New Baster, New Technique. Happy Thanksgiving!

OXO Good Grips Turkey Baster

When Thanksgiving rolled around, I was devastated to learn that my super-cool Tovolo turkey baster had somehow gotten crunched in our gadget drawer. That meant I had to make an emergency trip to the local store for a new one. The pickings, sadly, were kinda slim (at Kohl’s, if you must know), but I found an OXO Good Grips Turkey Baster for the surprisingly high price of $14.99 (the only other model cost even more) and brought it home with me.

OXO’s baster is a clear plastic tube that’s about nine inches long with a black rubber bulb on top. A hard plastic collar locks onto the tube where the bulb attaches to the business end. The tube itself is marked off in quarter-ounce increments on one side; with 5 ml gradations on the other. According to those markings, the capacity is a bit over 1½ ounces and forty-some milliliters. The baster includes a cleaning brush comes that fits inside for storage.

There are two versions of OXO’s baster, one with a straight tube and an angled version that includes a built-in rest. I'd have preferred the angle version since it’s similar to my late Tovolo, but this store didn't carry it.
This model works like most basters: squeeze the bulb to suck up some liquid, squeeze it a second time to expel the liquid. Unlike a few basters I’ve had in the past, the bub doesn’t slide around on the slippery turkey drippings, which is a good thing.

squeeze like this

I didn't test the baster capacity, but I rather doubt that a single squeeze of the bulb would can completely fill the 1½-ounce tube. In reality, I didn't care... What I did find myself caring about is that the plastic collar forced me to change how I operate a baster. Normally, I’d just squeeze the bulb like a kid’s bicycle horn, but OXO designed this one so you hold the collar like a syringe, and press with your thumb as if the bulb were a plunger. If you try a normal squeeze, it doesn't work particularly well.

There’s nothing on the packaging to show the modified use and I didn't figure it out on my own until after I'd cooked the turkey. I guess you’re forewarned…

copyright © 2017-2018 scmrak