The OXO Good Grips Lemon Zester with Channel Knife makes zesting a lemon as easy as ... lemon pie! Photo from Amazon.com.
Photo from Amazon.comA few years ago, I received the OXO Good Grips Lemon Zester with Channel Knife as a gift. Before that, I used the smallest side of a cheese grater to zest citrus. This product eradicated all the angst I felt about zesting — making it fun, too — and I never looked back.
Just in case you don’t know what zest or zesting is, zest is the outer, colored part of a citrus (lemon, lime, orange, etc.) peel. Zesting is the act of removing that layer. And the trick is to only get that colored layer and not get the white pith, which can be bitter-tasting. Zest is used for flavoring — it adds an oomph to your citrus-themed recipe. I’ve used it to intensify Orange Chicken, give more zip to a Lemom Bundt Cake and even add aroma to a cup of tea.
The OXO Good Grips Lemon Zester with Channel Knife makes zesting a lemon as easy as … lemon pie! Photo from Amazon.com.Features & Benefits
Large, oval and soft, non-slip handle not only fits securely in your hand, but is secure even if your hand is greasy. The size of the handle makes it really comfortable to hold, too, giving you more control over your zesting.
The stainless steel head lasts longer — I’ve had mine for over 10 years and it is still rust-free.
In addition to the zesting head, it also has a channel knife for creating thicker peels you can use for flavoring, texture and garnish.
The whole thing is dishwasher safe, so it can be convenient to clean if you use a dishwasher.
Both the zester and channel knife are sharp, so zesting is easy and smooth (unlike a few potato peelers I’ve had!)
The channel knife feature makes great garnishes, as well as solid zest for heavier recipes such as Orange Chicken. Photo from Amazon.comOther Data
Dimensions: 5″ x 1.38″ x 1″
Price: Between $7 and $8 new, depending on where you shop
Durability
As I’ve mentioned earlier, this product is durable. It is solidly made and easy to maintain. I’ve had mine for over a decade and it still looks new. I’ve used it on lemons, limes, tangerines and grape fruit, and it has traveled around the country with me. I’ve dropped it on the floor and all that happens is that it bounces and rolls — no damage to the zester or my linoleum floor.
Who This Product is Suitable For
If you zest only once a year, I’d still recommend this product for you. It is reasonably priced, so I can’t think of a reason not to have it — especially if you read this blog! Having this gadget handy has increased my kitchen creativity because now I’ll add zest to things I might not have before, because it used to be too much work. Whether you’re an experienced cook or just getting started, you’ll love the ease of using this product.
Because this product makes zesting so easy, I know add zest to more things that cook. Here are some suggestions I’ve tried and loved.
Take an orange and use the channel knife to create long strips of zest. When preparing a frozen bag of orange chicken in a skillet, add the strips to pump up the orange flavor. I used this with Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken and just loved it.
Add zest to your next box of lemon cake to pump up the lemon flavor. If you want make it a bit more fun, use the zest of a lime instead.
Garnish a serving of fruit or ambrosia salad with large curls of orange, grapefruit or tangerine zest using the channel knife.
If you are a regular in your kitchen, then chances are you know exactly how frustrating opening a can can be. While sometimes you are able to get the can open without any incident, other times the can opener either stalls, forcing you to open the rest of the can yourself through brute force or it simply doesn’t work on the can. It is difficult to see which one would be worse, since while not being able to get the can open at all can be very frustrating, getting it open partway and cutting yourself while prying it ope the rest of the way could be even worse, not to mention potentially dangerous to your health. Conventional can openers are just frustrating things and that is ultimately why the market response to the OneTouch can opener has been so great.
For under $40, you can get your hands on this cool kitchen gadget, allowing you to kiss the days of frustrating can opening goodbye! The can opener itself is shaped like a large remote control and this large surface area allows it to interact directly with the can on a number of different fronts; something you would never be able to do with the old can openers that most people still own today. The can opener’s large surface area gives it the versatility to use the one-touch system to open any can of any size. Previously the biggest knock on automatic can openers was that they did not accommodate size very well, but this is a thing of the past as far as the one touch can opener is concerned.
There are drawbacks, however. For one, the can opener is operated by battery power. Although one set of batteries can get you through opening 100 cans, you’ll still have the added expense of batteries. If you open one or two cans a day (people that use a lot of canned goods in their cooking might achieve this), that one set of batteries can last anywhere from two months to well over a year. So, maybe it isn’t that bad after all. To improve your return on investment (ROI), you can use rechargeable batteries and extend the value of the batteries even further.
Another that I found is that it can be a little hard to figure out at first. It took me quite a while to get it to open one can. Of course, after using it for a while, it will probably become second nature. But for those who get frustrated easily, this might not be the can opener for you.
Now on the best feature of the one touch can opener. Rather than leaving something sharp and potentially dangerous, the can opener leaves something that would not even cut a balloon ball open! That is simply remarkable and it is perhaps the biggest and most welcome surprise that came out of the development of the one touch can opener. Now, you can get a manual can opener that does this, but I haven’t had much luck with those, returning all of them back to the store.
I give it a 3 out of 5 chefs — the frustration factor was a bit much for me and I don’t like the added cost of batteries — I’d always need to keep a manual on hand in case they ran out and I didn’t have a backup. However, I think this might be a good choice for people who have a hard time using manual can openers.
Image source: Amazon.comI guess I have bananas on the brain. I was just thinking how much I love to add bananas to my cereal in the morning. Ooooh, and they are so tasty in a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. And don’t forget this berry nestled inside an ice cream sundae after supper!
But think of it: all that slicing can become rather tiring and the slices are never perfect. Some are too thick while others are too thin. So what is a banana lover to do? Invest in the new handy banana slicer, which is reputed to be able to handle an entire banana at one time and produce perfect slices for all your banana slicing needs.
The most wonderful thing about the banana slicer is the simplicity of its design. A single piece of molded plastic in the delightful shape of a banana makes this product not only functional but also fun to look at. One quick chop is all you need to quickly slice an entire fresh banana for your cereal or a quick snack. The banana slicer is 10 inches long, so it suits most bananas on the market today. The gadget is also dishwasher safe so there is no messy banana mess to clean up afterwards.
Product image from Banquet Dessert BakesBanquet Dessert Bakes is a line of simple, make it yourself with a few extra ingredients dessert mixes. I recently tried their Coconut Creme Pie. Here are my observations:
Prep Time
It took very little time to prepare the dessert. I probably completed the whole process, including cleaning up in about 15 to 20 minutes.
Crust
All you had to do to create the crust was add water. However, what resulted was a chewy crust that stuck to the pie tin and made it very difficult to serve decent looking pie slices. It tasted fine, but I would recommed either experimenting with adding less water than the box suggests or just using a ready-made crust.
Filling
Now, to be upfront, I love coconut. I want my coconut-flavored foods to be rich in coconut flavor, which is why I ended up using coconut powder in the coconut cream pie I developed. To my surprise, Banquet’s coconut creme filling did not disappoint. It had a rich, creamy and very coconutty flavor, with little bits of coconut mixed in.
The box recommends that you refrigerate 30 minutes before serving. I would recommend that you give it closer to an hour to allow the filling to fully set.
Overall
I’ve give this dessert 4 out of 5 stars. It tasted great, but the crust needs work.
If you are a regular in your kitchen, then chances are you know exactly how frustrating opening a can can be. While sometimes you are able to get the can open without any incident, other times the can opener either stalls, forcing you to open the rest of the can yourself through brute force or it simply doesn’t work on the can. It is difficult to see which one would be worse, since while not being able to get the can open at all can be very frustrating, getting it open partway and cutting yourself while prying it ope the rest of the way could be even worse, not to mention potentially dangerous to your health. Conventional can openers are just frustrating things and that is ultimately why the market response to the 
[/one_fifth]
[/one_fifth]
