Quest To Identify Mysterious Kitchen Utensil Reveals How Versatile It Really Is

Updated September 6, 2021

If you spend enough time on Reddit's r/whatisthisthing community, you're likely to notice a few patterns emerge in the unidentified items that people struggle to figure out the purposes of.

For some reason, you're not likely to see many days go by before someone posts a dormant explosive device that everyone immediately warns them to get checked out. But in between those and they weird things that wash up on their local beaches, people also seem to find no shortage of strange kitchen implements when they look through an older relative's things.

And as we're about to see, this is usually because these objects are designed for specific purposes that aren't made obvious just by looking at them. But as we'll also see, that doesn't mean we have to use them for their intended purpose.

When Reddit user PP1tch posted this picture, all they could say was that they found it in their kitchen and they weren't sure what it was.

Reddit | PP1tch

Based on the way it's shaped, I bet I'd be wondering the same thing. Granted, I'd probably wonder that much more aggressively because it looks like the exact kind of tool that would get stuck in one of my drawers.

And the first answer that some users had was that this was a potato masher.

Reddit | notvoldy

But as we can see here, the design differences between the item in question and a standard potato masher are significant enough that it soon became clear that this wasn't the answer.

And while it's true that there are multiple potato masher designs, each of them tend to have a long handle to make the mashing easier.

Reddit | MarzipanText

However, even some of those who did know what this is used for admitted that they've also used it to mash potatoes.

So even if that wasn't what it was made for, nothing's really stopping you from using it that way.

Instead, that smaller tool is actually known as a pastry cutter or pastry blender.

Reddit | propsthenrotors

And while that would suggest that it's used for a diverse array of baked goods, it seems that it's particularly helpful when you're making biscuits.

So how does it actually work?

Reddit | cruzweb

As one user named SalisburyWitch mentioned, it's useful for an early stage in the baking process when you need to mix either butter or shortening into flour.

The cutter helps you press whichever of those two ingredients into the dough you're using before any of the wet ingredients need to be added.

But while PP1tch learned about the cutter's true purpose very soon after they posted the photo, they also discovered that people have found a wide variety of other uses for it.

Reddit | Princess_Goose3

For instance, not only did some commenters find that it's a very effective tool to chop up eggs for egg salad, but they couldn't think of anything else in their kitchens that would do the job better.

And it's apparently a very handy tool when you're making tacos for a couple of reasons.

Reddit | jhl123

For one thing, it's apparently quite effective at breaking up ground beef when you're cooking it in a skillet.

And others discovered that it's just as good as mashing avocados as it is at mashing potatoes for those looking to add a little guac to the experience.

So all in all, the quest to solve this mystery brings to mind the famous words of TV chef Alton Brown: "You shouldn't own any kitchen gadget that doesn't have more than one use."

h/t: Reddit | PP1tch

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