Kitchen tools

Kickstarter in the Kitchen

 Bringing Innovation To The Kitchen 

  • GoSun Grill

    Company Name: GoSun

    The GoSun Grill is very much what the name suggests, a solar grill. Think about the little charcoal grills that people take while traveling during the summers. Now replace it with a grill that doesn’t need any fuel. It doesn’t need chips, tanks, or fluid. All it needs is a mostly clear sky, and you can grill without having to worry about accidentally lighting your eyebrows on fire. (We haven’t done that, no, why do you ask?) You don’t even have to watch over it. Set the timer and go do hang out with your family while it cooks. We love this idea not only for the innovation but also because it is a very clean product with little mess or risk. They even solved the issue of being able to cook at night with a ‘thermal battery!’

    Min pledge & what you got: $1 or more would get you the Creation Book for the GoSun Grill. The ebook was not only a behind-the-scenes look at the story of the grill, from ideation to creation, but also how the company builds products that others haven’t thought of.

    Max pledge and what you got: At $3200, one person would be given the chance to meet and work with the team of designers for GoSun. They’d head to the company retreat in Mendocino County, CA to learn about the next project for GoSun, test out the latest tech and stay for three nights.

  • Blackbeard Cookware Set

    Crowd Cookware

    The Blackbeard pan was the first item that Crowd Cookware brought to market, and people wanted more, which brought this amazing set of pans to Kickstarter. They’re stainless steel and work for any heat source on the market today, including induction stoves. They’re even supported by Michelin chefs around the world.

    We love this one because it’s entirely made up of products that the company’s fans requested. Even the minimum pledge is made for people who wanted something very specific. Rather than offering a large number of items, or increasingly… spectacular pledge levels, you could get individual pieces that they were testing out or get the entire set at a greatly discounted price.

    Min pledge & what you got: For roughly $20, you’d get a lid that fit both their frying pan and wok.

    Max pledge and what you got: For roughly $306 you got the entire set of Crowd Cookware’s pans and dishes. A versatile pan set that every chef could use, without having to purchase multiples of anything you didn’t need.

    Queen Anne Saucepan ø16cm/6.3” - 1.7L

    Queen Anne Saucepan ø20cm/7.9” - 2.8L

    Concord deep casserole ø20cm/7.9” - 3.6L

    Concord deep casserole ø24 cm/9.5” - 7.5L

    The Blackbeard frying pan ø24 cm/9.5”

    The Blackbeard frying pan ø28 cm/11”

    The Blackbeard ø28 cm/11” wok

    Blackbeard’s Tricorne, lid for ø28 cm/11” Blackbeard frying pan and wok

  • DIY Dairy-Free, Vegan, Paleo Cheese Kits

    Urban Cheesecraft

    Imagine a world in which you cannot have cheese. It’s a sad and horrible thing to think about, we know. Many people, due to dietary restrictions or personal beliefs, are unable to enjoy the wonders of brie, gouda, mozzarella or even provolone! Urban Cheesecraft said, “Why, though?” The owner Claudia came up with the idea of DIY kits and recipes that would allow anyone, anywhere, to create their own delicious cheeses without access to or need for a dairy cow. She had already made kits and a book for you to make it at home, and decided the next goal was to do the same for Dairy-free cheese! (and from what we can tell, the reviewers love both varieties!)

    Min pledge & what you got: $5 supported the product and got you a BIG CHEESY Smile!

    Max pledge and what you got: For $5,000 you got a travelling DIY cheese teacher! At this rate Claudia would travel anywhere in the United States to teach 20 students to make dairy-free cheddar, mozzarella, and to enjoy it along with a delicious spread of food at the same time. (As cheese lovers, we have to say this caught our interest immediately.)

  • Fourneau Bread Oven 2.0

    Strand Design

    Ahead of the curve by 3 years, Strand Design created the Fourneau Bread Oven 2.0, an upgrade on an earlier design of theirs. This oven works inside your regular oven, with a special base to generate steam and provide an even heating surface. The pan slots in easily over that, to give you an easy way to move the dough around, without having to assemble the bread oven around the dough. Then there’s the cloche that sits on the base to trap all the heat and air, and give you a perfect crust. All of this fits together to give you a wonderful loaf of bread every time, as if you were working with an old fashioned baker’s oven. It’s also safer than other options on the market, as the entire assembly stays inside the oven the entire time. Instead, the tray comes out, which is just as easy to remove as any normal cookie sheet. What’s not to love about being able to take your standard oven and get a perfect loaf of bread?

    Min pledge & what you got: For $5 you would get a digital cookbook for all sorts of bread recipes. Sure you might not be able to get the same quality as if you had the Bread Oven, but you could still experiment with making your own bread!

    Max pledge and what you got: For $280 you would get the Forneau 2.0, as well as an upgrade kit for your original Forneau Bread Oven. So, for that price (only $65 more than buying just the 2.0) you would upgrade the bread oven you had so you could work with two of them at the same time. That is a fantastic deal in our opinion. Think of all the bread you could make!

    (and it might even pair well with the Dairy-Free cheese kits, or even just DIY cheesekits.)

  • UKeg Pressurized Growler

    Growler Werks

    Last but not least we’ve got one that a lot of people in the Dallas area are going to love, a way to keep your microbrew fresh! Beer brewing is undergoing a renaissance right now, with people of all ages learning about one of the oldest crafts in the world. The downside to that is that once your microbrew is open, it goes flat. Really fast. GrowlerWerks wanted to solve that so they came up with the idea of the UKeg pressurized growler. “One that doesn’t let air into your beer, maintains perfect carbonation from the first pour to the last, and keeps beer cold for hours – all in a product you'll love showing off at your friend's next BBQ or party. GrowlerWerks was created by local Portlanders who love craft beer. We've drawn on a combined 47 years of engineering and product-design experience to make a better way to store beer, so it always taste exactly how the brewmaster intended.”

    Min pledge & what you got: $5 got you two GrowlerWerks coasters to show off and get people talking about beer.

    Max pledge and what you got: For $800 you got a brewery tour with the GrowlerWerks team in Portland, OR, as well as getting to pick your own uKeg from the design shop.

Christmas Shopping for Your Favorite Chef

When You Just Aren’t Sure What to Get Them

Everyone is hustling and bustling, trying to find gifts that say 'I love you', 'you matter to me' or even 'I really love the food you make, even if we're just coworkers.' We're right with you.  Trying to figure out what the buy or make for people is complicated! So we've put together a list of potential gifts for the special chefs in your life. 

 Starting off with something every chef needs, a good set of knives. If you've ever listened to your chef-y friends talk then you know that with a proper knife there's almost nothing you can't do. On the other hand, if you're stuck with a poor quality knife, you're constantly having to sharpen it before you ever start to work.  This Wakoli 3 piece Damascus steel knife set is a fantastic gift for the favorite chef in your life. It comes with a 9-inch Santoku knife, a 7-inch Santoku and then a 5-inch paring knife.  If you want something that serves as both very pretty and a will be used for decades to come, this is a good bet. 

Price: $120

Next up we've got something that hits both 'cute' and 'useful' marks on your list. A set of Matryoshka dolls that serve as measuring cups. The dolls are made of white pressed plastic, and stack together when not in use. They range from 1 cup at the largest and each doll 'half' steps down by 1/4 cup. Absolutely adorable, easily stored and they can flavor to your kitchen. These might be perfect for a young nice or nephew who is just getting started in the kitchen or someone who loves cute things, but also practicality. 

Price: $13 

Think about the nonstick pans that you love. Now think about all the times when you're in the middle of cooking and you accidentally grab a metal spatula instead of a silicone one. By adding a few more tools to your kitchen and keeping them closer to the stove, you can fix that.  This set comes with 2 spoons, 2 spatulas, 1 jar 'spatula' and a brush for sauces, glazes etc.  It's also available in several different color options, and comes with a steel core so that it'll be more durable than some of the other silicone tools you can buy. 

Price: $20 


If your favorite chef is a lover of different spices, this can be a great gift. A stainless steel spice tower with solid glass jars, to make it easy to look at the different spices, as well as being clearly labeled.  This spice tower spins in place and easily holds of 20 jars of their favorite spices. The company also offers a 5 year spice renewal program. You can purchase the tower and register it with them and for 5 years you get free spices, all you have to do is pay shipping. It's two gifts in one, unlimited spices and a place to store them.  

Price: $50 


Following hard on the heels of our last gift, this one is a bit.. different. It's a label maker. For those of us that love cooking and baking you can end up with all sorts of unlabeled jars. You have friends that give you jars of spices from around the world, you experiment with different combinations, and sometimes labels just fall off. Then you're left staring at a jar going "I know I put some nutmeg in here, and I can taste a little anise, but what the heck is that third one?" Enter the label maker. Now it's easy to label your jars and you're not going to mix up your poultry seasoning with your baking spices. (Yep, we've done it. That's what happens when you don't sniff an unlabeled jar and just toss it into the pot instead.) 

Price: $35 


For the coffee loving chef in your life, you might consider this gift. An easy-to-use grinder that can handle enough beans for 12 cups of coffee at once. The center chamber is removeable to make for easy cleanup and pouring. You can also use it for spices if you prefer to grind your own before use.  And at this asking price, you could even go so far as to buy 3. One for you, one for coffee and one for spices! 



Price: $17

Sometimes you don't want to fight with finding the 'right' spot on your stove for your frying pan. You want to turn it on and get cooking. You also don't want to deal with food sticking to the pan and becoming scorched. Both of these problems are solved by the BELLA Electric Ceramic Skillet. It's able to heat smoothly and consistently in a way that your stove usually doesn't and keep food from sticking to it. You can use it to saute, fry, roast and steam, all without having to argue for space on your stove. Using the skillet also means that you can use it for a main dish while you use your stove to cook sides of your meal. Alternatively, this could be used if you're in a tiny home without much of a kitchen. 

Price: 35


If you're looking to find out what all of the fuss is over air fryers, this might be a good place to start. Not only can you use it for everything from frozen foods to donuts (fresh donuts! At home!) but you can also try it out for a wide variety of different recipes from everyone's favorite food & craft site, Pinterest. While this is a  slightly more expensive model, it's well worth it when you can cook 6qts of food in one go rather than having to do batch after batch. 

Price:  $120

What's worse than having to wait for your kettle to boil so you can wait to brew tea? Having to wait for that perfect cup of tea for whatever the day has thrown at you? Nothing. Nothing is the answer we're looking for.  Fortunately, this electric kettle from Mueller can help. Able to hold 1.8 liters or a little over 7 cups, it's perfect. It boils quickly, auto shuts off, and has 'boil-dry' protection. (Tell us you haven't accidentally turned the stove on without checking if there was water in the kettle at least once. No? We didn't think so. We get it though.) Best of all, there's no frustrating cord to fight with. The kettle sits on a plate that heats the water inside it, and can be removed and carried wherever you need once it's come to a boil. We'll take two. 

Price: $35 


For those of us that are coffee drinkers, whether that's solely coffee or in addition to tea, we've got a lovely French press maker. Made of borosilicate glass just like the electric kettle, the Cafe Du Chateau press also comes with a 4 level filter to ensure that you're only getting coffee in your cup.  Capable of brewing 34 oz of delicious coffee at a time, the French press is something that many coffee lovers swear by.  Plus, if, somehow, there's an issue with your press? Cafe Du Chateau will replace it. 

Price: $25


IF YOU WANNA SHRED MEAT LIKE THE WILD ANIMAL WITHIN, you should look at getting these lovely claw-shaped meat shredders. Great for making pulled pork LIKE A BEAST or just adding a bit of fun and ease to the cooking process, these will surely find a home within any barbecue master's kitchen. We love them because you can shred the meat more easily than trying to do many tiny shreds using a pair of forks. 

Price: $12 

If you want to have a nice, melted cheese to put on your food after it is cooked, rather than melting on during the cooking process, this is an excellent option for you. Offering a small pan that will accommodate 2 standard cheese slices side-by-side, this will allow for you to get your cheese to just the right consistency before putting it on your food.  And if you don't want to just use a slice of cheese? You want to mix your cheeses together? You can go for that too. Just make a small mound of the mixed cheeses and let them melt together. 


Price:  $10  

If you're still looking for Christmas gifts, we suggest booking an appointment for your loved one to have one of our technicians go over all of their appliances. Showing you love them by taking care of their favorite space, is a great way to show that you pay attention, and it will also make it so that any problems that might be there can be caught before they cause major trouble for the favorite chef in your life.  To set up an appointment you can call us at ((214) 599-0055) or go to our website to set up an appointment. 




9 Kitchen Gadgets You Don’t Need In Your Kitchen

Sometimes, we buy the weirdest kitchen gadgets.

Do you ever look at something on Amazon and question “how did that get made?” Last week we took a look at some of the gadgets and appliances we desperately want to bring into our homes. This week we’re looking some of the kitchen tools we absolutely do not want. 


We rated these based on three rankings. Did they do what they said they could? Does this have a purpose? And, last but not least, just how dangerous is it? (If that last one sounds weird, wait till you get to the end of the list.) 


Table of Contents

Churros Maker

Whisk Wiper

Butter Hub

Golden Egg Maker

Gourmia Electric Tea Brewing

Ember Wave Smart Mug

Bossy Betty Veggie Sheet Slicer

Haier Pocket Washing Machine

Coconut Meat Scraper

Churros Maker

The idea is one that we can all get behind. Trying to make a tasty, delicious treat that little bit healthier. In theory, you don't have to spray the mold or even use any oil for cooking the churros. In practice though, what you really get is straight tubes of dough that are baked and won't stick to the churro coating.  It's the residual oil in the dough from frying that usually makes the sugar and cinnamon stick to the churro. Without that, you don't even get a dusting of it. 

Purpose - 3/10 

Does it make cooked dough? Yes. Does it make churros? No. 

Usefulness- 5/10 

Churros are delicious! Being able to make churros at home without needing huge vats of oil is a great idea! But this one isn't /necessary/ in day to day life for most of us. 

Danger  2/10

Unless you intentionally go putting your fingers in the press, we think you'll be ok with this one. 

Whisk Wiper

We want to like this one. We really do. Having a whisk fall into a bowl of batter/sauce/etc is a pain! Or losing what feels like 1/5 of your batter to the whisk because it's so thick. But.. we can't really justify this. There are other ways to keep a whisk from falling into your bowl, and just as many ways to clean a whisk as this offers.  We're sure the other 20+ uses it claims are served as well by other items in your home as this can. 

Purpose  8/10  It does do its job of wiping a whisk clean or stick to its provided whisk very well. 

Usefulness 1/10  If you don't have anything else in your house. Maybe. And even then we'd say that's pushing it.

Danger 0/10  ... Well. Unless you throw the provided whisk at someone in a fit of frustration. But we hope you won't do that one.

Whisk Wiper.jpg

Butter Hub

This one gave us mixed feelings. On one hand, it is meant to keep your butter from getting crumbs in it, butter rings on your table or losing your butter knife on a regular basis. On the other hand, you don't have to use just one knife on the butter, you can just flip the lid over when you use the dish, and if you're not a heathen, you don't get crumbs in the butter. So.. mixed feelings? 

Purpose 10/10 It absolutely does accomplish the goals it sets out to. 

Usefulness 3/10 There are some people that this is going to work fantastically for, and we can appreciate that. It's just not us. 

Danger - 0/10 Again, we advise not throwing things at people and you'll be able to keep this safety rating. 

Golden Egg Maker

This one. You've probably seen a dozen and one different items that claim to do the same thing. The idea is to be able to somehow mix the white and yolk inside the egg so that picky eaters will consume all of the egg, rather than one part or the other. The problem? When tested, this one, and most of them, don't work. No matter how many times you spin an egg around, you aren't going to be getting the yolk and white any more combined. Evolution has you trumped. 

Purpose 0/10 This doesn't accomplish its purpose in any way, shape or form. 

Point  1/10 it works as a toy to amuse kids for a while making things spin around, but other than that, we don't suggest it. 

Danger 1/10 Some will have a small needle to prick the shell, but other than that, there isn't much danger involved. 

Gourmia Electric Tea Brewing

We wanted to love this one. We really did. And for half of the population, it's a great concept. Being able to set your tea to brew at a specific time is great! Being able to get the best flavor out of your tea is great! But. If you know anything about tea, you'll know this product is not great for tea. You start off by 'refreshing' the leaves, which means that you're throwing away the first flavor of the leaves. While it's true that you can steep loose leaf tea multiple times and extract multiple different flavors out of it, you have to be careful while doing this. Our biggest gripe about this is that there is no way to tell what temperature your water is. Different teas require different temperatures so that you get the best flavor from the leaf. This tool? Doesn't give you that. The best you're going to get is "light, medium or strong" and that can just as easily be achieved by altering the brewing time as anything else. 

Purpose -  8/10 It does in fact serve its purpose of making a cup of tea. (Whether it makes a good cup of tea is besides the point.) 

Usefulness 5/10 Again, it does make a cup of tea. However, since you don't really have much control over how it makes said cup of tea, we can't properly say it's useful. 

Danger 1/10 There are portions of it that are made of glass that are very poorly seated in the design. We wouldn't be surprised if this managed to wiggle its way off a table at some point. 

Gourmia.jpg

Ember Wave Smart Mug

This is a mug  that connects to an app on your phone or tablet to set a very specific temperature for your drink of choice. Want your coffee kept at 98* while you're doing the dishes? It can handle it. Want your cocoa to stay warm while you tuck the kids into bed? It can do that too. Our issue with it is not the functionality of the device so much as what's required in order to get it. First off, the price. As of writing this mug is priced at 129.95 USD.  Then you've got to download the app once you get your mug. Which, ok, that makes sense. It needs their proprietary software to work. What doesn't make sense is why you need to hand over your email and create an account. Why do I need to sign in order to heat my coffee? 

Purpose 10/10 It will keep your mug at the temperature you set. For that reason, we love it. 

Usefulness  1/10 This device is only as good as the app its paired to and for us, having to sign in just to keep our coffee hot is asking too much. 

Danger 4/10 Actual possibility of burning yourself on this one if you: 

a) forget how to hold a cup 

b) set the temperature too high 

c) have a moment of weakness and accidentally drop the cup. 

(the last one has happened this week to your faithful writer.) 

Ember.jpg

Bossy Betty Veggie Sheet Slicer

  We will admit that this one is a lot of fun to say, but not as much fun to use. Although it's relatively easy to use, even with instructions, it's even easier to slice yourself with.  The use for this one is to take different firm vegetables like zucchini, cucumbers, and carrots and turn them into sheets that you could use for different foods like lasagna. You fix the vegetable on the spike and then clamp the blade against it so that it begins to peel in very thin layers as the vegetable rotates.  

Purpose 9/10 We only took a point off because you have to pick very firm vegetables.

Usefulness 4/10 Here we had to take many more points off, because.. why? Why do you need such thin sheets of vegetables? Other than lasagna, we can't see the home chef finding much use for this particular item. 

Danger 8/10  Remember what we said about the blade? Yeah, in tests it was shown to pop repeatedly and suddenly when you're trying to 'set' the vegetable in place and ended up getting several people nicked. With time and practice, we're sure that people would be able to avoid getting injured, but really, we'd rather that you weren't getting injured at all. 

Betty Bossi.jpg

Haier Pocket Washing Machine

You're out at dinner with friends and you accidentally splash some wine on your new skirt. Or a waiter passes by and bumps into you, causing you to get sauce on your silk tie. the Haier Pocket Machine can fit in a pocket, or more likely, in your car's glove box. You pop off to the car, remove the spot using a bit of water, detergent and the machine and it's supposed to remove the stain. Everything from mangoes, to coffee to mustard. 

Surprise though, it doesn't. It just spreads the stain around and dilutes it some. It's a pity, but if things like this worked, we wouldn't have as much fun repairing your washing machine. ;) 

Purpose 2/10 It will dilute the stain some, if you immediately attack it with the detergent, but we really aren't sure if that's the detergent or the machine. 

Usefulness - 0/10 It doesn't remove the stain, using it would mean that you have to carry it, water and detergent with you all the time, and who has the time/space for that? 

Danger 8/10 Danger to your clothes. 

Coconut Meat Scraper 

Our final one on the list!  Fresh shaved coconut. Useable in all sorts of recipes and no need to wait! That is a dream for many of us that love coconut. This tool though? Is not the way to go about it. We'd rather you use a serrated spoon than to try this thing. It would be less dangerous.  In tests the machine spins so fast that it's difficult even with gloves on to keep the coconut on the shaving head. The company is kind enough to provide gloves but we can reliably say that they aren't enough to protect your hands from this.  For the sake of your hands, don't purchase this machine, and keep trying other ways to get your fill of delicious coconut. 

Purpose 7/10 It's possible to make this work. But it's hard and as stated, we don't advise it. 

Usefulness 0/10 Really. Unless you need industrial amounts of coconut, this thing has no use for the average person. 

Danger 10/10 It is highly likely in our opinion that you would end up injured attempting to use this tool. 




There you have it! Earlier this month we looked at gadgets we wanted and here are ones that we want nothing to do with.  Let us know over on our Facebook what gadgets are in your kitchen that you regret buying! 



Our everyday gadgets though, like your refrigerator, washer and oven are mandatory and not just because we work hard to keep them working. Every one of the major appliances has been tried and tested over and over to serve the purpose it was designed for. If yours isn't functioning for some reason, say the refrigerator isn't keeping things cold or your oven isn't getting hot enough, we're here for you. Appliance Rescue Service will come to wherever you are in our service area to keep your home running smoothly. 

Reach out to us via phone or our contact page to set up your appointment today. 

Appliance Rescue Service, we're here for you.