Kitchen gadget gift ideas for Christmas

Yes, we've arrived in the age where our toaster never burns our bread and perfectly brewed tea is served up on tap.

Below you'll find some great gadgets -- from reinvented kettles to ice cube makers -- that would make ideal pressies for those of us who consider being seconded to the kitchen to be a pleasure, not a chore.

Fine T tea machine by IQ Innovations

Price: £99 from Lavertons.

Tea, glorious tea! It may be the cornerstone of British life but few people bother to master the art of making the perfect brew beyond briefly dunking a teabag in a mug. Thankfully, the Fine T tea machine can lend a helping hand to even the worst brewmeisters.

It works with normal tea bags or loose tea, and the clever part is that it can adjust water temperature, infusion and seepage times to deliver the perfect cuppa time and time again. It's even got a 24-hour timer so you can wake up to a fresh brew and the hotplate keeps the tea warm for 30 minutes once it's in the pot.

Evoke Flow by Pure

Price: £123 from Go Electrical.

Whether you're searing sustainably farmed salmon to the sound of The Archers, or pogoing around the kitchen to Kerrang in the three minutes it takes for the microwave to ping, you'll want a radio to enliven your cooking time.

The Evoke Flow is the perfect kitchen choice, not only because it majors on style with its piano-black finish and neat buttons, but also thanks to the sheer number of stations it can tune into. As well as FM and DAB tuners, it's also got Wi-Fi on board, so it can stream thousands of stations from the Internet.

Bread Maker by Cuisinart

Price: £143 from Amazon.

They say there are two smells that make a home seem welcoming -- newly brewed coffee and freshly baked bread. This brushed metal beauty can take care of the latter. It has 12 preset programs for creating a range of loaves, cakes, doughs and jams.

All the controls are touch-sensitive and there's an internal oven light so you can follow the entire baking process from start to finish. Thanks to the nut and seed dispenser, it can be used to make rustic recipes and there's even an adjustable crust setting.

Wine Preserver by NScessity

Price: £25 by John Lewis.

Sometimes it's best not to have an excuse to drink the entire bottle. This wine preserver puts an end to the argument that the bottle "may as well be finished off" because this clever device doesn't just cap the bottle, it pumps the air out to prevent the wine from oxidising and losing flavour.

That means when you return to it another evening, it should still taste as good as first time around. Cheers! It's rechargeable and operates at the push of a button, so it's completely hassle-free to use.

Brita Filter Hot Cup by Breville

Price: £85 from Breville.

The Filter Hot Cup is for those who like their water hot, fast and pure. It's like a super-kettle as it can hold up to 1.8 litres of water and deliver a hot cuppa in just 40 seconds. This capability comes courtesy of its 3kW concealed element, which rapidly boils water on demand.

Breville has teamed up with Brita to include the company's carbon and ion filtering technology, which removes hardness, chlorine and other impurities from the water to make sure what's being boiled is always pure and tasty.

Master Class Cook's Blowtorch by Kitchen Craft

Price: £30 from John Lewis.

There's nothing quite like attacking the crème brûlée with a blowtorch after a few too many sherries to ramp up the excitement over a Christmas lunch. The stylish way to do it is with this rather fetching flame thrower from Kitchen Craft, which is finished with a chrome effect non-slip grip.

It produces a powerful flame that's ideal for caramelising sugary toppings on desserts, and also for other stuff like skinning peppers and crisping joints of meat. Best not leave it hanging around the kitchen for the kids to get hold of.

Vision Toaster by Magimix

Price: £160 from Amazon.

The problem with normal toasters is that once you've slapped your bread in the slots and pushed down the lever, until the bread pops up, you've no idea whether it's been burnt to a crisp or toasted to perfection. The Vision Toaster is a different kettle of fish altogether -- its transparent screen allows you to see exactly how your bread is being toasted and what stage it's at.

There's also a handy extra lift lever that elevates higher to let you safely remove smaller pieces of bread.

Fruit and Vegetable Juice Extractor by Cuisinart

Price: £150 from House of Fraser.

A juicer is the surest way to guarantee someone gets their five-a-day of fruit and veg. This one from Cuisinart is a professional-grade model, but it's ideal for home use too. It can handle whole fruits being fed into it thanks to its 3-inch feed tube and the combination of the stainless-steel cutter and strainer means it always extracts the maximum amount of juice possible.

There's also an adjustable flow spout that cuts down on drips and spills, helping to keep your counter top clean. Although it's got a powerful 850W motor, it's fairly quiet by juicer standards, even when it's running in full fruit-mangling mode.

IXO Gourmet by Bosch

Price: £60 from John Lewis.

I always thought there was a gap in the market for an electric screwdriver that could also be used to power a corkscrew and spice mill, and whaddaya know? Bosch has gone and filled it with the IXO Gourmet.

It comes with 10 screwdriver bits that you can use for putting up shelves around the home. And when it comes to dinner in the evening, you just attach either the spice mill or corkscrew adaptors and it turns into your gourmet pal. Naturally it comes with its own charger and a sliding lock easily switches it between forwards and reverse modes.

Compact Ice Maker by Ice Appliance

Price: £150 from Heals.

You can't have a proper party without ice, especially if you're going to serve up rocket-fuelled cocktails. Of course, supermarkets do often sell bags of ice, but if you don't live close to one, you'll end up with a slushy puddle by the time you get home.

This counter-top ice maker is one of the smallest on the market, yet can still produce up to 15kg of ice in 24 hours -- that's a rate of 12 ice cubes every 10 minutes, making it perfect for parties or just a scotch on the rocks of an evening.