Four Kitchen Gadgets Tested: Which Ones Actually Earn Counter Space?

Introduction

Some kitchen gadgets solve a problem you genuinely have. Others solve a problem you did not know existed, or promise to solve one and then quietly fail. We put four very different gadgets through hands-on testing: a tube squeezer, a pestle and mortar carved from Himalayan pink salt, a manual meatball maker, and an intelligent automatic stir frying machine. Here is how each one held up in real use, and who each one actually makes sense for.

Tube Squeezer

The tube squeezer does exactly one thing: it gets the last of the contents out of tubes. You insert the tube between two rollers, turn a small key on the side, and the dispenser winds the tube up, squeezing out every last drop. It works on toothpaste, but it is genuinely aimed at cooking tubes too, such as tomato paste and garlic paste, where those final tablespoons tend to go to waste.

In testing, it worked impressively well. It rolled the tube completely flat, left hardly anything behind, and even crimped the end closed again so the tube looked freshly sealed. It also worked left-handed without any fuss. The design is simple and does not need to be anything more.

There are trade-offs. It is fairly large and cumbersome for what it does, which matters in a smaller kitchen where storage is tight. And realistically, you only need it for the last squeeze or two of a tube’s life. At around £14.95, it is a genuinely effective product that some testers still felt they did not strictly need, even while admiring how well it works.

Himalayan Pink Salt Pestle and Mortar

This one looks lovely on paper and on a shelf. It is a pestle and mortar hand carved from Himalayan pink salt, marketed so that anything you grind gets seasoned naturally by the salt itself. The shape, size, and weight feel good in the hand, and grinding garlic and herbs in it does work.

The problems show up the moment you think past the first use. You have no control over how much salt ends up in your food, because the seasoning comes off the mortar itself. The pestle grinds up as the mortar grinds down, so the geometry changes over time. The manufacturer says it lasts up to a year with regular use, and when it eventually breaks, the suggestion is simply to grate the remaining piece over your food.

Cleaning is another catch. You cannot immerse it in water, since it would dissolve, and oily residues from things like herb butter are hard to deal with on a surface you cannot wash. During testing, a crack appeared and herbs worked their way into it. At £23.95, it sits firmly in gift-shop territory: pretty as a decorative piece, but difficult to use for its intended purpose.

Meatball Maker

The meatball maker promises five meatballs at a time. You fill the chamber with minced meat, press it down, and rotate the mechanism to shape and pinch off five balls simultaneously. The idea is sound, and the build is simple: fill, press, twist.

Out of the box, our first attempt failed, and the second attempt with a wetter, pounded mixture worked noticeably better but still was not perfect. The consensus after testing was that the meat mix and ratios are likely the deciding factor. With the right recipe, the rhythm of one push, one twist, and into the water could genuinely deliver batches of meatballs quickly. With a drier Italian-style mix meant for searing in a pan, it did not perform as hoped.

That leaves a fair verdict: this is a tool that probably works well once you develop a recipe around it, but it does not deliver what the marketing implies straight out of the box. For traditional pan-seared meatballs, your hands remain the better tool.

Intelligent Automatic Stir Frying Machine

The most ambitious gadget of the four is an automatic stir frying machine with 3D omnidirectional electromagnetic heating and an auto-rotating roller design, promising hands-free stir fries, soups, and stews. It is heavy, sturdy, and also offers additional functions such as rice cooking and sous-vide modes. It heats up very quickly and does cook, with some visible char on cabbage edges by the end of a five-minute stir fry cycle.

The disappointment is in the details. The bowl did not get hot enough to match the searing heat of a proper wok, and the noodles came out stuck together, with the machine not really tossing them. It gives no guidance on which noodle or mix works best, so you are left experimenting on your own.

At £212, expectations should be high, and this did not meet them as a stir fry tool. The hands-free convenience is real, and with a well-developed recipe it might do better, but as tested, it occupies serious worktop space while delivering an average result. If you already own appliances covering its other functions, it is hard to justify.

Buying Advice

The tube squeezer is the standout of the group: cheap, simple, and genuinely effective at a real, if small, job. The meatball maker is worth considering only if you are willing to experiment with recipes, since the right mixture appears to be the difference between success and frustration. The salt mortar is best treated as a decorative gift rather than a working tool. The automatic stir frying machine is the hardest to recommend, as its price demands performance it did not deliver. The guiding principle from testing holds across all four: if a gadget does a good job, price is almost irrelevant. If it does not, no price is low enough.

Conclusion

Of the four, the tube squeezer earned genuine respect for doing its modest job brilliantly, while the stir frying machine fell short of its premium promise. The salt mortar and meatball maker both sit in the same awkward middle: interesting ideas that need either a different use case or more recipe development to shine. Match the gadget to a problem you actually have, and the rest takes care of itself.