Is This Jolly Man's 'Garlic Rocket' Too Good To Be True?
If the "Garlic Rocket" works, the inventor has surely secured himself a place among the Gods.
You've no doubt heard the term "the best thing since sliced bread," but today, I received a press release about a gadget that may well give sliced bread a run for its money, ingenuity-wise. Enter: the Garlic Rocket and its inventor, the self-proclaimed "Garlic Rocket Man."
The Rocket was invented by one Peter Bindner, the jovial bearded Dane pictured above. Per a press release sent to The Takeout, the Garlic Rocket turns whole, unpeeled garlic cloves into finely crushed garlic in seconds. Unlike a garlic press, the Rocket allegedly requires "no force" thanks to "brand new technology," which is just obscure enough to pique my interest. If this video is to be believed (make sure to note the wild applause at 0:26), you simply insert one to three unpeeled garlic cloves, gently press down on the lever, and wait for the perfectly crushed garlic to ooze out of the end of the device.
If this thing works, the benefits are obvious. First, it doesn't require "force," making it a more accessible option for home cooks of all abilities and strength levels. Beyond that, your fingers never actually touch the crushed garlic. "No garlic-smelling fingers!" the press release proclaims. (I suppose this could be a negative, depending on your personal zeal for finger-sniffin'.)
I am, however, approaching the Rocket with skepticism. First, the device isn't currently available online, as the inventor just wrapped up a Kickstarter campaign to get the Rocket off the ground. Second, the press release calls the Rocket "the biggest garlic innovation for more than 100 years"—certainly a lofty claim, as I'm not aware of any garlic innovations prior to the invention of the garlic press in 1950.
Either way, if the Rocket works the way Bindner says it does, this could be huge. And if it doesn't work, I'd still like to give Bindner a big hug. I don't know...he just looks huggable.