Hull your strawberries the easy way

Not every gadget in my kitchen is expensive. I mean, yes, I have some stupidly expensive things (thanks mostly to my reviews on The Spruce Eats) but I also love love love some of my cheapest tools.

One of my favorite things is quite seasonal. It goes into storage (aka the kitchen gadget random drawer) where it disappears into the dark, crawling to the back of the drawer and snuggling safely under larger items, where I can't easily find it. Then when spring comes, I frantically look for it, because I have to have it. Have. To. Have It.

It's my beloved strawberry huller.

It looks innocent, but when you press the bottom button, the pointy jaws open, ready to dig into the top of a berry. A simple twist, letting go of the button, and the hull is removed.

Yes, I know I can hull strawberries with a knife. I've also seen videos were people suggest using a straw or a chopstick. But the huller simply does the job better. It makes a circular hole - and the size can be adjusted depending on how wide you open the jaws and how deep you go into the top of the strawberry. The resulting hole is just on the top. There's no hole through the bottom, no ragged edges, and not much mess or effort. I can whip through a couple pints of strawberries in no time.

Open the jaws again to ptooie the removed hull so you can attack the next strawberry.

The nice neat hole the huller makes is also very attractive if the strawberries will be filled. Think whipped cream or sweetened cream cheese or chocolate.

You might also use this for hulling tomatoes, but to be honest, it doesn't need another reason to exist. It's great at what it does, and that's enough for me.

The strawberry huller I have is made by Chef'n, and that's the one I recommend, although there are other brands available. If you don't like that one, I'd suggest sticking with a brand name - it won't cost you a whole lot more, and it will hold up to the wear-and-tear of seasonal use.

OXO has a strawberry huller that is a completely different style. I haven't tried it (yet, but you never know) but for the most part I've liked most of the OXO products I've tried. If you've tried it, let me know!

Recommended for anyone who likes fresh strawberries.