Fish out noodles one at a time
The Al Dente Spaghetti Tester is either a device for measuring doneness in spaghetti, or a utensil for eating spaghetti very, very slowly. You decide.
Huh, what? A spaghetti tester? For what? Determining if my cooked spaghetti is al dente? Hmm. I didn't know I needed such a thing, but now that I think about it... yeah, an Al Dente Spaghetti Tester would make a great addition in my kitchen. I'd be able to test spaghetti. I'd be crazy not to get one. Wait. What am I saying? Nobody needs this--especially because the price is almost $50.
Ridiculousness aside, the Al Dente Spaghetti Tester from POTT actually does look nice. The sleek, hook-like shape with a slotted end appeals to my aesthetic sense. However, my common sense insists this is one contraption that does not have a place in my kitchen.
The tester works by fishing out a single strand from the boiling cauldron of pasta. The plump noodle only fits so far into the slot, which I imagine allows you to test the doneness of the noodle with certainty. If the noodle falls all the way to the bottom, it hasn't absorbed enough water, while if it sticks to the top, it may be too done. I suppose a perfectly done al dente noodle would fall somewhere in between.
Of course, I'm probably completely wrong about how it tests spaghetti for doneness. For all I know, it may be just a single-strand spaghetti plucker, with no actual testing abilities integrated, but then that would make the most sense; nothing beats actually tasting spaghetti to see if it's done. (Yes, yes, I know: throwing spaghetti at a wall is fun, too).
(Via Cooking Gadgets)