Kevin O'Leary Names His Favorite Food Deal He's Ever Made On Shark Tank - Exclusive
After nearly 15 years and more than 300 episodes, "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary has most definitely seen it all when it comes to unique business ideas and quirky inventions. That includes countless food inventions, ranging from brilliant to mind-boggling to just plain harebrained. And seeing as how Mr. Wonderful is also fondly known as Chef Wonderful, he's been known to jump on all the best kitchen ideas, striking countless food deals in his time on "Shark Tank."
But more recently, Chef Wonderful has struck culinary gold, investing in a kitchen tool that he says tops all kitchen tools. In a world where home cooks have just about every gadget at their disposal, it's hard to stand out and actually add value in the kitchen. So it's all the more impressive that O'Leary calls this pitch one of the best he's ever seen on the show.
In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Chef Wonderful shares his favorite food deal he's ever made on "Shark Tank," the Turbo Trusser. O'Leary explains why this unique kitchen gadget is an essential that every home cook should have, describing it as a total game changer when making roasted chicken or turkey. Your holiday meal prep and at-home dinner parties will never be the same.
O'Leary says the Turbo Trusser is the ultimate tool for juicy roasted birds
Roasting a whole chicken, not to mention a turkey, can be intimidating for any cook. Getting it cooked through, with a succulent, crispy skin and juicy, flavorful meat on the inside, can be a huge challenge. It's so easy to wind up with a dry, tough bird. That's why Kevin O'Leary says the Turbo Trusser is such an impressive invention. "This thing is elegantly beautiful and so simple," he tells Mashed.
Regardless of how you're cooking chicken or turkey — "whether you roast it, deep-fry it, put it on the barbecue outside, or use a steam oven" — Chef Wonderful points out that "the reason a bird loses its juices, particularly in the breast area ... is that you didn't truss it properly." Then, the juices leak out in the oven and you lose all the flavorful moisture that is key to tender and tasty meat.
That's where the Turbo Trusser comes in. Made in two sizes, one for chicken and one for turkey, this mechanism can be fashioned at the opening of the bird's legs to seal up the cavity entirely, locking in all the bird's fluids (and any aromatics and herbs you stuff inside it before cooking). "It trusses the wing to the leg and compresses the bird into one ball of meat, so it's cooking it as a unit," explains O'Leary. He insists that "anybody should try this." The trussers are available online and, at $20 apiece, are relatively inexpensive for a kitchen tool that you'll turn to again and again.
Learn more about the Turbo Trusser on its website. Follow the latest from Chef Wonderful on Instagram, and catch episodes of "Shark Tank" on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on ABC.