I will spare you my long, sad saga of strawberry hulling. I've used knives, different tong-style strawberry hullers, my fingers, etc.
When I saw the new
Chef'N Stem Gem at
Sur La Table, I thought it looked neat. I pressed the little green handle and watched those silver claws open and close.
But really, I thought, I have a perfectly nice paring knife, a drawer full of kitchen gadgets, and a budget. I didn't NEED it. It wasn't on sale, I didn't have a coupon, I moved on.
Then my sister came to visit, and brought me one. We went to a local farmers market, bought a box of strawberries, and got to work.
To operate the Stem Gem, you press the the green thing on top, which causes the metal jaws to open. You drive the metal jaws into the top of the strawberry, release the green thing, and with a little twist and pull up, the green leafy part of the strawberry as well as the white inside stem are trapped in those metal jaws. Push the green button again, and the stem is in your trash and the strawberry is ready to eat.
The finished strawberry looks nice and would be easy to stuff. I went through a pint of strawberries very quickly. There's really no waste, it's painless, and I haven't injured myself with it yet!
The only downside is that sometimes you have to fleck a little of the strawberry leaf away - it gets cut and then just sits on the strawberry.
A final rinse after hulling would probably take care of this issue.
If you're a frequent strawberry eater, and want a quick and easy way to get rid of the stem, you may want to ask your sister to get you one too!
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Chef'N doesn't know who I am, doesn't pay me to review their stuff, and doesn't even send me free gadgets. A girl can dream...
