If you’ve ever had to shop for a present for a foodie friend, you know kitchen gadgets can be fun, versatile and useful. Warning: these are not those gadgets.

1. Garlic Peeler

You can peel a clove of garlic in just a few seconds without a garlic peeler. You can even release some end-of-the-quarter frustration.

Kitchen Tools

Gif courtesy of Gifak.net

If that just seems too daunting, you can cash out $5 for a silicone peeler that looks suspiciously like a Chinese finger trap. Makes for a great party trick.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

2. Banana Slicer

All manners of specialty slicers exist and some actually make difficult cuts safe and easy. Just think of all the workplace accidents Outback Steakhouse avoids with a blooming onion cutter.

Kitchen Tools

Photo courtesy of Foodservicewarehouse.com

But what exactly makes a banana difficult to slice? It’s soft enough to cut with a butter knife, doesn’t roll away and lacks an obnoxious core that demands removing. Unless you make fruit salad for a living, you can probably do without this banana-shaped frame slicer.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

3. Butter Dispenser

We all undoubtedly remember the unrivaled joy brought to us by PEZ dispensers in kindergarten.

Kitchen Tools

Gif courtesy of Giphy.com

Have you ever wished you could dispense butter like it was PEZ? Probably not, but someone did. “This contraption is great for those times when you’re too lazy to pick up the butter knife, opting instead for this plastic brick” — said no one ever. Sorry, you’ll still need to pick up the knife to spread that butter.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

4. Rolling Garlic Chopper

Not many things can improve upon the greatness that is the SlapChop. I mean, what more could you want?

Kitchen Tools

Gif courtesy of uncyclopedia.wikia.com

However, somebody saw room for improvement and decided to throw some wheels on it. The chances of getting this contraption rolling properly on a smooth surface like a kitchen counter are slim and when it finally chops the garlic, you’ll be digging it out of tiny metal blades.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

 

5. Finger Tongs

Ever pretended your fingers were alligator jaws? Of course you have!

Kitchen Tools

Gif courtesy of Wifflegif.com

Someone brought that concept to the kitchen. This unwieldy contraption look like two flippers from a scuba shop welded together into the best damn shadow puppet jaws you’ve ever seen. When you’re not playing shadow puppet, they’ll gladly make a mess of whatever you’re cooking and give you a few burns on your unprotected wrists.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com