Chef'n ZipStrip Herb Stripper, Updated Design, Green

Whenever possible, I like to use fresh herbs in cooking. For the last couple of years, I’ve grown my own herbs in pots on my patio and look for recipes to use them. Some herbs are easier to chop than others, and I am always looking for a new way to get the herbs off the stem and into my dish. Herbs like rosemary, thyme, and tarragon can be removed from their stems by pulling the ‘branch’ backwards between two fingers. This works, but it can take some time and so many leave stick to your fingers when you use this method. Other herbs like parsley can just be chopped off the stems, but it is hard to keep from getting any of the stem in the mix. I found the Chef'n Zipstrip Herb Stripper on Amazon and was intrigued enough to order it. This gadget is supposed to easily strip the flavorful leaves from the herb stems, and also measure the herb in the little receptacle attached to it. Great idea! Having now used it, I can say it is a pretty useful tool. I make an herbed tomato dish that has fresh parsley, oregano, thyme, and chives in it. Obviously, I didn’t need this gadget for the chives – I just took my herb mincer straight to them. But the rest of the herbs worked very well. Simply find the hole that best matches the thickness of your herb stem, and pull the stem through. It will strip the leaves as it pulls them through. If you are lucky, all of the leaves will fall into the attached bowl, but I recommend setting it on a cutting board or plate to catch the pieces that would otherwise fall on the counter. The oregano worked extremely well, as did the parsley. I almost didn’t use it for the parsley, but tried it just to see and was amazed at how well it worked for the parsley. It pinched the leaves easily off the stems and for the first time I didn’t end up with lots of little parsley stems in the dish. Not a huge deal, but I’d rather have more leaves than stems. The thyme was a little trickier. Most of my thyme sprigs had pretty delicate stems that broke easily as I tried to pull them through the hole on the herb stripper. I ended up using my fingers for the thyme. I’ve since made Bearnaise sauce with fresh tarragon and some roasted potatoes with fresh rosemary and found this tool works really well for both of those herbs. The Chef'n Zipstrip Herb Stripper will be a staple in my kitchen’s arsenal from now on. I highly recommend it to anyone who cooks with fresh herbs, unless you have a sous chef to prep for you.

Ok, so I love that they want a review of this beautiful piece of 1970's styled plastic. Not only does it possess the magical powers of looking like a soup spoon from a hibatchi grill, but the plastic will come to life and dance. If you've ever seen beauty and the beast from Disney, you know what I'm talking about. That soup spoon has nothing on my mean, green, dancing plastic maching. Speaking of machines, this mechanical wonder of the 45th century not only strips herbs like a mother fing machete, but clean up is easy. That's right, it self cleans too! As you finish using it and play house music so it can perform a perfect swan lake, it will shower and sing a lullaby so you can rest easy while it does the dishes too! No more fights with your partner over chores again! Dishes, laundry, mopping and anything else you can imagine. To be honest though, I made a fatal error today. I put on my music forgetting the magical powers of this device and stuck a stick of dill through the middle whole where it's heart should be. As he woke up he saw the herb coming and it was too late. Luckily the hole is more like a piercing and he started laughing...but never stopped. Anyways, this is all a lie. It's a piece of freaking plastic with different sized holes. Yes it works perfect, how could it not? You stick the herbs in the hole, pull them through and it rips the leaves off the stem. It doesn't come to life, cannot move, has no magical powers, but clean up is easy since all you have to do is rinse it under water, that was pretty much the only accurate thing above. I love it and will be buying one for my friend this holiday season.

I admit, I'm a sucker for Chef'n gadgets. I think I have most of them. They tend to make good quality stuff, and this was no exception. So if you need an herb stripper, this is a good one to get. But in my experience, most herbs are stripped faster by hand. The only herb this really helps me with is thyme: I can stick an entire sprig, with all its tributaries, through one of the holes and the leaves come off. Since thyme is the most tedious and difficult herb to strip in my garden, this alone made the purchase worth it for me. (Having the various size holes is essential for this, since the sprigs are all different sizes.) But if you're working with something simpler, like oregano or rosemary, I'd say save your money and use your hands.

I have an affinity for simple things that work. The Zipstrip, in that regard, is spot on. No moving parts; no complicated operation; just form and function. I should note that I am NOT a kitchen gadget lover. A good knife and a decent cutting board offset about a thousand plastic gimmicks that end up on yard sale tables. If you find it tedious to pull the leaves (fine and not) off of herb stems prior to chopping/mincing, you might just fall in love with this little green machine. The cup, in all honestly, serves more as a sitting base than a collection vessel. It is simply too small to catch most of what I strip off of stems. In fact, the whole "device" is deceivingly small (about the size of an egg for reference), but I'm good with that- drops into my "junk drawer" and takes up very little real estate. The only other shortcoming I have experienced (not due to design or build-quality) is that if the stems of your herbs taper, there is no "right-sized" hole. You might have to cut your stems in half and use two different holes. It is a super-simple time saver and has made me more inclined to go clip and strip a couple of herbs for virtually any meal prep.

Tried with fresh and dried rosemary, cilantro and basil. Worked good for rosemary. Didn’t work for other two. I guess it depends on the herb you’re stripping. Overall it looks cool and I wanted it to work but I never use it as it’s just as easy or easier to use hands or knife.

I love the size of this...small enough to do a great job, and definitely a value for the money. I love the speed with which it allows a person to work and the appearance and versatility are top notch! Every kitchen should have one. Gives you extra incentive for using fresh herbs!!

This is a wonderful little device. I've used it for cilantro, rosemary, oregano & thyme and it worked very well. Very lightweight and easy to clean!

It worked like a charm on Rosemary, saving my fingernails that staining. It did NOT work like a charm on Thyme. Then again, I don't think anything will, after this 3rd attempt at a device to tear tender leaves off of tender stems. The little basin seems redundant to me, as I am usually doing a cup at a time and it holds little more than a 2oz. measure in volume. It works for me.