Kitchen Gadget Reviews

2 weeks ago, in preparation for the summer vegetable harvest from my garden, I purchased 4 kitchen gadgets from ebay and local stores to make my cooking easier. Some of the gadgets are used or vintage. They are:

-Feemster's Famous Vegetable Slicer (in vintage box but never used)
cost approx 20.00 dollars with shipping included

Feemster's Famous Vegetable Slicer

-generic/no-name version of The Spiralizer (brand new)
cost approx 18 dollars with shipping included

The Spiralizer

-Home Essentials 4 tray stacking food dehydrator (used, about 15 years old)
cost approx 20.00 dollars with shipping included

Dehydrator of Similar Model to the Model I Purchased

-Prepworks Fruit and Vegetable Chopper/Storage (band new, bought locally)
cost 12.99 dollars at Home Goods big box store in Frandor Mall

Fruit and Vegetable Chopper

First, I have to say, that I would buy all gadgets again and that I have used them all multiple times since I purchased them. They would probably all rate 4 out of 5 stars for me, with most of the items missing the 5 star mark because I purchased the cheapest model available, and they feel somewhat flimsy. Next time, I will purchase the best quality versions available, as I am using them all quite a bit! Now for specific reviews and comments:

Feemster's Famous vegetable slicer is very sharp, very accurate, and very easy to use. It is made of 100% solid metal and will last a long time. The only warning about this is that that blade is very sharp and I would not have this in my kitchen unsecured if I have children. It comes with a blade protector. I made quick and tasty, thin-sliced American-Fried potatoes with this.

The generic brand spiralizer took some trial and error to get it to work, but it makes amazing zucchini noodles that are quick and delicious. This product receives negative marks for quality (it is 99% plastic and the cheapest model out there), and waste. Each vegetable will have about a 1/4 inch section at the end that cannot be spiralized or sliced. I put this in my compost pile. I really love this gadget, though! I have used it 5 times in the last weeks to slice zucchini from the garden.

The food dehydrator I bought was inexpensive, works great, and has 2 fruit roll trays included. I made mixed berry fruit leather and dried sweet bell peppers. The biggest negative for this product is that I bought it used, and the box smelled of cigarette smoke.  After I cleaned it and used it to dry peppers (16 hours), there was no discernable smoke smell; however the box had to be thrown out and was stained. It works better than I expected and has a nice size capacity for the money I spent.

Finally, the Prepworks fruit and vegetable slicer is a godsend for onions and tomatoes. I also diced up bell peppers and a portobello mushroom in it. The bottom doubles as a storage device. The only negative marks for this products are that it requires a lot of force to chop some vegetables, like an onion, and that is is hard to clean. I am using a stiff bristle brush to get in the small places, plus it comes with a cleaning utensil.

Overall, every gadget does what it says and does it well! I would buy each one again; however, I would upgrade to the highest quality version sold of the products that have more plastic; even though they work great now, I just don't find them to be particularly sturdy, leading me to fear the gadgets will break quickly.