Is this the secret to PERFECT mashed SPUDS
... and other gadgets that could revolutionise your kitchen classics
From the chopping board to kitchen paper, all cooks reach for tried and trusted favourites when whipping up a meal. But are they always the best for the job?
Lakeland says it’s time old stalwarts were given a makeover — and has released a weird, spiral potato masher it claims is superior. And that’s not the only innovation vying for space in our kitchens. So, can you teach an old gadget new tricks?
NATTY CUTTER Nicer Dicer Quick, £19.99, jmldirect.com
OLD: Knives cut anything! Why try to reinvent the wheel?
NEW: A handheld gadget into which you insert different square blades depending on the shape you wish your food to be. Pop in a carrot or piece of cheese, press down and everything is — they say — cut perfectly. It has a pot attached to the base into which the food falls.
VERDICT: You need to use quite a lot of force for carrots and other hard veg, but one of the most tedious tasks is cutting carrots into batons. This creates perfect sticks at once. However, I do prefer a knife. 6/10
GLASS TOASTER Daewoo Brushed Stainless Steel 2 Slice Glass Toaster (below), £25, wilko.com
OLD: A toaster isn’t a gadget, it’s a family member. We get through a loaf of bread a day as I have two teenage sons and a passion for bread. In the morning it’s often easier to make my oldest son’s breakfast as he is slow, but there are constant complaints about toast or bagels being ‘burnt’ (a tiny bit brown). NEW: You didn’t know you needed such a thing, but a glass toaster means you can watch your bread reach toasted perfection. VERDICT: There is a great deal of excitement about this, and I pop two slices in. We watch like forensic scientists as it browns to just the ‘right’ colour for the 14-year- old. The glass isn’t completely transparent, so we’re not talking paint- shade accurate, but it’s very clever. 8/10
BAMBOO TOWELS Ecoegg Reusable Bamboo Towels, £7.99, ethicalsuperstore.com
OLD: Kitchen roll paper for mopping up spills. I always buy recycled, but even so, it feels as though I’m wilfully throwing away paper. Nothing else — tea towels or cloths — is as good.
NEW: These 20 thin, perforated towels come on a roll and are made from 100 per cent viscose derived from bamboo. Each can be machine-washed 85 times.
VERDICT: They’re a bit gimmicky; basically thinner dishcloths, which I use anyway. Efficient, but not really that new apart from the fact they’re made from bamboo. 7/10
HIGH-TECH TEA Teatool, £4.99, lakeland.co.uk OLD: A teaspoon for squeezing a teabag against the side of your
cup then transporting it to the bin drip-free. NEW: A handheld tool into which you insert the teabag then lower into a cup filled with hot water. When the tea is brewed to your liking, push down the handle to squeeze the teabag then put it in the bin. VERDICT: It does work, but is best summed up by one of my sons: ‘I don’t get this. Why can’t you just use a spoon?’ Also, I splash the outside of the cup which never happens with a teaspoon. Seriously, why would you even bother? However, it does have some amazing online reviews, so perhaps I’m missing the point here. 2/10
BLADE STUNNER Clever Cutter 2-in-1 Knife and Cutting Board (below), £9.99, jmldirect.com
OLD: A knife and chopping board. or a pair of scissors for chopping fresh herbs.
NEW: oK. This is brilliant. It’s like a pair of scissors, but with a very sharp knife as one blade and a chopping board as the other. The handle is spring-loaded so it’s easier to cut hard items such as parsnip and carrot, and it has a locking mechanism for safer storage. VERDICT: I chop a banana, carrots, cheese and then a tomato. It’s just brilliant and, when I come to think of it, also great for camping trips, where you can save on washing up several knives as well as boards. 9/10
NO-MESS CHOPPING Multi-Function Over The Sink Chopping Block (above), £12.99, amazon.co.uk
OLD: Wooden or plastic chopping board from which you transfer vegetables or salad to the pan, plate or sink.
NEW: A green plastic board that sits over the sink, a basket on one side for catching peel, and a strainer on the other for rinsing veg. You can peel and wash without mess. It’s quite flimsy and unsuitable for large amounts of veg, but it does save on dishes.
VERDICT: When I chop, the board gets scratched and wobbles. 6/10
SUPER SCALE
Joseph Joseph Triscale Folding Digital Kitchen Scale, £34.99, lakeland.co.uk OLD: I have three sets of digital scales, all broken and which take up a lot of space. older still, of course, would be traditional scales that require lots of little weights and a fair bit of maths knowledge — not for me. NEW: A digital scale that expands into a tripod to hold large loads, but folds up so small you can pop it into a drawer. It’s a triumph of ergonomics. VERDICT: It takes a long time to get the battery in, but once I do it takes just seconds to put a bowl onto the three arms and weigh it. Stores like a dream. 9/10
PERFECT POACHER
OXO Good Grips Silicone Egg Poacher, £12, johnlewis.com
OLD: We’re obsessed with poached eggs for breakfast but can’t get the hang of the chef’s whirlpool trick. We rely on an ancient, nonstick poaching pan with four cups in which you place the eggs over boiling water.
NEW: This set of two nifty silicone cups look like large yellow egg timers with two hemispheres stuck back to back. one hemisphere has solid sides while the other has holes like a colander. There’s an opening between.
VERDICT: my 13-year-old son helps me work this out. The poacher is placed in a pan of boiling water, colander half down, and the egg dropped into the top half. This acts as a funnel, easing the egg into the water through the hole. It’s then held gently in place by the ‘colander’.
When it’s ready, we remove the poacher and scoop out the unevenly shaped — therefore authentic-looking — egg. We are initially very dubious, but the result is a perfectly poached egg with surprisingly little faff. These take up far less space in my cupboard than a pan just for eggs. 8/10