Ever heard of a Bigmouth Funnel?  Hopefully you will soon!

A little more than a year ago I was at a blogging gathering in Noosa, a holiday destination not far from where I live.  I’d been invited by a blogging (not food) friend and I thought, “What the heck, I might meet someone and get new ideas.”

Well, that’s just what happened.

There were around a dozen people there…  maybe a few more and across the table from me sat a guy named Robin Bristow.  When he found out I was a foodie, he wanted to know my favorite recipe for chicken wings.

“Chicken wings aren’t my favourite,” I replied.

Well, that put a damper on things but only for a moment.  He went on to tell me I needed to try more recipes because nothing could compare to a great plate of wings.

The person sitting next to me got up and Robin came around and sat next to me and began telling me about himself.  He’s an architect by profession and from South Africa (you don’t need to be told this as his accent gives it away in 2 seconds).  He’s also very crafty in the kitchen.

One day he was trying to refill his pepper grinder and missed the opening and peppercorns went all over the counter.  He looked around for a funnel small enough to allow the peppercorns in but big enough that the job wouldn’t take all day.  He began by cutting apart a lid from a plastic ice cream container and fashioned a wrap around funnel.

It worked just fine but that idea sat in the back of his brain and one day he decided that the idea was good enough to enter into the Sydney Design Awards — and he won!  Well, that encouraged him to see if his idea had commercial legs.

He showed me samples of his funnels and gave me a couple to try.  They work!  They store flat and hook together in seconds and I’ve never spilled a peppercorn.  The larger size works fine for small jars where the canning funnel is too large.  Doesn’t that make you mad when you put the funnel over the jar and it’s close but not close enough and you try to hold it very still so it won’t spill?  The BigMouth funnel works for me every time.

Robin and I are friends now and I was so pleased to see that he’s got a Kickstarter campaign going to get commercial production of the Bigmouth Funnels started.  I’ve made my contribution and if you’re looking for a project to support, I can vouch for this one.

Here’s a recipe for Chilli Jam using Bigmouth Funnels to fill the jars.  Enjoy!

I’ve got a small and a large funnel for one lucky reader.  They are as light as can be, so I’m happy to ship to anyone around the world.  Just tell me in the comments why you’d like them.