A few weeks back, I was sent a set of Pigtail Food Flippers from Cave Tools to try out and review. Essentially, these are stainless steel hooks that you can use to flip your meat without leaving marks. This set comes with two flippers, a longer one to use on the grill and a shorter one you can use on the stove. I’ve never used a BBQ hook before, so I was curious about these. They are very sharp and you definitely don’t want to find yourself on the business end of one. It’s easy to use: just hook the meat and flips it. The hook slides in and out very easily. You can use them from just about any meat, though I’m not sure how well they would work with the tubular variety. The shorter hook can be used with bacon. If you you use it for that, I suggest not using non-stick pan. I had been hoping to get to test this out a little more and even get a video before posting this. But the Texas summer has hit its stride and we have been having 100+ degree days for some time now. Our ...
elect/gadgets
Product Review – 41-inch Telescope Tripod from DreamLifter
Last week, I received the 41-inch Telescope Tripod from DreamLifter to test out and review. The tripod is made from aluminum alloy and can rotate 360 degrees. It’s lightweight and comes with a phone attachment and a carry bag. I have been looking for a lighter tripod to use for reviews and with my lightbox. My old one is more heavy duty, and while great for outdoor activities, it’s hard to get my camera screwed onto the base. The legs also tend to stick when expanding them as well. This tripod is definitely lighter and far easier to set up. Its smaller size makes it perfect to use on the table for filming reviews, so no more propping my phone up on whatever random item I happen to have at hand. The smartphone holder is pretty secure as well, allowing me to move the entire tripod without having to worry about the phone falling out. I can also quickly attach my regular camera to it as well. However, my camera is heavy and I’m worried that it makes the tripod a little too ...
Product Review – Ozeri ProMax 500 lbs Digital Bath Scale
A few weeks ago, Ozeri asked me to check out their Ozeri ProMax 500 lbs Digital Bath Scale. This scale has a tempered glass top and a digital face. It runs on 3 AAA batteries, and also included a tape measure and a fat caliper. I have reviewed several scales so far for Ozeri and all of them have been great. My favorite has been the Weightmaster II Bath Scale, which I no longer have. However, this new one is every bit as good even though it doesn’t have a lot of the same features. Now, this scale does have some weight to it so be careful not to drop it on your foot. I speak from experience. I dropped it white trying to get it out of the box. It’s not pleasant and I do not wish that sort of embarrassment (or pain) one anyone. The scale itself is pretty simple. Stand on it and get your weight in a few seconds…whether you are ready for it or not. The display screen is backlit, making the (dreaded) numbers that much clearer to read. The glass can support up to 500 lbs. and ...
Product Review – LITEBOX Pro-240
Two weeks ago, I was asked to try out the LITEBOX Pro-240 light box kit. The light box kit comes with everything you need to take profession grad photos of objects. It includes two CRI 90+ LED dimmable light bars, 4 background sweeps, a tripod for a cell phone, and a carry case. The light box itself is 24x24x24 inches. I do a lot of stock photography for my covers, and have cobbled together an assortment of light boxes of the years...some of them decent and most of them not. I was extremely excited about getting the opportunity to review this. My hope was that I can eventually start selling better quality stock images. There is a lot to this box, so I’m going to do this review a little differently and do bullet points. It’s the only way I can fully cover this item. Let’s start with the pros, which there are a lot of: LED Light bars – these two light bars give you a full range of light, from regular table lamp brightness (2700K) to full spectrum (5000K) they are ...
Product Review – Electronic Bug Zapper
A few weeks, I was asked to try out and review the Electronic Bug Zapper from Ohuhu. The zapper is designed to be used indoors and uses two 10 watt UV bulbs. It covers up to 320 square feet and makes no zap sound. The zapper itself is made with thin metal and plastic. You can replace the bubs by first discharging it with a screwdriver, then pulling down the screen. It also has a plastic tray to catch bugs that slides in and out. It comes with a chain that you can use to hang it. It’s a nice looking bug zapper, but there are a few issues. First of all, I placed it in a variety of places around the house & even outside under our covered porch. It zapped a grand total of 4 bugs. It attracted swarms of mosquitoes & little gnats, but they just kept flying in and out of it. At one point, there was a fly going in and out of it. It would get zapped and land in the tray, but then after a few seconds it would fly off again. The other issue I found is that it gets ...
Product Review – eReading LED Desk Lamp from BenQ
Last week, I was sent an eReading LED Desk Lamp from BenQ to try out and review. The lamp is curved, offing 90cm of coverage, giving 150% more light coverage than other lamps. It has a touch sensitive control ring, adjustable brightness, ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness, and is flexible so you can adjust it as needed. We recently moved, and the area where I now have my desk & computer at doesn’t get much light. I no longer have my big pole light or a regular desk light, so it makes it really hard to see any detail when working on my design commissions. I wasn’t sure how well this desk lamp would work. I was primarily worried about the light giving me migraines and if it would glare off the screen or affect how the screen looked. I also didn’t pay much attention to the size, so I was expecting something small. I was shocked when the UPS guy showed up with a giant box. The lamp itself is a pretty good size & it has a very heavy base. It ...