Gadget Review – Pampered Chef Measure, Mix & Pour

Gadget Review – Pampered Chef Measure, Mix & Pour

Measure-Mix-Pour.jpg

This was another one of my late-to-arrive birthday presents. Clearly I need new glasses. Despite the tell-all name, Measure, Mix & Pour, I initially thought this was a milk frother for my morning latte and blithely demonstrated to everyone at the table how it works.

Uh, no. This would be for salad dressing.

All those marks on the side? They’re handy measurements for oil, vinegar, mustard etc. And the plunger? While I’m sure it could froth milk, it’s actually to emulsify the mix so you can pour perfectly blended dressing over your greens.

Although I don’t have many recipes posted here, I adore homemade dressings. I can honestly say I haven’t bought a commercial dressing in two years. Andrew? Well, he used to sneak a bottle of creamy ranch into the cart when I wasn’t looking, but I think we’ve fixed that issue. Right, dear?

Not only do homemade dressings taste better, they aren’t loaded with salt and sugar — unless you add them yourself. There are no multi-syllabic preservatives or harsh tasting, dehydrated aromatics. Just pour in a good quality oil, fresh herbs, something acidic like vinegar or lemon juice and spice to our taste. In less than a minute you have delicious salad dressing that’s as sweet, salty, sour, tangy, creamy, garlicky, hot or gentle as you like.

Now, I know it’s crass to look up the price of a gift, but I had to for the purpose of this blog post. This is made by Pampered Chef and retails for $16.50 (Cdn). It’s a bit pricey when you think about the materials used, but have you looked at the cost of a bottle of cheap Catalina? At $4 a pop for dressing, this gadget pays for itself in a matter of months. Do you need it? No, you can use a mason jar.

But will you use it? I’ve kept mine in constant use since I was told its real purpose. And I just love it. No more oily-topped mason jars leaving greasy rings in my refrigerator or time wasted digging through the utensil drawer for a ladle small enough to fit the mouth of the aforementioned mason jar. I keep the whole thing in my fridge and when I want dressing, I just plunge for a few seconds and pour. I’m actually thinking of buying a second so we can have a vinaigrette for me and homemade ranch dressing for Andrew on hand at all times.

If you’re making the move to more homemade items, salad dressings are an easy way to start and this takes a lot of the guess work out of proportions. Forget scouring cookbooks or the internet for carefully measured recipes. Just follow the guidelines on this jar. Mix and match vinegars, try oils infused with garlic and shallots, play with herbs, toss in some cranberry or peach juice. Whatever turns your crank. Of course, you can just wing it with a mason jar, but it’s actually worth $16.50 to me NOT to have to wipe out the fridge every few days.

Are you into homemade dressings? If so, what are your favourite combinations? If not, what’s holding you back?

10 Comments
  • Carolyn
    Posted at 14:55h, 28 August

    I LOVE the idea of this gadget. It would streamline my kind of convoluted process for making homemade honey-mustard dressing, which involves me, a whisk, my daughter, and a gravy boat (for easy pouring).

  • Cheryl
    Posted at 18:17h, 28 August

    I have something sort of similar, but it doesn't have the plunger. It's just a little bottle with a lip and markings on the side for different dressing components. But I've got to tell you: I hardly ever use it. I have a bad habit of drizzling my salads with olive oil and either vinegar or citrus juice & leaving it at that.

    Why do I feel like a bad person?

  • Roving Lemon
    Posted at 18:32h, 28 August

    Hmmmm…I might actually have to seek out someone who sells that Pampered Chef stuff and get my hands on one of these. I had been eyeing something like what Cheryl describes, but the plunger seals the deal.

  • Christie's Corner
    Posted at 22:02h, 28 August

    Carolyn, it does streamline the process and there's no gravy boat to clean.

    Cheryl, the plunger makes the difference for me. The dressing separates, but not instantly and you actually get a nice mix. You are not a bad person for using the drizzle method — I think most of Europe does just fine with this technique.

    Roving Lemon, you can order off the internet here, but if I remember correctly, you're in Australia. I googled "pampered chef australia" and came up with their request form (http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/info/request.jsp) If you do buy one, I'd love to hear what you think of it.

  • Melanie
    Posted at 13:52h, 29 August

    I saw one of these in a kitchen store not long ago and wondered how useful it would be. I keep oil and vinegar in an old vinagrette bottle and shake when needed. Fresh herbs are added directly to the salad. While I'm a bit too cheap to buy one myself, I'm sure if I got one as a gift I'd be happy to use it as well.

    Will definitely be trying out your ranch dressing recipe!

  • Divawrites
    Posted at 16:00h, 30 August

    I love pampered chef things. I have a number of their stoneware, their mini spatula is the greatest thing ever…and now I might need to invest in this gizmo. I can't use commercial salad dressing because it all contains garlic, and sometimes balsamic vinegar and olive oil are not enough…
    Hmm…may need to flip through the Pampered Chef catalogue at the chiropractor's next week.

  • Christie's Corner
    Posted at 12:53h, 31 August

    Melanie, I likely wouldn't have bought this for myself but it does make a great gift. Plus now that I have one, I realize just how nice it is to have an all-in-one item.

    Divawrites, knowing your garlic allergy, I can say with confidence that you will use this.

  • FRANCESCA
    Posted at 10:16h, 03 September

    Wonderful Charmian!

    I've been missing your great posts, but now that summer is over (if we even had one) I'll be visiting more often!

  • Megan
    Posted at 01:01h, 14 September

    Ladies, This Gadget is great. AND carries a warranty. For more info on this product contact me on my website.

    http://www.pamperedchef.biz/meganmoran

    I hope to see everyone making homemade dressings this holiday season! 🙂

  • Angela
    Posted at 00:30h, 09 October

    Where is this measure and mix item made and what is in the plastic?