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Stupidest gadget awards

torakris

By torakris
in Kitchen Consumer

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torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted

I admit I'm a pretty simple person, especially when it comes to my kitchen. None of friends or family will go with me into a kitchen shop any more because I make snide comments about every gadget hanging on the wall. The only "gadget" I really couldn't live without is my manual can opener.

The other day in the store I ran across this gadget that had me laughing out loud in the aisle.

Potato chip tongs

These are mini tongs almost like chopsticks that are to be used to grasp the potato chip in the bag and then transfer it to your month without getting your fingers dirty. In the store they were being displayed by the potato chips and for me gadgets that are only good for one thing are the biggest joke ever, but on the webpage it shows them being used for other kinds of snacks as well, so I'll give them a point back in their favor.

This would definitely get my vote in the stupidest gadget category.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Genkinaonna

Genkinaonna

Posted
Posted

I think they're brilliant! Presumably the point is that you don't get your laptop keys dirty or get food in the computer while you snack and browse Egullet simultaneously. Plus if you have small children you can use them to prod them up the stairs so you can get back to browsing on said laptop while they put themselves to bed!

Now an avocado scoop, that's a stupid tool. Like everyone doesn't have a large spoon in their drawer!

If you ate pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry? ~Author Unknown

Dakki

Dakki

Posted
Posted

Chip tongs and avocado scoops are worthy contenders but I think the hell of pointlessness that is Infomercia may offer something to beat that.

I nominate that double-bladed knife from Calphalon. Does that count as a gadget?

This is my skillet. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My skillet is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as I must master my life. Without me my skillet is useless. Without my skillet, I am useless. I must season my skillet well. I will. Before God I swear this creed. My skillet and myself are the makers of my meal. We are the masters of our kitchen. So be it, until there are no ingredients, but dinner. Amen.

ChefCrash

ChefCrash

Posted
Posted

I admit I'm a pretty simple person, especially when it comes to my kitchen. None of friends or family will go with me into a kitchen shop any more because I make snide comments about every gadget hanging on the wall. The only "gadget" I really couldn't live without is my manual can opener.

The other day in the store I ran across this gadget that had me laughing out loud in the aisle.

Potato chip tongs

These are mini tongs almost like chopsticks that are to be used to grasp the potato chip in the bag and then transfer it to your month without getting your fingers dirty. In the store they were being displayed by the potato chips and for me gadgets that are only good for one thing are the biggest joke ever, but on the webpage it shows them being used for other kinds of snacks as well, so I'll give them a point back in their favor.

This would definitely get my vote in the stupidest gadget category.

There is a thread around here by someone looking for tiny plating tongs.

Chip tongs and avocado scoops are worthy contenders but I think the hell of pointlessness that is Infomercia may offer something to beat that.

I nominate that double-bladed knife from Calphalon. Does that count as a gadget?

Finally. Stabbing people however many times in er.. half the time!?

ChickenStu

ChickenStu

Posted
Posted (edited)

Plating tongs are different, they are precise metal instruments for intricate work, not plastic tongs for grabbing chips. Most people and restaurants have no use for them but there is definitely a market.

Anybody ever see the easy egg cracker?

Edited by ChickenStu (log)
andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted (edited)

I vote for the banana slicers. Seriously, how hard is it to cut a banana....

Actually the banana slicer was originally aimed at families with small children. Kids can use it where one would not want to turn a child loose with a knife and unlike anything with a blade (even plastic ones) they are acceptable at schools.

One of my neighbors, who has 7 children (two sets of twins) under 12 years, has two or three of these gadgets and for her they are very handy.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

percival

percival

Posted
Posted

I vote for the banana slicers. Seriously, how hard is it to cut a banana....

Actually the banana slicer was originally aimed at families with small children. Kids can use it where one would not want to turn a child loose with a knife and unlike anything with a blade (even plastic ones) they are acceptable at schools.

Really?

My one year old just eats them whole. I peel and he chows down. Big giant bites for Mr. Piggy. He eats a whole banana in one sitting. It's one of the few fruit he'll actually eat, and he eats them about one every other day. Very picky in that some days are banana days and some days are not banana days. There's no telling.

Special K

Special K

Posted
Posted

Chip tongs and avocado scoops are worthy contenders but I think the hell of pointlessness that is Infomercia may offer something to beat that.

I nominate that double-bladed knife from Calphalon. Does that count as a gadget?

This is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. Do professional chefs really "often grasp two knives in one hand when mincing or chopping large quantities of an ingredient?"

Alcuin

Alcuin

Posted
Posted

Chip tongs and avocado scoops are worthy contenders but I think the hell of pointlessness that is Infomercia may offer something to beat that.

I nominate that double-bladed knife from Calphalon. Does that count as a gadget?

This is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. Do professional chefs really "often grasp two knives in one hand when mincing or chopping large quantities of an ingredient?"

I balked at that too. It sounds dangerous, not to mention really inefficient and sloppy. Maybe I just don't the chops even to imagine it.

nunc est bibendum...

mbhank

mbhank

Posted
Posted (edited)

This is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. Do professional chefs really "often grasp two knives in one hand when mincing or chopping large quantities of an ingredient?"

Yes, Chinese chefs will often chop meat very fine while using two cleavers, but one in each hand.:)

Edited by heidih
Fix quote tag (log)

'A person's integrity is never more tested than when he has power over a voiceless creature.' A C Grayling.

andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

I vote for the banana slicers. Seriously, how hard is it to cut a banana....

Actually the banana slicer was originally aimed at families with small children. Kids can use it where one would not want to turn a child loose with a knife and unlike anything with a blade (even plastic ones) they are acceptable at schools.

Really?

My one year old just eats them whole. I peel and he chows down. Big giant bites for Mr. Piggy. He eats a whole banana in one sitting. It's one of the few fruit he'll actually eat, and he eats them about one every other day. Very picky in that some days are banana days and some days are not banana days. There's no telling.

It's for having sliced bananas in cereal. Consider having to slice bananas for 7 kids who want their breakfast all at once. Having one or more of the kids handle this chore is helpful.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

ambra

ambra

Posted
Posted

I was given a stocking stuffer one year. A garlic peeler. Some kind of tube. you put the garlic in and rub it on the counter it supposedly loosens the peel. It doesn't work.

Catherine Iino

Catherine Iino

Posted
Posted

I've posted this before, but for me it's the "stainless steel soap" for removing garlic odor from your hands. Can there be a kitchen around that has no stainless steel around at all--no knives, no sinks, no pots, no flatware--and has to purchase and then store a hunk of stainless steel?

heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted

I've posted this before, but for me it's the "stainless steel soap" for removing garlic odor from your hands. Can there be a kitchen around that has no stainless steel around at all--no knives, no sinks, no pots, no flatware--and has to purchase and then store a hunk of stainless steel?

Someone gave me one in a cute garlic head shape. I admit to having it in the drawer even though I have a stainless sink. It has grooves and rounded edges I can get around my fingertips better than the sink. I did not use it when I had a Wusthof set with stainless handles.

andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've posted this before, but for me it's the "stainless steel soap" for removing garlic odor from your hands. Can there be a kitchen around that has no stainless steel around at all--no knives, no sinks, no pots, no flatware--and has to purchase and then store a hunk of stainless steel?

Someone gave me one in a cute garlic head shape. I admit to having it in the drawer even though I have a stainless sink. It has grooves and rounded edges I can get around my fingertips better than the sink. I did not use it when I had a Wusthof set with stainless handles.

I teared up when I read this. It reminded me of Fifi and her stainless steel mushroom.

For those who have joined since then, Fifi was a very active member who had the SS mushroom as her avatar.

She was also a gadget fan.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

Catherine Iino

Catherine Iino

Posted
Posted

I'm sorry, Andie. I didn't mean to make you sad. I always thought of that mushroom more as a pounder than a hand cleaner. In any case, we all have gadgets that we love that might not be reasonable. I suppose I should have remembered my Shakespeare: "O reason not the need!"

Porthos

Porthos

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think garlic presses are useless personally. They're very wasteful with half the garlic pulp getting stuck in those tiny little holes and they are awful to clean. Much quicker and cleaner to just chop it with a knife - where you'll actually get texture instead of paste.

I've stated elsewhere before that I find a garlic press much more efficient than using my knife. And I must have a magic version because I don't seem to deal with losing a lot of garlic in the press. That's just me.

Do you use a dishwasher or do you hand-wash? My garlic press goes in the dishwasher and comes out clean.

Edited by Porthos (log)

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

;

andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

I agree, it looks like it is awkward to use and would take a lot more time than a pizza wheel or a big pizza cutter knife.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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