Watch 5 New Gadgets From “Shark Tank” Tested By Design Expert | Well Equipped

I’m Dan, and I’ve been designing kitchen gadgets

for more than 40 years.

We have more gadgets from Shark Tank,

and I’m gonna see if I can find a way to make them better.

I would smooth this out so that this pin doesn’t exist.

I’m wondering if this wants

to have some sort of curve to it.

Maybe it should just come out this way.

These are the gadgets I am going to test:

Banana Loca, Snactiv, Fizz Cup, Turbo Trusser, Pizza Pack.

[upbeat music]

[drum roll] Banana Loca.

This in front of me is Banana Loca.

This gadget promises to fill your cored out banana

with all sorts of yummy fillings.

Let’s give it a try.

I have a curved and cut banana here.

I’m gonna put this into the banana tray.

I’m gonna flatten this out

And I have this piece for coring.

I’m gonna twist a little bit as I go.

Hopefully, this is being centered.

And now to pull the core out,

I’m gonna put my thumb on the hole.

That’s gonna create a vacuum as I pull it out,

and hopefully the core will come with it.

I got a little bit, not as much as I expected.

I am going to attach the filler spout.

There is some assembly required for this device.

I’m going to fill it with some raspberry jam.

It’s actually raspberry preserves.

Press until I see some preserves coming out.

Oh, that didn’t take much at all.

Oh, I don’t need this anymore.

I’m gonna put this back in, and as I plunge,

I’m gonna be pulling the banana out.

Whoa, and I do have a break in the banana.

It’s coming out the top.

It’s not exactly what I wanted.

And I think I have a filled banana.

Notice though that the hole was not in the center.

So with this attempt,

I have a not very perfect stuffed banana.

The Banana Loca.

Let me take a bite from this side.

Good combination, banana and raspberry.

It’s time for a redemption arc.

Let’s try this with Nutella.

Into the banana trough.

I’m gonna push it a little tighter this time

hoping that I get to the center of the banana this time.

Push in the core.

Again, I’m gonna twist it as I go in, extract.

Hopefully I got a core, but I think I got almost nothing.

But let me see.

Oh no, not too bad.

There’s a little bit,

but I’m not sure that this is coring

as effectively as it could.

In either case, I’m gonna keep going forward,

fill up with some Nutella.

That is more than enough, I think.

I will assemble,

and it’s not that easy to gauge how quickly to press

versus how quickly to move the banana.

Maybe after a couple of tries I would get better at it.

The banana is still just partially deformed here,

a bit of a structural failure on the banana.

But let’s start biting.

Oh yeah, banana with Nutella.

So I would say I was able to extract the core

for about one half of the banana.

Not what I was hoping.

If I’m gonna fill a banana with Nutella,

I would wanna fill it with as much Nutella as possible.

Let’s see how Banana Loca compares

with using a straw and a piping bag.

[upbeat music]

Maybe bananas are not meant to be filled.

Let’s give Banana Loca an effectiveness rating.

And I think on a 5-point scale, I would give it 1.

It just wasn’t possible

to core this thing easily or successfully.

A usability rating,

I would give it also just a 1 out of 5.

It was really difficult to core.

I couldn’t figure out if the core was actually successful

unless I went in there

with some sort of colonoscopy equipment.

Another consideration for usability

is this thing has a lot of parts,

and it’s also gonna take some space to store.

So Sharks, let’s think about a redesign.

The trick we have here is that we have a curved banana.

If we had a straight banana,

I think this task would probably be easier.

That doesn’t exist.

I think what I would suggest

is rethink what’s being offered here.

Instead of trying to stuff a full banana,

slice the banana into three or four or five pieces.

So what you’re gonna end up with is a plate full

of sushi size bananas that are gonna be much easier to fill.

Here’s a raspberry sushi banana.

Here’s a Nutella sushi banana.

I would design this so that it could be

some sort of syringe type plunger.

Think massive size syringe.

It would be a lot easier to gauge

how much filling is being put into that banana.

I think everybody’s gonna be happy all around,

getting rid of so much plastic

and just simplifying this entire system.

Let’s give it buy rating for the Banana Loca.

Guess what?

I’m going to give it a 1 out of 5.

I just wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.

You’re not gonna be happy with it.

If you really need to stuff your banana,

I would look elsewhere.

[drum roll] Snactiv.

This is the Snactiv.

This gadget claims to allow you to eat snack foods

without staining your fingers.

Let’s try it with this little cheesy thing.

[food crunching] And that worked no problem.

[food crunching] That too.

I gotta say as first try that was pretty effortless.

This would work for a majority of people who are trying it.

So I think it’s doing what it claims to do.

No orange here.

I know what you’re thinking,

why not just use chopsticks?

Let’s see how it compares.

[upbeat music]

No mess.

Let’s give the Snactiv an effectiveness rating.

And I would give it a 5 outta 5,

mainly ’cause my hands stayed squeaky clean.

I had no difficulty picking food up,

and it went on, of course, pretty easily.

Let’s try that again using the left-handed oil test.

Left-handed oil test is a quick way

to simulate use by someone

who may not have the same level of dexterity or strength.

Let’s see what we find out.

I’m going to use the same two fingers.

It takes a little bit of squeeze power,

which I think I feel just a little bit more

on my left hand ’cause maybe it’s a little weaker.

[food crunching]

I think whether your hands are big or small

this is gonna work just as well is.

Let’s try two other fingers.

You would think my pinky finger is weaker. [food crunching]

But I can do that as well.

So I’m okay with this until we get to someone

who may have some real significant dexterity problems.

So for usability, again, on a 1 to 5 scale,

I thought this was pretty easy.

It’s pretty intuitive to put it between your fingers.

5 outta 5.

Let’s talk about a redesign.

And this is a pretty simple gadget.

I wouldn’t make this any wider

because it fits pretty well between your knuckles,

and it felt pretty secure to me as it is,

so I wouldn’t change the finger holds.

What I would question, and again,

this is in the interest of experimenting,

is the shape of this.

When these come together, these two pieces are flat,

but the foods you’re picking up may not be as flat.

So I’m wondering if this wants

to have some sort of curve to it.

It may help grip the food.

That’ll make it a little bit harder to clean possibly.

But I would consider putting some sort of texture on that.

Just a little bit of texture

may actually reduce the amount of squeezed force

that you’d have to put on the food to hold it securely.

Maybe also just a little bit longer,

a little bit more length if you are dipping into hot foods.

And again, these are things I would experiment with

to see if it does offer any improvement.

Let’s give this a buy rating.

I would give this a 5 outta 5.

It’s a pretty simple device.

It works effectively.

It’s gonna keep your fingers clean

and allow you to chow down.

Snack food junkies, live long and prosper.

[drum roll] Fizz Cup.

This is the Fizz Cup.

This gadget claims to easily create a root beer float

with just a squeeze of the bottle.

Let’s see how it works.

There’s a cap that I’ll pop off,

and sort of a spout funnel like thing here.

I’ve got some root beer, and screw the top on.

Vanilla ice cream.

Put the cap on tight, and let’s give it a squeeze.

Hmm.

Got my sharks wet.

Let’s give it a more gentle squeeze.

Okay, that worked a little better.

So I guess there are two options.

I can either drink as it is.

Let’s try that first.

Or it may be a little less clumsy to take this off.

I don’t think it’s gonna spill.

That worked.

Of course, I could take the cap off,

but that seems to defeat the purpose

if you wanna alternate drinking and scooping ice cream.

This funnel shape is a bit in the way.

Let’s see what happens

when this bottle is just about halfway full.

I have a feeling I know what’s gonna happen.

Nothing.

No, it’s not gonna happen.

Now I’m gonna compare that

to making an ice cream float the old fashioned way.

[upbeat music]

Well that worked just as well.

Plus, I feel like I don’t have anything

in the way of getting to the ice cream.

For an effectiveness rating,

it just wasn’t effective at all,

especially when you get down lower

on the bottom of root beer,

it’s just not gonna work at all.

On a 5-point scale, I would give this a 1,

and it probably doesn’t deserve that.

It was fun for the first squeeze,

but by the second or third squeeze, it really fizzled out.

Let’s give it a usability rating.

On a 1 to 5 scale, I’m gonna give the Fizz Cup a 0.

I just don’t think it’s that usable or functional.

It wasn’t even that much fun.

So let’s talk about a redesign.

I would consider putting the spout off center.

I would put the spout onto the side

and have it spray in so it doesn’t splash.

I’d also design the cap

to anticipate and control the splash or control the flow.

Maybe it shouldn’t even spray to the top,

maybe it should just come out this way.

By doing that, there would be a lot more space

for the ice cream, and especially a lot more space

for the ice cream spoon to come in.

And if a tube comes down to the bottom,

the root beer would actually work its way up

no matter how full or empty the bottle is.

I think that would work.

Here’s actually my other thought for a redesign.

Let’s give the Fizz Cup a buy rating.

Let’s give it a 0.

I don’t think there’s any reason for this to exist.

If you had one, I don’t think you would use it.

The Fizz Cup, maybe not surprisingly,

was not funded by the Sharks.

Not only does it not work,

it just gets in the way of you and your root beer.

[drum roll] Turbo Trusser.

This is the Turbo Trusser.

This gadget promises to help you truss a turkey

without wrestling with kitchen twine.

So I’ll explain this.

It’s pretty simple.

There’s a metal plate here

in the shape of two turkeys looking sideways,

and it’s got two separate rods

which help you hold the wings in place.

I’m gonna do the legs first.

That’s in.

If I can get the wings, feels a little short.

I’m gonna have to live with that.

I was hoping to get beyond the corner of the wing,

but I think this is gonna hold.

So I think we’re good to go.

All we have to do now is get this turkey roasted.

Okay, the turkey is fresh out of the oven.

I notice immediately, of course,

is that the wing hooks let go as it was cooking.

They must have been held

for at least a little bit of the cooking time

because you can see these suntan lines in the wings.

So time to release the prisoner.

This is a little tricky, but not unexpected.

I wrestled there a little bit,

but I think that was to be expected.

Let’s see how that compares with trussing it with twine.

We’ll just have to trust the process.

[upbeat music]

Now, comparing the two methods.

I prefer the Turbo Trusser more.

It was a lot easier.

We are tied up.

Let’s get this turkey roasted.

Let’s examine the tied up turkey.

I will say that the right wing seemed to let go.

That could be my technique in tying it up.

Maybe the Turbo Trusser would be a good alternative

if you don’t have the technique down.

I would think either one would do you well.

So for an effectiveness rating on a 1 to 5 scale,

I would give it a 4.

It works pretty well,

but I think with a couple of simple changes,

it could have really been optimized.

Let’s give it a usability rating.

It was relatively usable, but not for a larger turkey.

I think I was really struggling to get those wings secured,

and that’s part of the reason for having these hooks.

This fell a little short,

so I’m gonna give it a 3 outta 5.

Let’s jump into a redesign.

First of all, there’s an impression here

of a turkey head or a chicken head.

Maybe it’s a rooster, that’s not right.

This shape is rather complex,

but notice there’s like a little point here.

I think it’s not doing us any favors for getting the leg in.

What I would suggest is make this a little bit smoother.

And the same thing here,

I would smooth this out so that this pin doesn’t exist.

But the idea is that

if we have a turkey leg going in from this direction,

it won’t get hung up on little details.

It’s still gonna hold that turkey leg in place.

It would be just as easy to get to extract a leg,

but think it would be easier to insert the leg.

The one other thing I would do

is provide some system here

so that these wing hooks can be attached,

because you don’t wanna lose these in the drawer.

You could stick ’em through the hole,

but they’re still kind of sloppy.

Maybe there would be a thing

that looks like that that comes down,

and this becomes a hook and this becomes an open area.

It’s working kinda like a binder clip

where you can just kind of push these in

and keep those together.

Let’s talk about a buy rating.

I would give it a 3 outta 5.

The reason I wouldn’t urge anyone to rush out and buy it is

because it has some competition from kitchen twine.

[drum roll] Pizza Pack.

This is the Pizza Pack.

It claims to store your leftover pizza slices

in one container.

Here’s some pizza.

I’ve got five slices here, assuming I ate the other three.

I’m gonna open this up, and it is collapsible.

I’m going to expand it.

I’m gonna put this tray on the very bottom.

Slice number one on top of that.

Seems odd, but I’m gonna put tray number two

right on top of that slice.

Pizza number two, tray number three,

pizza number three, tray number four,

pizza number four, and tray five, pizza five.

These are relatively thick slices,

and I think I just kind of maxed out in terms of height.

So when I put the top on,

I’m gonna be squashing the pizza down a little bit.

That’s it.

Just kind of wondering if I really saved any space.

It’s quite large.

Five slices are packed up.

Let’s nuke them.

Okay, it is back from being reheated.

I am ready for some leftovers.

I’m kind of curious if the bottom

of the trays got messy, and they did.

Of course, they’re just lying on the other pieces of pizza.

So I think all of these slices are equally hot.

I’m going to take a bite from the bottom and the top.

They’re definitely not crispy, but they are warmed up.

I think there’s nothing very magic going on here.

Maybe we should try it with five slices

of New York sized pizza, or what I like to call pizza.

Let’s see how they fit.

First pizza slice, slice number two,

slice number three, four.

So, it fills up Pizza Pack pretty well.

They do fit, just not the way I expected necessarily,

but it does click together.

So the pizza is back from the microwave.

We have five slices of, I would probably call steamed pizza.

I think the pizza pack was able

to handle these larger slices of pizza,

although they did need some persuasion to get to fit.

Let’s see how Pizza Pack compares

with a plastic storage container.

[upbeat music]

The pizza’s in, but they look a little cramped.

I would not recommend putting this in a microwave oven.

The plastic may not be able to take it.

Instead, I would remove each slice,

and put them on a microwaveable plate.

Let’s give this an effectiveness rating.

I expected more.

I was a little disappointed

that these trays simply sit on top of the pizza slices.

It seems so massive,

and it seems a little bit over promising.

Compared to shoving an entire pizza box in the fridge,

this is certainly gonna save some space.

It’s not that it’s terrible,

but I’m gonna give it a 3 outta 5.

For usability rating, again, I was a little disappointed.

I thought it was gonna do more than it than it does.

Just overall, the way it expands,

and the way it closes up just a little bit awkward.

The advantage it has going for it in terms of usability,

it is pizza sliced shape.

It’s a triangle, so the pizza slices large or small

are gonna fit in there pretty well,

even though the trays themselves may be undersized

for some sizes or for full sizes of pizza.

Again, it’s not bad,

but I think I’m gonna give it a 3 outta 5.

Let’s hop into the redesign.

What are the things that I expected was

that because these triangles

are increasingly larger or smaller triangles,

I expected that when the trays went inside,

the trays would be separated,

meaning giving space for each individual slice.

That wasn’t the case, and of course,

if there was space it would take more height to do that.

That is at least something

I would consider or experiment with

to keep the trays off of the tops of the pizza slices.

What that means is I would have a series

of internal trays that fit onto this

as if these are little shelves,

and they would keep the pizza slices separated.

There’s no really no good way to collapse it this way.

I think we’re stuck with a full size pizza slice,

so that kind of offsets the advantage

of this being collapsible,

because it’s collapsible vertically,

but it’s not gonna collapse this way.

If there’s a way to make it collapse

a little more gracefully, I suppose there is,

I would look into that.

I think the top fits okay.

I think the curves on here are rather generous

in the sense that you don’t have to use fingernails.

You can get your finger under there.

I think it has a bit of inherent clumsiness to it,

but I don’t have any immediate suggestions

on how to vastly improve this.

For a buy rating, I would also give this a 3 out of 5.

I think if you eat a lot of pizza

and you have a lot of leftover pizza,

this may be worthwhile.

I just can’t say Pizza Pack was a slice above the rest.

In the sink or swim world of Shark Tank,

I’m not sure these are things that are fly off the shelves.

I think they have some inherent issues.

If I was a Shark, maybe I’d invest in Snactiv.

The others I think would need quite a bit of help.

Maybe some redesign and some rethinking

before I would consider investing in it.

Snactiv, I bet it has an audience.

♪ Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo ♪

♪ Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo ♪

♪ Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo ♪