How I have lived this long without such a gadget

[Mike L.]

To JGM re bagel slicer:

JGM Try this and let us know how it works:

1. Throw out your bagel slicer.

2. Reach for your serrated bread knife.

3. Place bagel flat in the cutting board.

4. Cut it in half VERTICALLY.

5. Turn both halves up so the two flat sides are on the cutting board and the curved side is up.

6. Hold each half with your hand over the top and slice down. If you stop just before the cutting board you can simply fold the half opened for toasting in your toaster oven, or just cut all the way and work with the halves.

Mike

[andiesenji]

I like my Bagel Guillotine and if one has kids around it is safe for them to use with supervision.

When I used to volunteer at fund-raising breakfasts we would have knife cuts almost every time from people trying to slice bagels and perhaps working too rapidly. Not only was there injury to a helper, but often food was ruined from blood contamination. And if you have once had to discard 20 pounds of ham because someone bled onto it, you would settle for a safe bagel slicer too.

I have several electric egg cookers from various eras from the 1930s to the present.

One is made by Hankscraft and was a Christmas gift soon after I graduated from x-ray school while in the Army in 1957. They all work just fine.

The one I use most is a GE that does 8 eggs at a time and sounds a loud buzzer when the cooking cycle is done and the eggs are always cooked exactly the way I want, whether very soft or fully hard. It also has poaching pans which I have never used as I prefer them the old-fashioned way.

I have my 30-year-old Bron mandoline which is on its third set of blades. I have tried them all and nothing works as well when one needs to slice a tub of potatoes, onions, cucumbers for pickles, ginger for candying, and etc. I just set the thing in the bottom of a bus tub, don my safety glove and go to it.

Some gadgets are useless but some really work as they are supposed to and are handy for doing a job for you when you have several other things to do and don't have a helper in the kitchen.

I also have one of the Stir-Chef things mainly for stirring lemon curd which can't be left without constant stirring and my arm is no longer up to doing that prolonged task.

However most of the time I just collect interesting or peculiar gadgets because I like the quirky engineering (or lack of it) that goes into them.

One gadget that I owned a long time ago and which disappeared when I moved, and which I would like to find again, was a large pot that looked sort of like a salad spinner with a crank into which one put potatoes and water. The inside of the pot sides and bottom was abrasive and when cranked for a few minutes almost all the skin was removed from the potatoes and it would do about 3 to 5 pounds at a time, depending on the size of the potatoes. I used it all the time and it was perfect for doing the small potatoes which take so long to peel by hand.

I also use my knife to smash garlic cloves when I need only a few minced or crushed. However I also use a garlic slicer when I need a lot of uniform slices when I am going to dehydrate them. The slicer is made by the same company that makes the microplane graters and has a holder which one slides back and forth over the blade and holds 4 or 5 cloves, depending on size.

Like beauty, the usefulness of a gadget is in the eye of the beholder. The rotating marshmallow holder may seem totally useless to some but others might find it useful for some other application. As soon as I saw it I thought It might be interesting to see how it would pick up and shape a thread of molten sugar while turning. I may order one just to experiment.

[Gifted Gourmet]

As usual, andisenji sees the positive side of everything culinary! Thank goodness! I see things and fail to make the connection as to their usefulness .. I am not too mechanically oriented ...

Useless or necessary gadget? how could we live so long and not appreciate the versatile wineclip??

Wine experts agree that The Wine Clip can enhance the taste of wine, making it smoother, less bitter and more refined. What once took years of aging now takes seconds. 

Is this statement true??

[andiesenji]

Well, I think I would put this in the class of using magnets (or copper bracelets) to treat arthritis.

A friend who is an MRI technician, works around very powerful magnets all the time and has severe arthritis can debunk the magnet therapy personally.

I don't drink but I know people that do and they all say that the quality of wine depends on the quality of the grapes and the handling as it is prepared and aged.

Of course imagination can do some odd things.

Incidentally this has apparently been a tough year for pinot noir grapes, a very small harvest is expected but they also expect the quality to be better than usual because of all the energy going into fewer grapes. It should be interesting to see if the predictions turn out.

[burnt toast]

Is it just me or have others found the Salad Shooter just as useful??? It was a gift but c'mon!!??

[Toliver]

Useless or necessary gadget?  how could we live so long and not appreciate the versatile wineclip??

Wine experts agree that The Wine Clip can enhance the taste of wine, making it smoother, less bitter and more refined. What once took years of aging now takes seconds.  

Is this statement true??

←

Oooo, you opened a can o' worms, girl!

"The Wine Clip, Useful or Nonsense?"

"The Wine Clip Part Deux, The test results"

[jvictor930]

I have to say...I haven't bought one...yet!

The Cup-A-Cake

Who wouldn't want to bring your home made cupcakes (with real buttercream) to work without this?

[lesfen]

Hot Dog Rotisserie

You know... in case you want your kitchen to look like a 7-11. Altho' when they come out with the home Slushee machine, I'm totally getting one.

[Rebecca263]

Home Slushie, count me in, too. And, I've actually always WANTED a Salad Shooter a lot. But I guess not 'a lot' enough to buy one. Heck, it's 2005 and I still don't own a Cuisinart!

[Gifted Gourmet]

I have to say...I haven't bought one...yet!

The Cup-A-Cake

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Thanks for solving one of man/woman's eternal questions! I am so relieved!

Now I can die in peace ...

(great "find")

[Curlz]

Sorry, kids, but I without even knowing about this thread, I think I found the winner just last night in a catalog...L K HERE!

I do believe it's the end of the world.

[lesfen]

Sorry, kids, but I without even knowing about this thread, I think I found the winner just last night in a catalog...L   K  HERE!

I do believe it's the end of the world.

←

Jesus... look at the glowing reviews. I didn't realize that making mashed potatoes was such a hassle.

[*Deborah*]

Re: bagel holding gadget: after seeing a klutzy co-worker blithely slice her hand more than once while halving a bagel (some people seem incapable of holding a bagel upright on the counter to slice), I bought a lucite holder thing and insisted she use it.

Didn't want blood on the carpet at work, and somehow she would obey the order to use a gadget more than an order not to hold the stupid bagel in her hand while slicing. A miracle she didn't entirely detach her thumb with that serrated knife before I got the gadget, actually.

Sometimes I wonder, though: Darwinism dictates that I should let you detach your thumb.

Edited August 20, 2005 by *Deborah* (log)

[Eden]

Re: bagel holding gadget: after seeing a klutzy co-worker blithely slice her hand more than once while halving a bagel (some people seem incapable of holding a bagel upright on the counter to slice), I bought a lucite holder thing and insisted she use it.

Didn't want blood on the carpet at work, and somehow she would obey the order to use a gadget more than an order not to hold the stupid bagel in her hand while slicing. A miracle she didn't entirely detach her thumb with that serrated knife before I got the gadget, actually.

Sometimes I wonder, though: Darwinism dictates that I should let you detach your thumb.

←

I'm afraid Darwin is actually neutral on this one, because detatching her thumb won't keep her from reproducing. It probably won't even keep her from finding someone to reproduce with ala "wow this girl can't slice a bagel, I sure don't want to mate with her!", so you might as well protect the carpet & avoid wasting bagels

I am slowly realizing that many of the gadgets I consider worthless crap, really are valuable to other people. Like your bagel holder, or electric can-openers which I never understood till I talked to someone with arthritis...

[barolo]

I have to say...I haven't bought one...yet!

The Cup-A-Cake

Who wouldn't want to bring your home made cupcakes (with real buttercream) to work without this?

←

In the same family: Banana Guard

These are available in a cookware store near me and are very popular gag gift items.

[*Deborah*]

Re: bagel holding gadget: after seeing a klutzy co-worker blithely slice her hand more than once while halving a bagel (some people seem incapable of holding a bagel upright on the counter to slice), I bought a lucite holder thing and insisted she use it.

Didn't want blood on the carpet at work, and somehow she would obey the order to use a gadget more than an order not to hold the stupid bagel in her hand while slicing. A miracle she didn't entirely detach her thumb with that serrated knife before I got the gadget, actually.

Sometimes I wonder, though: Darwinism dictates that I should let you detach your thumb.

←

I'm afraid Darwin is actually neutral on this one, because detatching her thumb won't keep her from reproducing. It probably won't even keep her from finding someone to reproduce with ala "wow this girl can't slice a bagel, I sure don't want to mate with her!", so you might as well protect the carpet & avoid wasting bagels

I am slowly realizing that many of the gadgets I consider worthless crap, really are valuable to other people. Like your bagel holder, or electric can-openers which I never understood till I talked to someone with arthritis...

←

Actually, she married a guy with no left thumb.

No, just kidding

Edited August 21, 2005 by *Deborah* (log)

[divalasvegas]

In the same family: Banana Guard

These are available in a cookware store near me and are very popular gag gift items.

←

Okay boroloI'm not just laughing as I reply to this, I'm wiping the tears from my eyes!!!

Your post definitely gives a new definition to the term "Food Porn!"

P.S. -- Not sure why the quote feature is not working, but it's not.

[=Mark]

Bass-o-matic.   

"Then you need a Bass-o-matic, as advertised on the original Saturday Night Live in the late 1970's.  here's a description I found on Google."

"i just saw the bassomatic ad on a saturday night live rerun show. very funny and exceedingly gross. it was a blender that you put a bass in (which dan ackroyd did for the skit) so that you could get all the nutrients of the fish without scaling or fileting. then you would just drink it. bleecchh!"

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Mmmm! (bass mustache on lip) That's great bass!

[Gifted Gourmet]

In the same family: Banana Guard

These are available in a cookware store near me and are very popular gag gift items.

actually the price, a mere $6 per banana holder, and the wide range of colours (nine, count 'em!), sold me! I wonder what life would have been like for me if only I had known this earlier ... live and learn ...

[Toliver]

Home Slushie, count me in, too. And, I've actually always WANTED a Salad Shooter a lot. But I guess not 'a lot' enough to buy one. Heck, it's 2005 and I still don't own a Cuisinart!

←

Here's something that actually combines the Salad Shooter with the Salad Spinner:

"Behold! The SaladXpress!"

[Curlz]

In the same family: Banana Guard

←

Barolo, I had GREAT fun showing this site to people over the weekend! Quite possible one of the best "You've GOT to be kidding me" items I've seen in a long time! Thanks for sharing.

[Gifted Gourmet]

"Behold!  The SaladXpress!"

←

and the good news is that they are selling a couple of these under the title "New and Used" .. now that is exactly what I have long waited for, a used SaladXpress!

[fifi]

I love these threads. Somewhere here, we discussed the Octodog. Yes . . . we discussed it at great length.

Here.

And here.

And if you do a forum wide search on octodog you will get a few more interesting hits.

Warning: The discussions tend to go downhill rather quickly.

I can't find it now, but someone came up with the idea of putting an octodog upside down on the top half of a burger bun with a little hole in the middle. It took me a while but when I realized what was going on with that I experienced a total incapacitation event. The banana thingy had a similar effect.

[divalasvegas]

I love these threads. Somewhere here, we discussed the Octodog. Yes . . . we discussed it at great length.

Here.

And here.

And if you do a forum wide search on octodog you will get a few more interesting hits.

Warning: The discussions tend to go downhill rather quickly. 

I can't find it now, but someone came up with the idea of putting an octodog upside down on the top half of a burger bun with a little hole in the middle. It took me a while but when I realized what was going on with that I experienced a total incapacitation event. The banana thingy had a similar effect.

←

Oh fifi thank you for keeping your finger on the pulse of cutting edge 21st century cooking innovations! And, wow, it's only $16.95. I hope they haven't run out. Of course, it looks like one could simply use a knife and a toothpick to get the same effect, but what do I know.

[I_call_the_duck]

In the same family: Banana Guard

←

PLEASE don't let my husband see that! He'll think it's a great idea.

We had a disagreement over the purchase of a sesame seed grinder. (I acceded, just to end the arguement.) It's currently still in its box somewhere in my house, unopened and unused.