The Best Fruit Prep Gadgets | Gear Heads

Get the most out of your fresh, seasonal produce with the best tools for fruit prep that save you time and money. Lisa and Hannah have the full rundown on which gadgets are worth purchasing.

Hannah's Favorites:

Lisa's Favorites:

ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America's Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.

If you like us, follow us:

[stevenchristophersen]

Would you cover the correct way to "wash" fruits and veggies? Should I bother with vinegar, salt, and/or vegetable/fruit sprays?

[butoolhasnain]

I'm surprised you didn't include cherry pitter. That's something a knife can't do, or at least not as cleanly or fast.

[kassis]

I use the thingy that you call a tomato corer for my strawberries. Works fine!

[hearttoheartme]

Tomato corer for strawberries also, fine mesh strainer good for rinsing everything. Using a couple tools for multiple uses. Save space and money especially in a small space.

[leapintothewild]

My mom's had that red spiral peeler in heavy use for several decades, and only had to change the blade once because she dropped it and got nicked. It even peels the old-fashioned dense, grainy pears for sticky preserves! Just an amazing, sturdy tool.

[Olive_O_Sudden]

I have NEVER before seen nor heard of anyone using the knife point to remove an avocado pit.😧🥑

[jackielinde]

Never heard of the "Poke the avocado seed" bit to get it out. I've always seen and done the chopping thing with a knife or sandwich spreader, especially back in the early 90's when I used to work in a sandwich shop. TBH, I preferred the sandwich spreader over a knife for Avocados. Less chance of cutting yourself.

[janehall]

And for the next installment, the cherry pitter. If you need to clean alot of cherries 🍒, that is the way to go. I have one that you hit the spring-loaded plunger, it pushes the pit into a cup and the fruit into a bowl. So much better and faster than a hair pin.

[SprGrlRVG]

I usually agree with Lisa but not about the avacado tool. I really love mine. Maybe it's because I'm not confident with a chef's knife. But with my Oxo tool, I can slice up that avacado in like 2 seconds and I don't worry about cutting myself.

[AflacMan]

Follow Alton Brown's advice... NO UNITASKERS!!!

[pajamasam]

For the avocadoes, after you slice it in half, you can cut it up before using a spoon to remove it from the peel. It makes it so much easier, and you get perfect slices too. You can also cubed it like that very easily.

[udalimb]

Single purpose tools take up a lot of real estate. Perhaps you could do a capsule fruit/veg prep. Similar to capsule kitchen. Follow up thought....would any of these items make it to an expanded capsule plus kitchen? Hmmm.

[yettaoshea]

Strawberry hulling: there is another tool it’s been around for longer than I’ve been alive. My grandmother had one, my mom, and me. It’s like a fat pair of tweezers and you just push it down on either side of the leaves/ stem, pinch and pull. One of my favorite tools for hulling is a plain old plastic drinking straw. Push the straw up thru the bottom of the strawberry and out comes pith.

[generybarczyk]

Most berries that I encounter at the grocery store are in plastic containers already slotted to drain liquids, ergo, a colander.

[sunflowerbaby]

Who cores a tomato?
I eat the whole thing.

[eat_things]

Pinch the avocado seed using your thumb and index finger by going around the top of the knife. It will slide off the blade safely.

Don't drag the knife with the avocado seeds or use something else to get it off - like your finger across the blade here! What if your thumb slips below the blade and you slice yourself.
(not my trick - something I saw in an old Alton Brown video. I can't believe that's not what is taught everywhere. There is no better way)

[timgorman]

I have the NorPro tomato corer, and I use that on strawberries too. It’s not perfect, but it does a decent job and does not waste as much of the strawberry as a knife.

[phranerphamily]

I recently was helping my mother with some strawberries and she pulled out that little huller. She told me I picked up this weird little tool and it works really good. She was right you're also right it's the greatest little tool!

[vntlupy]

Love your videos! But what about a cherry pitter?!?
Which would you recommend?

[kitjune]

Bought a strawberry huller a while ago which looks exactly like that Chef'N stem gem huller, except it's made by OXO and cost $2.99. Best of all, it can be taken apart for cleaning. Maybe OXO stopped making it but I'm very glad I bought such a useful "unicorn product" on a whim and paid so little for it. Thanks ATK.