The g-Spout is a removable, multi-purpose spout and strainer that helps you strain and pour hot cooking oil and grease, batters, soups and sauces. New to the market, this innovative device simply clips onto the side of frying pans, saucepans, double boilers, and bowls. Made of high temperature food grade silicone, the g-Spout is microwave and dishwasher safe.
Like many products, it started with a problem. Most people are aware that pouring grease down the drain is bad for the household plumbing, the city sewers, and ultimately the environment. But, how, exactly, does one properly dispose of the oil and grease? Pouring hot grease from a skillet can be messy and dangerous. We believed that what we needed was a simple spout that could be attached to the skillet. Something like this had to already exist, right? Well, not that we could find. So we did product searches, then patent searches, and then decided "what the heck, let's make it.”
It took a lot of engineering and prototypes before we got the product to be as simple as it is. The good news is that during that phase, our "testers" pointed out lots of other uses for our spout.
Inventor(s): James & Gail Archer
The g-Spout started as a "hobby" but has turned into a really exciting full time project. We (James and Gail Archer) previously owned a software company that specialized in the Art and Antique industries. James did the development, support, and sales. Gail did the prospecting for customers, lots of computer graphics work, and the bookkeeping. That company grew to a size where we could sell the business and semi-retire. We were fortunate that our new invention project wasn't our first business and we already knew a lot about how tough the road can be. We knew that everything takes longer and costs more than anticipated. We also had enough experience to do the engineering, graphic design, legal work, and business analysis ourselves, so that helped.
James is a Computer Engineer and also has an MBA. Gail was a dancer with the Australian Ballet and is now an accomplished graphic artist, web developer, and SEO specialist.
Where did the name g-Spout come from? Gail is Australian. In Australia, people are taught from an early age that pouring grease down the sink is bad, bad, bad – because it makes its way to the ocean pretty quickly. Yet, even in Australia, people still do this! And in America – the problem is 1000 times worse! While camping in the Colorado Mountains one day, we decided that we needed a “grease spout”.
But during testing, people found other uses – like pouring muffin, cupcake, and pancake batter; pouring paint; pouring sugar, salt, or coffee; drizzling chocolate or caramel from a double boiler; well, the list goes on. So, instead of “grease spout” we started looking for other names. The name g-Spout started as a joke – but it caught on. The “g” could stand for Gail, or Grease, or Green, or Great, or all of the above. Other names, like “Skillet Spout” or “Perfect Pour” either had trademark problems, or didn’t fit the bill. Eventually, the name g-Spout just “stuck”. The truth is, the vast majority of our customer comments (mostly from women, mind you) is that they LOVE the name! It’s certainly easy to remember. We decided to get past the inevitable snickering, and just embrace it instead. After all, we started this project to have FUN – and it is certainly that!
Susan says:
Oct 19, 2009 at 7:13 pm
This looks like it could be a very handy item and a good instrument to keep your cooking surfaces clean!
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