"food tools" news and stories

Magnetic spice racks are certainly not a brand, spanking new innovation in storage and space-saving, but MOCHA has made one in different colors. The beauty of it is that the small containers that have see-thru tops so instead of having labels that say "rosemary" and "tarragon," you can see all your pretty herbs and spices inside. Of course, that means you have to be able to identify all your herbs and spices by sight.

Each strip holds five containers and costs £13.99. As mentioned earlier by a commenter, it would be a great gift for a graduate, pre-filled with common spices.

[via: popgadget]

Chef'n is a company that makes kitchen gadgets - everything from an avocado slicer (like the one we saw earlier this year, available from Williams-Sonoma) to barbecue tools painted with hot rod flames. This is Chef'n's Grapefruiter, a tool used to section grapefruits and other citrus.

It looks scary - strangely futuristic, yet medieval. Even though I read the description of the product, I can't figure out how the thing works. You're supposed to insert the tool into a halved grapefruit or other citrus, then squeeze the handles together, which magically sections the fruit.

The Chef'n Grapefruiter is available at stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond, Linens N' Things, and Sur La Table.

I'm not a fan of kitchen "gadgets" beyond a very good knife and maybe a melon baller when necessary (but then, when is a melon baller every necessary?), but this avocado slicer from Williams-Sonoma really piques my interest.

I always just do the old wrenching-out of the pit, making longitudinal slices, then scooping out the flesh with a large spoon, but this might be helpful for those of us who want to make pretty, presentable uniform slices or dices of avocado. The tool also pits the avocado, but I can't tell how it does it from the picture.

It's $15.