MECHANICAL AGE LIGHTENS KITCHEN JOBS FOR WOMEN

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27962, 8 May 1956, Page 12

MECHANICAL AGE LIGHTENS KITCHEN JOBS FOR WOMEN

To shred and slice, to mince, cut and dice is to be a busy housewife. With an eye to these kitchen chores, and to offer devices to do the work swiftly and cleanly, the mechanical age has entered the kitchen as never before. Hardware counters are laden with gadgets and gimmicks to make cooking easier, and with Mother’s Day in view, prominence is given to dozens of cheap and interesting devices. There are gadgets for almost every job and one which it is claimed will do them all. if pickles must be carefully inserted to the bottom of a deep bottle, a syringenke device with extending prongs makes easy work of this tricky task. To open bottle and cans, one store sells at least seven openers which operate by turning, twisting, screwing, or levering. A German model with a steel cutter and lever-operated ratchet is recommended. The latest refinement is a strong magnet attached to a fancy wall opener that lifts up the can lid when it is cut free.

No type of peeler has been better received than that with a carefully shaped plastic handle and double edged, rocking cutter. Tfcie newest idea has been to combine a bean

slicer with the handle. Mechanical bean slicers are numerous.

The challenge of cutting tomatoes and eggs neatly has been effectively met. Metal and plastid egg slicers have been long popular. One that divides a hard-boiled egg into six. decorative wedges is the latest development. The most popular tomato knife has a broad blade to transfer slices from the tomato without loss of the centre. But now there is a nine-bladed saw which dissects the largest tomato in a single deft cut. To ensure accurate cooking, a German egg-timer produced last year incorporates a bell which tinkles at the appointed minute. It costs a fraction of the more elaborate cooking clocks. An old idea of a metal disc to prevent milk boiling over a saucepan still sells well.

Frayed knuckles are something of the past with the variety of mechanical graters and shredders on sale. Continental brands predominate, and one maker turns out a multi-purpose .achine in five sizes—from the baby food to hotel capacities. Interchangeable cutters will grind nutmeg or slice apples for a pie. A non-burn cake tin is among the r ewest products. It comes in all shapes and sizes, has a double bottom with a quarter-inch air space, and the cakes are removed by pushing the separate base right through the tin. Potato chippers are a revival of an old idea, and should obviate complaints of the irregular size of chips. Another revival is the spring-wire pastry blender. Plastic Developments Simple operation, bright colours, and easy cleaning are the criteria of most women in choosing kitchen gear. Nothing has offered more in these respects than the latest developments in plastic. Rugged, unbreakable polythene has been approved for dozens of household purposes. Buckets, basins, flagons, flasks, plates, and school lunch boxes that serve for footballs without apparent protest, are good sellers A plastic dispenser, which operates like an oil-can, is a potential threat to the mustard business, as it is claimed to prevent waste on the side of the plate. Numerous plastic inventions serve to pump sauce from bottles and convert a soda water bottle into a siphon. A special insert in a teapot allegedly circulates the water and improves infusion. Seventy-five per cent, of this equipment is from Britain. The rest is locally made, or from Continental factories. Pric. are remarkably low in this competitive field. But nothing can beat a rather more expensive German machine which threatens to replace everything but the kitchen sink. Its instructions advise in five languages that it can make noodles, mince meat, extract juice, beat eggs, grate potatoes, cut paste, make fritters, fill sausages, grind coffee or almonds, make vermicelli or macaroni. and force biscuits. It does not do these all at on \ bu' the children could no doubt easily be enlisted to turn the handle. Probably th most common and useful item on a Mo*’.er’s Day shopping list in the kitchene‘te department is still a pair of kitchen tongs.