Among the housewares big names like All Clad, Viking and Cuisinart and the exhibits with celebrity chef monikers plastered all over their booths is a small section set aside for the new inventions. The Inventors Corner is a place we always make sure we visit at this show to see who the next up and coming Kitchen Aid might be. This year we found two companies offering some interesting gadgets for the kitchen.

Garlic Gadgets

The first is a trio of garlic gadgets from Koopeh Designs (www.koopeh.com). They include the Garlic Chop, Garlic Keep and Garlic Peeler. If you use garlic a lot in your cooking you should check these products out. The Garlic Chop is a clever device that allows you to chop, crush, mince and shred garlic cloves with ease. Shaped like a garlic bulb, the Chop comes it two halves, each with a set of teeth. Place up to 4 cloves of garlic inside and twist the two halves to masticate the garlic as much or as little as you like. Koopeh Designs has even produced a video to show you how it’s done.

According to their web site, “The Garlic Keep is a storage device made of ceramic with holes on the bottom to keep the garlic fresh”. The Keep, cleverly enough looks like a giant bulb of garlic. Think of it as a cookie jar for the Stinking Rose.

The last item is the Garlic Peel. The Garlic Peel is a tube-like device made of silicone that peels the skin off the garlic cloves.  You simply place the garlic cloves inside the tube-like device, and then between your hands or rubbing the Peel against the table you use friction to peel the cloves.

The Garlic Keep and the Garlic Peel will be available later in 2008

Corn Gadgets

The next set of new gadgets we liked was from a small company called CORNpatibles (www.cornpatibles.com). As their website states “Changing the way we cook & handle hot, fresh “Corn on the Cob” forever! The two products they were showing were the CornCappR and the CornCobbR.

We have used many different corn cob holders in our time. All of these traditional holders are little fork like things with handles that you struggle to impale the steaming hot ear of corn on after you cook it. With the CornCappR, you can place the holders on the corn BEFORE you cook it. Following the trend of silicon invasion of the kitchen, the CornCappR’s are heat resistant FDA approved silicon rings with raised ribs on the outside. They are placed on the corn prior to cooking in either boiling water or a microwave. Heat resistant CornCappR’s protect fingers and hands from getting burned, and allow you to handle and hold hot, fresh corn on the cob within seconds after being removed from the pot.

If you are like me, there is nothing better than sweet corn at the peak of the season. If you like to capture that goodness by freezing corn, the CornCobbR is your friend. The CornCobbR is a nifty tool for cutting the kernels of corn off of the cob. Gone are the days of wielding a sharp knife to free the sweet corn goodness. The CornCobbR makes quick and safe work of your task.

Cuisine Capers will be covering the International Home & Housewares show once again this year.

This show is restricted only to trade professionals in the industry, as well as qualified press and meda.  Cuisine Capers will be attending a media, and we’re looking forward to covering the latest in home gadgets and products, as well as housewares and “gourmet living”. 

The show is broken down into sections, including Clean & Contain (home organization products, cleaning products, bat & shower products, pet products, and outdoor furniture), Wired & Well (household electronics, major appliances, home healthcare), and the Dine & Design Expo.

We, of course, will be found mainly in the Dine & Design Expo.  This expo covers all of the fun things in life – cookware, cutlery, kitchen tools & gadgets, spice racks, thermometers, dinnerware, glassware, bar accessories and more.

But what we are most excited about is the Gourmet Home and Food District.  This is where we’ll find the cookbooks, gourmet foods, and gourmet products.  This is also where the celebrity chefs hang out.  Last year we hung out with people like this:

For those of you who don’t know celebrity chefs, that’s Alton Brown, Paula Deen and Rocoo DiSpirito.  This year we expeect to see chefs like Tyler Florence and Todd English.

We’ve already been receiving the press releases announcing the new gadgets and goods, and we’ll be writing up information on what we found the most interesting, the most innovative, the most fun, and the most obscure.