded and run by two brothers (Jerad and Justin Morrison)…

Dry rub or wet rub? A debate probably best left for another time. In the meanwhile, how about a third option: ‘Vous ribs. Based in Memphis, TN, Rendezvous Ribs has been serving up ribs to generations of Memphis residents, but you don’t have to be located in area code 901 to enjoy yourself a slab…

A brand new bowl probably isn’t at the top of your Christmas list this year, nor will it ever be. The Lékué Steam Roaster by Compeixalaigua Design Studio ($40) sports a cool enough design that we’d at least appreciate finding it under the tree. Made from 100% “Platinum” silicone, its ideal use case involves a…

We don’t come across too many sweet treats worth sharing, but after learning that the Compartes Black Collection ($30-$55) is made with ingredients like Guiness and 15-year-old Macallan, we found ourselves unable to hold back. At their base, each chocolate truffle set is made from fair trade single-origin chocolate ganache. They’re then differentiated by a…

You don’t need us to explain how salt can add flavor to your food. That said, we’re guessing you didn’t know about this Smoked Salt Set ($58) from The Meadows. The set contains six 1.2 oz jars packed with some of the most exotic salts on the planet. The salts are then smoked to add…