Burger Maker Infomercial in Truth-Telling Shocker

Here at Gadget Lab, we know out readers are above the lure of the informercial — low-budget, over-long ads trying to hawk some piece of plastic crap that’s been sitting on the warehouse shelves, unwanted, for years.

So it is a shock to discover that one of these ‘labor saving’ devices actually works. Burger-meister George Motz, of the Hamburger America blog, tested out the horribly named Big City Slider Station, a scoop’n’smash pan and cover which cooks five burgers at a time. It began badly, with the usual mail-order shenanigans:

It took 3 weeks to receive my Slider Station. When it arrived it was much smaller than I had imagined and smelled of noxious chemicals (which I’m assuming was the non-stick surface that was clearly brush painted on).

Once washed and heated, however, things went better, although the first batch stuck to the pan:

We scooped balls of the fresh ground, placed them in the 5 slider receptacles, sprinkled with salt, and pressed (gently) with the cover. In about 2 minutes, we had sliders! I was amazed. The damn thing actually worked.

For $20, you too can have another gadget taking up space in your kitchen cupboards. I’ll stick to my cast iron skillet, a true multi-tasker. For the brave, the infomercial is embedded below in all its loud, obnoxious auto-play glory.

Hamburger America Test Kitchen – Big City Slider Station [Hamburger America via Serious Eats]

Product page [Big City Slider]