My wife is downstairs making homemade noodles for the dinner she’s making tonight. Lately, she’s been making a lot of homemade stuff, most of which involves her kneading dough, which is very tiring. Is there something that I could get her as part of her birthday present that would help her when making “doughy” things (most of it is for Chinese recipes, if that makes a difference).
Not too expensive, please.
A food processor? http://www.target.com/Food-Processors-Appliances-Kitchen-Housewares/b?ie=UTF8&node=1041758
I have an old one I bought at Sears about 30 years ago that still works just fine for kneading. I just use the regular serrated blade. (It’s never worked very well for slicing veggies, but I can do that by hand.) I’ve used it for Chinese style doughs (steamed dumplings, scallion cakes, mu shu pancakes, etc.) and it’s always worked great.
She will have to do some kneading by hand, but the processor cuts down on some of the work.
I also use mine for Italian style pastas, Indian breads, and pie crust.
I make noodle dough in my bread machine on the dough setting. You can get a decent bread machine in the $75 range.
How about a homemade punchcard good for (10) (20) (whatever) hours of kneading?
Scores points, too. 
My post got eaten 
I recommend a Kitchen Aide stand mixer. Well worth every penny you pay for it.
Seconded, but you also can’t go wrong with the recipe for No-Knead Bread.
Thirded. Might be a little more than you want to spend right now, but she’ll have it and enjoy it for years and years. Mine is probably 15 years old and still great.
Fourth recommendation. These metal-cased machines are built to last and can be had with a variety of attachments that are very useful, including bread kneading.
My parents gave my little brother the chef one several years ago for Christmas and it’s an awesome machine…industrial quality.
You do need to watch out. If you plan on doing serious quantities of heavy work like kneading, ignore the smaller mixers and get the 6-quart “Pro” model. KA has started putting plastic gears in the smaller mixers such as the “Artisan” and I’ve heard that they’re not quite as durable.
The KitchenAid stand mixer is unsurpassed, but! You ever go yard saleing? If you see an Oster stand mixer with dough hooks (and maybe lots of other attachments, as they were multi-purpose machines), snatch it up. Not as heavily built as the KA’s, but mine has yielded 400+ loaves of bread in addition to other duties for a cost of ten bucks. It was built in the early 70s- they seem to show up at flea markets etc. fairly often.
I’ll fifth the KitchenAid. I rarely make any type of bread dough without it.
I love making bread. I hate bread machines. It seems that the part of the process I like is the making. 
If I don’t get to knead, I feel cheated.
I have to 70th a Kitchen Aid Mixer. I consider that to be the most perfect gift for any aspiring cook of any type. Mine set in my cabinets for years, unused. Now I use it all the time. It is an extremely durable, versatile tool. I would hazard to guess that of all the kitchen type items I’ve had, by far, the most overall useful is the Kitchen Aid.
Or, a really, really perfect knife for her hand. Women have smaller hands than men, so a knife that works great for you is probably not so kosher for her. My favorite knife is one that was given to my husband years and years ago that he never used because his hands are huge clubs. I’m a whiz with it. It’s actually a boning knife, but it fits my hand so well and is such a joy to use, I tend to use it for as much as possible.
Another excellent idea would be a nice digital thermometer. I still utterly rely on mine to help me understand when something is “done.” This is not just for meats, it is also great for bread.
A pizza stone in your oven, while occupying one rack, can make the variations of your oven less. For bread making, it is fantastic and home made pizzas rock. I find that I have more stable results with a giant rock helping.
A nice cast iron frying pan. They are awesome. Alton Brown has a great recipe for pan seared rib eyes and you NEED a cast iron pan. Great on the stove, great in the oven. Also useful for helping things defrost faster. I have a 17" pan I’m waiting for the stove for.
Kingarthurflour.com is a fantastic site for bread makers. They have well, everything. As much as I 'd love a dough wisk, I’m a hands on kinda gal. But the lidded bread pans? sigh Or the beautiful rising bowls? swoon Sign up for a free catalog, get a pack of post-its and let your wife go wild.
Agreed on these, I don’t have a KA mixer, but I like the looks and build quality, it appeals to the gearhead in me, its a power tool for the kitchen, and guys like power tools!
Another good choice for kitchen tech would be an Aerogarden, I now have three, an AG6 Elite Plus growing cherry tomatoes, an AG6 growing gourmet herbs (basil, dill, savory, mint, oregano, and thyme), and a smaller AG3 on the kitchen counter growing chives, basil, and parsley
with an AG or three you could have all the fixins’ needed for making homemade pasta sauce or salads or herbed breads
I’m really surprised that no one has mentioned the Kitchenaid stand mixer yet.
Only had mine since Christmas, but I see a long and productive relationship in our future.
Did I mention attachments? Perfect for adding new spice when the usual routine is, well, routine.
I’ve started really cooking this year. I would have to say the best gifts I got were some really good knives. It has been a wow thing for me. (I don’t bake, but please don’t tell me that any cook doesn’t like better knives.)
If she’s started baking, and is trying out new stuff, I say basics like those little souffle cups? I see fun recipes for baked stuff and don’t have those, or I’d give it a shot.
The only baking I do is a pretty good oatmeal scotchie at Christmastime.
Part of the fun of being a budding chef is finding your own tools.
Get her a gift certificate to a local cooking store and let her pick out her own gadgets.
I’ll probably get flamed for this, but my favorite (and cheapest!!!) kitchen tool is this:
They have them at Target for $19.99 so you can avoid the shipping cost.
Seriously, I have tons of very expensive kitchen tools and this is the most handy (and super high quality - shockingly) tool I own.
Wouldn’t help her knead, but would help with lots of other things…
:eek:
crimany! it’s almost like your having a sex life with the damn thing!
I’d go with a stand mixer, especially one with a kneading hook. I’ve got the KitchenAid Artisan mixer, which not only has the kneading hook as a standard thing, but you can get a pasta maker, which may be useful for cutting.
They’re not cheap, but you should be able to find a refurbished one that’s not too expensive. It’s also very useful for lots of other things, which makes it a good investment for a serious cook.
I’d also take her to a Wal-Mart or some such and let her choose some small gadgets. I got a set of five metal sauce cups that I use like crazy. They were about a buck-fifty each. She should also have multiple timers that she can set for different dishes.
Robin
I just got one of these. It makes things so easy I almost feel cheap using it.