In today’s review, I test five unusual kitchen gadgets: the Peel Plate, Chef’n GarlicZoom, Kernel Katcher, and two different cherry pitters. Some were more useful than I expected, and one comparison turned out closer than I expected.
Where to Purchase
Below you can find links where to purchase the items covered in this review.
- Peel Plate – Direct | Amazon
- Chef’n GarlicZoom
- Kernel Katcher
- Oxo Cherry Pitter
- Generic Cherry Pitter
If ordering from the Peel Plate website, you can use code “JAMESWHITE” to get 10% off.
Five Kitchen Gadgets
Peel Plate
The first item I tested was the Peel Plate, which is a peelable plate designed so you can remove the top layer after a meal and continue using the same plate. I paid $10 for a five-pack from the official website, with each plate containing 20 layers (a total of 100 uses).
The company claims these plates are sustainable, food safe, heavy duty, and made without plastics, forever chemicals, bleaching agents, or dyes. Online opinions were mixed. Some people liked them for camping or travel, while others said they were too small, not great with knives, or could soak through with wet or greasy foods.
Out of the package, the plate felt sturdy enough to hold with one hand without flopping around. The material had an unusual feel to it, almost like the “gaskets” used for public toilet seats, but the peel tab made it easy to see how the layers were supposed to work.
For the first test, I used it with grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I gently cut the chicken with a knife since the website says light cutting is acceptable. After eating, I peeled off the top layer and found that nothing had soaked through. The mashed potatoes left a visible outline from the heat, but the layer underneath was dry.
Next, I tried waffles with syrup outside in the wind. This gave the plate a better wet and sticky test. After eating the waffles and peeling the top layer, the next layer was still clean. The syrup did not soak through, and the fork did not damage the layer underneath.
Finally, I tried the Peel Plate in the car with a Del Taco meal, including fries, ketchup, and a green burrito. This turned out to be one of the more practical uses for me. After eating, the ketchup and grease peeled away cleanly, and the next layer was ready to go.
Overall, I liked the Peel Plate more than I expected. I can see myself keeping these in the car for meals on the go. They are sturdy, compact, and the peeling process is oddly satisfying.
Chef’n GarlicZoom
Next up was the Chef’n GarlicZoom, a rolling garlic chopper that looks a bit like a yo-yo. I paid $15 for it, and it currently has a strong rating on Amazon with thousands of reviews.
The idea is simple: place peeled garlic cloves inside, roll the device back and forth, and the blades inside chop the garlic. The main claims are that it chops garlic quickly and helps keep garlic odor off your hands. Online reviewers who liked it said it worked quickly and was faster than using a knife. Complaints included difficulty getting the garlic out, flimsiness, and the feeling that it was more work than it was worth.
I started with one clove of garlic. After rolling it back and forth a few times, the resistance quickly disappeared, which seemed to indicate that the garlic had been chopped. When I opened it up, the result looked pretty good and acceptable for a quick chop.
Next up was two cloves, which also worked well. The chopped garlic tended to collect on the little tabs inside the unit, but it was not too hard to scrape out. For the final test, I tried three cloves. That was a little more difficult because it took some effort to close the unit properly, and there was more resistance at first. Once the blades got going, it smoothed out and chopped the garlic pretty well.
The GarlicZoom does work, but I would not say it is completely odor-free. You still have to peel the garlic, place it inside, and sometimes adjust the cloves so the unit will close. That means your hands may still pick up some garlic smell, just less than they would with traditional chopping.
I also ran it through the dishwasher, and it held up fine. This is definitely a niche gadget, but if you chop a lot of garlic and want something quick and compact, it does the job.
Kernel Katcher
The Kernel Katcher is a popcorn bowl designed to separate unpopped kernels from the popcorn you actually want to eat. I paid $25 for it on Amazon. It has a bottom tray that catches the unpopped kernels, while the popcorn stays in the main bowl.
The product claims to hold four quarts, or about one bag of microwave popcorn. It is not meant to be used in the microwave. The instructions are very simple: pour the popped popcorn into the bowl, put the lid on, and gently shake it so the unpopped kernels fall into the bottom tray.
I tested it with popcorn from my air popper first. I intentionally stopped the popcorn a little early so there would be some unpopped kernels to catch. After shaking the bowl, I checked the bottom tray and found that it had caught the kernels, along with a few small pieces of popcorn. Only a single half-kernel appeared to remain in the main bowl.
Next, I tried it with microwave popcorn, again stopping it slightly early to make sure there were kernels left behind. This test produced a lot more unpopped kernels, and the Kernel Katcher caught most of them. I only found two kernels that it missed.
The Kernel Katcher is a basic product with one job, and in my testing, it did that job well. It will not catch every single kernel, but it caught enough that I would consider it a success. I also ran it through the dishwasher, and it held up perfectly.
I go through popcorn phases, and this is one I can see myself continuing to use.
OXO Quick Release Multi-Cherry Pitter
The first cherry pitter I tested was the OXO Quick Release Multi-Cherry Pitter. I paid $25 for it on Amazon. It is designed to pit up to six cherries at once and release the fruit directly into a bowl.
The OXO has an adjustable base that fits over a bowl, a pit collection tray, and a two-part lid that presses the pits out and helps release the cherries afterward. It is a much more elaborate design than a basic handheld cherry pitter, and it feels very sturdy.
On my first attempt, it worked mostly well, but one pit was still dangling from a cherry. The rest of the pits were collected properly. On the second attempt, I pressed it a couple of times and got better results, with all of the pits accounted for. I did get a small blast of cherry juice on my arm, so this is not a completely mess-free gadget.
After using it for several rounds, I found that it does work, but there is a learning curve. If you take the time to position every cherry perfectly, it takes longer. If you go faster without worrying about the cherry’s orientation, and accept that it might miss a pit here and there, the process moves along much more quickly.
The OXO is clearly the better-built product in the comparison, but it is also bulkier and has more moving parts. Cleaning it was not my favorite part.
No-Name 7-in-1 Cherry Pitter
The second cherry pitter was a cheaper no-name model that claims to pit up to seven cherries at once. I paid $9 for it on Amazon, and it included its own cup to catch juice and pits.
Right away, this one felt much cheaper than the OXO. The materials felt lightweight, almost like a child’s toy compared to the sturdier OXO. Still, cheaper construction does not always mean poor performance, so I wanted to see how it actually worked.
The setup took a little longer because the cherries had to be placed upright. On the first attempt, five of the pits were still stuck to the cherries, while only two fell into the bottom. That was not a great start. I gave it another try, this time pressing twice, and the results improved quite a bit. Six of the seven pits fell through, with only one still dangling.
After several more rounds with both cherry pitters, the results ended up being closer than I expected. Both got a little messy, both sometimes required multiple presses, and both occasionally left pits behind.
The cheaper model has one advantage: it comes with its own container, so you do not have to place it over a separate bowl. It is also simpler to operate since it is basically a press-and-release design. The OXO feels like it will last longer, but in terms of actual cherry-pitting results, it was not the blowout I expected.
Neither cherry pitter was perfect, and neither was especially fun to clean, but both did the job reasonably well. If you want the better-built option, the OXO is probably the safer choice. If you want the cheaper option and do not mind a flimsier design, the no-name model performed better than I expected.
Final Thoughts
Out of this group, the Peel Plate surprised me the most. It held up through multiple meals, including syrup, ketchup, grease, and light cutting. I plan to keep some in my car for future meals on the go.
The GarlicZoom worked as expected and did a decent job chopping garlic, although it was not completely odor-free. The Kernel Katcher was simple but effective, catching most of the unpopped popcorn kernels in my tests.
The cherry pitter comparison was closer than I expected. The OXO was clearly better made, but the cheaper no-name version performed surprisingly well. Both worked, both made some mess, and both had cleaning drawbacks.
Overall, this was a pretty successful batch of kitchen gadgets. None of them were perfect, but all five served their intended purpose to some degree.
Video Review
Watch the full review below.