Gadgets | Beyond The Kitchen Sink

Practical and distinctive Carved Wood Bottle Openers (affordable too!)

Every kitchen has one, but that doesn’t mean anybody knows where it is. Bottle openers tend to get misplaced quite often. Small and portable, not only do they get carried from room to room, but they also blend in with the surroundings. It’s quite easy to overlook a bottle opener casually set down on a cluttered table.

These Carved Wood Bottle Openers by Roost are a bit easier to track down. With the elegant design and distinctive features, they are as displayable as they are practical. Each opener has the brass fitting placed in a strategic location. Check out the feet of the owl, or the teeth of the shark for clever examples.

Inspired by an antique find these bottle openers are surprisingly affordable, priced around $20.00 each. Seven styles are available: Bull, Shark, Duck, Owl, Apple, Elephant, and Snake.

On-demand caramel apples: The Apple Dipper

Some people like to keep a dish of candy on a nearby side table. Whenever the candy craving hits, a sweet treat is never too far away. As practical as that may be, some people appreciate other sweets adorning their tabletops. Like caramel. Melted caramel.

The Apple Dipper is probably not intended as a perpetual sugar-dispensing device, but it does have that capability. Designed to melt caramel and keep it heated, the dipper is a fun way to create caramel apples. Turn it on, fill it up and dip away. Be careful though, with the ability to keep caramel in a continual ready-to-dip state, that candy dish is going to get jealous!

Twist & Chop simplifies food prep

Sometimes lugging out the food processor for a quick and easy meal just doesn’t seem worth it. There is no doubt that the food processor is the workhorse of the kitchen, but sometimes it just isn’t practical. For those times when you need to chop just a few veggies there is another solution.

The Kuhn Rikon Twist & Chop simplifies food preparation. Perfect for creating a small salad, the slicer operates simply by twisting the lid. Just place your food in the container and twist away. The blades are double-sharpened so they cut in both directions. Best of all, when finished, you can just pop it in the dishwasher.

***Updated!

The Kuhn Rikon Pull Chop Chopper/Manual Food Processor with Cord Mechanism takes the concept and turns it on its head… or at least pulls it!

Kuhn Rikon Pull Chop Chopper/Manual Food Processor with Cord Mechanism, Green, 2-Cup

Make Your Own Hot Sauce Kit

If there is one thing that there can never be too much of it’s types of hot sauce. Each and every one has its own perfect use. From Sirracha on noodles and rice dishes to Tapatio on all foods Mexican, hot sauce is the essential condiment that completes the meal. From vinegar based recipes to those that rely heavily on the peppers, now you have a chance to find the perfect blend with the Make Your Own Hot Sauce Kit.

Including instructions and recipes along with six starter spices (allspice, black cumin, curry powder, achiote, Jamaican jerk, ginger), the kit is attractively priced at $19.95. Perfect for anybody who likes to linger a little extra longer in the hot sauce aisle. Recipes include: Cajun Garlic Lover’s Sauce, Easy Going Achiote, Tropical Storm and Flaming Fruit Sauce.

***Update 10/16/24 Item above no longer available, but luckily the idea kept burning on! Check out this Premium Hot Sauce Making Kit with 5 Varieties of Peppers that looks even better!

Triple Timer times in any era

Housed in a cast-aluminum frame, this Triple Timer features classic styling and elegant grace. Looking like a set of controls that might have come from some sort of steampunk airship, the countdown starts from either 20, 60 or 120 minutes. With easy to read numbers and retro-molded knobs, the three separate timers are complete and ready to go. No need to attach any gears, levers or steam pipes.

Perhaps in a nod to its old-timey styling the timer also includes a “voluminous audible signal”, which is something I’m betting no wimpy battery-operated digital timer can match.

UPDATE: Sold out at the link above, but apparently available at Williams-Sonoma.

***Update 10/16/24: Neither link works to purchase, so it appears this Triple Timer is now marked lost in the Bermuda Triangle!

Hold Ups Wine Rack helps to keep wine in line

Constantly struggling to find room in your fridge for wine bottles? If your fridge is anything like mine, most of the shelves are not tall enough, and the ones in the door are usually filled up. Wine bottles end up on their side, inevitably rolling around inconsiderately knocking every thing else out of the way. I prefer to give my wine its own space for a more harmonious inner fridge.

Wine bottles need space and Hold Ups Refrigerator Wine Rack can provide it. Slide the gizmo through the wire shelves in your fridge and twist to install. Suddenly, the contents of your refrigerator are transformed from an unruly mob into upright model denizens (or horizontal, in this case).

***Update 10/16/24: The Hold Ups rack must’ve fallen down because it is no longer available. But now, here we have the Sorbus Fridge Wine Rack- Refrigerator Bottle Rack standing up to the task. Or laying down as the case may be.

Sorbus® Fridge Wine Rack- Refrigerator Bottle Rack Holds 3 Bottles of Your Favorite Wine or Drink Universal Bottle Holder Will Fit Most Fridges