Conference turris::cooks

    I've found that the cheap peelers from the grocery store utensil rack
    are the best - they get sharper as you use them (at least, if you peel
    potatoes with them - not sure about carrots, but tough things like
    ginger root will dull them).  The fancier ones either didn't work for
    me, or broke.
    
    /Charlotte

I got a Henkels in my Christmas stocking about 3-4 years ago and really like
it. It did take a little getting used to, but now I won't peel with anything
else.

I took the liberty of changing the base note title to read "peeler".

--PSW

    Any cheapo peeler (my preference too) or other inexpensive metal
    implement will rust readily.  Do not leave the peeler in the sink with
    dirty dishes.  Rinse it immediately after use with hot water and put in
    the drainer.  No need to wash with suds - any vegetable sediment will
    rinse off.
    
    L

One of my favorite peelers (since I am constantly throwing them in the 
garbage, I keep 3-4 around at any given time) is the one I bought at 
Williams Sonoma (mail order catalog or store in most major cities).  In the 
catalog you have to buy 4 or 5 of them at a time, but they sell individually 
in their stores.  

The peeler is horizontal, instead of vertical (peeling blade perpendicular 
to the (plastic) handle you grasp), and I really like the way it feels and 
works.  It also seems to keep an edge, though I never have one long enough 
to really find out!

Also, beware the peelers with coating that keep them from rusting -- I don't 
think they work very well.

Barbara

    I ordered a peeler from a cooking catalog for my mother-in-law.  The
    peeler has a large handle and is designed for individuals with
    arthritis.  I tried it and liked it so much, I ordered one for myself.
    My hand doesn't cramp up after peeling more than a couple of potatoes
    with this peeler.  I don't remember the name of it now, sorry.
    
    Maureen
    

    I went to the new Flea Market in Worcester a couple of weeks ago
    and found the greatest gadget. I don't recall the name, but I bought
    about 6 of them so far, and everyone likes them. They are also
    perpindicular and are stainless steel, and guarenteed. You can cut
    through squash like butter, and they were created for a woman with
    severe arthritis. They have their own stand there every week so far,
    and they sell for $5.00, and they also have some cute gift packs.
         I think they're great!!! 
     
          Paula 

    That reminds me of a pet peeve that I have.  Whenever my sister-in law
    comes to visit us (they live out of state and my home is "their home"
    when they come), she puts the peeler in the dishwasher.  This, in my
    opinion, is as good as throwing it out.  I don't put anything like that
    in there.  The measuring spoons she put in there once lost their sheen. 
    Peelers get rusty because the dishwasher doesn't dry immediately, etc.
    
    Rgds,
    marcia
    (too fussy?)

    Did they get rusty because they weren't stainless steel?  I did that
    once too but I learned quickly, today I try to buy everything I can with 
    intentions of putting it into the dishwasher and that includes most things 
    out of stainless steel, they also are the also are the ones that last the 
    longest.  
    
    It's sorta like buying clothes, if it has to go to the cleaners it's
    got to be a very special outfit if it wants to come home with me.  Most
    all I buy is washable on gentle, even a lot of wools.
    
    

    I put mine in the dishwasher - I have two vegetable peelers so that if
    one is dirty there is still one available for use.  Doesn't seemn to
    hurt them any.  They get sharper from use - my spouse, who is
    left-handed, finds them hard to use because I am right-handed, so the
    left side of both of them is much sharper than the right side, which is
    rather rusty.
    
    The gadget I have the hardest time finding a good one of is a garlic
    press.  I have probably gone through 5 of them in fifteen years or so.
    They either do a poor job and so get thrown out, or eventually break
    and get thrown out.  I broke the last decent one I had a month or so
    ago, and am now using a new one which is much harder to clean.
    
    /Charlotte
     

    Charlotte,
    
    Have you tried the "Zyliss" brand garlic press? (it is recommended by
    Jeff Smith-The Frugal Gourmet).  You would have to go to a kitchen 
    store to get it, that's the only place I have seen it- It comes with
    a plastic disk with prongs that pushes the garlic out of those tiny 
    holes when you are finished. I have had mine for about 10 years-no
    problems!  The dishwasher doesn't hurt it either.
    
    Linda

    That's the kind I have now, but it hasn't been around long enough to
    prove itself in my mind.  The previous one lasted several years, but
    the others broke in a few months - we eat a LOT of garlic in my house,
    and I am too lazy to chop it by hand unless I am chopping it with
    ginger.  of course I already am not sure where the plastic cleaner for
    the new garlic press has gotten to...
    
    /Charlotte

    My wife (the cook) has developed tendonitis problems that are
    aggrevated by hand peeling.  At my suggestion she went shopping for an
    electric peeler and came home with a Daisey Stripper.  It holds the
    vegetable (potato, carrot, apple, cuke, ...) vertically, with 4 plastic
    spikes on the bottom and a single spike on the top.  The Stripper then
    rotates the vegetable as the cutter moves from top to bottom, tracing
    the edge of the vegetable, and producing long strings of peeling about
    1/16" thick.  It peels a large potato in about 10-15 seconds.  The only
    hand work is to cut off 1" circles of peel on the top and bottom, and
    cut out the eyes.

    I had the honor of doing the first test.  I picked a relatively
    spherical potato -- it worked great.  Then I tried a very misshapen
    potato -- the results were equally good.  The blade does an amazing job
    of tracing all the hills and valleys of the potato.

    In addition to working well, the Daisey Stripper is FUN!  I had to
    exercise great restraint and not peel very potato in the house.

    -- Ward

Best veggie peeler:

			Tupperware $4.99

I LOVE it!!!!!

    We've been through perhaps a half dozen peelers, most of which annoyed
    me with their poor performance. We finally found a good one. The "Good
    Grips" peeler. Makes it easy. Definitely worth the $7 or so it costs.

    There's a store called B&B and Beyond in the new Worcester mall. They
    had the Good Grips peelers out for a demo with a bunch of carrots so
    you could try them out.  I had my 5-year old with me, and he did
    terrific with the peeler, so I figured if a 5-year old could manage it
    so could I.  Now he and I argue over who gets to peel the carrots and
    potatoes : )  
    Sarah

    Judicious looking in TJMaxx's will give you the great opportunity
    to see other GOOD GRIPS items at a most reasonable price.  I 
    suggest a jaunt through these stores...clothes, shoes, bed and
    bath items are also there for much lower prices and the return
    policy is wonderful.

    justme....jacqui

	Good grips hit the higher end department stores like a storm earlier,
	but their sales died quickly (fad?).  The second level buy-out-lots
	resellers got them by the bundles. 

	I like our two sided Henckels peeler quite a lot, after a long search
	for one I like and actually use (we have a drawer full of the rejects).
	Until the Henckels I just always used a knife to do the job instead.
	Another feature of the Henckels is the ability to use the tip and sides
	as a pseudo knife edge, I use that aspect of it often.

     The thing I didn't like about the Henckels peeler is that it takes too
    much of the flesh with the peel, due to the design.

    .19> The thing I didn't like about the Henckels peeler is that it takes too
    .19> much of the flesh with the peel, due to the design.
    
    Agreed, a lot of times but not all the time.  I actually have both
    Henckels peelers (there are only two, right?)  The one which takes a
    lot of flesh with the peel I use when I want (or don't mind) it to do
    that (ex: apples and sometimes cukes). The other one I have looks like
    a "Y" with the peeler blade btwn the two (top) ends of the "Y".  I find
    I like this for "lighter" peeling (ex: carrots).
    
    I have a bunch of other mostly rejects and I almost always end up
    coming back to the Henckels.
    
    fwiw,
    \steve