Kitchen Gadgets I Hope You Don't Get For Chrstmas

Greetings from the kitchen Grinch. At least the Kitchen Curmudgeon. If you're a ""gadget person", you may not appreciate the holiday sentiment I'm about to share. Hopefully, most of y'all will smile at some point in reading this article.

Most of the major cooking catalogs reach my house - Williams Sonoma, Sur La Table, Chef's Catalog and my favorite Cooking Enthusiast (which originated as Professional Cutlery Direct). I tend to quickly browse them to catch up on the latest trend they're pushing (pannini presses, this year's coffee making solution, and so on).

As I thumb through these catalogs, the gadgets and specialty tools especially stand out to me.....because so many of them are useless. Sure you could use a dedicated tomato slicer, avocado slicer, avocado masher and so on.....or you could use a sharp knife or a fork. The gadgets tend to break, not work all too well and get lost in a drawer somewhere. You'll probably forget you even have most gadgets after a year.

As I scanned one catalog's holiday edition full of inexpensive kitchen gift items, I chuckled with glee with counter arguments for what a good, or improving cook should use instead of the gadget of the day. Here are my thoughts about this year's gadgets. At least they're very colorful, the bunch of 'em.

Silicone Pinch Grips

What you should really use: Dry towel

Yet another specialty item to find, wash and clutter your drawers.

Citrus Juicer

What you should really use: Your Hand

Use your other hand as a strainer to catch seeds.

If your citrus is so hard that you can’t squeeze it by hand, it’s past ripeness.

Pot Clip Utensil Rest

What you should really use: Small plate, bowl or decorative spoon rest.

Hovering utensils over a hot pot will burn or heat up.  

3-in-1 Peeler

What you should really use: One good peeler, or a sharp knife

Ceramic peelers are intensely sharp. You’d be surprised how

many items can be peeled with a sharp knife with just a tiny bit of practice.

Individual steak button thermometers

What you should really use: Instant read thermometer

Can be used for all temperature taking.

Chop-2-Pot folding cutting board

What you should really use: Chef’s knife

It just can’t be that hard to scrape cut items off a cutting board into a prep bowl or pot.

Mini cleaver 3.5” blade

What you should really use: Chef’s knife

Cleavers are for whacking huge hunks of meat and thick vegetables.

Unless you’re an elf, how could you need this?

Actually, this seems kind of dangerous to me.

Garlic Chopper

What you should really use: Chef’s knife

Crush garlic with the flat side of your knife,

it then peels easily,

then chop the garlic with your sharp knife. Really.