Two major 100-yen stores go head-to-head in a thrilling time-attack race!

Have you ever tried to whip egg whites by hand? It’s a lot of work, and it takes forever. By the time you’re finished, your arm will feel like it’s ready to fall off. That’s why mixers are great: because nobody has the time or stamina to hand whip egg whites for hours.

There’s also a much cheaper option! 100-yen stores Daiso and Seria both sell a manual device that makes eggs fluffy, so you don’t have to spend big bucks on a kitchen gadget or spend forever hand whipping. The Daiso version is called the “Fuwa Awa Whipper” (“Fluffy Foam Whipper”), and Seria’s is called the “Fuwafuwa Egg Maker” (“Fluffy Egg Maker”). Though they both cost 110 yen (US$0.81), they’re each a little different. Do they both work the same? Or is one better than the other? Our Japanese-language reporter Haruka Takagi bought one of each and decided to test them against each other.

As soon as she opened the packages, Haruka noticed a vital difference: the Seria version included a tool to separate the yolk from the white. Perhaps that’s because, based on the name, the Seria version is specifically designed for eggs.

Additionally, the Daiso version’s handle was different; it was yellow and had a tip shaped like a cute baby chick. Seria’s handle, by contrast, was a simple white stick.

The whipper mechanism itself was also different in each one. Daiso’s had two layers, while Seria had only one.

Size-wise they were about the same, though Seria’s looked like it had more holes.

Once Haruka noted these observations, it was time to pit them against each other. The contest was a simple timed test to determine which 100-yen shop device would make egg whites fluffy the fastest. Naturally, Haruka used a stopwatch so as to avoid any skewed time counts.

First up was the Daiso Fuwa Awa Whipper.

Haruka cracked an egg and did the diligent work of separating the yolk from the whites by pouring it between the two eggshell halves. Haruka did have to prepare a separate plate to hold the yolk, so that was kind of annoying.

But once the whites and yolk were separate, it was time to begin the challenge.

Ready…go!

To reduce the risk of spills, the information sheet recommended not raising the whipper higher than the approximate halfway line on the container. Even so, it seemed like the egg was gradually whipping up into a fluff, but how might that affect the time?

After 30 seconds…

The volume hadn’t expanded past the halfway line, but Haruka could see large bubbles forming.

When one minute had passed, the handle started to feel heavy. The eggs had whipped up a little past the line, and the bubbles were getting small enough that it was hard to see them on camera. Haruka thought perhaps just a little longer would do the trick.

After one minute and 31 seconds, the fluffed-up egg was starting to squeeze through the cracks around the lid. The egg whites had expanded to fill the container, so there was no way Haruka would be able to whip it anymore. The whipping was complete!

When Haruka removed the whippers from the container, they were filled from bottom to top with whipped eggs, which didn’t drip when she turned the handle sideways. The whites had reached a lovely state of stiffness.

Even the bits left behind in the container were well whipped.

Daiso’s final time clocked in at one minute and 31 seconds. That was actually faster than a hand mixer and quite a bit easier, but perhaps that’s to be expected from an egg white whipping specialty item. Haruka was impressed.

But now it was Seria’s Fuwafuwa Egg Maker’s turn. Haruka has used it to successfully make fluffy tamago kake gohan before, but she didn’t time the whipping. Would it be faster than Daiso’s? Time to find out.

Haruka cracked an egg and emptied it over the container…

And the yolk caught on top, letting the whites fall neatly into the container.

“I need this in my life!” Haruka exclaimed. It was so useful that it took away the trouble of separating the yolk.

Now then, let’s begin. Ready…go!

Since there was only one whipping plane, this one felt lighter and easier to move.

After 31 seconds…

The photo is a bit out of focus, but the egg whites were starting to swell with big bubbles. At this time, the result was about the same as Daiso’s device.

After one minute, it wasn’t actually much different from the way it looked at 31 seconds. Maybe the bubbles had shrunk? It was hard to tell.

When one minute and 31 seconds had passed, it was clear that it was going to take still longer. Perhaps because there was only one whipping paddle, the egg whites were taking a very long time to foam up. It was looking like Haruka was in for a drawn-out battle.

What Haruka hadn’t expected was how difficult it would be to maintain her grip on the handle as she whipped the eggs. The simple handle didn’t have any knob or anything at the end of it, so it was easy for her hands to slip on it. You have to really hold on tight and pump.

In the end, it took two minutes and seven seconds, 30 seconds longer than Daiso’s whipper. The egg whites looked nice and whipped, though!

At least until Haruka looked closely. There were sections of egg whites in the container that were still wet and heavy. It seemed like the Seria frother wasn’t as consistent.

Haruka wondered if she needed to put more time into it, or whether she should have paid more attention to pumping the frother all the way to the bottom of the container. Either way, it seemed like there must be some kind of trick to making consistently whipped egg whites with the Seria whipper.

In the end, there was a clear winner in this match: Daiso’s Fuwa Awa Whipper, with a time of one minute and 31 seconds! It earned a crushing victory with a lead of more than 30 seconds over its opponent. It was not only quick, but it had more usability than Seria’s egg whipper, thanks to the little chick decoration on the handle.

On the flip side, though, Seria’s Fuwafuwa Egg Maker’s egg yolk separator is a real advantage that may make it just as valuable as its opponent’s speed.

In conclusion, both are useful in their own way; it just depends on what you hate more: wasting time whipping or wasting time separating the yolk.

By the way, Daiso sells all kinds of useful cooking accessories, like ramen egg makers and single-person yakiniku grilling plates, so you can basically outfit your whole kitchen from Daiso at a very reasonable price!

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