RAW Blog

Ahhhh I couldn't believe it today when I saw this little tool, the Mango Peeler, Corer, Slicer by OXO on the web.  I was actually refered to the sale of this item on an eBay auction by one of my new buddies over at GoneRaw.com - what an awesome idea!

Here in Florida, there are tons of mangos right now.  In fact, in the building where I work, we have a huge mango tree right outside which shades the structure itself.  It's like Christmas when those little mangos get ripe and fall off.  Only problem is, they are SO HARD to peel, core, and extract the meat from.

Previously, unless I was able to get a young mango, all of mine would fall apart as I attempted (without much luck) to peel and pull the fruit out.  I was a big mess!  I would have mango juice down to my elbows, my counter would be soaked, and my blender only got bits and pieces of the fruit itself.  I felt so bad because I would waste nearly the entire fruit just trying to cut it apart!

If anyone has ever peeled or cut open a mango, they could tell you first hand just how heavily the seed is embedded into the meat.  A mango seed, if you've never seen one, is actually quite furry.  The little fibers are deeply implanted into the meat of the fruit, so pulling the seed out is almost impossible unless you simply cut around it.

Cutting around the seed does work, but you usually end up with very little meat.  With this new tool, I should be able to core the mango and slice it in half perfectly so as to scoop the meat out of each side with a spoon - no muss, no fuss!

I'll post with a product review.  I'm heading to Target to pick one up tonight! 

Update:

I did indeed pick up one of these handy little devices, and it worked wonderfully!  The handles make it easy to hold and manuever (if you've ever handled a mango, you'll know what I mean) as well as sharp and quick.  The seeds of mangoes are very furry and embedded into the flesh, so you need something quick and sharp to cut through the fibers and attached fruit, leaving the seed behind.  Well, that's exactly what this did!

Bravo to OXO for this, I'm very happy.  My only concerns are:

• +  The area for the seed doesn't fit all seeds, but it has the power to cut through so it'll work on any size, you just might find leftover seed pieces of a small quantity in one side if you've got a seed to big to fit.
• +  Make sure the mangoes that you use this on are semi-firm. A very soft, fully ripe mango may smush up and bunch beneath the corer/slicer
• +  Always use a cutting board and if yours is bamboo with a handle, like mine, you should be able to place the mango on the handle so that the groove of the handle holds it while you cut.  This is recommended because although the corer/slicer has handles which give you loads of stability, it's still possible with a bigger seed to move the mango about and accidentally mess up an otherwise perfect cut.

Enjoy!