 This Stainless Steel Vegetable Peeler is the design I favor, featuring a straight blade that makes peeling around curves easy, and a strong join between handle and blade. Equally good for right or left handed peeling. |
Aah the vegetable peeler. Of all the kitchen gadgets, peelers are the ones I have broken or thrown away the most of! Not because I hate them, but because I love them so much that I am constantly searching for a better model, and when I find one I peel my little heart out till I break it!
There are a lots of varieties of vegetable/potato peeler out there but the chief distinction seems to be those with a blade mounted perpendicular to the handle, kind of a T shape like the Samurai Speed Peeler at amazon. These are OK but I always find that you have to use a ‘drawing back’ motion across the surface of what you are peeling, making it hard to adjust the angle as you peel. If you are peeling an apple using this type of peeler, you have to constantly turn the fruit.
The other type has the peeling blade continuing on from the grip, a far better arrangement in my opinion. This lets you use your peeler left handed or right alike, and it works just like a knife. You can maneuver the blade to get into the crooks and crannies of anything – sweet potato, asparagus or anything!
Of the straight blade variety, you will find either swivel blades or fixed blades. The common plastic version uses a one piece plastic blade that is loosely mounted, allowing the blade to change angle as it cuts. I have never mastered these, finding that the blade drags itself flat while peeling. A better design is the fixed blade as above. When you are looking to buy a peeler, if you do choose to go for the fixed, straight blade design, make sure you choose one that has a lot of strength at the join between handle and blade. I have broken several that had a weak mounting, with any vigorous peeling doing them in! In fact I just broke one tonight.