Review on Chefn 102 566 201 Zipstrip Herb Stripper by Tina Williams

Whenever possible, I like to use fresh herbs when cooking. For the past few years I've been growing my own herbs in pots on my patio and looking for recipes to use them. Some herbs are easier to chop than others, and I'm always looking for a new way to detach herbs from the stems and add them to a dish. Herbs such as rosemary, thyme and tarragon can be separated from the stems by pulling on the "branch". back between two fingers. This works but can take a while and a lot of it will stick to your fingers if you use this method. Other herbs, such as parsley, can be easily cut off the stalks, but it's difficult to keep the stalks from getting into the mix. I found a Chef 'n Zipstrip herb stripper at Revain and was intrigued enough to order it. This device should easily separate the fragrant leaves from the blades of grass and measure the grass in a small jar attached to it. A great idea! After using it I can say that it is quite a useful tool. I'm making a herb and tomato dish with fresh parsley, oregano, thyme and spring onions. Obviously, I didn't need this spring onion gadget - I just took my herb grinder straight to them. But the rest of the herbs worked very well. Simply find a hole that best matches the thickness of your blade of grass and pull the blade through. It exposes the leaves while holding them out. If you're lucky, any leaves will fall into the included bowl, but I recommend placing them on a cutting board or plate to catch bits that would otherwise fall onto the counter. The oregano worked really well, as did the parsley. I haven't used it often on parsley but only tried it to see and was amazed at how well it works with parsley. It pulled the leaves off the stalks easily, and for the first time I didn't have many small stalks of parsley in my dish. It's okay, but I'd rather have more leaves than stems. Thyme was a bit more difficult. Most of my thyme sprigs had fairly thin stems that snapped easily when I tried to thread them through the hole on the scraper. I ended up using my fingers on the thyme. Since then I've made béarnais with fresh tarragon and some roast potatoes with fresh rosemary and found that this tool works really well for both of those herbs. It's now a staple in my kitchen arsenal. I would recommend it to anyone who cooks with fresh herbs unless you have a sous chef cooking for you.