5 Fruit Kitchen Gadgets Tested by Design Expert | Well Equipped | Epicurious
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- čas přidán 19. 05. 2024
- Design and usability guru Dan Formosa returns to evaluate and improve upon 5 kitchen gadgets designed to help you slice and server your favorite fruit. Watch as he tests each device for effectiveness and ease of use, weighing in on what works, what doesn't, and what he'd do to improve their design.
Follow Dan on Instagram at @danformosa
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5 Fruit Kitchen Gadgets Tested by Design Expert | Well Equipped | Epicurious - Zábava
Check out the products Dan reviews in this episode:
Destapa Banana Filler: amzn.to/3tRvR80
Watermelon Slicer: amzn.to/3os2QyG
CocoTaps Coconut Tapper: amzn.to/33UksKc
Citrus Sprayer: amzn.to/3orsyTP
Chef'n Hand-Held Slicer Strawberry Slicester: amzn.to/3u6okm5
All products are independently selected by Epicurious editors. If you buy something through our retail links, we earn a commission.
Hi first reply
ello
Hiyaaa
banana
Flixportal :D
The funny thing is that the watermelon slicer is a better cake cutting gadget than all of the gadgets in the cake episode.
Yeah if you want just a cylinder of cake
@@givemeyoureggs456 Some people cut cake that way either way, that tiny cylinder doesn’t matter because it’s so small
@@givemeyoureggs456 I do. I really, really do.
@@givemeyoureggs456 That's the chef's treat ;) If it's a store bought one then.. uh... I guess the birthday boy/girl gets it
@@Freetown54 weird thing, my late dad always cut round cake this way with a kitchen knife. To this day I have no idea why would he cut out the cake cylinder but we sure did fight over it
"Plus you get a tube of watermellon your family could fight over"
this man has true wisdom 😂
Yeah
You can tell he's got some family fights in his history 😂
@turnip when the kids fight over the tube, the parents fed it to the alligators.
that damn tube ruined my family
Happy gadget making anniversary Dan. Previous videos you were doing and 39 years. Now 40 years congrats on a successful career my friend
Ummmmm he's been saying that for a long time now 😂
Previous video is also 40 years.
Who's gonna tell him?
@@sumdy8022 at least he noticed.... i didnt 😂 so... hahaha
Yea
That banana core peeler is one of the most American things I‘ve ever seen.
Ikr😂
Lol I didn't even knew it existed
Or was needed
The British have a better version, that is a curved corer.
But why would you core a banana
Now deep-fry it!
The great thing about the watermellon slicer is that it frees up the knives for fighting over the watermellon tube.
“I just don’t know how to shake it and drink it at the same time”
*Proceeds to jump and drink at the same time*
“That worked”
thats what she said
To be fair, there's no telling how long there was between those two shots. Also, someone else on set may have thought of it
@@c4t_l0vr57 oop
@@c4t_l0vr57 Or he
When you design a gadget for something as niche as coring bananas and _still_ fail at it to a metal straw
@@khamjaninja. an insane karen probably
But I think your supposed to push down the plunger before you put it into the banana so it creates suction
@@corekid5881 I can imagine a Karen buying this for the novelty, not the functionality
Hii raizel
@@khamjaninja. if you want to fill them with chocolate or peanut butter
I'd argue that the lemon sprayer shouldn't be compared to just juicing a lemon like that since the intention (for whatever reason) is to get a fine spray. So the comparison would be to juice the lemon first and then put that into a spray bottle.
Spittin’ straight facts
The juiced method still would have been more effective even if not by time method.
If you wanted to spritz a room, this would work
That's exactly what I thought. Sometimes you don't need a lot of lemon juice. Sometimes you just need a little. There's some vinegar sprays that are for finishing off a dish.
Was thinking the same thing. There's use for such a thing in salads or cocktails where you just need a slight spray for a salad or drink.
I chuckled when he said bananas need a little more care and understanding . And I laughed whole way through the watermelon part that was comedy gold
That is not comedy gold, but I am glad you had fun
@@danturner9760 I guess that's true I'm easy to amuse . But wasn't it funny when he shook the cutter and said "ah it's alive"
i died when he he said the the sprayer is only good for a few pumps then it runs dry
@@ninnymuggins_6770 that's what I meant dude we all found moments whice we found funny or entertaining or both
@@voidpope no we all found moments where the lords light needed to shine a little harder
Boyfriend: “What are you doing?”
Me: “It’s time for the left-handed oil test!”
Not sure if this comment is about sex, or working in the kitchen...but that makes it even funnier 😂
...and who doesn't like grabbing a small banana?
@@SanDukey NAKANSJNSDBS PLEASE 😭😭😭
LOL noice joke
I swear I seen this comment before but I guess nothing on the internet is original so you do you
The lemon sprayer I think is more of a bartending thing or salad where you just need a slight spray of lemon juice vs a lot of juice. Still loses out to just having a mini spray bottle.
I like it a lot.
I prefer using fresh lemons whenever possible and I use theim not only for their juice but also for lemon zest.
If I emptied the lemon into a spray bottle, I could keep the juice, but the zest would go bad really fast.
The sprayer allows me to keep the lemon mostly intact, so it stays fresh in the fridge much longer and I can use it for lemon zest and for it's juice whenever I need to.
And when I start to feel uncomfortable keeping the entire fruit, because it might go bad soon, i can still cut it open and save just the juice.
It certainly has it's uses for that, and for a bar or restaurant the bottle would be better. But for home, you won't need a lot. I'd rather go with this, than a spray bottle that would end up being hard to clean, and fresh lemon doesn't store nearly as well as the bottled stuff... It would also be good for use as a spritz on cookies, like shortbread. Also not just for lemons...an orange shortbread cookie is wonderful!
I mean we express the peels of lemons and oranges in bartending but using lemon as a spray? That isn’t really a thing in bartending because the oils on the skin are not the same as the actual juice inside
The real issue in the video was just a simple technique problem. Dan should have thoroughly rolled the lemon around the counter, forcefully, to break apart the internal structure and release the juice BEFORE inserting the auger.
By doing it after already cutting and inserting the auger, you're not able to apply as much pressure to the lemon itself, so you aren't going to get as much juice.
Even when juicing by hand it's best to crush and roll them first before cutting.
@@PabloEdvardo - Well, if you really insist on using this gadget, I think the old a-few-seconds-in-the-microwave trick would help liberate the juice for spraying.
Forget family board game night, we're fighting over watermelon tubes now.
Yeah
The citrus sprayer is a great cocktail tool, it's not really for getting ALL the juice. The spray function is the point.
@@TheGambleGame cause it takes longer and you have more cleaning to do later.
@@vitortonera wouldn't be better just to have a bigger spray bottle then? Unless you are doing only one cocktail, lemon juice can be stored in the fridge.
Also in some places like So Cal and Florida a citrus tree is somewhat common and often the fruit gets unpicked and just rots on the ground. If you made it easy to extract just a bit and not feel guilty about efficiency then I think those folks might be interested. Honestly all of these are very niche.
@@khamjaninja. mine works just fine great for fish and lemon water
@@vitortonera not really
The strawberry slicer looks like it might be good for kids helping in the kitchen as it would be safer than a knife. The lemon spritzer would be fine for spritzing on a salad or something else you want only a light amount of the juice and then cutting the lemon for other use. The watermelon cutter looked the best of all, though. The one who did the cutting should get the core :-) or you could slice the core for watermelon 'coins' which would look nice in a fruit salad beside the wedges.
He mentioned that it was not meant for small hands.... Soooo.....
@@pied4583 But kids could use both hands and have fun doing it :)
The lemon spritzer would be great for lightly spraying sliced apples to keep them from going brown.
@@HappyVlogCz nah they would cut their finger off
They would cut their finger off so not a good idea kids are dumb remember
I think Dan needs a back massage. It must put quite a strain, carrying the entire Epicurious channel
For real, I only watch him and the How to Blank every Blank series lol
Just because you only come here to watch him doesn't mean that other people do. Pretty sure this channel has videos with equal or more views than this guy
You should watch frank and Lorenzo those guys have some of the most popular vids
@@chrono-glitchwaterlily8776 yeah they have millions of views on videos that arent with him in it
@@chrono-glitchwaterlily8776 and in fact the videos with him have some of the lower views
"It's good for a couple pumps and then it runs dry."
I heard that before ...
this is what i came to the comments for
You just had to make it weird didn't you?
Bless you
Oh dear.
Ang our minds became berde 🤣🤣
At this point I just want Dan to tell me my purpose in life
LEfT hAnD oIL TeST
Yeah
The meaning of life is whatever makes it worth living
Redesign my life, dan
@@yuki97kira the only person who can redesign your life is you. You must take what you have and put it in to what you love and need. And even if you don't got anyone rooting for ya, you'll always have the rat king rooting from the side lines. Trust me, you got this mate
The lemon/lime sprayer isn’t to get all the juice out. It’s for like cocktails, salads, just if you need a little lemon. I kind of like it lol
If you wanted less juice then you'd just do half a lemon or something
@@Kavafy If you do actual lemon, you don't need a lemon/lime sprayer imho. The sprayer is the only one of the gadgets I actually own, but I have never actual lemon in it, but some sort of lemon essence (not sure what the english word for it is). Basically a replacement for when you suddenly realised that you have forgotten to buy lemons, or if you only need a little bit of the aroma and don't want to slice a whole lemon for it. Since the replacement is way more intense than actual lemon, you have to use it very carefully. And that's what the sprayer is useful for. (to clarify, there is naturally some sort of plastic lemon under it, and thats where the replacement stuff is filled in...basically more a fancy spray bottle).
If you bought an actual spray and filled that with lemon juice, it would be much more effective.
@@odethious5639 Have you really looked at the spray bottle you'd need to replicate this? Now you need a small food grade spray bottle, a tiny funnel, and whatever preferred juicing mechanism and then you have to clean all that when you just wanted to make a few cocktails from the meyer lemon tree lemons that grow in your backyard. This thing is intended for home use, not super busy bar/lounge.
@@bothellkenmore ooor u get a bottle and just fit a sprayer into that, and just squeeze the lemon into the bottle, no need for all that
Would love a show where you pick some of your favorite gadgets and explain how they were well designed.
agreed
"I got it in my eye but it's OK. I think I'll just get comments about it" That's commitment
One of the things most of these gadgets fall short of a regular knife is that they're a pain to wash. Most gadgets that tie or come close to a tie in the effectiveness test have actually failed miserably when you account for how much work it'll be to wash them.
That plus the space you need to store them.
I'm assuming they're dishwasher friendly. If not then I don't know who'd buy that
It depends. If you need to cut 2 big bowls of strawberries using the cutter will save you a lot of time, even including the wash up time.
agreed
I feel like cleaning time needs to be included in the “vs kitchen knife” test. If the tool saves you 2 seconds, but needs a minute to be properly cleaned, it is a fail.
The exception would be if the tool is in some way safer/easier to use for someone with a disability like tremors or arthritis. If it's not faster than a knife, but takes significantly less grip strength or something like that, then that could still get a pass.
@@sweetlorikeet I feel like the category "ease of cleaning" could take these people into account. If someone has dexterity issues or a disability that affects coordination and/or motor control, I'd assume they'd have to make sure a tool is easy and safe to clean.
I think most of it would be great if its for a party...
Say for example a watermelon cutter took 5 seconds (hand 10 sec) but cleaning took 10 seconds (hand 5 sec). I mean thats for one watermelon... If youre hosting a party and cut off 5 watermelons... Itd be something like:
For easier understanding (sorry i had to add this since my explaination is a bit all over the place and im trying to make it clearer):
Slicer (1)= 5 sec(cutting) + 10 sec (cleaning) = 15 sec
Knife (1)= 10 sec (cutting) + 5 sec (cleaning) = 15 sec
Slice (5) = 5(5) + 10=
25+ 10 = 30 sec
Knife (5) = 10(5) + 5 =
50 + 5 = 55 sec
They're often not really supposed to be time-saving but to potentially help people with not enough dexterity to hold a knife. Yes cleaning can be a problem but most of them can be tossed into a washing machine
"who doesn't want to grab a little banana?"
"Time to eat the tube"
"I got it in my eye"
Uhhhh...
u have a dirty mind yes?
Bruh he bent over to eat the core of the melon 😅
I dont get it
@@hyyong2138 good
@@hyyong2138 Stay innocent
I like a few kitchen gadgets in my kitchen to let kids safely help with small cooking chores when they aren't trusted with a full chef's knife yet; and to let elderly and disabled adults help out. I'm glad I get quality reviews of products for people with poor coordination like kids and seniors to help me better understand what my kitchen helpers need.
Yeah like if I were making a strawberry cake and my hypothetical 4-year-old wanted to help, I’d probably sit them down with the strawberry slicer.
I keep wanting to see if the watermelon slicer would work as effectively (if not more) if the watermelon half was put on the flat side? That way, the outermost 'peel' would get cut all the way through right in the beginning :)
I was thinking that too
I have a huge urge to eat the middle piece of the watermelon
Same
But in a socialist society, wouldn't the tube represent an unequal, hierarchical distribution of watermelon and thus be a problem?
@@FelisImpurrator And note who they said would get it? Everyone is equal but some are more equal than others.
I work at an açaí bowl place, and I use the strawberry slicer every day. It’s super convenient and it works fine with my smaller hands, but in every one of the slicers after about a week it breaks somehow. The top part doesn’t spring back up so you have to manually put it up every time you slice, or the blades become crooked so it doesn’t slice all the way through. Usually i make fun of the kitchen gadgets because I don’t know what anyone would by them since doing it by hand only takes a couple more seconds, but in the case of restaurants the gadgets really come in handy! (even if they break most of the time)
The lemon sprayer is perfect for me, I love mine. When I don't want my apples to go brown in any dish, yet not overly taste like lemon - I use that. I haven't found anything else quite that good at making such a light spritz- and I use the leftover lemon for things I like to have the lemon taste in.
I love how he starts talking about each product by saying what “it’s purpose in life” is
that strawberry slicer is actually what my fast food place i work at used when we had strawberries lol. who knew.
Thanks - I've often wondered if some of these products are more useful/ make more sense in an ~industrial setting, like for preparing ingredients in bulk!
@@P3ANUTBABY that and for disabled people that can't use a knife properly.
@@Nachtelfin0des0Todes I often wonder about that, especially when the gadgets still aren't terribly easy to use or washing them would be difficult. There was a blind kid at my school who used the chopping device you bash down on in cookery lessons, thoughtfully provided by a support worker. I have disability-friendly use in mind when they're reviewing something which might take longer than the traditional method but is perhaps safer.
I love how he introduces himself, staring at the camera as he says in a sort of direct way "I'm Dan and I've been designing kitchen gadgets for 40 years".
Dan’s definitely my favorite part of this channel. He’s funny but also super informative! It helps me appreciate all the work that goes into product design.
“It’s alive!!!! It’s aLLLLIVEE!!!”
*frantic watermelon bouncing*
4:25
Like someone is babying 😶😂
ayy bella
11:29 "And it looks like you're doing something important"
🤣
Mr. Formosa gets funnier and funnier with each episode. What a delight he is!
Indeed! Watching these videos really make me happy ☺
Doctor Formosa… he has a PhD in design. But, not important, right? Funny is important.
I'm pretty sure the coconut just needed another small hole at the top, its basically a vacuum with it.
I thought the same thing
@@PabloEmanuel96 yeah
I don't think it's a vaccuum, he didn't really "seal" the spout with his lips, there was enough room for air to come in. I think the spout was too deep and there wasn't enough coconut water to overcome that depth. He would've been better off with a straw.
"Who doesn't like grabbing a small banana?" - Dan Formosa, 2021
These have been flooding my recommendations. Not complaining though. This guy is great!
I like the lemon sprayer. It can be useful as a self defence mechanism. Pepper sprays are illegal in some states. 😄
Yeah
😳
Kinda sad they banned in some states like people in trouble if have pepper spray wont be like oh no its banned here no theyre going use it
"Plus you get a tube of watermelon your family can fight over" 😭
Any designer out there trying to invent or do something new learn from him it's not just entertaining but also helpful and useful for those who are studying now, thank you for giving us free tips and advice we now can improve alot
8:41 “go girl, give us nothing!”
please never stop making these videos. Dan is effortlessly funny and entertaining
"Best watermelon tube I've ever had." He said that with such a straight face 🤣.
These comments aren't ripe enough yet I'll come back later ✌🏾
oops, it's too ripe now
✌🏻
Ok
Just wait in a year this video bout to blow up 😌
@@user-tq5cm8vr7r CZcams algorithm is really mysterious.. we shall not question it
why is no one talking about the coconut jumping 😭😭😭 he’s hilarious
"Its purpose in life is...."
As long as people continue making kitchen gadgets, these videos with Dan best continue!, I love him so much!
I love that he's been doing this for so long and still discovering new things - specifically, that he likes watermelon tubes a lot
My favourite sass master is back roasting products! Heck yeah!
I like how he doesnt say the gadgets are outright bad, he genuinely finds the ideas of the gadgets useful and interesting.
“Best watermelon tube I’ve ever had” is a beautiful sentence. Great episode.
I’d love to see him review some of his own creations he designed!
I am obsessed with these videos and with this lovely man
I feel like juicing the lemon and spritzing the lemon are two entirely different acts. Yes, it's faster to juice the lemon, but sometimes you don't need that much at once
Ehhhh. I suppose. But you can put the lemon juice in a regular spray bottle, you know. His point was the the spritzer wastes lemon juice.
@@ems7623 doing the spray bottle method would still highlight the amount of juice being wasted 👀
This is my absolute favorite series on youtube. This guy is amazing at his job.
I have the watermelon slicer and have had it for a few years. It's fantastic. Ours has a base with a slightly curled up center with a hole in it and another base that it sits on. Takes a little bit of strength but completely cuts it open evenly. Love it..
I wouldn't serrate the blades as it would be pretty dangerous at that point especially to clean. Sooo, uh nooo.
The handles could use better grips even though they're not to bad.
And yes the heart (tube) is the BEST part..
The best part about the lemon squirter is that you can blind your friends
Self defense
I never thought about putting something in to a banana. But now I want to make a banana unsplit sundae with a "stuffed" banana
Always love seeing these pop up in my feed! Dan is such a nice and funny guy, and I really enjoy these videos!
I'm pretty sure the citrus spray is for cooking and sprays evenly.
i use a egg slicer for slicing mushooms or strawberry..works great so no need for this strawberryslicer :-)
YES. ONE OF THE BEST SERIES ON EPICURIOUS, I LOVE DAN!!!
When I was growing up we had a coconut opener somewhat like that... The handle was like a corkscrew, just like he mentioned would be better, but the opening tip was a lot like that, it was wide and dented. I remember my grandmother using it without much difficulty, and she preferred it over the knife for safety reasons. It didn't have the whole bottle cap though. After opened we drank it. Coconuts don't have all that water in order to keep it for later after opening.
I like how he says "its purpose in life is,,
I would make the watermelon tube smaller so I could stuff if into a banana.
I've really only seen 2 episodes of this rn but I gotta say: I love you, Dan.
Thank you for making everybody's days brighter and filled with fun, Gadget Grandpa Dan, and happy gadgeting anniversary
i've always wanted one of those watermelon cutters but for cake.
I've got a mini one for apples! Super easy to wash, and much quicker and accurate than slicing and coring an apple.
For the coconut tool, I would instead like it to have the same shape as a syringe. I think the trick to that would be a quick stab and not a crank. Maybe a tool that has a safety guard and you smash one end with a mallet to drive in the syringe-shaped tube and quickly pierce the coconut.
As for the lemon spritzer... just buy a spritzer at the dollar store and fill it after crushing the juice out of the lemon. This is solving a problem that doesn't exist.
PRobably already mentioned on this older video; but you should really be cutting the bottom bit of the watermelon off to stop it from moving around while you use the watermelon slicer. It's something you would do with a knife anyway and it would stop it from fumbling around which might allow it to cut all the way through.
You always want to make every surface of anything you cut flat if you're working on a flat surface to stop it from rolling around. Be safe while cutting, y'all.
it’s cool to watch him quickly sketch the design and color code the lines
Getting pinched and lemon juice in the eye... this has been your most dangerous video yet lol
The way he went down on that watermelon tube....and his comment on small bananas. Are you free Sunday?
The most impressive thing I have seen in this video is how clean all the fruits are, it's bloody beautiful, how can that banana be so clean.
I like how he uses this twisting juicer for the lemon rather than if you were going to have a tool at all, you’d get the juicer that crushes the whole lemon to get as much juice as possible
"who doesn't like holding a small banana" Should've worded that differently
If you cut the base of the watermelon before slicing it, it would help stabilize it and make it easier to break off the pieces after slicing
Wow. Biiiiggg difference from the last one of these I watched (cake cutters?) where he gave almost everything a 0-1 rating, lol. That watermelon slicer was actually pretty cool.
I would give another rating: how fast can you wash it.
A master blacksmith from the 12th century: I have crafted the perfect utensil for opening any fruit
Dan: K let's think about a redesign
The Melon slicer only works on "soft" melons.
The blades also bend, so maybe stronger blades or something to add stability would work better.
My favourite series on epicurious, the only thing keeping me going
I really would like to see an episode, where they bring gadgets that was redesigned by him, to check whether it would work better or not.
You know what’s crazy, one day you’ll see a video on CZcams that was made 40 years ago and it was just now recommended to you
i would have loved to have this man as my grandpa he is so cool!
God I love this guy, my fav Epicurious series hands down
To would be great to see the price so we can see if it is actually worth being and is value for money
Yay! I’m obsessed with these videos lol
A video with Dan? It’s a good day!
dan: *goes to pilot school*
also dan: "its time for the left handed oil test"
This man must be protected at ALL costs.
I want the lemon one because if you’re not going to use all of it it’s great! You can store it in the fridge without it getting dry lmao
I love this Guy because his job is also to think about People with disabilities. And for someone like me who have those problem I'm blessed to have that guy working to make my life easier
I was cackling when he was jump-drinking from that coconut 🤭
"I'll have two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s, one with cheese, and a large soda."
PooPee
You picked the wrong comment, fool! *GTA Intensifies*
the citrus sprayer is more of a "last minute to make it taste interesting" type of thing, I guess, not to get it out as fast as possible
ya get what i'm saying?
or an air freshener?
I love watching people who are great at their craft.
"Just a personal advice, keep this away from your eyes"
I love this guy.