This top-selling $10 corn stripper can easily tackle an entire cob in under a minute

Warning: By choosing to read this article, you agree to be subjected to a bushel of corny puns. Still with me? Great, let's corn-tinue. (Okay, I'll try to use them more sparingly.) While I enjoy a good play on words, what I really love is efficiency; as a former baker who now tests and writes about kitchen products for a living, anything that can help me get ahead during meal prep is a winner in my book. But not every single-use gadget is worthy of precious drawer space. (A pistachio opener? Spare me.) Some of them, however, are actually useful, and if you plan on consuming many an ear this summer, allow me to introduce you to the Chef'n Cob Corn Stripper.

This gadget ($9 a "pop") is for anyone like myself who does not enjoy a mouthful of stringy teeth and would prefer to eat loose kernels from a bowl, thank you very much. Not only does the Stripper get to work faster than a knife, it's also safer to use — shuck, yeah!

Chef'n Cob Corn Stripper

$10

Barbecue meal prep doesn't have to be stressful — let this top-seller bring you some peace and hominy. 

$10 at Amazon

Yidada Watermelon Cutter

$10

So, how does this contraption work? Well, you'll still need to quarter your watermelon the traditional way (sorry, there's no getting around that). But once that's done, just place the cutter against the cut side of one quarter and push. Its windmill-like blades will portion the fruit into evenly sized cubes as you go, with the long handle acting as a sort of conveyor belt for the cut pieces. There's even a handy measuring guide on the side should you want your cubes to be a certain height. From there, you'll empty the cubes from the handle as you go and work your way through the watermelon row by row. No more slippery knives or jagged pieces that look like a toddler sliced them. 

"This is the best purchase I have made for the summer," raved a reviewer. "I hate cutting watermelon, but this has totally changed my views. I cut three watermelons in, like, 10 minutes. It is so easy to clean as well."

$10 at Amazon

There are plenty of tips out there for removing corn kernels. One involves getting out a Bundt pan, sticking the cob into the center hole and slicing the kernels so that the pan catches them. That's all well and good, except for the fact that balancing an ear of corn on its narrow end while taking a knife to it has likely led to many a finger mishap. You could also use a vegetable peeler-like tool, but that only lets you remove a narrow column at a time.

What sets the Chef'n Cob Corn Stripper apart is that it tackles the entire ear in one fell swoop. The inside is equipped with a sharp, ring-shaped blade that saws the kernels away from the cob while keeping your fingers out of harm's way. All you do is place one end of the ear inside, then twist the stripper in a downward motion. Ta-da! Oh, and once it's worked its magic on your farmer's market haul, it can go on the top rack of your dishwasher for easy cleaning. That's what I'm "stalk"-ing about!

Over 5,000 Amazon customers were so a-maize-d by the speed of Chef'n Cob Corn Stripper, they gave it a five-star rating.

"It sheared 14 ears in 10 minutes with full kernels," raved one happy shopper. "I was quite pleased. ... Only takes three or four ears to become proficient."

"[I've] been buying the fresh summer corn husks to parboil and then seal in a freezer bag so we have fresh corn for the winter," shared another. "We used to use a knife to cut the kernels from the corn cob, but man, this does the job so fast and much more quickly! It also wastes less than the knife would. ... Also, [our] daughter has braces and can’t eat corn on the cob. We can scrape it so much faster for her now."

"This has been such a time-saver and a kernel-saver!" exclaimed a third. "I used to cut the corn off the cob with a knife and would have kernels everywhere due to limited mobility in my left hand. With this, I’m able to easily get the corn off the cob and into the bowl with no casualties. ... My family is obsessed with my homemade corn chowder and now I don’t dread making it for them."

"For the most part, it removed the kernels flawlessly," wrote a mainly content reviewer. "However, at times it missed quite a bit at the narrowest part of the cob. We went back through and focused the edge on each side and cleaned it up. The other challenge was removing the gadget from the thickest end without practically throwing corn. It took some practice but we were able to control it a bit more by slowly rotating the cob and stripper in opposite directions until it basically twisted off." That said, they added, "It held up great, will be used again and is definitely something I'd buy again!"

"It will give your forearm muscles a workout," admitted a final fan, "but [it's] safer [and] more efficient in cutting all the corn off."

Psst: Here's another summer must-have.

If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.