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Unusual & mysterious kitchen gadgets

andiesenji

By andiesenji
in Kitchen Consumer

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TdeV

TdeV

Posted
Posted
On 7/19/2024 at 3:28 PM, weinoo said:

I roasted some peppers today; do many people use a Közmatik?

 

IMG_2493.thumb.jpeg.0a97420e61a2225c8950277bd8103dff.jpeg

 

Looks interesting @weinoo. Where did you get your Közmatik?

  • 3 months later...
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

 

Mystery10262024.jpg

 

Any guesses as to what this is?  There are no wrong answers because I have no idea.  Actually I have some idea, it is a kind of press.  It was sold as a citrus press.  A citrus press it clearly is not.  There is no place for juice to drain.  Height is 15 inches in the lowered position.  It is heavy.  It works as a nut smasher if you are fond of shell fragments.

 

The asking price was $158.  The device has since been removed from Amazon.  The fact remains someone designed it for something.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Laurentius

Laurentius

Posted
Posted

This is a WAG, but I suspect there is a piece missing.  As in a tube through which that plunger traveled.

 

Maybe a sausage stuffer? Or, if the tube was perforated, some sort of juice extractor?

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, Laurentius said:

This is a WAG, but I suspect there is a piece missing.  As in a tube through which that plunger traveled.

 

Maybe a sausage stuffer? Or, if the tube was perforated, some sort of juice extractor?

 

No tube and no place to affix a tube.  No room in the (plain unmarked) box for a tube to have been.  The plunger has teeth, though said teeth are not sharp.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Mystery10262024.jpg

 

Any guesses as to what this is?  There are no wrong answers because I have no idea.  Actually I have some idea, it is a kind of press.  It was sold as a citrus press.  A citrus press it clearly is not. 

 

 

It is a lemon squeezer. Quite common here.

 

Click

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
  • Thanks 3

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

TdeV

TdeV

Posted
Posted (edited)

Deleted.

 

 

Edited to add: I missed the second page of responses, and I see the problem has already been solved by @liuzhou.

Edited by TdeV (log)
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

It is a lemon squeezer. Quite common here.

 

Click

 

 

 

Thank you @liuzhou!  The press you linked is exactly the same as mine.  Strangely I note only one of the Alibaba product pictures shows a beaker, such as the beaker in the video.  Would it be common for Chinese kitchens to have metal beakers to use with the press?  I have beakers, but my beakers are glass.

 

As always, I love eGullet!

 

  • Like 2

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

I prefer to think of it as a duckling press.  A little small for a full-sized duck

  • Thanks 1
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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

just the right size for an

 

Otolan 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortolan_bunting

 

'''   The birds are caught with nets set during their autumn migratory flight to Africa. They are then kept in covered cages or boxes. They react to the dark by gorging themselves on grain, usually millet seed, until they double their bulk. They are then suspended upside down over a container of Armagnac, and by dipping, made to drown, and then marinated in the brandy.[14][15] ''

 

etc.

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dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Mystery10262024.jpg

 

Any guesses as to what this is?  There are no wrong answers because I have no idea.  Actually I have some idea, it is a kind of press.  It was sold as a citrus press.  A citrus press it clearly is not.  There is no place for juice to drain.  Height is 15 inches in the lowered position.  It is heavy.  It works as a nut smasher if you are fond of shell fragments.

 

The asking price was $158.  The device has since been removed from Amazon.  The fact remains someone designed it for something.

 

I have seen that used as a pomegranate juice press. Very effective.

 

dcarch

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Thank you @liuzhou!  The press you linked is exactly the same as mine.  Strangely I note only one of the Alibaba product pictures shows a beaker, such as the beaker in the video.  Would it be common for Chinese kitchens to have metal beakers to use with the press?  I have beakers, but my beakers are glass.

 

 

Quite common. I have a stainless steel beaker.

 

 

  • Thanks 1

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Quite common. I have a stainless steel beaker.

 

 

 

I figure 500ml is about the right size for the press, does that sound right?

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I figure 500ml is about the right size for the press, does that sound right?

 

 

My beaker is 350ml,  but I've never used it with one of those presses.  But it should be about right, I guess.

  • Thanks 1

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 10/26/2024 at 10:36 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Mystery10262024.jpg

 

Any guesses as to what this is?  There are no wrong answers because I have no idea.  Actually I have some idea, it is a kind of press.  It was sold as a citrus press.  A citrus press it clearly is not.  There is no place for juice to drain.  Height is 15 inches in the lowered position.  It is heavy.  It works as a nut smasher if you are fond of shell fragments.

 

The asking price was $158.  The device has since been removed from Amazon.  The fact remains someone designed it for something.

 

I received my Lee Valley catalogue in the mail yesterday and while leafing through it came upon this.  

20241029_155429.jpg

Edited by ElsieD
Typo (log)
  • Like 4
Laurentius

Laurentius

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I received my Lee Valley catalogue in the mail yesterday and while leafing through it came upon this.  

20241029_155429.jpg

This style manual press is Coin of the Realm.  I trust Lee Valley would choose a good model, but beware knockoffs.  If I had more counter space, I'd have one.

  • Like 2
Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Laurentius said:

This style manual press is Coin of the Realm.  I trust Lee Valley would choose a good model, but beware knockoffs.  If I had more counter space, I'd have one.

Lee Valley was top drawer when it opened and for many years afterwards - but they have brought in a lot of cheap knockoffs for the Christmas season in the past. This doesn't look like one of them however. 

  • Like 3

the Chocolate Doctor
www.thechocolatedoctor.ca

www.eztemper.com

 

Confectionary Course • Confectionary Course Q&A
eGullet foodblog 2006 • eGullet Foodblog 2012

Laurentius

Laurentius

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

they have brought in a lot of cheap knockoffs for the Christmas season in the past.

Yep.  Sadly, this is the case with many venerable companies, e.g., Lehman's.

  • Like 1
Laurentius

Laurentius

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

That just looks like something I would be loathe to use. For any reason.

Ah, and there in the video is the missing piece.

Laurentius

Laurentius

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, gfweb said:

 And it doesn't include the beaker!

 

Really?  The beaker is in two of the accompanying videos.

 

It's double or triple the price of the best-designed presses...

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
59 minutes ago, Laurentius said:

 

Really?  The beaker is in two of the accompanying videos.

 

It's double or triple the price of the best-designed presses...

 

No beaker.  I don't pay for the stuff I evaluate for Amazon, but this press is not something I would recommend at any price.

 

  • Like 3
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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted (edited)

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

I was going to ask if you paid for this,

 

but thought better , as that would be a bit rude .

 

BTW :  if Amazon asks , or you might suggest , 

 

an evaluation of this :

 

GE Profile Indoor Smoker on sale for $600

 

you  might also suggest ,  as this is ' complex '

 

an associate , to send a second unit to 

 

( Me ) .  ask for some pellets for yourself .

 

I have plenty ,

 

Edited by rotuts (log)
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