4 Kitchen Gadgets Put to the Test: Rapid Drink Chilling, Wine Cooling, Garlic and Shrimp Tools

Introduction

Four kitchen gadgets, one meal, and a healthy dose of skepticism. A rapid beverage chiller, a modern wine cooler, a manual garlic crusher, and a two-piece shrimp peeler and deveiner all went through hands-on testing to see which ones actually earn a place in the kitchen. Here is how each one performed, and what to check before you buy.

Cooper Cooler: Rapid Beverage Chilling

The Cooper Cooler is a countertop appliance that claims to chill drinks up to 90 times faster than a fridge. The headline promise: a room-temperature bottle of wine down to around six degrees in six minutes. Testing started with a bottle at 21 degrees, added 30 ice cubes and two cups of cold water into the machine, then laid the bottle horizontally on the wine setting. Six minutes later the probe read six degrees. It genuinely worked.

It also has sensible per-drink timings: one minute for a can, around three and a half minutes for a regular glass beer bottle, and six minutes for a 750ml wine bottle. The company says one load of ice can chill up to five bottles.

The practical use cases are real: forgetting to chill drinks before guests arrive, freeing up refrigerator space when hosting, and small boat or RV fridges that only fit a handful of cans. The catch is that you need 30 ice cubes ready, though that takes up less freezer space than chilling five bottles would take up in the fridge.

Price is the sticking point. A second-hand unit can be found for around £30, which feels reasonable for something this niche. Brand new, current models cost around £184, which is a lot for a machine that chills one bottle at a time. At second-hand pricing it is easy to like; at full price it is a hard sell.

Hielo Wine Cooler: Keep Wine Cold at the Table

The Hielo takes the opposite approach: instead of chilling a warm bottle down, it maintains an already-cold bottle at fridge temperature on the tabletop for an hour using just five ice cubes. The bottle sits on top of the ice rather than in it, so the label stays dry and there are no drips when pouring.

It works through thermal conduction: the polished aluminium body transfers the cold from the ice to the bottle. In testing, a bottle at seven degrees was still at seven degrees an hour later, which genuinely impressed. The claim of being 92% more efficient than conventional wine buckets comes down to the aluminium conductivity and needing far fewer ice cubes.

The design leans restaurant and hospitality: waiting staff can pour without wiping away water or soggy labels. For home use, the question is whether you need it, since an ice bucket already solves the problem. But it does so elegantly, and it fits a table better than a bulky ice-filled bucket. At around £45 it feels priced for the restaurant trade, and that is exactly the setting it suits best.

Garlic Twist: A Cheap One-Trick Crusher

The Garlic Twist is a manual garlic crusher that also claims to handle ginger, nuts, shallots and olives, though its marketing copy reads like a search-engine keyword list. Drop in peeled cloves, clamp the two halves together and twist; more twists mean a finer mince.

It is easy to use, and it worked. Three cloves were crushed quickly and cleanly with minimal effort. The honest assessment: if you already have a knife and chopping board out, which is almost always the case when cooking with garlic, this is an extra gadget you do not strictly need. But if you lack the dexterity for knife work, or simply want an alternative to a levered garlic press, it does the same job with less fuss.

At around £3.97 it is hard to argue with. It is a one-trick pony, but at that price the trick costs almost nothing.

Shrimp Peeler and Deveiner: The Surprising Winner

The fourth gadget looked the least promising at first glance: a two-piece set of slim tools, one with a sharp edge, one serrated, plus a scoop end. It turned out to be a shrimp peeler and deveiner. Insert the tip along the tail of a prawn, pinch the handle firmly, and the shell falls off in one piece. The second tool then scoops out the vein cleanly.

In testing it genuinely made a dreaded job easier, faster and cleaner than peeling by hand, and it can even be done with the head still on for presentation-style serving. The makers claim it is useful for all kinds of seafood, including lobster and crab legs.

The practical question is how often you cook shellfish. For occasional home use it may sit in a drawer, but for anyone who holidays somewhere seafood-heavy and cooks prawns regularly, it makes the job far easier. At £7.99 for the two-piece set, it is an easy impulse buy.

Overall Buying Advice

Two clear patterns came out of testing. First, the gadgets that solved a real, specific problem cheaply earned their place: the Garlic Twist at under £5 and the shrimp set at under £10 are easy recommendations if you actually need them. Second, the cooling gadgets both worked, but the value depends heavily on your situation. The Cooper Cooler is brilliant at what it does but expensive new, so a second-hand unit or a genuine need, like a boat or RV with a tiny fridge, is what justifies it. The Hielo is best seen as a hospitality-grade accessory for people who serve wine at the table often, not a necessity for everyone.

Conclusion

All four gadgets did what they claimed, which is rarer than it should be. The shrimp peeler was the surprise standout, the Garlic Twist is a bargain for what it does, the Hielo impressed with its hour-long cooling, and the Cooper Cooler delivered on its six-minute promise at a price that demands thought. Match the gadget to your actual habits and none of them will disappoint.