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I love kitchen gadgets. I really love me a salad spinner, that juicer top that fits on my large measuring cup, a egg slicer, a pizza cutter, a garlic press. I could go on.
But a good kitchen gadget should save time or help you do something better. It has to earn it's space in the crowded drawer. What follows therefore are kitchen gadgets that I have no interest in ever receiving.
They baffle me.
The banana slicer. (Really?)
This gadget is another thing to wash and store whisks or beats your eggs when you shake it. Like instead of the bowl and fork method. (When did this become a kitchen problem of such magnitude that it needed it's own gadget?)
Now these are cute, but I stand by my Toss Them In The Drawers style of pot and pan storage. (Does anyone have time for this?)
Speaking of cute - these are cute. Do you know what they are for?
Individually storing each and every tomato, onion, pepper (by color, and hey there's no yellow or orange!), lemon, lime, and garlic clove that you put in your fridge. (Hello time to shower! You are outta here! I've got to seal my veggies in plastic veggie shaped containers, because........I have no idea why I would do this.)
And then there is this plastic zipper bag for pie crust. (I don't even really know what to say. I would laugh if I saw someone doing this though.)
Santa, I have a nice little list going, but I don't want any of these things.
Also, I don't need this:
(This is to keep eye makeup from smudging. Yeah, I didn't know either until I read the description. Ever hear of a Q-Tip?)
What kitchen gadgets do you love and which ones do you think are silly?
32 Fabulous People Comment:
This is such a funny post! I always get sucked into these gadgets then end up giving it to Goodwill!!
There is nothing fancy in this house, although I do love my thaw plate. If I forget to take something out of the freezer I can have chicken thawed in no time!!
Yes, I need all of these. For when I go insane. Absolutely hysterical!
2 little - I've always wanted to try one of those!
I can see the point of the separators between the pots and pans, even though I would never use them. But the rest is ridiculous!
I'm with you, Amy, but I have to ask--how is a banana slicer any more or less silly than an egg slicer?
I use my apple slicer all the time, but there are at least three things in my gadget drawer that my mother-in-law gave me for wedding showers that I have no idea what they do and have never used them.
Gosh, Amy, don't you understand the tremendous effort it takes to get a knife out of the drawer and slice individual pieces of banana?!
I will admit I am slightly intrigued by the veggies, if for no other reason than it would reduce plastic bag usage. Then again, I'd have to store those containers and where, oh where would I do that in my tiny kitchen?
This is so, so funny.
Jessica - I wondered who would think of that!
Eggs are hard to slice. They are slippery, the yolk sticks to the knife and breaks apart, and it's hard to get even slices. A egg slicer fixes all that. A banana is easy to slice and slice evenly with a plain old knife.
See how great I am at overthinking these things??
there is this thing that fits over a tuna can that drains the liquid/oil off of the tuna.
seiously, now. isn't that what the opened can lid is for - the old "smoosh in the lid against the tuna and drain the water" method that my momma taught me? good grief.
and btw, Vance bought that thing during his bachelor days - that's how i found out about such a stupid device.
maitland - That is exactly what the can lid is for!
I love it! I agree with you...why do I need a whole bunch more containers for my individual tomato, onion, whatever? Just more to wash all the time! And i, too, just stack my pots and pans...no need for a separater!
OK, I'll admit it. I want them all, and will use none!
I snorted my latte on the piecrust zipper bag. Not ON it, but *because of* it...you know what I mean.
Amy, where do you find this stuff?
And who keeps garlic in the refrigerator?
I love a good gadget but so many are just plain silly. The slap chopper (I've received 2 as gifts) seems rather useless to me...it is cool for the first 3 uses and then isn't sharp enough to do anything but bruise the item you are trying to chop. I've tried various gadgets for chopping fresh herbs but always return to my kitchen scissors because none of them really work. My husband loves his hamburger patty maker...I think it is stupid.
I love my garlic press, my cheese grater (hand cranked like at Italian restaurants), milk frother for coffee, and a few other doo dads but usually my knife, cutting board, and food processor are all I need.
You are a girl after my own heart..sassy and hilarious. Seriously a banana slicer..welcome to the Laziest Age in History. I have a banana slicer already... a knife.
I actually understand the use of the veggie storage device. It's not for each individual pepper, tomato, etc. It's for if you're chopping one for a recipe and don't use all of it. It's for something that's already sliced. It wouldn't make sense for a storage container that held an intact vegetable.
-Saunders
HA! This is hilarious. I'm going to invent something stupid and get rich.
I'm a minimalist in the way of kitchen utensils, but I must admit I love Pampered Chef products. Right now I'm wanting a stand-alone mixer, but waiting to see how much bread I will actually make before I begin hinting for one for Christmas.
I agree with you on all of these. Some are too much!
I do enjoy a grapefruit knife on occasion. Has a sharp pointed end for twisting in the center of the grapfruit half, and a knife on the other side for quickly slicing through each little section.
Hahaha! This post cracked me up! I love it – “because…I have no idea why I would do this.” Ditto!
I have to raise my hand in defense of the onion keeper thingy. I bought one for a few bucks at the grocery store, and it's been a good thing. Before, I'd put half an onion in a baggie and I still could smell it in the frig. I'd keep it in the door next to the condiments so that it didn't pass its stink on to other veggies in the crisper drawer. Or I'd put it in two baggies, or foil and a baggie. So, that was annoying. The onion keeper thingy keeps it fresh and keeps the onion stink sealed away. Feel free to make fun of me. Everyone else does. :)
Fabulous post. Laughed hard and so true....to think a factory mold was actually made for all these things....
-Liza
www.styleblueprint.com
I hate to say it I think I own the banana slicer!I'm sure it was a gift can't see me buying it...? Other than that Santa better not bring me anything on that list.
Rebecca - HA! I can see the purpose of the veggie things, I just can't imagine actually using them myself. For one thing, the kids would take it to the play kitchen or use it as a ball. I'm glad to hear it works for you though!
Liza - I know! They must sell them. The banana slicer person is probably laughing all the way to the bank.
Frau - See? Have you ever once wondered "what'd I do with that awesome banana slicer?" heh.
Nice list Amy. I can't believe there's a pizza dough cover. I am LOL right now and wondering who buys that? Ha!
I could use the pie crust thing. It might actually allow me to make a crust. Some of us aren't culinarily (I think I just made that word up) gifted...I only share my last name with Martha.
The silliest gadgets in my mind are electric can openers (okay it's an appliance)and battery operated pepper mills.
I love it that the egg beater thingie is in a GUY'S hand. Only a guy would think that's a neat thing, mainly because he doesn't CLEAN it.
My favorite tool in my arsenal of kitchen tools is my Pampered Chef micro-cooker:
https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=250&catId=8&parentCatId=8&outletSubCat=&viewAllOutlet=
Other than that, I'm pretty old fashioned and use the old time tools.
I love it all!
Only... um... looking at the cute pot/pan dividers, i'm thinking of all my Teflon coated pans, one of which is VERY dear to my heart, all scratched from the "toss'em in the drawer" method. One day i'm going to save up enough money, and buy... nom not the dividers. Are you insane? I could have sewn those dividers in half an hour if I cared to. No. I'm going to buy Neoflam pans. One day. When I get rich.
What great finds! Hilarious!
My favorite gadget you can't find anymore...tupperware powdered sugar mill. My mom has one and I covet it every time I use it for pancake mornings at her house. What Tupperware stopped making their best invention (heck they still make the orange scorer which is pretty good too), I'll never know. Now I am going to Ebay to look for one. :-)
Great post - I came over from The Mouthy Housewives site and am glad I did.
I went through my kitchen several years (and 2 moves) ago and rid myself of anything that I did not regularly use or anything I had doubles of. Most of it was stuff I had gotten as gifts, including a chopper thingy whose name eludes me at this moment. I used it once to chop an onion. While it chopped fine, it took twice as long to pull it apart and clean it than it would have taken me just to use a knife in the first place. I will say I kept my apple slicer and it gets used 3-5 times a week. That thing is totally worth the small amount of space it takes up, even if it has nearly sliced off fingers on both my husband and I.
LOL! I HAVE a banana slicer... that exact one I think :) My sister got it for me when I graduated from college. Too funny! It is rather useless, but I love it anyway. :)
I don't know what's worse, a banana slicer or a banana lunchbox...
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