I love buying kitchen gadgets, some more useful than others! Browsing in Lakeland, Windermere last year I discovered a wonderful gadget and would like to tell you about it. The gadget in question is a 3 in 1 pineapple corer and slicer. I love pineapple but hate the effort involved in preparing them and no matter how hard I try I always end up with a lot of waste whilst still retaining those horrible prickly bits! This gadget promised to solve my problems!

The pineapple corer and slicer is a very simple gadget and really easy to use. It consists of a plastic handle and a hollow plastic tube. You get 3 tubes or adapters, so you can core and slice any size of pineapple. It looks like a very large corkscrew, which is how it works too.

To use you simply select the size of tube and click onto the handle. The tube has a serrated edge inside and a round cutting blade at the end. I suggest you place the pineapple on a low surface to allow you space to push down onto the pineapple. Cut the top off the pineapple, line the plastic tube up with the core of the pineapple and then screw down until you reach the bottom. As you screw the core will begin to be pulled up. The pineapple comes out in one long spiral all ready for you to cut.

The shell of the pineapple can be used to serve the pineapple if you want to impress! The remaining juice can be served with the pineapple or you can simply enjoy a glass of fresh pineapple juice!

This gadget is not only really useful but easy to clean too. It can be washed by hand or placed in the dishwasher. Since buying this we have eaten a lot more pineapple and wasted less too! Pineapple is a very healthy dessert and can be used in savoury meals too. I like to ad pineapple to stir fries and curry. My children love pineapple and I often give them a little plastic tub full to take as part of their lunch.

I really can't think of many cons for this gadget but if pushed I would say it takes a bit of strength to push the tube through the pineapple -placing the pineapple on a low surface helps. The gadget does take up room as its not small, but I am more than happy to allocate it a place in my kitchen!

The pineapple corer and slicer is available from Lakeland and costs £6.36.