![]() |
|
|
|
|
|
Clocks |
Gadget gizmos We at Anniversary Weddinggifts offer the most personal gifts available for any Special Occasion Collin allows herself only a few indulgences: a truffle shaver she never uses ("I think it speaks to the fantasy of having such an expensive ingredient to play with") and an arsenal of rubber spatulas ("even though you really only need one or two"). On her list is a high-powered instant-read thermometer that can go from 0 to 300 degrees in five seconds. "I don't really need it," she admits. "I have one, and it works just fine. But I want it." Behind the public's interest in kitchen gadget gizmos, she says, lies the illusion that they can greatly speed up food preparation, even though finding the right peeler in an overstuffed drawer might take up as much time as merely learning to properly use a paring knife in the first place. Sometimes, she says, the gadget gizmos themselves add unneeded complexity to a task. "I saw something in the Baker's Catalog recently, a little ceramic bird that you put in a pie to release the steam. You'd rather put an object in there rather than just cut a hole? I don't get that." Of course she doesn't get it. She's not an addict. For the rest of us, aspiring to a streamlined kitchen but falling far short, it helps to come up with some rules to help make sense out of overwhelming choices in gadgetry. With that in mind, I decided to test a batch of gadget gizmos. For fairness's sake, I chose some I knew or suspected I would appreciate (the immersion blender), some I was pretty sure I wouldn't (onion holder), and some I wasn't sure about (6-in-one tool). Take a look at the pictures and captions on H1, and you'll see what I discovered. Ultimately, the goal of the testing was to come up with a strategy for future gadget analysis and purchase. Thus, here are three rules of resistance I think can help any cook get that gadget gizmos monkey off his or her back. 1. Resist gadgets that do only one thing (pit cherries, for example) unless that one thing is something you do often (juice limes). 2. Resist gadget gizmos (such as a battery-operated vinaigrette emulsifier) whose function is easily replicated by an existing tool (a whisk). 3. Resist gadget gizmos that look cool (a ball whisk) unless they also operate easily and efficiently (a steel corkscrew). Perhaps most important, check stores' return policies, and if, after buying a gadget gizmos, you don't like the way it works, try to get your money back. If that doesn't work, wrap it up and save it for an unsuspecting friend's next birthday. You're bound to know somebody who will think it's pretty nifty. At least at first. Gadget
gizmos
to purchase I like and use regularly.
|
|
©2002
AnniversaryWeddingGifts.com. All rights reserved.
Email: Admin Or call 252-619-3687 |
|