Fox Run Pumpkin Carving Set: Inexpensive, Effective & Almost Moron-Proof
Written: Oct 24 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Works on a variety of pumpkin skins, inexpensive,
Cons: Not strong enough for thick skins or if you plan on making detailed images.
The Bottom Line: You might not be able to carve Yoda, Barbie or Scooby-Doo with this but for general Jack-O-Lantern designs ... this is just fine!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Fox Run Pumpkin Carving Set |
Think that all pumpkins are alike? That's what I thought until I started doing some research about the best pumpkins for baking, carving, planting and cooking. Ahhh, think that baking and cooking are the same thing? Try using the same pumpkin for soup as you do for muffins or pies and you'll definitely be able to tell the difference. The sugar pumpkin is the best for baking while the jumbo is the best for carving; not technical enough for you? How about the Gold Nugget, Dickinson, Howden, Table Queen, Pink Banana [and Pink Banana Jumbo], Mammoth Gold and Autumn Gold. With so many to choose from, picking the perfect one to carve, bake with, use for decorations or cook with can be a little confusing so don't be afraid to ask your grocery which he recommends. Then again, unless you ask someone that knows about gourds and pumpkins, chances are they are going to reach into a big stack and grab which ever they think looks the best. Once you have the perfect pumpkin to carve you need to get something to do the carving … enter Fox Run's inexpensive yet very practical pumpkin carving set.
Fox Run Pumpkin Carving Set
So what do you get with this pumpkin carving set? Well, the crayon and small tea light candle are pretty much useless items; I would have rather seen Fox Run add a smaller scoop or another knife to this kit than to have a crayon and candle. Even so, if you are just starting out with pumpkin carving or need something that is 'all inclusive', this is an inexpensive way to go. The scoop can be used for a number of things once you make your initial cut into the pumpkin; you can use it to remove the pulp and seeds as well as removing the inner layers if you want to have varying degrees of light shine through. It is thick and strong and will help you core out even the toughest of pumpkins but everything has it's limitations. If you are working with a pumpkin that has a lot of pulp or is extremely thick you way want to grab a thick, heavy metal spoon to do the dirty work or you might just end up snapping this. You can use either the bottom or the sides of the scooper depending on how large your pumpkin is; the key here is making sure that you wipe it off from time to time because the handle can get slick from the pulp and juice [especially if you are craving a pumpkin that is a little past it's prime].
The knife is your common, ordinary five inch pumpkin carving knife. It has a plastic handle that has a little bit of texture to it so you can get a better grip on it than the scooper but you will still have to wipe it off on a regular basis if you are using it to make cuts inside a pumpkin. This isn't something that you are going to want to let smaller kids work with because even though there isn't a 'blade' to it, if they start goofing around there is a chance that someone could get severely hurt. For thin to medium shelled pumpkins this will cut through them with no problem, the only time you may have trouble with this sticking in the skin is when you are working with the large and mega sized pumpkins that require you to use an actual knife to get through the skin and layers. We carved about five pumpkins with this knife before it just gave out and snapped; that isn't really the fault f the product because I don't honestly think that most people are going to buy this and keep it around for years and years. The pumpkins were medium sized with a nice healthy shell to them so I can't complain that this didn't work well.
I found this at my local Bed, Bath & Beyond store for $2.99 and knew that it was something that would get used for one season then tossed away. Why toss it? Well, it isn’t something that I would want to have around for an entire year then have to track it down [even if it was stored with all the Halloween things] and make sure that it was going to be able to do another series of pumpkins without breaking. Outside of the practical side of things, you never know when a company is going to update their sets or offer some new, cutting edge pumpkin carver [yeah, like that is at the top of the technology list of 'things to do']. Is it worth it? To me it is and I am someone that takes Halloween pretty freakin' serious. Sure I have knives and cutters just for pumpkins but I can't pass up getting one of these Fox Run sets every year.
The Bottom Line
I've purchased these kits for a few years now and have nothing but great things to say about them. I won't go so far as to say that they are a disposable type of product because if you are only using them to carve out one or two pumpkins you can keep them around for a couple of seasons. The "five hour candle" that you get with this is pretty much a joke. It will last five hours if there isn't any wind and you trim the wick every so often so if you are planning on using the candle that comes with this, heed my warning and make sure you stock up on other candles because you will need them. The crayon, well, even though it is Crayola it still isn't very practical for writing on the body of a pumpkin, especially if you want something that is going to have the least bit of detail to it. Even though I do trash the crayon and candle, for three dollars you could do a hell of a lot worse than this set so when you feel the need to do your best Psycho-stabbing impersonation on a pumpkin, give the Fox Run kit a gander.
As always, thanks for the visit…
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
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