An As Seen on TV Thanksgiving: Products that could help
The Perfect Brownie Pan, EZ Cracker Egg Cracker/Separator and my favorite, NuWave Oven pro, all deserve a spot around your Thanksgiving prep table.
The product: Perfect Brownie Pan Set
The price: $19.95 in many retail stores.
The claims: Bake, slice and serve perfect brownies
Buy-O-Meter Rating: 4 out of 5
When I reviewed the Perfect Brownie Pan in July, I wondered aloud why the world needed everything to be so perfect. A few months -- and an atrial fibrillation drama later -- I know why: Life is short, might as well eat good-looking brownies.
The Perfect Brownie Pan is a rare As Seen on TV product that doesn't overshoot. It doesn't stop world hunger. It doesn't cure anything. It just bakes and serves perfect-looking brownies each time. Spray the pan and insert with cooking oil. Pour batter into the 11x7 inch pan (which looks a lot bigger on TV), and slip in the grid insert before baking. When the brownies cool a little, pull out the insert, and you've got 18 beautiful brownies. If you can find the 14x10 pan (it had a limited release) get that one instead.
The Product: EZ Cracker Egg Cracker/Separator
The Price: $10 in the As Seen on TV section of many retail stores
The Claims: Crack open eggs with no fuss, no mess
Buy-O-Meter Rating: 4 out of 5
My EZ Cracker Egg Cracker/Separator will be my constant companion during holiday cook-a-thons. This little tool lets me crack a dozen eggs in a snap. Sometimes a bit of shell falls into the bowl, but thanks to my loyal readers, I now know how to retrieve it -- chase it around with big pieces of shell.
I've been using my EZ Cracker for months and discovered it works best with cold eggs. I also run it under hot water immediately after cracking, so dried egg doesn't make the blade hard to clean.
Bed, Bath and Beyond is selling the tool for about $10, which seems like a fair price. Also makes a great stocking stuffer for the egg cracking-impaired.
The Product: NuWave Oven Pro
The Price: $119.97, plus $29.95 shipping and handling
The Claims: Cooks up to 50% faster than a regular oven, and cooks from frozen without defrosting
Buy-O-Meter Rating: 4 out of 5
I'm still mad for the NuWave Oven Pro, a countertop oven that lets me cook a roast or turkey straight from the freezer. The NuWave does almost everything a wall oven does, in generally less time. The only thing I still need my microwave for is to warm up coffee, and my wall oven has kept its job as chief baker: cakes rise higher there than in the NuWave.
But I use the NuWave for pretty much everything else. I'll keep it on the counter for Thanksgiving to warm up side dishes.