Its package boasts proudly that the RoboStir automatically stirs as you cook, "like having a third hand" according to the commercials.
The RoboStir kind of looks like the vehicle that landed on the moon. A capsule base at the top with three wire legs at the bottom, each sporting silicone feet capable of withstanding more than 550 degrees. The RoboStir takes 4 AA batteries, not included.
Push the button on the top and the RobStir comes alive, much like a vibrating back massager. But inside, there is some kind of device that gives it "orbital gyroscopic" action. In other words, it's supposed to move in tiny circles, while "orbiting" around the circumference of the pan you place it in.
We place it in the middle of a pan containing spaghetti sauce with meat. It is simmering on the stove. The idea is to keep the sauce on the bottom moving so it doesn't burn or scorch.
We start on the lowest of the three speed settings.
It turns alright, but remained in the same spot.
So we think, maybe it's the speed.
We bumped the speed all the way up to the maximum setting and no matter what we did, it would not move around the pan. It just kept rotating in the same spot.
So we moved it. But just like a homing pigeon, the RoboStir kept coming back to the same spot again and again.
We thought it could be a leveling problem, so we leveled the pan with an actual leveler. We tried three different pans. The RoboStir would not move from the spot we placed it in. It just kept moving in a small circle, leaving most of the pan untouched.
"Does it Work?" We give the RoboStir, a no. It may look like fun, but we think you're better off spending your $10 elsewhere.
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