Hooked on gadgets

Now, I confess, I absolutely love a gadget. It harks back to my childhood when I coveted a Mr Frosty Slush Puppy Maker and Father Christmas took it upon himself not to deliver it. He had single-handedly decided that the advertisers were not going to suck this nine-year old into their marketing vortex and it was simply an expensive piece of plastic tat destined for the dustbin.  Mother, I have never, ever forgiven you for denying me that.  Is this then why if I see a gadget, I want it, no matter what?  I’m getting better though.

I don’t mind putting my hand up to having once owned an asparagus peeler, a doughnut maker and an avocado slicer and a host of other kitchen paraphernalia that was next to useless. You see the gadgets I buy seem like a really good idea at the time, but all of them turn out to be absolutely pointless, labour the job in hand and are used just the once.  But even I have never seen anything quite like the Hot Dog Rotisserie.  The company responsible for this one sit in a room and make shiny things for people like me.  This machine has rollers which rotate and heat the sausages in order that they cook evenly.  The two prongs with the erect French rolls on the end heat the inside of your buns.  I guess if you can poke the sausage in the hole you’ve made with the heated prong, the upside is that you won’t get covered in ketchup and onions if indeed you can squeeze them in.

But even I have to ask why anyone would want to “enjoy the great taste of Cinema style hot dogs at home”. Have you ever had a hot dog in a cinema?  No offence to the independent purveyors of film who do a pretty good job with their catering but on the whole, it’s usually because you are desperate, starving and don’t fancy making yourself sick on Minstrels or a combination of all three.   If you’ve seen that picture and think this is an excellent idea.  Stop right there.  You have gadget-itis.  As a person who shows symptoms each time a Lakeland catalogue lands on the doormat I can tell you now you can use your grill to cook your sausages and, believe it or not, warm your buns. Seriously, save yourself a trip to the charity shop, a dent in your purse and another space lost in the kitchen.

Kitchen gadgets are meant to make your life easier and be a kitchen staple, maybe last a lifetime – think kettle, toaster and food processor.  Maybe I should have realised sooner that Father Christmas or my Mum had learnt from their own mistakes.

I am submitting this as part of the bidding process to become a Morphy Richard’s Innovator in conjunction with Foodies 100.