(upbeat music) - Ready Ebbers?
- Yep - Lift the closh on product number one. - It's a little mini rice cooker, but apparently will also do porridge - Ebbers, this is the Lakeland
mini electric rice cooker. It cooks one to two portions of white or brown rice in 30 minutes. It has a lift out non-stick
500 millilitre pan, and is easy to use with its LED panel. Now obviously a rice cooker
isn't a brand new gadget that no one's ever heard of before. Rice cookers are a permanent fixture in so many different parts of the world. We've never really seen the
need to have a rice cooker in the kitchen because we don't cook rice. - Nope. - That often or in quantities
enough to warrant having one and it takes up so much
space on a work surface. However, this is a nice mini one, and will therefore sit on a worktop. So, what we wanna put to the test is is this worth it for us? - Nah. Like we can cook rice a
number of different ways, whether it's sushi with a lid, whether it's pilaf style, whether it's boiled in
excess water and poured off. If that is easier for you to
get rice at home, it's fine. I never cook enough rice
to warrant a rice cooker. This has peaked my interest. - Ooh. - Peeky. - There's only one way to find out. Shall we make some rice? - [Jamie] Let's do it. - One cup of rice to two cups of water, approximately 30 minutes of cooking time. However, there is a countdown timer that will give you the countdown
in the last six minutes, which presume is all you need to do is do a quick stir fry to go with it. This is back to premium ingredients. Some things are worth
spending a bit money on. - That's the thing, Ebbers,
you're right about rice. It is a very cheap commodity that we've, after our extensive testing, have realised is something that you
should spend more money on. Still relatively cheap compared to a lot of other
ingredients at the moment. A lot of people looking
for ways to save money in all areas of their lives. Food is one way that we
can help people do that. Rice is a great cheap ingredient. Buy the best that you can afford. - One thing I absolutely would say that a rice cooker has going for it is it should be very insulated and it should need a very
little amount of power to cook a small amount of rice. Rice washed, going in. One cup, 135 grammes. Ample for two, Two cups of water. Nothing else. - No.
- No seasoning? - No,
- No No. Place the cooking
pot onto the main unit. Place the rice cooker lid on top. Close the locking clips - That I have done. - Press the power, stroke warm button and the appliance were
going to stand by function. - [Ben] Correct. - Press the rice button and
the appliance will beep once. The rice indicator light, oh, the rice indicator
light will light up. - [Ben] We're good - [Jamie] And blank square will
display on the display panel - Correct. - [Jamie] The blank square
indicator lights will snake in a clockwise direction to
indicate cooking has begun. - Like a Nokia 3310 - Right? 29 half minutes to go - Fab. It cooked for 30 and it's
been hot holding for 17. - Lovely. Should we have a look? - [Ben] I hope I don't steam it. - [All] Ooh - The beauty of Basmati is
you have these wonderful, long individual grains. - [Barry] Are they? Is it clumping together? - Very well cooked. - Oh, oh my. - [Ben] That's pretty good. A little soft. You'd have to be careful as you served it so you don't break up
too many of those grains. Bit wetter on the bottom. It's more sticky, bouncy. - Would you say it's done it well? - I don't regularly eat
rice out of a rice cooker. So if that's what it's
supposed to be, that's fine. I don't think that's great. Like at the bottom it's
all mushy and overcooked. The top grains were lovely and perfect - So obviously we always try
to give everything a fair test. So before you had the
chance to play with it, the food team had to play with it as well. They've put together an incredible looking crispy beef dish from our
Big Night In recipe pack. They used the rice cooker. It came out perfectly. The only difference being that it's salt in at the
beginning of the cooking process. - The top half I thought
were individual lovely grains and the bottom, they're all stuck together but in hindsight, so these. - Personally, I look at that and I go that looks like pretty good rice to me. - [Jamie] Yeah - [Barry] And I've always, and I'm comparing that to packet rice. So that's exceptional. - [Jamie] As a normal, I don't get that kind of rice
from cooking it in a pan. As a chef, how would you cook rice? - So I would do exactly that. I would quickly wash and rinse, not always if I'm being really lazy but usually a quick rinse
and then two to one, bring it up, cover it with the lid, cook it, take it off, residual. It cooks quicker than 30 minutes and you have complete control over it and it works every single time. What I like about it is
the fact you measure it out and then you just let it do its thing. It's a lot more hands off than my method. I wouldn't say it's any better, but it's certainly one of the
best examples we've ever done for small volumes. - Should we talk about price? How much do you think
the mini rice cooker is? - 32 pounds. - [Jamie] It's 39 99. - [Ben] Fine, you know what? Around Black Friday, you'd
probably get it for 30 grid. - Do I dare ask for
your rating and review? - By far the most practical, functional and useful rice cooker, but if you want an
alternative, come to Uncle Ben. Three and a half stars. - I hope you've got one to make him happy - No - Ebbers lifter. Oh, oh - From behind, before I turn it around, I can see water vat that I
imagine will drip feed into something that in normal
circumstances would give me coffee. - [Barry] What have you got? - Aqua Optima. Okay, this does exactly
what I thought it did except any temperature I want will be vented from this machine. - Ebbers, this is the
Aurora instant hot and cold water dispenser. An all in one device that
will eliminate the need for a kettle. It's a water heater,
cooler, water filter jug all in one device. With a total of 49 different temperatures and volume options from chill to cooked and from one cup to a litre, you're just a whiff away
from the perfect beverage. - I have to be honest, that's how I like my water, cooked. (all laughing) - It's like this really posh, fancy taps that dispenses this boiling hot
water or freezing cold water that looked really cool but no one can ever
really afford or instal. This was like a smarter version of that. - Yeah, this becomes a desktop
or work top plug and play and you don't have to
have something like instal which is very expensive, but it has got multiple temperatures, multiple dispensing volumes - And it supposedly
filters the water as well - That I do need. 'cause where I live, I have
very, very line scaly water. - Feeling thirsty? - Yes, what have we got? - So to test the boiling
hot water function, let's make cup of tea - Specifically Masala
Chia, it is in the bag. - I think the thing I
like about this as well is that you can make just one cup of tea. It claims it's a lot more energy efficient than boiling a whole kettle. - So specifically this one cup, five minutes of brew time, does recommend freshly boiled
water of a hundred degrees. So we're going boiling, boiling first - [Barry] Little higher. - I was worried about
boiling water smash back. I was instantly corrected. - So select the temperature
on the left hand side and then choose how much
water you want on the right. Then push go. - We're up to boiling. - [Jamie] I can see it steam. - That's instant hot water. - Well, let's see. - Oh, he's got a thermometer.
- Why would you whip it out? - He's got a thermometer - [Ben] It's registering 96 degrees. I'm happy. That was probably boiling
before it came out. 200 millilitres of boiling water. - Now it's for that reason, I have actually bought a
very similar machine to this for my Nan 'cause she's
got quite bad arthritis. She struggles to lift up the kettle to pour out a cup of tea, whereas just one single cup at time and she lives on her own, that made a lot of sense. - We've spoken recently about energy use. Boiling an entire kettle just for cup is something that far too many people probably myself included, are guilty of. - Let's see how cold it goes. A refreshing cordial please. - Yep. Apple and blackberry
Jolly fresh low sugar. It says, "Mix it with gin." Gin is an option, just saying. - Hot call you ate past gin. (all laughing) - [Barry] This is our charter test. How cold it goes. It doesn't claim ice cold, just cold. - Each time it unlocks, quick get in there - How cold are we going? - Oh, its very cool. - Straight away. It's filtered water and you are limiting
how much water you use. You're not leaving the tap
on in the background as well. So you're reducing your water wastage. - Okay, water in here is room temperature 23 and a half degrees today. What came out when we
pushed the cold button Eight and a half degrees? - Lovely. Okay, good. Now to test it for more
specific temperature. Let's move on to some oolong. - Well this is like Goldilocks. Too hot, too cold. Ah, just right - [Barry] And what
temperature is this asking for it to brew out? - Exactly 80 degrees. - [Jamie] Whoa. - I'm going to vent. - [Barry] Where we at? - It's punching a bit of
above its weight at 85, 82. - [All] Oh - I come on mate, that's looking good. - 81. - [Barry] Whoa. - So going from cold, it
took a while to work it out but it got to 81 degrees for the last bit. Now to be fair to it, 84 degrees by the time it's fallen down
to here is probably about 81. (all laughing) I think that's pretty good. Again, bang on the measurement - [Jamie] Bats, that's this
replacing in your kitchen or is this an additional
piece of equipment? - I think it's, for me this
is replaced in the kettle. - Okay - At the same time, if you
can get cold water from it and it controls a matter
of water that you are using and the energy, it kind of makes sense. - But that's not replacing my kettle unless it's gonna decant
like a litter when I need it. Like to fill a pan of boiling water or in this case you gimme green stuff. - You'll need to wit that down with a litter of boiling whole water and then blitz it with
your almonds and Parmesan - You can fill it up
without removing the lid and it's got a no splash feature. - I'm intrigued. So here, if you're boiling a kettle how long is a kettle to boil? - [Ben] Two to three minutes to boil and then five seconds to decant. - You know max temperature,
maximum amount of water - [Ben] And exactly like a kettle, you can just push it and
leave it to its thing. I've got no idea where that was leaking 'cause I wasn't measuring it. However, given how accurate
it was on those three, I'm prepared to give it the benefited out. That's literally job done. You just want to wilt the greens and then we'll drain it and then blend it. - So this dish is actually
from our psychic app which is our own bit of kitchen tech. - [Jamie] Yeah, you just
pick your week's meals, you plan which day
you're gonna have them on and then psychic will generate
a really simple shopping list of ingredients and make
sure that you use up every single fresh ingredient
By the end of the week. - [Barry] You'll improve
your cooking skills save on your food bills, and
never have a boring meal again. - Plus now's a really
great time to give it a go or gift it cause it's 40% off. - Tell you what boys, if it's got recipes like
this in it, I'm on board. (all laughing) - [Barry] Okay, I think we've tested this pretty fairly today. How are you feeling about it? - I don't need this in
my life until you use it and you go hang on a minute. This is more efficient on water 'cause you are only
heating up what you need having been filtered and
you're only dispensing what you need. That bit is smart. - So shall we talk money? Ooh, your last kettle's just died. You're thinking this
might be a good investment - In my current setup, I
absolutely don't need it but there will come a point
when you go to seek a new kettle and that might be the time to think, This will replace a couple of things. A Brita filter, a kettle. It feels well-engineered. If it's a smart kettle, 70 to 80 quid. If we're putting it in the
alternative to a coffee machine in your kitchen 'cause it's dispensing tea at just the right volume and temperature, then it's probably higher. I wouldn't pay more than a hundred and they even then I'd
have to think about it. - [Barry] This comes in at 149.99. - I very rarely have tea. I have coffee and I have a coffee machine, which is about this size
that's in the kitchen and costs more than that. However, as a nation of tea drinkers, maybe there is a place for it. - It does everything ,sure - And it does it well. - Does it well, sure I don't need one. I'll tell you what on Black
Friday, if they're 30% off I'll give a hundred grid, I love it. - Hey Ebbers, what's your rating and what's the reviewer leaving? - If you live alone,
this might be for you. I do, It's not. Three stars. (Jamie and Barry laughing) Come on boys. I've got more stars to give. - Ebbers, lift the closh - It's plugged in but it
appears to have room for a bat, Oh no, that's not a battery. Candy play, is this a liquid sugar pen? That sounds lethal. - [Barry] Yes, Ben. This is the play 3D candy pen by Polaroid. It allows cake artists
and candy enthusiasts to create edible 3D
designs for their cakes, bakes and desserts. - Excellent, should we try it? - [Barry] Hell yeah. - Straight off, should I be worried that the quick start
guide is 75 pages long? (all laughing) - So it comes with 48
cartridges, which are vegan, sugar free and have natural flavourings. I know
- Sugar free candy? Okay, sugar free. Oh, it's 99.6% ice mould. - All we're doing here is drawing straight onto parchment paper. They could work and trace
something you designed earlier like one of our characters or
we know you're an artist, Ben freehand it. So you'll insert your cartridge of choice. Press the power button to turn the pen on. The LED light will indicate
the status of the pen. Once the light is blue,
press the star button to begin drawing. So I'll do the outline,
stop, let it cool down and then show it away. - Let it stop, let it stop - Remember I were you listen
into the instructions. - No, its running away from me. (all laughing) - What I've done instead is a unicorn with a parachute drinking from a serpent. It's like modern art. It is what you see in it. Oh that's terrible. - What are you seeing there? - Ebbers, this isn't supposed
to be a raw shark test? I wrote Mary 'cause that's what you have
to be to find fun in this - [Barry] Flipping heck. Okay, but that's quite impressive, Ben. - A five letter word, well done Ben. Oh he has got a lot of letters in it. - I've heard the idea of you just give him a pen and automatic. He just was, it was a sign isn't he? - You can all have a lick of Ebbers (beep sound) You want me to make a lolly pop but then - I am done. - This is a terrible
attempt at the word Ebbers. Mary was done a while ago
so it might peel off as one. - I've tried to write happy
birthday on cakes before and it's gone terribly wrong. - [Jamie] What, like ice piped ice? - Yeah.
- Yeah, 'cause it is a weird trap but that seems a little
bit easier to work with. - If anything I would say it's harder 'cause it's slower pipe
that with chocolate you can get a flow to
it that just does that. This you've got an
occasion at least catch up with it's built and it
sticks out a big bit and then a small bit but once it's set you could,
whatever you've designed, stand up and you'd have
the light glow fluid. I think that's quite cool. Ebbers is still a bit sticky, but (Barry chuckling) It does what I would expect of isomalt. It melts. It sets really hard. It gives you that snap. It's pretty firm. Especially if you made it
more structured in its design and it does taste strawberry. - Wow - Do you know what, I genuinely
think like with anything it needs a bit of practise and we actually had a bit of fun with that and imagine the things
you could draw in sugar. I think you could write messages on cakes that are very personal. I think you could start
to even think about like stain glass cookies, stain glass things
around the festive time. I think you could do an awful lot with it and once you started, yes, you can do lettering and stand it up but you could start to layer it now. So if you wanted to go
higher and higher and higher in the same way a 3D
machine, 3D printing machine - Ebbers, Ebbers, Ebbers, Ebbers, Ebbers - But I think you could
be quite creative with it. - What are you thinking when
it comes to price delivers? It does say it is for
the age of 14 and up. - I mean molten sugar. That does make sense. I feel like it would
entertain for a while. I think if you're an artist or cake decorating or
have an artistic flare, I think you can create
some fun stuff with this. The brand isn't a cheap brand so I imagine this is probably 48 pounds, pound for each stick. This comes free. - Ooh, 49 99. - Are you ready for
your review and rating? - With an artistic flare,
this absolutely would work but ironically I think
kind of pointless for a pen but I will give it four stars - What? - If it's reduced in
price on Black Friday, Don't pay 48,99 pound for it. - So whilst everyone is deep into their Black Friday discounts - Including us, - We thought now is a really good time to showcase more ways
that you can save money. - So on Friday 25th,
November, that's Black Friday, we are gonna be live
streaming to bring you Hack Friday at Brian's. - Yep, I'll be on hand
to give you a whole bunch of chefy tips to speed
things up, save you money and get you more delicious
food on the table and our food team will be here. Not just answer your foodie questions but also to put loads of stuff
to the test in real time. Cheers boys. Average number of stars today. I think you guys knew better. Comment down below with
any other food gadgets or tech that we should
review and we'll get to it. - We start off too high. - Yeah, this is exactly what it was.
