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What is this device called? The length is exactly 12 inches.

Stephie
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user80399
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    It would be great to provide some kind of reference for the size (a ruler for instance) – WoJ Jan 06 '20 at 13:38
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2 Answers2

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I don’t know if it has an official name, but it’s a spaghetti tool. The holes are for measuring portions and the tines are for stirring in the boiling water and for serving after it’s strained.

SSteve
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    It's a "plastic pasta server/measurer" on alibaba https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/PLASTIC-PASTA-SERVER-PLASTIC-PASTA-MEASURER_60418792997.html – stanri Jan 06 '20 at 16:00
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    I can also confirm this answer. My mom had one of these when I was a kid in the 80's-90's. – computercarguy Jan 06 '20 at 18:49
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This tool is certainly labelled as a pasta server/measurer on Alibaba. It doesn't look useful for such, though. It looks more like an herb stripping tool.

Here's a link on amazon to a similar product.

Aww_Geez
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    Other than identifying the tool as "like an herb stripping tool", this answer just plain wrong. It looks similar to the herb-stripping tool, because form follows function, and the mechanical aspects are similar. But the tool being asked about is **definitely** a pasta tool, and is **definitely not** an herb-stripper. It is larger than an herb-stripper, the holes are typically marked specifically for pasta serving sizes, and the spoon shape provides a means for picking up not just spaghetti, linguini, etc. that the tines work with but also smaller pasta shapes. – Peter Duniho Jan 06 '20 at 18:37
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    @PeterDuniho I'd add as well that the other central claim of this answer is _also_ definitely wrong - the tool does look useful for pasta serving/measuring. – Alex M Jan 06 '20 at 22:19
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    My guess is this item is way too big for herb stripping, but it's admittedly hard to tell from the picture. – Kat Jan 06 '20 at 22:50
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    @PeterDuniho you put a handful of spaghetti through the holes, to get 1/2/4 servings or perhaps 100/200/300g or some such. Very quick and convenient. The prongs let you fish spaghetti out of the water easily. I would say it's not a general-purpose pasta tool, but one limited to long pasta for the fishing, and to long hard pasta for measuring, and even then best at spaghetti (with round cross-section giving a predictable area) and worse at long hard flat noodles (where packing could give more or less solid a cross section than spaghetti). – Swiss Frank Jan 07 '20 at 05:05
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    @Swiss: you don't need to explain to me how to use the tool. I have one that I've owned for 30+ years. And I have found it useful for dealing with all types of pasta. YMMV. – Peter Duniho Jan 07 '20 at 07:23
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    @PeterDuniho apologies, meant to direct comment to Aww_Geez. That said, not sure how you'd measure macaroni or fish out lasagna with this! :-D – Swiss Frank Jan 07 '20 at 07:34
  • @Swiss: you got me there on the lasagna. I let my wife make that dish. But, I never said it was used for _measuring_ all types of pasta, just that I find it handy as an alternative to e.g. a slotted spoon (i.e. "dealing with") for the smaller pastas. – Peter Duniho Jan 07 '20 at 07:45
  • It's not really useful for anything. It's a gimmick, and if you order your salad spinner *now*, it comes free +$29.95 in shipping. We'll even throw in a second one that you can give to your friends, who will find it as equally useless. – Mazura Jan 08 '20 at 03:15
  • @Mazura salad spinners are very handy. – Tim Jan 09 '20 at 08:16