This $8 Gadget Is the Easiest Way to Hull Strawberries—and Amazon Shoppers Are Obsessed With It
Is it really so hard to nibble around a strawberry stem? No, of course not. But if you’re preparing mass amounts of berries—say, for strawberry salsa or gazpacho—then you’ll need to chop off those tops.
The problem with cutting straight across the strawberry is that you end up wasting a good bit of fruit. Which is why I assume some humble hero invented this adorable tool.
Strawberry hullers, which core out the bitter white flesh and pop stems right off, come in a variety of shapes and sizes (just scroll through the options on Amazon if you don’t believe us). But according to thousands of Amazon shoppers, the Chef'n StemGem Strawberry Huller stands out from the bunch.
Buy it: $8; amazon.com
The adorable little gadget has more than 2,300 perfect five-star reviews, with users commenting on its durability and usefulness.
“This is one of those kitchen utensils that you would never think to buy, but once you have you wonder how you got along without it,” wrote one customer. “It works on berries and also tomatoes. Very simple construction and very durable.”
Using it takes seconds—simply press and hold the green stem-like button, gently push the stainless steel claw into the berry, release the button, and then twist and pull the hull out. Voila! Your fruit is ready for shortcakes, smoothies, and salads. And cleaning is easy: Either swish in soapy water or toss in the top rack of your dishwasher.
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Reviewers say it’s an ideal tool for cutting up fruit for kids, with one going so far as to claim it keeps their kids from crying.
“While cutting the hulls off really isn't so hard, you know what is hard? Cutting the hulls off a ton of strawberries when you've got an almost 2-year-old nagging for more strawberries while your 1-month-old is wailing at the top of his lungs in the other room,” they wrote. “Let's say that cutting the top of a strawberry takes maybe 2 seconds at most–this thing cuts that down to like half a second. It's super fast, super accurate, and you're not wasting a ton of the strawberry away when you use it. You know what you can do with 45 extra seconds? Tend to your wailing 1-month old 45 seconds earlier, that's what.”
And weighing just 1.28 ounces, it won’t take up much valuable real estate in your kitchen drawer. So, even if you never thought you’d need something like a strawberry huller, you may want to listen to the chorus of believers and add the StemGem to your shopping cart now.
