Gadgets that take more time to use than just doing it by hand.

[coffee]

I want to believe in the magic of all those nifty kitchen gadgets that promise ease and swift actions. Although some of them may work, I've found that they take longer than actually doing the task manually by hand.

When I first heard of the strawberry culler I was very excited. "I'll eat more strawberries if I buy that!" I thought to myself. Well after several attempts at using it...I'd rather just remove the stem/core with a butter knife like I've been doing. It's much faster, and much easier to clean.

Apple slicers are pretty neat, but I find that the slices are too big, and if the apple core is not perfectly straight I have to use a knife anyways to correct it. So I banished the apple slicers to the drawer and just use a knife. Much faster, and I get to eat the apples the way I like them - without any trace of core.

So what gadgets have you purchased that ended up kind of useless?

 

[Alex H]

Not too many fortunately

This - you can't immerse it in water, the blade rusts with the apple juice and it only works properly on 'perfect' fruit

This (more 'modern model but can't find the picture) - I only use it for blitzing soups - even though it has slicing / grating / shredding attachments - it's just too much of a pain to clean after

 

[Lostvalleyguy]

I acquired an old cherry pitter. I didn't have to pay for it so it really wasn't a loss, but unless the cherries were a perfect size and the perfect texture, it made more of a mess than it was worth. For some reason, the cherries i get have pits that are too large for this device and so they get stuck and i end up having to slice open the cherry anyhow. I have several gadgets that work but, like mentioned above, save time in doing the task and cost time in cleanup. A sharp knife and a cutting board are all I need for chopping fruits and veggies.

 

[OhioTom76]

Mostly chopping devices, and in some cases slicing devices. I see a lot of people using that "Slap Chop" on Youtube videos, but it just seems like a waste of time to me. By the time you peel and chop the vegetables into large pieces, then "slap chop" them, you could have just done it as fast with a knife. Not to mention you have to clean and dry that tool out properly or food will get stuck to the blades and it will rust.

Mandolin slicers are also a waste of time unless they are a really high quality one. I bought a Martha Stewart model one and it was a piece of crap. Almost everything I tried to cut with it would get stuck in the blades.

Another device I tried was this herb chopped. It was basically three round blades with a handle on top and you were supposed to roll it over the herbs several time to chop them. All the herbs got suck up in the device and made a mess.

 

[megshoe]

Alex H, I was going to comment with the apple corer too! I thought I'd become an apple pie making wizard or something. It doesn't work very well if the apples aren't perfectly shaped, it's a mess to clean up, awkward to store... I've only used it a couples since then. Great idea, doesn't translate so well to reality.

 

[clairebeautiful]

Vote #3 on the apple-corer. Also, if your apples aren't perfectly hard it just mushes them straight through.

Otherwise, I have to say I'm partial to a hand-can opener over the electric thing. My mom has an electric and it takes me forever to line up the dang lip to get it to go right. That stupid Pampered Chef vegetable chopper is a waste too. Tons of clean up and everything just gets all stuck in there and comes out a big mess.
On the flip side, one "gadget" I didn't think I'd like but I do, is this big wine bottle opener. It isn't electric, but it is big. You clamp it down, push the handle, and lift it and the cork comes right out. Do the same motion without the bottle and the cork comes off the cork screw inside. At first it was weird, but now I'm hooked and can hardly remember how to use a regular cork screw!

 

[GadgetGuy]

This item, the Presto Electric Potato Peeler (below) was a definite waste of time to get & use!

It is just pure-d useless!! First off, you have to stand at the counter and hold it down because it vibrates and walks across the counter if you don't! It won't remove the eyes from the tater, and if you let it go too long, the taters will get eaten up!!

I ended up taking the taters out and removing the eyes in them by hand. It is also a salad spinner. But I already have and Oxo Salad Spinner anyway, so this thing ended up first on the shelf with stuff that's no longer used, and then I put it out on the sidewalk with the trash for pickup the next day.

I wrote on the box; Still Works. Someone picked it up and took it home. Good riddens to a useless piece of junk!! I very happily went right back to using my old-school hand-held potato peeler!!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Here's another flimsily-made worthless piece of junk that I so regretted buying - mainly because the thing won't take whole potatoes! I'm forced to cut the potatoes in half first!!

You're supposed to be able to cut them without the use of a knife. I've since stopped using it and it is with the stuff that is never used! I want the big commercial-style one that I've seen at Amazon.com.

 

[Tara]

View attachment 234 Here's another flimsily-made worthless piece of junk that I so regretted buying - mainly because the thing won't take whole potatoes! I'm forced to cut the potatoes in half first!!

You're supposed to be able to cut them without the use of a knife. I've since stopped using it and it is with the stuff that is never used! I want the big commercial-style one that I've seen at Amazon.com.

I remember having one of these. I think I kept it for a month before throwing it in the trash. It was so flimsy that it was dangerous.

 

[Food4thought]

I have a food chopper designed to cut food into small pieces. I always use a knife because after using the gadget I have to scrape the chopped food out. Then the thing needs to be taken apart and each part washed separately. It's so much quicker just to clean the blade of a sharp knife.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I once thought about getting THIS item, but after doing some research on it, I found out that it does NOT save any extra amount of time over boing the pasta the normal way - on the stove!

 

[GadgetGuy]

I once had one of THESE. It was no good because the onions would get stuck halfway through the cutting blades and jam it up!!

So I took the onion out and cut it up by hand with a chef's knife instead!! gave this piece of junk away!!!