What are your favorite gadgets?

[Sven Svensson]

This seems to be an experienced and creative group. I am wondering what some of your favorite smoking/grilling/BBQ gadgets are? I’m hoping to learn something new or find a great idea that never occurred to me. Maybe you “invented” something or made something you’re proud of. Maybe you even inherited a gadget from a great-grandparent. I’d love to see it. Include photos. This is kind of an adult Show-And-Tell.

 

[mr_whipple]

Funny, but I'm not a gadget person. I can't stand single use items or what I call one trick ponies. That said, I don't think I could live without my egg slicer.
I have this one and every time I look at it I laugh a little

 

[indaswamp]

No Charcuterie in your list? My favorite gadget is my pH meter. This single tool has helped me dial in the amounts of sugars I add when making salamis so the pH does not drop too low as that halts flavor development. When I started out, I was using too much sugars. I now have a good baseline for how much it takes...but it is only through trial and error that I have learned.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I love my oil sprayer. I went through several before finding one that works.

 

[chopsaw]

Not sure about live without , just some things to make it easier .
I do really like my Pigtail flipper .

Made this rack for doing Umai . Carry the whole thing downstairs to ferment .

Then just slides into the fridge when ready .

Made these " keepers " to control my therm wires on the MES .
These are really handy . Keeps them out of the door latch ,
and I don't have to fight them going in and out of the smoker .

 

[one eyed jack]

Liking your wood projects Chop.

I'm a boat builder. In my spare time I carve and give away wooden spoons.

This one is roughly 3" X 14 Curly Maple

 

[chopsaw]

I carve and give away wooden spoons.

Love the spoon . Been wanting to make some myself , just haven't got there yet . That's all hand work after you cut the shape ?

I got into making the Bow saw bread knives . They're handy too . Use mine all the time .

Damn things are scary sharp , and that plastic guard is useless at best .
So I designed a holder for them that works really well .


Something else I was doing , but don't use a whole lot is a tortilla
press . Handy when you need it .

 

[justplainbob]

one eyed jack chopsaw put those things on etsy and i'll be your first customer

 

[mr_whipple]

one eyed jack chopsaw put those things on etsy and i'll be your first customer

No kidding. I'd be number two.

 

[OldSmoke]

No kidding. I'd be number two.

Number three. Could have used it last night with fresh French bread.

 

[tallbm]

Wow great creations chopsaw and one eyed jack !

If you ever want a project or a challenge I could use a few of this amazing little rifle vise made from wood:

I thought about contacting a 3D printer person about it but then was thinking "this may be easily made from wood".

I own one of these and they are AWESOME but are discontinued. I could personally pull all the dimensions. Best little vise in the world for cleaning, bore sighting, and taking to the range to do load development for hunting season. It fits in my range bag which is just a gym bag so it travels super well.

Was going to buy one for my brother this year and saw it got discontinued a few years back :(

Anyhow, off topic haha

 

[Colin1230]

There are a couple of things in the pic that I use a lot. The Vortex and the little analog timer.

 

[JLeonard]

chopsaw I'd be 4th in line to buy the bread saw!
Jim

 

[Sven Svensson]

I love my oil sprayer. I went through several before finding one that works.

View attachment 522047
I knew this was going to happen. Just ordered one. I’ve always had a horrible time with oil sprayers and I gave up and started using the canned stuff. Please don’t judge me. Haha. Looking forward to using the real stuff again.

 

[one eyed jack]

Love the spoon . Been wanting to make some myself , just haven't got there yet . That's all hand work after you cut the shape ?

I got into making the Bow saw bread knives . They're handy too . Use mine all the time .
View attachment 522069
Damn things are scary sharp , and that plastic guard is useless at best .
So I designed a holder for them that works really well .
View attachment 522071
View attachment 522072
Something else I was doing , but don't use a whole lot is a tortilla
press . Handy when you need it .
View attachment 522073

Thanks for the compliment and the like, Chop. I used hand tools and plenty of sandpaper on all the spoons till just after this one. The process has been Band saw, Little grinder, (4 1/2 inch angle grinder), flat and round based spokeshave, a number of wood carving gouges various rubber sanding blocks and sandpaper. I finished up with wet and dry sandpaper and mineral oil as a lubricant.

Couldn't get the labor under about 10 hours and decided to get a Foredom Flex shaft carver. That has taken a couple hours off of the labor.

The labor is the reason that I've not tried to sell them. I can't see asking $100 + for a spoon and pride won't let me sell my labor for $10 an hour.

I really like the skill and quality you put into your projects. It's obvious that you have high skills. (We really need help in the boat shop. )

I believe that I commented on your bread knife when you first posted it, but I might have missed it. If I was more of a baker I'd trade you one for a spoon.

Great idea for the tortilla press. I'd opt for wood over aluminum.

 

[one eyed jack]

There are a couple of things in the pic that I use a lot. The Vortex and the little analog timer.

View attachment 522088

Good call on the vortex Colin. I've got one too and like it a lot.

Nice looking timer. Have you got a link to it?

 

[one eyed jack]

one eyed jack chopsaw put those things on etsy and i'll be your first customer

Thanks Bob. I appreciate the compliment.

No kidding. I'd be number two.

Thanks for your thought Mr. Whipple. Truth be told; the spoon carving is just one of several hobbies that eat up my spare time and I have enough trouble keeping up with wedding, birthday, and Christmas presents.

 

[one eyed jack]

I've had trouble with creosote buildup on my smoking tubes. (Using them cold smoking) I ran across this stuff and have been happy with the results. It works pretty well to break down the hard creosote glaze that forms on my tubes.

Paid high on Amazon but haven't found it locally.

 

[motocrash]

I do really like my Pigtail flipper .

Hell yeah! You beat me to it. Used to use them a lot more often when I did larger cooks. They were gifted to me in the nice box many moons ago.
They're priceless when having to flip a lot of meat or a little for that matter.


"The most versatile kitchen and barbeque tool you'll ever own!"

 

[chopsaw]

They're priceless when having to flip a lot of meat or a little for that matter.

No doubt about that . I got mine when I remodeled a housewares dept. at a large retail store . $1.98 . Gal said " I never knew your type like this stuff "
LOL .