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I put these five cheap and cutesy Amazon kitchen gadgets to the test. Joey Skladany/CNET
Amazon is chock-full of gadgets and gizmos that would give The Little Mermaid a run for her money. Some are, admittedly, complete wastes of hard-earned cash, while others go the distance to offer inexpensive and effective alternatives to notoriously pricey products.
Luckily, Amazon does a decent job of letting customers share unfiltered feedback through reviews and ratings. So we combed through the world's biggest e-retailer to pinpoint five of the bestselling and cheapest kitchen gadgets to see if they are worth the hype.
Here's how they stacked up after real-world testing.
Verdict: Buy It
Joey Skladany/CNET
The results are in but without the trademark suspense of a Maury paternity test: A meat smasher and chopper is and will forever be a cooking must-have. Nothing is more effective at breaking down ground beef, vegetables, mashed potatoes and even eggs into uniform pieces and purees for any recipe.
I was particularly fond of its use for breaking up packets of tuna fish, which are manufactured as compacted, congealed slabs. In fact, it even helped to mix in additions like mayonnaise, sesame seeds, soy sauce and sriracha to create an Asian salad for a protein-packed lunch. Ditch the dinglehopper -- err, fork -- and enjoy the convenience of just twisting your wrist.
Verdict: Buy It
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