Got this little doo-dad in my stocking this year. It’s a Garlic Zoom and it sells for about $15.

Cute, shiny, easy to clean. Yes, it’s all those things, but is it a time saver?

With the little gears and wheels and spinning blades, my inner geek couldn’t resist the urge to take it for a spin.

And in one fowl swoop, I’ve taken my food geekdom to new heights. This had video written all over it so I set up a camera and tripod in my kitchen and wazzed up a few cloves of garlic.

After busting them loose of the bulb, peeling them and removing that little woody nub where it attaches to the root mass, I was ready.

Quiet on the set (having locked my cats in the bathroom, muted the tv, and instructed my wife to sequester herself in the basement for a time) I loaded the device (three bulbs needed for my spaghetti sauce) and hit record. I got a very nice image of the Garlic Zoom’s little rubber wheels making black skid marks on my new bamboo cutting board. It seized.

Okay, two bulbs. Reset. Quiet on the set. Action. And again with the skid marks.

Quick scrub of the board. Load one bulb. Reset. Quiet. Action. And there we have it. Garlic (cut), film (print).

Check out the video of the Garlic Zoom in action (that wailing at the end is my cat…she escaped just in time to contribute to the filming).

The verdict…a wonderful dice, if you’re willing to load only one bulb at a time. But time saver? Not for me.

Taking into account you still have to prep your garlic for the Garlic Zoom (peeling etc. since I refuse to use anything but fresh) you’re probably better off chopping everything with a knife in the first place, especially if you have good knives and good knife skills (little bragging…I totally do).

Unlike my knives, however, the Garlic Zoom goes straight from dice to dishwasher and you don’t get any of that sticky garlic goo on your fingers.

So if you’re not so hands-on with food prep, the Garlic Zoom makes this kitchen chore Chef’n easy!