Customer Rating: 
Summary: mash away!
Comment: i'm not a fan of the lime-and-mint combination in a mojito, but i LOVE caipirinhas and i prepare lime-ade almost every day! i love the heft of this muddler; sometimes i get "twinges" when i use a can opener, mash stuff with a fork or grind spices in my molcajete, but the weight and leverage of this muddler made my work much easier! also it's long enough to work in a pitcher, deep bowl/pot/jar.
i mashed up 12 avocados all at once in a big bowl in less than 10 minutes (that includes cutting and scooping time)--and it was so smooth and creamy, with so little effort! normally i mash 1/2 an avocado at a time on a saucer and then scrape it into the guacamole bowl...tedious!
also good for home canning/pickling; tamping out air bubbles or foods into a jar, esp if they need to be covered by a layer of liquid (like homemade sauerkraut and green tomato pickles)...could be used for soft fruits & cooked foods for baby...and if you have ever bought natural tahini, peanut butter, etc, you know how the oil separates...i don't think it's any fun to mix them up--i've tried draining off the oil but then the "butter" is very "cementy" and scraping it out of the jar into a bowl or food processor is just an awful greasy mess. my attempts to mix in the jar have often ended with oil on my shirt, the counter, the floor, all the while fearing the jar might bust and shred my hand...this is a chore i've hated since childhood! however, with my new muddler i mixed some VERY separated tahini i had been pointedly ignoring for about a year, in record time & with minimal effort, right in the jar...every hippy needs one of these! mom, want one for christmas? :D
the bottom surface is scored into points and slightly concave; i tried breaking up some very lumpy granola and crushing cookies into crumbs and it didn't work as well as i hoped (but i've always used a rolling pin or my volcanic-rock pestle for that kind of thing; i'll try not to die of disappointment). the only improvement i can think of might be to make the other end rounded so it could double as a pestle; on the other hand, the metal top is perfectly flat and some people might prefer that as another mashing surface and/or a place to rest your thumb.
