International Home and Housewares Show 2010
First of all, I want to thank the staff at the International Housewares Association. As someone observing from the “front of the house”, I can say the show is well organized, with plenty of online and printed information available. It has been a pleasure working with Jay and Debbie, thanks guys.
The first day of any big trade show has a lot to digest. I can’t begin to detail it all but will give some key first impressions, after all I’ve only seen about a third of the culinary tools and equipment. It should also be understood that most of these items are not yet ready for sale in retail outlets. This show allows manufacturers to present prototypes and “first looks” for upcoming lines.
AMCO Houseworks had two items which jumped out at me. The first was a set of angled spiral liquid measuring cups. There were 1, 2 and 4 cup sizes. They were nice to hold, a good pouring spout and clear inside markings.
The second item was the Stalk slicer. A scissor like slicing device for long vegetables like carrots, celery, chives, scallions and the like. I normally am a knife wielding guy with my vegetables, but this tool can really save you time. It gives four even 3/16″ slices with each cut and can easily be used by right or left handed people. It borders on “gadgety”, but if you are looking for even slices done quickly you will find this tool useful.
Tovolo had two new squeeze dispensers for kitchen use. One was designed for pancake batter, the other for thicker batters like cupcakes. They were stylish, cylindrical containers with lids that snapped tight against the pour spout to prevent dripping when closed. They both can hold around 24 ounces of batter, which can be squeezed out in careful portions. You can easily store the batters in the refrigerator for quick preparation at a later time. If you owned more than one, you could use different colored batters for creative designs.
Bodum had several new items that were interesting, including an immersion blender, a burr grinder, a flexible knife block and microwave safe bowls with silicone lids. The most interesting item was the electric tea and coffee brewing machine. The device heated water and immersed either tea leaves or ground coffee in a carafe on the other side. If making coffee, the tea basket in the carafe is replaced by a French Press plunger. Like the latest Bodum designs, this product comes in a great new color. Still waiting for the sales rep’ to get back to me concerning what temperature the water is heated to for brewing.
Finally got a chance to taste and try the Aeropress coffee maker. I must say it brewed a nice, rich, full flavored cup of coffee. I will post a full review in the future, but like I said, I was impressed.
MicroPlane had a new herb mill for cutting fresh herbs. It had a two blade action powered by a twist of the hand. It produced a nicely minced herb, but I wonder if it might not be a bit difficult to clean.
I saw a new corn peeler from OXO. This version looks like a hand held vegetable peeler with a curved blade to hug the cob better. A design which reminds me of the Kuhn Rikon model. I think this new OXO could work very well.
One final product for tonight was from Lamson & Goodnow. This fine American company makes high quality knives and tools, but are soon coming out with a line of cutting boards made from a combination of phenolic resin and 100% recycled consumer paper. I believe these boards will be equal to the Epicurean line of cutting boards available today. The difference being that the Lamson boards are using completely recycled materials, not wood fibers like Epicurean. Lamson is also using this material for the handles of some lines of knives and kitchen tools. The competition between the two companies will be fun to watch.
Well, as I said, there is a lot to cover and will definitely post about more companies and products over the next couple of weeks, but this is a good start. Stay tuned.
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I feel that the show would have been a great success, i wanted to be a part of the show but couldn’t get their on time. I am feeling very disappointing after looking at the pictures you have shared here.
I hope I will have a chance to go to the show next time. I would like to see more pictures if possible of some of the products which were on display.
Cheers!
Cool, I was there to, working on my post to publish soon. I can’t believe the number of celeb chefs in the cooking theatre where I spent most of my time.
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I want to comment on the AMCO measuring cups. I purchased these and they are off by over an ounce, which is very bad for measuring cups. Could certainly result in baking disasters as well as others. I’m so glad I checked them with my older measuring cups. Just thought you should know. I love the nesting and spiral design, but where was the quality control on these? I know this isn’t something you can control, but I was quite disappointed and wanted you to be aware in case you have some input to these companies.
@LS Greene – Thanks for the feedback. I have not had an opportunity to use the AMCO measuring cups myself, but am glad you provided this information to me and the other readers.
I will pass your information and experience onto the product reps and see how they respond.
Thanks,
KitchenBoy
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