Benriner Cook Help Spiralizer —
When I first became enlightened in the raw foods diet way of living, one of the fears that came to mind is HOW would I manage to make interesting meals every day using mostly raw fresh produce? I mean, how many salads a day could one person ingest without going berserk?
I was greatly encouraged over time to come upon many different ideas for creative ways to use raw foods, in fact, there are SO many that I am still trying to get used to them all! Our diet is never boring- and for an experienced gourmet natural foods cook, that is saying something!
One thing that has piqued my interest over time has been the little device that makes what is known as raw spaghetti, or raw angel hair. When I heard of this term at first, I could not figure out what it was.
WHAT IS THE BENRINER SPIRALIZER?
When I finally learned about the spiralizer and how it acctually makes big long noodles out of firm vegetables- I was skeptical. How could THAT be good?
Over time, I learned that some brands were better than others, but with our shrinking funds for groceries, and my inability to consume grains during intense allergy seasons, I had to find something to satisfy us that would truly make our resources go farther.
Then I found it.
The BENRINER COOK HELP SPIRALIZER is a very unique tool. It looks like a drill press, or a microscope in design. The construction of the device is a green plastic (listed as a hi-quality nylon reinforced glass). There is a horizontal blade on the flat surface, and a slot where you can put in three different sized blades that look like different combs from fine tooth to hair pick in size.
HOW DOES THE BENRINER COOK HELP WORK?
One of the most important functions that the BENRINER COOK HELP SPIRALIZER does is to take a cylindrical vegetable and turn it into different intensities of noodles.
The vegetable has to be cut about 4 inches in length. Then you put one end (making sure both are flat) on a spindle metal spike. The other end gets grabbed by a flat disc which has little nylon teeth in it. Again, the cut of vegetable has to be FLAT in order to work.
While pressing down with one hand on the back of the device (think the back arm of the microscope), then you press down with your turning hand on the handle of the unit, which is connected to the disc which holds the vegetable and turns it.
Using firm pressure, you crank the vegetable round and round, and then below the blades, where there is a discharging area, you will end up with lots of truly wonderful spaghetti noodles!
You have to be sure to empty the area out regularly so that it does not get too packed up, and then you will be left with about 1/2 inch disc of vegetable left, which I will use to make matchsticks to put in a bag in the freezer for wintertime use.
WHAT KIND OF VEGETABLES CAN BE USED WITH THIS UNIT?
The BENRINER COOK HELP can be used with any firm vegetable which has something for the teeth to grab on which will hold up to pressure of turning. That means, radishes, carrots, potatoes, zucchinis, winter squash- and I am sure that there are many more things that can be used which I have not tried out yet.
WHAT DO I THINK OF THIS UNIT
The BENRINER COOK HELP is a very simple device, and at first, because there is not a lot of instruction out there to help with it, I was told to use the smallest blades for the angel hair. This did not work, causing me to waste a LOT of good zucchini which would not go through the blades well.
When I was at my wits end, I finally decided to pretend I never saw this before and play with it. I got a lot further with it- and found that the softer the vegetable cylinder, the larger the blades you have to use with it.
- The smallest blade will make long strands of daikon radish the size of hair.
- The medium blad makes the perfect size of zucchini noodles - which resemble angel hair.
- The large blade makes noodles the size of fat spaghetti noodles.
All blades can be replaced when dull, in contrast to many similar units where the entire unit has to be replaced.
At first I hated this device. I was so upset that I almost threw it in a cupboard and did not want to ever look at it again. None of my family could figure out how to make it work, but after much perserverence, I was able to figure it out. Now we can not live without it.
HOW TO CLEAN
The easiest way to clean the BENRINER COOK HELP SPIRALIZER is to take the blade out FIRST- clean the blade, and then clean the rest of the unit. I find an old toothbrush cleans it very well. Make sure you get all of the food out of the crevices so it will work just as well next time you take it out. I find that it is very easy to clean and takes just a moment or two.
GREAT FOR RAW FOODS DIET AND WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAMS
If you are trying to lose weight, the BENRINER COOK HELP is a fantastic device to have handy. By making a zucchini into enough spaghetti noodles which will fill two LARGE soup bowls (think serving bowl size), you can eat a filling portion of spaghetti with fresh tomoatoes blended into sauce and be very full, yet not have consumed much of anything if you think about it.
I have found that instead of wondering what we are going to do with *all of that zucchini* I literally stand in my garden and stare at the zucchini wishing it would grow faster than ever!
FINAL COMMENTS
THE BENRINER COOK HELP is made in Japan. It is not always easy to find locally, and many times you have to do some research to find it at a reasonable price on the internet.
I have seen the price for anywhere from $70 down as low as $35.
If you have lots of vegetables, or if you are interested in raw foods eating, this is an indispensible item. If you want a delicious way to get raw vegetables into your diet and have not had an affection for them- try this. I am amazed at how completely different the zucchini tastes when I eat it this way vs. traditional ways of fixing it.
My entire family wolfs this down whenver I make it- no matter how much I make, it seems to disappear.
WHERE TO GET
One of the best sources for the BENRINER COOK HELP SPIRALIZER is:
www.buy4asianlife.com
You can find BENRINER COOK HELP at some Target stores, and at Amazon.com
Last edited on Aug 25, 2008
Benriner Cook Help Spiralizer
is recommended by Caprig
