I’m not the best cook, but I can manage to whip up some pancakes with the help of some tasty Aunt Jemima mix. They certainly weren’t perfectly formed, and often times they weren’t even cooked all the way through, but they were edible, and that’s what counts. Now that I’ve been using my Batter Dispenser for a good 6 months, my pancakes are still mediocre, but boy are they shaped perfectly! No joke, I use that “contraption” you see to the right every time I make pancakes, and what’s even more surprising is that it works as advertised, a rarity these days.

The Batter Dispenser is a fairly simple product — no batteries, LCDs, LEDs, or RFID transmitters. You just fill the tube with batter, then give the handle a squeeze. Depending on which of the three sizes you have selected (I like the 2nd one best), a nice, perfectly round squirt of batter will come out. I’ve also stuck some chocolate chips in the dispenser before and it seems to work, but many times the chips become clumped together (which makes for all chocolate, no pancake).

Personally, the only thing I use the Batter Dispenser for is to make pancakes, but you could also put any other type of batter in there, be it muffin, waffle, or pancake. Whatever floats your boat.

Cleaning the dispenser is pretty easy, you can either stick in the dishwasher, or, as I do, give it a quick rinse in the sink with some soap.

For a quick, neat little kitchen present for Dad (if he likes that kind of stuff), pick up the $36 Batter Dispenser from Willaims-Sonoma.