Spiralisers turn vegetables into noodles to eat as a substitute for carb-heavy pasta. WIRED asked Elizabeth Peyton-Jones, author of Cook Yourself Young, to test the latest models in her kitchen. Each processed carrots and courgettes and was assessed on form, versatility, blade quality, durability and ease of use.

Elizabeth Peyton-Jones found this compact unit simple to assemble and adjust the three blades that are neatly housed in its body. "Suction was good and didn't need further adjusting," she says. "However, the clamp only allowed a certain length of vegetable." Other footstuffs including daikon and sweet potato produced similarly pleasing results. 8/10£20

This stylish design comes in a green or black finish. Peyton-Jones was enticed by its looks but found it a little tricky to use. "You need very long vegetables to get a good grip to spiralise," she says. "The vegetables' skin came off, but wastage was high." The resulting watery spirals didn't make for a very satisfying dish. 3/10 £10

As well as spiralising fruit and vegetables, this can also juice, julienne, grate, shred and be used as a mandolin. "It has a one-litre container to catch the food as you use it," notes Peyton-Jones. One big downside was that it only has suction feet at the back, which makes it rather unstable. "I was concerned the handle would come out," she says. 4/10 £21

This attachment is custom-made for the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. The metal body is robust and consistency of spiral was achieved every time, with the speediest results on test. "If you are already a KitchenAid user, this is a must-have attachment," says Peyton-Jones. 9/10 £100 (mixer £359)

With pads on all four feet, this has good suction and is easy to assemble and change and store the blades. "It performed according to the manual," says Peyton-Jones, "and the noodles came out long and consistent." She noted that part of the reason the design is sturdy is that the core spike is large, leading to a long tube of unspiralised food after use. 7/10 £20

Peyton-Jones was impressed by the sharp blade and spike on this design that holds the ingredients when spiralising. With a knob that indicates which blade you should use, it's easy to change the tools to match the food. Peyton-Jones noted that Blade C created a very good spaghetti, but not every blade delivered on promise - Blade D's angel hair spaghetti came out looking more like a "wide fettucine". 6/10 $49.95

Ingredients

2 courgettes, 2 tomatoes, 50g pine nuts,150ml veg stock, 20g finely chopped root ginger,8 basil leaves.

• Wash the courgettes and spiralise them.
• Make a small, cross-shaped incision at the base of each tomato. Dip them in boiling water for 15 seconds, or until the skin begins to come away. Remove the tomatoes and then plunge into ice-cold water. Peel and finely chop.
• Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Set them aside to cool.
• Put 100ml of the stock in a saucepan with the tomatoes and ginger, and simmer until the stock has reduced. Add the rest of the stock and the spiralised courgettes. Simmer until they wilt. Tear the basil and mix in.
• Take off the heat and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK