Three Kitchen Gadgets Put to the Test: Baozi Maker, Cob Quicky and Hive Coffee Roaster

Introduction

Kitchen gadgets often promise professional results at home, but few live up to the marketing. We put three very different tools through a hands-on test: a dumpling crimping device, a corn buttering novelty, and a handmade handheld coffee roaster. Here is how each one performed, what it costs, and who it actually makes sense for.

The Flower Baozi Dumpling Maker

The Flower Baozi Dumpling Maker is a small plastic tool designed to crimp filled dumplings closed. You flatten a ball of dough into a cup, add your filling, place it in the centre of the flower-shaped mould, and raise the outer casing to pleat the dumpling shut.

Getting the dough size right takes a few attempts. Our first rounds were either too small or overloaded with filling, but once the knack develops, the results look genuinely respectable. The real value is for home cooks who cannot pleat dumplings by hand; it does something genuinely tricky in a simplified way. The trade-off is that finished dumplings lose the delicate twisted edges that help soy sauce cling, and the skill-building aspect is largely lost. It retailed in our test at around £4.28 to £6.99, so it is cheap and cheerful, best treated as a fun stepping stone into bao and dumpling making rather than a serious kitchen tool.

Cob Quicky

Cob Quicky is exactly what it looks like: a butter holder for corn on the cob. You push a stick of butter onto the firm grip centre and roll it over your cob from top to bottom. It was pitched as the easiest way to butter corn, and it was clearly designed with US stick butter in mind.

In use, it genuinely works. It reduces buttery fingers and produced an evenly buttered cob, though getting the angle right matters, since the tips of the cob need extra attention. The downsides are practical: it does not fit neatly into a kitchen drawer, it leaves you with a greasy palm, and washing it up is fiddly. Peeling back the foil on a butter stick and using that directly is arguably more efficient. At £29.99, it is priced well above its novelty value, which puts it firmly in gag gift territory, particularly as a Secret Santa or birthday present meant to get a laugh. As a fun gadget for a barbecue, it delivers, but few people genuinely need one.

Hive Coffee Roaster

The Hive Coffee Roaster is a handheld hybrid drum roaster, handmade from high quality stainless steel and sustainable hardwood. It holds up to six ounces of green coffee beans and is designed to sit over an open flame. An incineration tower runs up the middle of the pan, letting the flame rise through and interact with the smoke and steam given off by the beans, adding flavour without creating nasty smoke that taints the roast.

The process is simple but hands-on. Warm the roaster through first, since the handle side is too heavy relative to the base to sit unattended. Add your beans, pop the lid on, and keep agitating for 12 to 14 minutes so the beans do not burn at the bottom. The first stage dries the beans and shakes out the chaff, the papery husk surrounding each bean. Expect a few burnt spots along the way on a first attempt.

The payoff is surprisingly good. Even with guesswork on roast level, grind size and brew time, the resulting coffee was tasty and noticeably fruity, brewed simply in a cafetiere. It is handmade, niche and reasonably expensive, around £63 in our test, but for coffee enthusiasts who enjoy the craft as much as the cup, the whole experience was genuinely enjoyable.

Overall Buying Advice

These three gadgets sit in very different brackets. The Baozi Maker is a low-cost experiment that solves a real hand-skill problem for beginners. The Cob Quicky is pure novelty that works but does not earn a permanent drawer slot. The Hive Coffee Roaster is the only one with genuine depth: it is a craft tool for people already invested in coffee, and it rewards the effort with a satisfying roast and a very good cup.

Is It Worth It?

If you want a cheap entry into dumpling making, the Baozi Maker is a low-risk punt. If your priority is laughs at a barbecue, the Cob Quicky delivers exactly that. If you want a genuinely engaging project and care about how your coffee tastes, the Hive Coffee Roaster is the standout of the three, provided you are happy to pay handmade prices for a handmade object.

Conclusion

Only one of these gadgets earned a permanent place in the kitchen. The Hive Coffee Roaster turned an unfamiliar process into an enjoyable ritual with delicious results. The Baozi Maker is a fair-value stepping stone for hesitant beginners, and the Cob Quicky is a fun but overpriced novelty. Match the gadget to the job and none of them will disappoint.