I love kitchen gadgets. My small kitchen has limited my ability to indulge my desire to buy all kitchen gadgets I lay my eyes upon, but every once and I while I decide to live a little and buy something new. Amazon.com recently suggested, in the creepy way that it does, two different gadgets both made by Chef'n. The first was the Stalkchop which is a device specifically made to make the process of turning a head of cauliflower into neat florets easier and cleaner.
One of my biggest pet peeves is the mess of breaking down a head of cauliflower. So with a price of under $10, I added it to my cart. I'll have to ask for your patience, as it was my goal to get this post and another up by this evening and then life intervened. First, my iphone decided to stop syncing my pictures and I could not get all of the photos for this post or the second uploaded. Then at 1 AM this morning, I was hit with a really nasty stomach bug. No one needs the details about that. Needless to say, I don't have the energy or patience to try to figure out why syncing process that was seamless for years, just quit. I apologize. I also apologize for any poor writing. Seriously.
I started by taking off the outer leaves as I really couldn't see where to dig the tool in. The Stalkchop took care of that easily.
I then went to town fitting the curve of the tool where it made sense on the head of cauliflower. No real skill is involved.
I ended up with the stalk removed and a few large hunks of cauliflower.
From there, I just continued to break down the head. Here is where I'd like to post an end picture the head totally broken down, but alas. I'll update when I feel better.
The Paleo Review: Thump half way up! I must say, this little cauliflower tool worked well. It's not sharp like a knife, but be careful with it as I'm sure it could do some damage to your hands and fingers if you get them in the way of your chopping. Was it really that much more efficient over just pulling out a knife? No, but I wasn't disappointed to have purchased it.
There seemed to be just as many riced bits of cauliflower on my cutting board when I was done as there are when I use knife, so no decrease in mess. Is it just me or does anyone else find bits of cauliflower in every corner and surface for a few days after breaking down a head?
So, if Amazon has been suggesting this tool to you, give it a try if you have the room in your kitchen. At worst, it gives you a way to shake things up in prep.