tiktok!!
Design and usability guru Dan Formosa returns for another episode of Well Equipped, this time reviewing 5 kitchen gadgets that went viral on TikTok. Watch as he tests each device and assesses them for effectiveness and usability, commenting on what works, what doesn’t, and how he would improve their design with a few tweaks.
Producer/Director: Jen Osaki
Talent: Dan Formosa
Editor: Eric Bigman
Sr. Culinary Director: Kelly Janke
Culinary Producer: Stevie Steward
Culinary Assistant: Leslie Raney
Line Producer: Jennifer McGinty
Associate Producer: Sam Ghee
Production Manager: Janine Dispensa
Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes
Camera Operator: Eric Brouse
Assistant Camera: Dave Castellano
Audio: Rebecca O’Neill
Production Assistant: Rafael Vasquez
Post Production Supervisor: Andrea Farr
Post Production Coordinator: Scott Alter
Supervising Editor: Eduardo Araújo
Junior Editor: JC Scruggs
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds
Graphics Supervisor: Léa Donenberg
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0:00 Olive CPR
0:43 Corn Cob Stripper
4:08 Oil Dispenser Bottle And Brush
7:00 Twist Up Measuring Cup
11:11 Multi Cherry And Olive Pitter
14:06 Tovolo Batter Scoop With Plunger
18:01 Hits And Misses
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Always glad to see Dan. These are my favorite epicurious videos. Engineers are awesome.
The measuring cups needed a molasses/honey test. I don’t own one but I imagine the gadget would be great for pushing all the viscous or sticky liquids out. Should have had that comparison vs the pyrex and a silicon spatula.
Industrial design is amazing, Dann always brings something thoughtful to say. Nice content again!
I can’t believe that Pyrex is a lie. This is scandalous
Funny to see things I’ve had for years being tested as though they were new. My multi cherry pitter works great, never tried it on olives. I’ve had a similar measuring cup forever and it works fine, but I do usually go for the pyrex as mentioned. I only just it for peanut butter, crisco, molasses and the like, you can just push it all out neatly
imagine if the olive oil dispenser thing had a line for 1 tbsp and 2 tbsp. That would be so perfect for portioning olive oil onto pans when you’re cooking
Will we ever have one where Dan says ‘that’s it! no re-design cause it’s PERFECT’?
Dan is my favorite person from Epicurious! His combo of funny and interesting is perfect!
I teared up when he liked the design completely and was content.
Two Dan videos in a week? Thank you so much epicurious, loved this one. Always love to see Dan give a 5/5 to at least one gadget, gives me confidence that there are places out there still focused on doing it right.
Regarding the test that Dan did with the Pyrex, I tested my own on the mL side and had similar results. However, I tested it on the Oz side and got much more accurate results. Bottom line: Americans (Pyrex is made in the USA) can only be trusted with imperial units, lol.
He wasn’t using the push-up measuring cup for it’s intended use, which is for thick/viscous ingredients like peanut butter, molasses and honey, where you can fill it and then push up from the bottom.
just a though as I use a pyrex measurer all the time, does the meniscus make a difference as its so wide? would you need to compensate?
just a thought as I use a pyrex measurer all the time, does the meniscus make a difference as its so wide? would you need to compensate?
My mom used to have a measuring cup like that twist up one but it was slightly different. The base was translucent and hollow, and the wet and dry measurements were upside down to one another. So you’d measure drys in the way done in this video, but measure wets by turning the thing upside down and measuring like a more regular measuring cup.
The oil dispenser bottle and brush are fine until you brush over a raw steak or chicken, then you really have to be careful about not contaminating the whole beaker of oil.
Cannot believe Pyrex has been LYING to the customers like that…. So much baking gone horribly wrong because of you Pyrex !!
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On the other hand, more than 1 like just for the perfect delivery [9:10] of “Banish that cup to HELL” with a raised eyebrow. Would love to see you in Game of Thrones Dan 😛
I think the hinge design on the olive pitter is a hindrance due to the angle of the blades being different for each olive placement.
Turning it into two parts that mesh straight would work alot better.
I’m a huge fan of Dan! Delighted to see a new episode. Big thanks for the team for making it happen.
I would FLIP if Dan liked my product and rated it so high! Those oil bottle people should put this on their website!
The dispenser requires clean up too. Otherwise you’re putting the dirty brush back into the clean oil, contaminating it.
The dispenser requires clean up too. Otherwise you’re putting the dirty brush back into the clean oil, contaminating it, or contaminating the next food product that you use it on.
If I am one tenth as funny, entertaining and charming as Dan when I’m his age it’ll be a miracle. I could watch this man test gadgets for literal hours!
My favorite thing about Dan’s videos is his choice of language when describing his ideas and suggestions. “Perhaps this could…”, “I wonder if…”Maybe this…”. Truly a scientist and designer at heart. All ideas are just suggestions until proven effective, and there’s no ego in it. I love this aspect of his videos!
For oil dispenser a major issue is that oil quality degrades drastically when exposed to light – that’s why oil bottles are almost always made of green/brown glass and the same should apply here
That measuring tube looked similar, but slightly inferior to, the type of measuring device that Alton Brown uses for honey and molasses. Moving the plunger seemed like it took some effort, but the ones that Alton Brown uses are sort of like a syringe with no lid, with the idea being that the plunger pushes out any thick liquids that may be stuck to the wall of the measuring cup.
I would really like to see Dan present some of his fave gadgets, some designs that he has done, show us good gadget design in action.
Pure love for Dan, out simpatico man.
The problem with the spout on the twist-up measuring cup is not being able to slide an edge over the top to level the dry ingredients. I have something similar (pampered chef?). It’s two pieces with a rigid sleeve over a cup. The liquid is poured into the cup using red measurements. For dry, you turn it over and the liquid cup twists up or down in the sleeve to measure (measurements in blue) the dry. The best thing is you can use it for dry and liquid measurements without needing to wash it between the dry and liquid.
I have the cherry pitter. It works great for cherries and softer olives. I can see why it wouldn’t work on those tough green olives. Cherries. Kalamatas. Works perfectly. 5/5 all around. Love mine in cherry season.
I love the way Dan presents these – after watching (I think) every episode over the years I can now look at the gadgets and pretty accurately predict what he’s going to say for the redesign. It’s like he’s taught me accessibility and design while entertaining me, which is pretty impressive.
The measuring device is popular because of butter, mayo or honey. You don’t have to scrape them out of the cup or mug. Could you do a re-test on those? ❤️
The only question I have about the oil dispenser is if it still sucks oil up when it’s nearly empty.
I have the twist up measuring cup, and I give it a 1 for recommendation. The dry ingredients are filled to the top making spills likely, and I didn’t notice there were different lines for liquids. The outer shell flexes side to side, skewing the measurement. Finally, the center column isn’t sealed, and water gets inside while you wash it. The only solution is to drill holes and hope it all comes out. It’s a cute idea, maybe a revision would make it worthwhile, but I do not recommend it.
For the oil brush/bottle/squeezer, I feel it’s limited in cleaning the brush. I only use a brush for oil on baking meat really. So I really want to get that brush clean after using it, and until it’s clean, that oil bottle is without it’s top. The measuring thingy has a similar issue with cleaning I would imagine. In fact, being able to get things clean is what kills a lot of gadget things for me.