Texas Pea Sheller

I always like to know what works and what will make life easier, so I thought Iﾒd share my ﾓproduct reviewﾔ with the group so you guys will know too. I bought a Mr. Pea Sheller from Lehmans Hardware a few months ago. This evening, I put it to use. The writing on the box claims ﾓGentle as hand shelled, but fast and effortlessﾔ. It also claims it can be run with your hand mixer or by hand crank. The instructions inside claim you can shell a bushel of peas in one hour. Hereﾒs what I found. The sheller isnﾒt much to look at ﾖ doesnﾒt even look sturdy. However, it is very strong and tolerated heavy cranking as I worked. The cranking is easy to do. The crank doesnﾒt come off (like my dumb pasta maker) and once you tighten the sheller to the edge of the table, it stays put ﾖ no constant retightening to keep it in place. I donﾒt see how you could use a mixer to crank it ﾖ looks like it would be more trouble than it was worth. The way the peas feed in made me pretty sure the peas were going to get smashed, not separated. Not so. A few peas got smashed but most came through perfectly. The shells dumped out the back, the peas spit out the front. Not sure I could do a bushel in an hour, but I did three gallons of peas in 50 minutes, much faster than by hand. The down sides? The sheller doesnﾒt have a good way to put bowls/pans/whatever under the front and back to catch the peas and shells. I ended up letting the shells drop onto the table and periodically slid them off into a waiting bucket. For the peas, I held a plastic lunch meat storage container thingy and when I got a half cup of peas in it I dumped it into another bowl. I learned to dump regularly, after I spilled one container of peas all over. My recommendation is that this little widget will save you lots of time. However, I also suggest you use it outside ﾖ maybe near the chicken pen ﾖ for ease of cleanup. I do not recommend using it in the kitchen, especially if you have two kittens. I will be finding peas under everything in my house for the next several months.