Best Gifts Under $50 for the Kitchen and Table

Opinel has made knives in the French Alps since 1890, and its paring knives are the kitchen version of the folding knife it is famous for. The No. 102 has a 3 3/4 inch carbon steel blade on a 7 1/2 inch knife, with a handle of sustainably harvested, stabilized beechwood.

Carbon steel takes a very sharp edge and is easy to bring back on a honing rod. It is the right steel for peeling, trimming and cutting garlic and shallots, and two knives means one can live at the table for cheese or fruit.

Carbon steel darkens with use and will rust if left wet. Dry it after washing and never put it in the dishwasher. Skip it for someone who wants stainless; Opinel makes the same knife in stainless steel as the No. 112.

The catch. Carbon steel stains and rusts if neglected. Hand wash and dry at once.

The Chambord is the French press most people picture: a glass beaker held in a polished stainless steel frame, with a plunger that pushes a steel mesh filter through the grounds. This size holds 34 ounces, enough for three or four mugs, and it is made in Portugal.

It makes full-bodied coffee with nothing more than hot water and a four-minute wait, and it can go to the table as a pot. It is a good gift for someone who makes coffee for more than one person, or who has a pod machine and misses real coffee.

The beaker is high-heat borosilicate glass, but it is still glass. It is not for the stovetop. Skip it for someone who drinks one cup at a time on the way out the door.

The catch. French press coffee has some sediment, and the glass can break if knocked against a sink.

Lodge has made cast iron cookware in South Pittsburg, Tennessee since 1896, and its 10.25 inch skillet is the pan most American cooks learn on. It arrives pre-seasoned, so it can go straight onto the stove, and the seasoning improves every time it is used.

Cast iron holds heat better than almost anything in the kitchen, which is why it sears a steak, crisps cornbread and fries an egg so well. It goes from stovetop to oven, and it will outlive the person who receives it. The 10.25 inch size suits two to three people without being too heavy to lift one-handed.

It asks a little care: wash, dry at once and wipe with a film of oil. Skip it for someone who wants everything in the dishwasher, or who already owns one; a second size is only useful to a keen cook.

The catch. Heavy, and the short handle gets as hot as the pan. A handle cover is a sensible add-on.

Cooks salt by the pinch, and a salt crock is the easiest way to keep a pinch within reach. Le Creuset's holds 10 ounces, with a hooded opening that keeps out spatter while leaving room for fingers.

It is dense, enameled stoneware that the maker says resists moisture, staining and scratching, and it goes in the dishwasher. In white it sits beside any cookware without making a statement.

Pair it with a box of flaky salt and it becomes a generous gift. Skip it for someone short on counter space, or who salts from the shaker and has no plans to change.

The catch. In a humid kitchen, fine salt can clump in an open crock. Flaky or coarse salt keeps better.

Emile Henry has fired ceramics in Burgundy since 1850. Its 9 inch pie dish is made from high-fired Burgundy clay in the maker's HR, high resistance, ceramic, with fluted sides that make a neat crimped crust without much skill.

Clay browns the bottom crust evenly and keeps a pie warm at the table. The maker says it can go straight from the freezer or refrigerator into a hot oven, up to 520°F, which glass and most stoneware cannot, and it is safe under the broiler, in the microwave and in the dishwasher.

It is heavier than a metal pie tin. Skip it for someone who bakes one pie a year; for anyone who makes quiche or pie often, it is the one they will keep.

The catch. Right at $50, and the price moves; it sometimes goes just over.