Handy Gadgets Make Eating, Cooking Easier

What happens to little kitchen gadgets after one picks them up from a cook shop? One of two things: They either collect dust on a kitchen shelf or, if they perform the task well, become tired and worn out from use. If gadgets are your bag, here are a few more devices to add to your culinary repertoire.

Those who love to eat Chinese, Japanese or other Oriental foods but cannot master the technique of a pair of chopsticks might want to try EZ-Sticks. Surprisingly, it works. Two plastic sticks are attached near the center by a hinge so the sticks don’t get separated but their tips still move to pick up and drop food. The EZ-Sticks were invented by Glen Lee, a mechanical engineer who rushed to his drawing board to draft the product after picturing it in a dream one night. “I noticed that my American friends, whenever I took them to a Chinese restaurant, always fumbled through their meal with the regular chopsticks,” he said.

‘Teeth’ Help Hold the Food

The chopsticks come in colors of red, white, pink, gray, black and green in complementary trim color (a face and hat imprint on the hinge). To help hold the food, the inner tips have small “teeth” or ridges not found in ordinary chopsticks. To prevent the sticks from crisscrossing, the chopsticks should be used with light pressure, Lee said. EZ-Sticks are made of durable plastic and are dishwasher safe. Although they can withstand heat, the chopsticks should not be used in high-temperature cooking.

The second gadget is not new. When the Spanek Vertical Roaster was first introduced in 1979, many found it amusing, if not silly. But if you want roasting chickens that are succulent and cook in less time with minimal cleanup, vertical roasting may be the answer. A tower-shaped rack of heavy-gauge tempered steel holds the bird vertically while conducting heat inside. The rack is placed in a roasting pan with 1/4 inch water or stock; the chicken is roasted at 400 degrees 15 minutes per pound. As a result, natural juices are retained.

The bird may be transferred to a serving platter or carved right on the frame if you like the appearance of a sitting bird. Also, the juices in the pan can be served with the meat. The limitations of this method of cooking are that the fowl cannot be stuffed and the lower skin portion of the bird, although very moist, does not get as crisp as the wing and breast skin. The Spanek roaster comes in four sizes--extra small for quail, small for game hens, medium for chicken and duck, large for turkey up to 18 pounds. Spanek now also has a non-stick finish roaster and a gourmet kit, which includes basting trays and skewers for shish kebabs.

An Intentional Hang-Up

Also getting into the vertical roasting picture is the new Fowl Hang-Up from Design Venture in Sacramento. Determined to prove that chicken roasts in the oven better if suspended, Casimir Pierscinski converted his original coat hanger hook-up invention into a more refined device. This vertical roaster is composed of an adjustable vertical support metal rod, a mounting plate, an upper hanger pin that hooks under the bird’s wings and a lower leg pin to support the legs. The mounting plate may be permanently attached to the back of the oven grate or hooked up in covered barbecues.

In addition to chicken or other fowl (up to five pounds), the gadget may be used to hold small roasts, chops and ribs. Unlike the Spanek roaster, the Fowl Hang-Up can roast stuffed birds. After the bird is hung, a drip pan (such as a shallow nine-inch pie pan) is lined with four sheets of moistened paper towels and placed underneath the bird to catch the fat. Juices from the bird are reabsorbed into the meat as they evaporate in the pan.

Another advantage of the moistened paper towels is that they prevent fat spatter and smoke. Unlike the Spanek roaster, the Fowl Hang-Up uses the usual roasting temperature of 325 degrees, which takes longer to cook and brown. Unless you have a large, tall oven cavity, the wing and breast portions also tend to brown more quickly than the lower leg sections.

Squeezing Without Seeds

The last gadget is Le Squeeze from Provo Designs in Torrington, Conn. Le Squeeze is a hand-operated juice extractor that not only squeezes juices from lemons and limes and other similar-size fruit but also strains the seeds. The small juicer is convenient for quick juicing over the stove, into measuring cups or directly onto fish, salads, vegetables and drinks.

The gadget is made of two plastic cups hinged together. It operates by placing the fruit half, skin side up, in the concave drum area, pressing the upper handle down and squeezing the plunger arm. The pressure inverts the fruit half, pushing the juice through perforated holes in the bottom of the drum while the seeds, too large to pass through, remain in the drum. Made of durable Lexan resin, Le Squeeze is dishwasher safe. This lightweight gadget comes in white and yellow.

The suggested retail price for the EZ-Sticks is $2.50 . They are available at Spencer Gift Shops, Aah’s and other novelty gift stores and through some selected Benihana restaurants.

The Spanek Vertical Roaster has a suggested retail price that starts at $9.95 and is available at Gelson’s, Jurgensen’s and Robinson’s.

The Fowl Hang-Up has a suggested retail price of $14.98 and is available at Martinel and Rudan’s Gourmet. It may also be mail-ordered by sending $18.38 (includes tax and shipping) to Design Venture, P.O. Box 163738, Sacramento, Calif . 95816.

Le Squeeze is available at specialty cookware shops such as Kitchen Service Center, Los Angeles, or by sending $7 directly to: Provo Designs, 81 Windtree, Torrington, Conn . 06790.