Grocery store trial banks: anything but improvisation

At the counter, 16 different spatulas will be tested with dishes that need to be removed from the pan without crushing them, gently rotating or pressing tightly.

These spatulas aren’t a last minute scoop at the $ 1 store — they’re really thoughtful.

Before delivering her turnkey research to the film crew, journalist Barbara Ann Gauthier crisscrossed approximately twenty large box stores, specialty stores and websites.

The grocery store, it’s more than just recipes. This public affairs magazine examines everything in the grocery cart, even the toilet paper. Its test benches, which require several weeks of thorough preparation, are particularly useful to the public.

The products tested should represent what is on the market here. For example, the spatula we have to bring from Scandinavia is not for our publicexplained Barbara Ann Gauthier.

Another criterion: the price. Fifty dollars for a spatula is pretty expensive! Me, I would be ready to pay how much without exaggerating?

Finally, the brand: some are important, others offer more than one model.

Sometimes it is a headache to choose which items to compare. Spatulas are made of silicone, nylon, melamine, metal. There are small squares with short handle, long narrow with long handle, holes, solid and other with grooves …

Another example: multicooker. They have up to 12 functions, but not both!

And what about the four -sided graters, with small holes, big holes, this, that … We tried 15: so 15 times on four sides with seven different ingredients; zest, soft vegetables, nutmeg … Big business!

Fortunately, the spatula case is fairly simple.

The expert selected for this test bench was Jean-Philippe Monette, professor in the Department of Kitchen Techniques at the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ), in Montreal. Filming takes place in a classroom at ITHQ.

Produced and broadcast for over 20 years on Radio-Canada television, The grocery store conducted more than 155 test benches. The team often calls ITHQ leaders as experts and experimenters, because they are heavy use of various kitchen utensilsexplanation by research journalist.

They also observed the use of these devices by the students. They know the companies that designed them and measure their usefulness in a kitchen. Finally, as they are teachers, they are great popularizers.

Jean-Philippe Monette is smiling and easy to talk to. Before becoming a conductor, he studied theater and mime. But the shot makes him nervous a little; Talking to the camera while browning a pancake is not that easy.

The spatula is a hand extension, he commented. Sometimes it is used to make eggs, sometimes a dumpling is tightly pressed … We’re a lot of a single equipmentobservation by Johane Despins.

On camera, the chef reproduced the outline of his experiments, which were conducted over two days in the kitchen.

For the audience, he explained that under the delicate pancake, the metal spatula sneaks better than silicone, which does not offer both finesse. The only problem: the metal can scratch the pan. Another spatula is very flexible to heat bent under the weight of an egg. What to lift if an egg is too heavy?quips the host on camera.

In the case of the spatula, you can’t measure much, we’re over use, and the results are natural., explained the research journalist. But I liked the way it was handled, Vague. Also expert tests, writes his observations and assigns marks to each of the equipment.

The winning spatulas of the event are featured in the highlights, ending with each test bench.

Quasi-scientific rigor

The grocery store there is no laboratory like this. After all, tests on test banks are being conducted to be as close, as objective as possible, says Barbara Ann Gauthier. It’s heavy [des aliments] will always be the same, the rotation is always at the same temperature.

The journalist asks from chefs who conduct tests of almost scientific rigor.

I’m the content keeper, he jokes. They are in my sight! To check the range of the wireless meat thermometer that the manufacturer said was five meters, he took Jean-Philippe Monette down the street, while holding the thermometer.

For the test bench dedicated to non-stick pans, Barbara Ann Gauthier has been inspired by tests conducted elsewhere in the world. He also called on an industrial designer who studied in the kitchen to build a small device equipped with a sandblaster and weight. You have to be creativehe summarizes.

Because to test the abrasion resistance of stoves, there is no other option but to exhaust them!

The protocol – sampling, testing, notes and so on papers – Serves to protect the team against criticism and possible lawsuits from large companies seeing the weaknesses of their products shown on TV.

The criteria that define the tests are important. In the case of spatulas, the expert did not evaluate the durability, but the impression of durability, because we haven’t tested them in over a year.

Little side yum!

Above all, this method serves to provide the best possible information to consumer viewers. This is the mission of The grocery store, a show with a big part information and a small part yum!summarizes the show’s coordinator, Patrick Brunette.

An original concept created by Radio-Canada’s News Department, this weekly program will be broadcast throughout the year, except on Holidays and during the Olympics.

Consumption, food, health … Topics, covered from a journalist’s perspective, from lead in water to elementary food aid, include everything that goes through the grocery basket, even toilet paper. Not to mention the recipes and stories: the canteens in Quebec, spices for the holidays or may.

The ratings are close to a million viewers and they value test beds because they don’t want to buy anything.

The return of the trousseau?

By 2022, I think we have proven that excessive consumption is not what should be donesays Barbara Ann Gauthier, who says she learned something from her experience with The grocery store : we don’t need such big business.

” We should talk about trousseau making [qu’on préparait anciennement avant le mariage]. We don’t need all the gadgets they sell us, but the basics. “

This is also the opinion of Chef Jean-Philippe Monette. We will not take a second mortgage to buy a spatulashe finishes on camera… To the delight of director Isabelle Vallée: That’s good! This will be my promo.