About once a year we have an irresistible urge to check out what new and sometimes pretty whacky kitchen gadgets have come on the market. And quite coincidentally it’s been about a year since our last look around!
Looking at what’s out there, we’ve already covered quite a few of these, either in the article linked above or in our recent article on kitchen items worth bringing home when you’ve been on holiday overseas.
So, at the risk of being accused of choosing ‘chindogu‘ products, here are ten more kitchen ‘gadgets’ – big and small – that recently caught our eye…
1) Automatic pan stirrer
It may be good exercise for your arm, but sometimes you’ve got better things to do than stand in front of the stove continuously stirring something. Until Elon Musk’s Optimus robot (not pictured above) is available to do this for you, this is the next best thing…
https://www.uncommongoods.com/product/automatic-pan-stirrer-with-timer
2) Crab spoon rest
If you’ve ever had that ‘where do I put the spoon’ moment when you’re stirring something (see above), here’s a handy something that will hold it for you. It just happens to be a crab…
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07VLBVQBP
3) Fruit and vegetable cleanliness detector
Have you ever been asked ‘did you wash these?’ referring to your freshly made salad or fruit or whatever fruit or vegetable. Now ASUS, better known for their laptop computers, have invented the
PureGo PD100 – ‘laboratory-standard food safety testing equipment’ for your kitchen. You use it by washing your fruit and veg in a sink or bowl of water, removing them and then putting the device into the water. It then tells you if there are any pollutant/s and/or pesticide residue/s present. If there are, you keeping washing until there aren’t. It looks like this device might be only available in the US, but here are the details anyway…
https://www.asus.com/us/Networking-IoT-Servers/Smart-Home/Smart-kitchen/PureGo-PD100/
4) Hydroclean steam oven
We can imagine the skunkworks at Miele… ‘why don’t we combine our oven with a dishwasher?’. Unfortunately it doesn’t do both things, however the Miele Hydroclean oven is equipped to thoroughly clean itself every now and then so it doesn’t get caked in food inside. Read more about it here…
https://www.miele.de/en/m/hydroclean-now-makes-miele-combi-steam-ovens-self-cleaning-6151.htm
5) Ice cube tray with a lid
Says it all really. Stops you from spilling water in your freezer, having to find a totally level surface to put it on, plus it prevents freezer ‘odours’ invading your ice cubes. What’s not to like?
https://www.amazon.com.au/OXO-Grips-No-Spill-Silicone-White/dp/B007U256D2/?th=1
6) Instant pot
Sooner or later someone was going to invent a cooking device that cooks everything, as there are some things even that German device can’t do! Meet the Instant Pot. It’s a 1] pressure cooker, 2] slow cooker, 3] rice cooker, 4] sauté pot, 5] steamer, 6] warming pot, and 7] yogurt maker, rolled into one.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Instant-Pot-Electric-Multi-Use-Stainless/dp/B07Y1XNXMB/?th=1
7) Manual coffee grinder
For those moments in the morning when you’ve run out of coffee but you don’t want to wake up the whole house by zapping more beans at 5am. The only downside is of course that you have to do it by hand (also great if you’re not near a power socket)…
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B013R3Q7B2
8) Moodup fridge
Nobody’s claiming this fridge does anything that much better than a regular fridge, but it does light up quite spectacularly, particularly when you play music through it! The doors are light panels and it also has built in speakers so you can hook up your smartphone or tablet and play your music through the fridge. You can then set the light panels to sync with your music and hey presto – a disco in your kitchen!
https://www.techguide.com.au/news/appliances/light-up-your-kitchen-with-the-new-lg-moodup-fridge-with-led-door-panels/
9) Multifunction chopping board
We’re big fans of chopping boards especially as good ones don’t blunt your knives. This one looks like it does the job and a few others too…
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B004Q7EE7I?th=1
10) Oven smoke dispenser
We’ve reported before on the popularity of wood smoking in Australia and around the world, and finally an oven manufacturer has sat up and taken note. The Vestel oven now has a built in smoke dispenser, so you can add that great wood smoked taste to whatever is in the oven…
https://www.9news.com.au/technology/ifa-berlin-2022-ovens-fridges-and-bigscreen-tvs-new-tech/f6848429-afbd-4082-9104-fa1e73f5a8de
Finally here’s something we’ve been waiting for somebody to invent – the temperature controlled butter dish that keeps the butter at spreadable temperature whatever the season. Not sure it’s available in Australia, but we want it!
https://alfille.co.uk/butter-dish/
PS Some of these gadgets were found on US-based websites, however, as most are available on Amazon, some are stocked here in Australia, or can be delivered to Australia.
Main image: Owen Beard on Unsplash
Our very own trusty ‘kitchen gadget’…
