Silly Kitchen Gadgets
Ever fall prey to an end-cap at Sur La Table? Ever rationalize a late night info-mercial? Ever been a victim of a well-intended gift for "the cook that has everything"? From Orange peelers to shrimp de-veiners, what are your favorite kitchen one-trick ponies?
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36 Comments:
Jar pop. It's definately a unitasker. And every time I use it, I'm glad I bought it. I also love the citrus squeezers I have.
I dunno, the whole "unitasker is evil" thing may be the one area I disagree with Alton Brown on. Some unitaskers do what they do very well, and if it's something you need often, or if it's a unique sort of task, it makes sense to have a tool to do that specific job.
I mean, you can use a saucepan to hammer a nail into the wall, but a hammer is made for the task. At some point, it makes sense to have the best tool for the job, rather than trying to do everything with a Swiss army knife.
Among the unitaskers in my ktichen: can opener, corkscrew, meat mallet, blade meat tenderizer...I've got a collection of cookie cutters and fancy bundt and cake pans that don't have any other uses...
And although my kitchenaid mixer isn't a unitasker, some of my attachments are, like the ice cream maker, pasta rollers, meat grinder.
dbcurrie at 3:11PM on 11/02/08
I have to say, I do like my lemon/lime citrus squeezer. It has a lemon size and a lime size. I do like my wine opener which I also use for olive oils. I do have a can opener, manual not electric.
I saw on TV today, one of the brand X chefs using an egg slicer to slice strawberries. I still don't want one though.
izatryt at 3:24PM on 11/02/08
I have a drawer full of gadgets I acquired at parties. You know the kind. You get an invitation, inviting you to come and bring friends, family and women you just met in the rest room at work, to play silly games and buy lots of stuff to help the hostess make money and get something free and resist the tremendous pressure put on you to be a hostess and bamboozle all your other family, along with the ones you dragged along, so you can get something for free and so on and so on. Anyway, I somehow ended up with a bunch of party favors like orange peelers and egg separators. Maybe I won some of them? Yeah, I think so. You name it, I probably have it. I use that little strawberry huller. I use the zesters I actually purchased. I love my silicone basting brush. My egg slicer works great on mushrooms too, as long as I don't soak them too long to remove the dirt (haha Chelley). I'm a terrible whore. Oops, it's spelled hoard. I can't throw that egg separator away because one day, maybe my fingers won't work! While packing, I discovered that I have about 20 pie plates. I rarely make pies anymore. I think I can lose a few, but not the ones that were Mom's. You name it, I probably have it, might use it on occasion and don't really want to get rid of it. Don't tell Alton.
p.s. I need a jar pop.
PerkyMac at 3:40PM on 11/02/08
As a gift, I got one of those small pans that are basically 2 pans hinged together so you don't have to use a spatula to flip your pancake. I've held onto it thinking I could come up with a great use for it, but I seriously don't get it.
nalega at 3:55PM on 11/02/08
What is a jar pop?
izatryt at 4:13PM on 11/02/08
@Perky - I also use my egg slicer on mushrooms! I'm a little bit of a gadget whore/hoard myself, even though I try to work on it, I swear. But I do have 2 can openers (I favour the manual one, my OH is fond of the electric one), several cheese slicers (cough-cough), a citrus zester, a citrus juicer (actually, two - manual and electrical), 2 melon ballers (different sizes though:-)), a microplane grater, an endless amount of spatulas and brushes....I even have those stupid egg separators, too (one came with a set of measuring spoons and one came with the manual citrus juicer - this thing actually is a cup that has 3 different "lids": the egg separator that is never used, the citrus juicer, and the cheese grater)...at least I don't have a garlic press:-).
brooke29 at 4:25PM on 11/02/08
@iz ~ I swear I have the jar pop on my wish list. I'm saving up for it. I've even researched it, and people love them because they work - help open jars.
http://www.amazon.com/JarPop-Jar-Opener-Crystal-Green/dp/B000GFD0HO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1225661851&sr=8-1
PerkyMac at 4:40PM on 11/02/08
@brooke ~ I have a garlic press (of course!), but I don't use it. I want that food party chopper, but I hate parties where I have to buy stuff.
PerkyMac at 4:42PM on 11/02/08
Interesting Perk. Never heard of that one!
izatryt at 4:45PM on 11/02/08
@nalega - it's called "the perfect pancake" and I oo have owned one. My little sister was about 5 when she saw it on an infomercial and told my mom that she wanted to get it for me for xmas when I was just a fledgeling foodie...it's great for fried eggs as well as pancakes/crepes.
I swear by the Ove Glove. It's the best potholder ever and, to those of you holding out for jar pops, it works for that too.
mayoxqueen at 5:44PM on 11/02/08
I may be most embarrassed by the one made to fit into a can of tuna. It has little holes to let the oil/water escape. I bought it when I was using a can opener that removed the whole lid, so you couldn't push it in and force out aforesaid oil/water. That opener bit the dust. I do wash the can before pushing in the lid, but geez, I really don't need one more thing to wash, you know? However, I think I found another use for it one time - just can't remember what it was at the moment. Better keep it.
PerkyMac at 6:02PM on 11/02/08
Umm ... I now want a jar pop. X)
kfarrel3 at 6:02PM on 11/02/08
@ Perky...I have an egg slicer circa 1950 something. Its beaten and dented and slightly mangled BUT it was my great grandmothers and I just refuse to let it go. Plus, eggs, cooked in any form, make me wretch so if I am forced to deal with a hard boiled egg, thats exactly what I use!
ChelleyD01 at 6:09PM on 11/02/08
I hate unitaskers. My kitchen barely has enough storage as it is--I can't afford to fill it up with crap I'll never use, such as the mango slicer I saw in Target today (what, a knife won't work??), the Spudster a friend gave me (a device for opening your baked potatoes, because, again, a knife apparently isn't enough) which has since gone in the recycle bin, or an avocado knife one can purchase at those parties Perk mentioned. No, an ordinary knife just won't do to cut up an avocado--you need to buy a gizmo for that!
@Perky--those pie pans are great for breading. I use mine all the time for chicken parm and the like.
buffy at 6:24PM on 11/02/08
We keep a dewar of liquid nitrogen handy, but I am not sure that qualifies as a gadget.
Keight at 6:31PM on 11/02/08
I want a pomegranate straw. You use them to suck up pomegranate seeds. I don't think they make them anymore, but my grandmother has one in a very old set of formal dining ware.
Christina at 6:41PM on 11/02/08
@Keight ~ "handy" for.........cryogenics? Just wonderin'. ;0
(almost forgot to drop my G for guinness sakes).
PerkyMac at 6:43PM on 11/02/08
@Christina that sounds wonderfully fun.
My favorite toy is the Apple Peeler Corer Slicer (oh my!) even though I know it's pretty unitasky and maybe not that great a help. but I love it, it looks cool, and I can remember using one ever since I was 5 or 6 and my mom was selling PC!
nightowl at 6:58PM on 11/02/08
i've got a couple of cherry pitters i acquired when i was living with a man who had a major thing for cherry pie. i haven't used them since i left.
cybercita at 7:37PM on 11/02/08
I have a drawer and cupboard full of infomercial gadgets that my dear friends thought I could use since I "cook": Ron Popeil pasta machine with all 28 attachments that I couldn't GIVE away at a yard sale; silicon baking pans that collapsed as soon as I filled them with batter: Handi-choppers (3), nasty garlic pressers, citrus peeler, and my fave: a one inch high box grater. (I actually use it for garlic for small amounts LOL!.)
I have one cheap, multi-purpose vein-stripper for raw shrimp. It's an old-fashioned beer can opener. Just run it down the vein. Perfect. Grapefruit spoons are great for coring tomatoes and strawberries. Let your imagine run wild. Then dump the truly single-purpose gadgets from your kitchen.
Josdean at 9:08PM on 11/02/08
@josdean, those grapefruit spoons are also useful for gutting winter squash.
The jar pop may be a unitasker, but it makes me so happy to be able to open a jar of pickles without getting all red in the face. Not to mention that since I don't have to get in a wrestling match with said jar of pickles, I'm a lot less likely to be mopping up spilled pickle juice after I win.
dbcurrie at 11:15PM on 11/02/08
@Perky - that hopping thing you were talking about...is it the Magic Bullet? My sister has one of those. very handy.
mayoxqueen at 12:11AM on 11/03/08
@db, melon ballers are also incredibly useful for gutting things, from cucumbers to squashes to pears!
I'm almost tempted to add the jar pop to my wishlist (in case I need a "filler" to make it to free shipping), even though I normally use an old-fashioned beer bottle opener for that purpose, which btw works just fine.
brooke29 at 12:29AM on 11/03/08
Is an immersion circulator a unitasker? I'm waiting for the day they start making small versions of those for home use.
dbcurrie at 12:29AM on 11/03/08
@Josdean ~ I'm so jealous!!! I've never had a Ron Popeil anything, not even a pocket fisherman, or spray on hair. A friend who never cooked offered me his rotisserie when he was moving overseas, but somebody else grabbed it first. I love the concept, but it really takes up a lot of counter space. I do have one on my Weber, but the plug is on the wrong side.
@mayoxqueen ~ I don't think it's the Magic Bullet or the Silver Bullet, it's just a hand pumped uhhhhhh, never mind. ;) It's probably an oxo. I'll have to check it out a little closer the next time I see him use it.
PerkyMac at 1:40AM on 11/03/08
I got an Eva Solo garlic press for my boyfriend, one Christmas. It's not altogether useless, and we do in fact use it, but leaving aside the fact that it is rather attractive (http://www.evasolo.com/products-garlic.html), I suppose it was pretty silly.
mongoose at 3:30AM on 11/03/08
Parchment paper...I could not live without it. I buy the huge package of half sheets from King Arthur's.
tucsonbabe at 11:18AM on 11/03/08
@ perky- because we don't have a blast chiller. duh. ; ) Although, if we DID use it for cryogenics. . .
Keight at 12:11PM on 11/03/08
@PerkyMac what you talkin' bout, the Ron Popeil rotisserie is ONLY the width of a toaster oven!! Just set it and forget it! I feel the need to say Bam for some reason.
ag3208 at 8:25PM on 11/03/08
Parchment paper is hardly a unitasking item, and my kitchen is never without a roll of it, either.
buffy at 8:36PM on 11/03/08
gosh, i couldn't live without my melon scoop, although never once have i made a melon ball with it. it's my tool of choice for coring apples, which i do quite frequently during the fall for pie and sauce.
cybercita at 9:22PM on 11/03/08
Metal cannoli forms. Original purchase date was 25 years ago - and they're still in their original shrink-wrap. Why do I still have them? 'cause I'm afraid someday my MIL will ask what ever happened to them.
sjwoodin at 12:00PM on 11/04/08
One more fan of the Jar Pop. I bought it so I wouldn't have to get married if I didn't want to.
@db-Amen. I don't need 8 million little gadgets, but sometimes a job is much easier with a specialty tool.
Also-I love that infomercial with the lady who makes wraps and corn dogs and cakes in that little machine with two half-circle wells. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I don't want to buy the product, but for some reason I like the infomercial. I can actually picture that lady making thoes weird snacks for her family and the neighborhood kids.
Kerosena at 2:30PM on 11/04/08
My asparagus pot. I maybe use it once or twice during asparagus season (I normally grill asparagus these days)
stonechiper at 2:32PM on 11/04/08
I love the commercials where you just know - TAG SALE Item in about 1 year or less.
You know things like the Salad Shooter, 3 Level Steamer, I saw a potato steamer and masher applicance (where a pot on a stove just doesn't seem enough), hot dog cookers, bread makers and what may be one of this years candidates for tag sale next year - the potato glove peeler.
I've got my share of gadgets that I thought were a good idea, like the mango slicer, and a pineapple corer,slicer, remover, but since I have knife skills and after using it once or twice, I end up giving them away.
I didn't fall for the avocado remover since I can't think of any reason you can't use a spoon or a knife.
Jar Pop - hey, simple and it works by breaking the vacuum and making it a breeze to open a jar.
I don't think you can beat a Swing Away can opener - Heavy duty, lasts for ever, and easy to open any and all cans.
I like finding something simple that you find other uses for such as a Magnaplane for zesting, cheese, nutmeg, chocolate and whatever else you can come up with for fine grating.
Anything that I only use once a year is a candidate for removal from the overstuffed gadget drawer(s).
Grifola frondosa at 10:36PM on 11/04/08
Salad Shooter and bread machine are awesome tools if your a pizza fanatic like I am . Nothing makes pizza dough as well and as easily as a bread machine set on the dough cycle, and the Salad Shooter,does a "grate" job on the cheese. Give them a try.
dmcavanagh at 11:41AM on 12/11/08