1. Nanology Fruit and Veg Savers
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What they are: Stickers/discs designed to be placed in fruit bowls or fridge drawers.
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The Claim: They absorb ethylene gas emitted by ripening fruit, thereby doubling or tripling storage life.
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The Test: They compared two bowls of fruit (banana, orange, grapes, avocado, blueberries) wrapped in cling film—one with the saver disc, one without—left for two weeks.
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The Results:
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Without Saver: The banana was sweaty and soft; avocado was firm; some mold on grapes.
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With Saver: The banana looked darker but felt fresher and less “sweaty”; however, the avocado was completely soft and mushy. The fruit with the saver generally performed worse or inconsistently compared to the control.
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Verdict: Confusing results. The science (ethylene absorption) is sound and used in high-end fridges, but these specific discs didn’t seem to work effectively in this test.
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Rating: 1 out of 5 stars.
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Price: £3.99 for three discs.
2. Mini Bag Sealer
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What it is: A small, handheld device that looks like mini hair straighteners.
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The Claim: Seals various plastic bags (chips, foil bags, snack bags) to keep food fresh.
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The Test:
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Chip Bag: Worked well to crimp and seal a foil bag of chips.
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Chocolate Bar: Failed. It melted the chocolate wrapper and the chocolate itself, creating a mess.
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Coffee Beans: Sealed a bag of coffee beans successfully (verified by the “upside-down shake test”).
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Verdict: “Tacky and laughable at first sight,” but actually useful for sealing bags like frozen peas or coffee beans that don’t have resealable strips.
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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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Price: £20.99 for a pair (approx. £10 each).
3. Smart Bacon Express
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What it is: A vertical toaster-like appliance specifically for cooking bacon.
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The Claim: Cooks up to six strips of bacon in minutes without needing to flip, draining fat away for a healthier result.
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The Test:
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Thick Cut Bacon: Resulted in “leathery” bacon that was overcooked but not crispy.
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Streaky Bacon: Resulted in a “state”—overcooked and not crispy.
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Issues:
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Impractical cleanup (multiple fiddly parts to wash).
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Takes longer than a pan when accounting for preheating and cooling down.
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The bacon doesn’t taste better than pan-fried or oven-baked methods.
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Verdict: Complete impracticality. Waste of time and money.
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Rating: 0.7 out of 5 stars.
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Price: £55.
4. FinaMill (Electric Spice Grinder)
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What it is: An electric grinder with interchangeable “pods” for different spices.
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The Claim: Easy way to grind whole spices of all shapes and sizes without cross-contamination (by swapping pods).
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The Test:
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Tried grinding a custom spice blend (Szechuan pepper, sesame, chili, clove).
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Issue: The spices separated by weight/size inside the pod. Lighter ingredients (sesame) ground first, while heavier/larger items (bay leaves, cloves) didn’t grind well or at all.
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Tried grinding just cocoa nibs on a banana—worked okay but messy.
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Verdict: Oversells its promise. It struggles with blends and larger spices. The pods aren’t airtight, so they aren’t good for long-term storage, meaning you have to empty and fill them constantly.
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Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
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Price: £49.99 for the main unit + 2 pods; extra pods are ~£13 each.
What ive heard from someone who studied food science, the reason those savers dont do anything is because the ethylene is what triggers the decomposition/ripening process… once it has started it doesnt really matter anymore (at least with bananas) and bananas that you buy have already had that process started, so they arent green anymore (they are prevented from maturing before being transported, so they dont go off and then triggered on the last mile so they ripen by the time they are sold) not sure about other fruit – but for bananas, thats precisely why that kind of thing does absolutely nothing.
Anyone wondering about the science of ethylene gas, there’s a little bit of science and a little bit of myth. Ethylene kick starts the ripening process (ie it triggers the produce to go from unripe to ripe) however after ripening starts, the presence of ethylene gas does quite little. Without ethylene gas, unripe produce would never ripen, which can be a good thing as producers often pick unripe fruit and veg so that it travels better. It is only just before produce is stocked on shelves that sellers introduce ethylene gas to make sure your food ripens to peak ripeness by the time you take it home.
I love Ben’s viewpoints on some of these gadgets, but I will say that I have the Fina grinder and I love it! We don’t do spice blends (yet), but love being able to fresh grind black pepper, white pepper, all sorts of different rock salts, and even garlic chips and dehydrated onion. There are also stackable trays that hold 3 of the pods each. I have two trays and it’s so much fun and convenient to just pop the pod onto the grinder and season as I go.
I use my vacuum sealer on seal-only mode all the time on chip bags and other plastic bags. It’s a great trick if you already have a vacuum sealer, but I’m not sure how good a stand-alone unit like that is. The ethylene absorber is interesting, because they work commercially. It’s also the reason behind techniques like putting something in a paper bag to ripen it faster – that concentrates the ethylene. I suspect they don’t work on all fruit, or it was just left out too long and bacteria started to break it down.
