Defying the Dubious Avocado Holder
I’ll never forget the day I stumbled upon the most perplexing kitchen gadget I’d ever seen – the Evriholder Avo Saver Avocado Holder. Shaped like half an avocado, with a small divot for the pit and an adjustable rubber strap, this contraption is designed to keep your leftover avocado half fresh in the fridge. Except, the more I thought about it, the more it made absolutely no sense.
If you’ve managed to save half an avocado, why would you then go and cut another one just to use the other half-holder? Don’t you already have that first half sitting safely tucked away? And who on earth needs two of these things anyway? I couldn’t wrap my head around the logic, or lack thereof, behind this supposed “must-have” kitchen tool.
As it turns out, I’m not the only one baffled by this peculiar avocado-preserving gadget. According to the Zero Waste Chef, “You have (at least) a couple of other options for storing your half avocado: Before you rush out to buy this avocado holder—or any other kitchen gadget—look through your cupboards and drawers. You may already have what you need.”
Rediscover the Wonders of Your Own Kitchen
It’s easy to get swept up in the tidal wave of innovative, time-saving kitchen gadgets that flood the market these days. But the truth is, you probably already have a wealth of multi-purpose tools sitting right in your own cabinets and drawers, just waiting to be unearthed and repurposed.
Take the humble mason jar, for example. As the Zero Waste Chef points out, these versatile containers can be used for all sorts of culinary tasks, from fermentation to ice cream making. And the best part? You likely already have a stash of them on hand. “You don’t even need electricity,” the Chef notes. “I once did an outdoor sauerkraut demo at Crissy Field in San Francisco.”
Or how about that trusty music stand in the corner of your living room? According to the Chef, it’s the perfect hands-free way to prop up recipes while you cook, freeing up precious counter space. “Not only does my music stand free up precious counter space in my tiny yet efficient kitchen, I can also read recipes more easily when I position them upright. And I don’t splatter food all over them.”
Unexpected Gems Lurking in Plain Sight
The more I delved into the world of repurposed kitchen tools, the more I realized just how many hidden gems were staring me in the face the whole time. Take the humble fork, for example. As the Zero Waste Chef discovered, with a little DIY elbow grease, you can transform a basic fork into an effective cherry pitter. “With pliers, you just bend the outside prongs all the way over and down at their base, and make little hooks at the top of the inner prongs. Plunge the middle prongs through the top of the cherry and pull out the pit.”
Or how about using a spoon to peel ginger, instead of a traditional vegetable peeler? As the Chef explains, “A spoon removes the skin only rather than the skin plus lots of ginger.” Genius! And let’s not forget the wonders of cast iron – a kitchen workhorse that can handle everything from tamale pie to apple crumble, all while lasting for decades.
The more I learned, the more I realized that the key to unlocking a world of time-saving kitchen tools lies not in the latest gadget craze, but in rediscovering the hidden potential of the items you already own. As the Zero Waste Chef so eloquently puts it, “It is amazing all the silly kitchen gadgets there are out there. We can stop perpetuating this creation of more plastic junk in the world and start using our brains to figure out how to do things using what we’ve already got at home or can scrounge up or borrow.”
Harnessing the Power of Everyday Objects
The more I dove into this topic, the more examples I uncovered of everyday household items being repurposed for innovative culinary solutions. Take the humble mason jar, for instance. As the Zero Waste Chef points out, these versatile containers can be used for everything from fermentation to ice cream making.
“You can spend a lot of money on special equipment to ferment food—kimchi, dill pickles, kombucha and so on—but a simple glass jar works, with or without the lid, depending,” the Chef explains. And when it comes to homemade ice cream, the Chef has a clever trick up her sleeve: “Before you start, put the pan in the freezer to chill it. Make your ice cream, sorbet or whatnot and pour it into the pan. Every half hour or so, pull it out and give it a good stir (I have used a whisk for sorbet). After several hours, it will freeze.”
But the kitchen hack gold mine doesn’t stop there. As the Chef reveals, even something as simple as a bent paper clip can be transformed into an effective cherry pitter. “A bent open paper clip also works remarkably well as a cherry pitter, with the added bonus of being able to make extras as you need if you can coerce helpers (aka kids) with the project.”
Embracing the Unexpected
The more I learned about these unexpected kitchen hacks, the more I realized that the key to unlocking a world of time-saving tools lies not in the latest gadget craze, but in embracing the unexpected potential of the everyday objects around us. Take the humble chopstick, for instance. As one Redditor discovered, a simple chopstick can be the perfect tool for pitting cherries – no fancy cherry pitter required.
Or what about using a blanket as a makeshift yogurt incubator? As the Zero Waste Chef explains, “We’ve experimented with some thermal cooking but haven’t gotten very far with it since we have other great ways of cooking with limited energy. We were given an Instant pot type device (keep an eye out because the rumor is that most people who buy them lose interest in them after a few months). What we love is that we can make a pot of beans for other recipes without using much energy in a short amount of time.”
The more I dove into this topic, the more I realized that the true time-saving power lies not in the latest gadget, but in our willingness to think outside the box and see the hidden potential in the most unexpected places. As the Redditor wisely observed, “Our brains must be atrophying at an astonishing rate!”
So the next time you find yourself tempted by the latest kitchen craze, I encourage you to take a step back and look around your own home. You just might be surprised by the time-saving treasures lurking in plain sight. After all, as the folks at Home Cooking Rocks know, sometimes the best solutions are the ones we’ve had all along.
