20 Worst Kitchen Gadgets to Ever Be Invented
It doesn't take much to whip up a healthy meal—I mean, just look at these quick dinners that can be made with only five ingredients! And that's exactly where these kitchen gadgets go wrong. They make it seem like cooking at home is harder than juggling while running a marathon. For example, is it that much better to have a banana-shaped tool to slice your fruit into equal-width discs than to grab a paring knife? Is garlic really so difficult to chop that it's easier to toss a couple of cloves into a car-shaped tool and drive it all over your countertop until the cloves are more mangled than minced?
If you collected a unitasker for every culinary skill, you'd soon find yourself applying to TLC's show Hoarding: Buried Alive. Cluttered kitchens aren't just a nuisance when you have unexpected house guests, they can also cause bad eating habits. In fact, a study published in the journal Environment and Behavior found that simply being in a cluttered, messy kitchen can cause us to eat an astounding 40 percent more than when our kitchens are tidy!
Check out our list below of the most pointless kitchen gadgets you can invest in, and discover our simple, clutter-free alternatives. Toss out these useless tools that are just taking up space and then put an end to these 4 Popular Diets That Don't Actually Work.
Strawberry Huller
Pssst! Did you know the reason your swivel vegetable peeler is pointed at the tip is so it can easily cut out the eyes of potatoes? It's also fairly useful for hulling strawberries, so you don't really have to bother with the Chef'n StemGem Strawberry Huller.
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Butter Dispenser
We get it. Trying to spread cold butter on a flimsy piece of bread is more frustrating than the moment it starts downpouring on your way home from work when you forgot an umbrella. But rather than investing in a MAX SPACE Butter Mill, you can just as easily shred your cold butter stick on a cheese grater or use a vegetable peeler to slice thin strips. Not only are there better alternatives, but thanks to the large hand crank, this butter dispenser will take up double the amount of space in your fridge if you're a sparse butter user.
Quesadilla Maker
Before you start justifying what a good deal this Hamilton Beach Quesadilla Maker is (it's only $19 and free shipping!), just make sure you introduce your countertop space to dust. They're going to become best buddies once you realize how infrequently you need to make a six-wedge quesadilla.
Bear Paws
This set of Bear Paws Meat Shredders makes a great gift for pit masters, but if you're only eating pulled pork or chicken from your slow cooker once a month, it's best to just use a set of forks. If these meat-shredding tools are a must, you might as well read up on these healthy crock pot recipes.
Various Veggie & Fruit Slicers
Something tells us cleaning a single knife is a heck of a lot easier than having to intricately tackle every sharp edge on each of these gadgets. At least your onion holder can double as a hair pick.
Pizza Scissors
In case you couldn't distinguish between your arts and crafts scissors and your kitchen shears, these Kitchen Maestro Pizza Scissors remind you what they're for with every use. For something that takes up so much space in multiple different dimensions, we'd say you're better off sticking to your normal pizza wheel.
Herb Scissors
A regular set of kitchen shears will do the same job as these Jenaluca Herb Scissors. Instead, we recommend you go with an herb wheel, like this one from Kitchen IQ. It has a double blade to slice fresh herbs, and by simply pressing a button, the blades combine into a single blade so you can use it as a pizza cutter. That way, you don't have to bother with the pizza scissors either! Speaking of pizza, do you know which pie to pick up? If not, make sure you read up on these 12 Worst Frozen Pizzas to Stay Away From Right Now.
Salad Scissors
If you can't find it in your heart to simply chop up your lettuce with a knife, you can also use a pizza wheel for this purpose, rather than investing in yet another set of scissors with only one purpose.
Garlic Chopper
For $15, you'll be using the Chef'n GarlicZoom Garlic Chopper to roll all over your frictionless, granite countertop in a futile effort to chop cloves of garlic with blades that can never be re-sharpened.
Plastic Egg Mold
Yes, eggs are a primo source of protein, but an egg is an egg whichever way you slice it—er, mold it. These Kotobuki Plastic Molds are designed to smush your eggs into fun shapes. We agree that they're cute, but you'll likely only use them once before you forget they even live in your gadget drawer.
Avocado Slicer
This all-in-one avocado slicing tool does the three things—splits, pits, and slices—that a single knife can also do.
Tuna Press
This handy tool lets you drain liquids from canned tuna quickly and easily. It's a great idea if you're looking to up your intake of healthy fats by eating a lot of tuna fish, but it's also something you can do with the lid of the can you just twisted off. If you really want a can-specific strainer, there are other options that aren't only limited to the standard-size tuna can.
Yolk Separator
It's not terribly difficult to crack an egg and separate the whites from the yolks by just juggling the yolk back and forth between shells. But even if you're still learning, you don't need a Creative Kitchenware Egg Yolk Separator. You can use a plastic water bottle you have lying around or even the silicone lid from the top of a turkey baster.
Hands-Free Bag Holder
Nothing quite reminds you that you're single like having to buy a pair of zip-top bag holders off Amazon. These adjustable arms clip onto your storage bag and keep them upright so you can fill baggies with ease. Don't be swayed by the 2-for-1 deal you'll get on Jokari's Hands-Free Bag Holder; you'll likely never find the need to have to use two at once and the two will also take up double the space in your kitchen.
Grape & Tomato Slicer
Bruschetta and chicken salad are two of our favorite things in the summer. And yes, we admit that meticulously slicing every cherry tomato or grape can be a chore, but that still doesn't justify putting down the cash for an OXO Good Grips Grape and Tomato Slicer when your kitchen storage space is minimal. Instead of using this gadget, here's a hack: arrange your tomatoes or grapes on a round plastic top of a take-out container. Place another lid on top to sandwich the tomatoes, and then glide your sharp knife straight through!
Corn Silk Remover
Instead of investing in a Home-X Corn Silk Remover, just repurpose a tool you likely already have—a vegetable brush—and you'll save yourself eight bucks. (Even a toothbrush will work!) The fine bristles will help get rid of those pesky last hairs.
Onion Peeler
Any gadget that you need to watch a how-to video to understand is not worth your money—or drawer space. Especially since this Chef'n Peel'n Onion Peeler is nearly $15. Even if they're hard to slice (and make you cry), onions are great for improving gut health.
Cake Portion Marker
It's great for marking equal servings, but unless you're churning out cakes, quiches, or pies on a daily basis for your small business, you don't need to waste precious kitchen space with Ateco's Portion Cake Marker. If you do need to make quick slices in a jiffy, stringing a long piece of floss across your cake and pulling it out one side is an easy way to cut into your cake without making a mess!
Mango Slicer
Question 1: How often are you slicing mangos? Question 2: What part of this Mango Slicer makes it any better than a knife? Apple slicers are a bit different. They help you get out the core and then give you lots of little slices. This gadget doesn't really put you in a better position than two quick knife slices along the outside of the seed. Whichever way you want to do it, just make sure to add your mango to one of the best-ever weight loss smoothies.
Pickle Picker
We're not really sure why you'd spend $9 (plus another $8 on shipping) to get a gadget like the Super Pickle Picker when you could just use a fork.
This list should be a reminder to take a look at all new gadgets and think about whether you need them in your kitchen. Most of these will just collect dust and take up space in your cabinet.
