A spray gun that spikes straight into citrus fruits and instantly extracts fresh juice to be squirted onto food and drinks has been launched. The plastic ‘Stem’ gadget plugs directly into lemons, limes and oranges and sprays out a fine mist of tangy juice.
The device means users don’t have to worry about the nightmare of making a runny mess when squeezing a lemon or fret about wayward pips falling onto their plate. And the days of receiving agonising stings from the acidic juice seeping into tiny finger cuts could be a thing of the past.
The three-inch atomiser can be used to quickly spritz up a salad or a gin and tonic rather than go through the arduous process of getting a knife and chopping up the fruit. And after a quick rinse the spray, available to buy online, can be used again and again.
Stem has already been given the thumbs up by online buyers. One chopping board-phobic reviewer said: ‘This Stem juicer does exactly what it said it would do. Easy to clean, and works perfectly.’ Another wrote: ‘Love this fun little gadget. Comes in handy for lots of cooking, fruit spraying, flavour bursts… oh, just lots of fun.’ Stem was designed by U.S. entrepreneur Tim Houle and developed by American company Quirky. The New York firm was launched in 2009 to help inventors see their ideas come to light.
After ideas are submitted, Quirky asks its online community to help develop the products before manufacturing and marketing them. Jaime Yandolino, spokeswoman for Quirky, said: ‘Stem is an clever little kitchen gadget that means you no longer have to cut open lemons and limes and squeeze them to get their juices out. ‘You just plug Stem straight into the fruit and away you go with no fuss and no mess.
‘It is brilliant for spritzing juice onto food or into drinks. When Stem was submitted to us as an idea it was clear it was a good one. ‘Tim, the designer, was fed up with the mess made when juicing lemons and limes, not to mention the waste. ‘We took the idea, developed and manufactured it, and it was an instant hit.'(DM)
