You love pizza. Your friends love pizza. The holiday season has arrived and you’re just trying to figure out what pizza gear you want to give all your pizza loving friends. I’ll simplify the process for you.
1. Pizza Night Light ($6)
I’m a huge fan of this for many reasons. For starters, it’s just awesome. You don’t need me to tell you that. It’s also an actual slice of pizza, not a drawing. In fact, this is a slice from Luigi’s in Brooklyn, a little hole-in-the-wall pizzeria near the Pratt campus. It’s the kind of slice you depend on for daily sustenance as a college student, which is exactly why designer Steph Mantis used it as her night light model. This piece is just one of several pizza-themed products Steph has designed for Kikkerland. You can also grab pizza coasters, pizza luggage tags, and pizza notepads.
2. Baking Steel Reversible Griddle ($199)
I just ordered one of these. I’ve actually had one for years (pictured above), but a recent move to an apartment with a larger oven has prompted me to purchase a new model – and THIS thing is a huge upgrade! The double-sided griddle steel acts as both a standard pizza-baking surface AND a griddle top with grease moat! I know what you’re thinking – “Hey I bake on a pizza stone, why do I need a steel???” The reasons are simple. First of all, the steel won’t break. I know you’ve misused your stone by taking it out of the oven too soon or by washing it or even dropping it. The steel is super durable so you won’t have to buy replacements. Secondly, the baking steel conducts heat super fast, so you can get those pies right out of the oven. I’m telling you this thing is sweet! You won’t regret it.
3. Pizza Socks ($6)
I must own about a dozen pairs of pizza socks. I have one pair with floating slices, one with pizzas and beers, and even one with a mustachioed pizza slice dude. They’re awesome and I could totally be happy wearing them every day. So could my friend Norma, pictured above with me, both of us flaunting our rad pizza socks at the International Pizza Expo back in March. I honestly don’t know exactly where you should buy them since people usually give them to me as gifts, but I’m seeing a bunch online for $10 per pair. That’s kind of nuts. These socks from Urban Outfitters are pretty rad and just $20 for three pairs!
4. Portable Pizza Oven ($299)
It’s completely unnecessary to have a stand-alone pizza oven in NYC but my fantasy world includes an arsenal of weird tabletop tools for crafting pizza perfection. The Uuni uses wood pellets for an authentic Neapolitan bake. There’s also the Blackstone, with its propane-fueled 60,000 BTU burner. This thing is a real powerhouse but takes up more space on your patio. If you’re really hardcore, you can pick up a Big Green Egg. It’s a kamado style ceramic cooker that’s crazy versatile and crazy hot. It’s also more than double the cost of the other ovens, but well worth the price of admission. The units I’m mentioning are all pretty serious, but it you don’t want to throw a lot of dough at your pizza obsession there are plenty options at lower price points, just don’t expect them to deliver the goods as well as one of these beast machines!
5. New Haven Apizza book ($20)
I met Colin Caplan a few years ago. He runs a tour company called Taste of New Haven up in Connecticut and of course he’s very up on that city’s famous pizza scene. Colin has been doing tons of research over the past few years and this book is just a nugget of the info he’s collected about old bakeries and pizzerias in town. I read it a few months ago and LOVED it. Super dense and packed with info, just the way I like it. Colin’s book isn’t available in stores or online, but you can email him at colin@tasteofnewhaven.com to purchase your copy!
