Managing your food Left Overs and a Sprinkler

I find myself quite excited this week because we just had a new food saving system in that is really quite different from anything I’ve come across before, and much easier to use. But before I get to that there’s another product that we’ve just got in that I also want to mention.
 
The Saunderton Herb or Spice or Sprinkles shaker….ermm, oh dear!
The appearance of  product in question is about as naff as they come. It’s a tall, plastic container for storing dried herbs and spices in, standing just under 20cm (8”) tall, divided into 5 triangular(ish) segments (Pentagonal my educated Mancunian typesetter tells me) sealed at the top with a lid that allows you to pour the contents of any one segment out either full flow or partially restricted flow. When Andy Wheeler, our account manager at C&M, showed it to me at the end of last year I dismissed it out of hand as ugly (they hadn’t even made it a nice cylinder shape, it has a slight coning on it…dear God do they know nothing about design!)…it just looked ghastly!
 
As I reread this first paragraph, which, if you’re a regular reader of my emails, you’ll know this is not my first dislike of a product I feel “obliged“ to stock, I found myself wondering how Andy would take this and dare I say it (sorry Andy) more importantly how Jane, Andy’s boss and the MD at C&M (or something as close as makes no difference) is going to take my slating her products. She is not a woman to be trifled with and no push over. However, I’ve know her a good number of years, we get on very well (or did at any rate!) and I have, on the odd occasion managed to sweet talk her round to my way of thinking! Perhaps the next two paragraphs will put me back in good odour with her again…..  I say this because she has been known to read this column on occasion, so I’ve been fantasising that our cost prices will mysteriously go up overnight or the account put on stop….the consequences are a bit like a game of Russian Roulette….! Will she read it this week or be distracted by something more worthwhile. Luckily, last time I checked she also has a good sense of humour, let’s hope that this is still the case.
 
So why am I telling you about this truly awful looking product. Well, I am apparently the only person in the world who holds this opinion. Everyone in the shops was either enthused by it or could at least see it’s potential. Indeed Cole and Mason, the manufacturer, found it to be their most successful product of the last quarter of last year. They sold so many of them, that they ran out of stock and could have sold twice the number had they had the stock. So, once again my face is covered in egg, once again my “buying prowess” is called into question, once again I am clearly wrong! You’ll doubtless be asking yourself ”how can this possibly be…?” Well thank you….
 
I suppose I’d allowed the looks of the thing rule my commercial heart. So, instead of seeing its practical uses, such as storing your dried herbs or spices or sprinkles in one place, where you can easily see what you've got (rather than scattered hither and thither in the depths of some cupboard), I’d only seen its looks and not taken into account that for this type of thing, it doesnt really matter what it looks like, because you are not going to leave it out on the side in the kitchen to show off to your friends (are you?). You are instead going to keep it in a cupboard to bring out when you need it and put quickly away again after use (aren’t you!).

I thought so.

So to finish, the Saunderton Shaker (what a name…about as catchy as the looks!) comes in three guises.

• Filled with Spices - £25.00
• Filled with Herbs - £25.00
• Empty - £20.00

And apparently its just what you need……🙂

Zwilling Fresh and Save

Now here’s a product that I just love. It is based on the principle of removing all the air from a food container / bag / lunch box or wine bottle, to stop the contents going off. Something it does with remarkable ease. And that, for me, is its number one USP, because if it’s not easy to use, then it is very tempting to cease using it, once the novelty has passed. Coupled with the ability, via its own App, for you to scan any box or bag onto your phone, then name it and date it and you have a very powerful, very easy to use food saving system at your finger tips.

Pump

Let me go though some of the range to explain a little more. The heart of the system is the Vacuum Pump. This is electric (rechargeable battery) stands in its own base (which also charges it) and it plugs into a normal USB socket. The pump is placed over the valve of a Box, Bag or Wine Stopper, press the button, stand back and let it do its stuff. In a trice it's created a vacuum that has removed the air (and the bugs). When this is achieved it switches itself off automatically. It's easy to use, requires just placing on the box or bottle, no fuss. And seems amazingly powerful.

As an experiment we cut an Avocado in half and left this in the fridge for a week. Normally it would have gone dark brown very quickly.

The photo is showing it at a week old and as you can see it’s still green.

Zwilling claim it makes foods last up to 5 times longer.

This I haven’t measured, but it clearly has a dramatic impact on life span.

Boxes and Bags

The Food Saver boxes come in several types. There are two materials, glass and plastic*.

Glass has the advantage of being able to put the contents in the oven (without the lid!) and the microwave, and is completely see through. The plastic ones are microwave proof (and obviously not oven proof) and are lighter. These two types come in 6 sizes from quite wee through to a medium lasagne size of dish. Theres also a lunch box with a moveable divider in it.

Then there are the Food Saver Bags which come in three sizes and naturally also have a valve built into each one.

One note of caution here. If vacuuming a bag for say Sous Vide cooking that is likely to have a significant amount of liquid in it, then you do need to be careful to not get the liquid into the Vacuum Pump.

QR Codes Scanned with your phone

Now one of the clever things about these bags and boxes, is that every bag and every box has a unique QR code. And when I say unique I mean exactly that. You can buy two of the same size box and each will have a different QR code printed on the lid, that is unique to that box, and this is significant. The Zwilling App, that you can download from the App Store (in my case for an iPhone), you can scan the QR code and then record on your phone what is in the box, when you put it there and it will even suggest a “best by” date based on the type of food, a list of which is also provided within the App. Over time you then build up separate menus of what you have in the Fridge, the Freezer and in your Cupboards. So, no need to label anything in the depths of your freezer any more (or find that the label’s fallen off) because now all you do now when food hunting, is take your phone to it and scan the boxes and bags and the phone will tell what it's hiding!. This is living again. So simple. So clever! 

Wine Bottle Sealer

This idea, as I’m sure you’re aware is not new, but like the bags and boxes, it is just incredibly easy to use and you won’t be surprised to hear that, in our household, this was the first application that this system was used for. Out goes my ancient but very reliable Le Creuset Wine Pump, in comes the Zwilling Fresh and Save stopper and electric pump. Would I justify spending about £75 on a pump and a stopper…? Well in the past perhaps not but these days my perspective on life has changed somewhat and if it’s a luxury that I’ll use a lot over time and I’ll really enjoy in use, then maybe it doesn’t seem so extravagant! Whatever the rights or wrongs are, the fact that IT'S JUST SO EASY to use, swung it for me. 

I’ve now rather run out of time to tell you anything more about this product. What I will say is that this email has been driven not only by my own love of this ground breaking product, but a lot of that is what has rubbed off in conversation with Em, whose enthusiasm for it and the way in which she’s implemented it at home is really rather phenomenal. I asked her to write a bit about her experience with it, so here it is

The Offer

To tempt you into this Planet saving, Money saving  eco world, I’m offering you 20% off RRP when spending £95 or more on the Fresh and Save range.

Use the code FRESH&SAVE

This is for this weekend only and expires Monday night 31st January 2022 at 12.00am.

And talking of the weekend, that’s it for today so I trust that you have a pleasant and peaceful one.  

Kind regards,

 Andrew

 Andrew Bluett-Duncan Director

 * The plastic boxes are on order but not in stock yet and therefore not on the website or in the shops but should be in by mid-week next week.