Potato Peelers

One may not think that putting some thought into the right kind of potato peeler is not that important, but a good potato peeler just might make the difference between a frustrating time in the kitchen and a smooth, easy cooking experience.

A potato peeler is a metal blade attached to a metal or plastic handle. and used for peeling vegetables aside from potatoes. There are three main varieties of potato peelers available in the market today.

The Yorkshire, also known as the Lancashire potato peeler, is designed pretty much like a knife. The potato peeler blade is attached to the handle, which can be metal, wooden, or plastic, in pretty much the same way a knife blade is attached to the handle. When peeling the vegetable is usually held by grasping it with the fingers of the right hand with the thumb pressing on the top of the vegetable. The fingers of the right hand are then used to pull the blade over the vegetable skin, turning it over in the direction of the right thumb.

The second potato peeler variety is designed like a razor blade. This is the kind that usually looks like a slingshot or a Y , and is also called the yoke peeler or speed peeler. The blade is perpindicular to the handle and the skin is peeled in strips parallel to the handle. Most rex peelers have an eye gauge attached, used for removing the eyes from potatoes.

An important thing to remember when using a speed peeler is that the handle should not face away from the user, since this awkward position might cause the holder to slip. When using a speed peeler do not use a pushing force but use a drawing motion drawn such that the blade follows after the handle.

The third variety was designed in Australia, and is used extensively there, although it does not have an official name. Designed in 1947, it was created by the Dalsonware company in Melbourne. The blade was named the Dalson Aussie Peeler. It has a handle that projects upward and supports the base and tip of a blade that rotates to peel.

If manual peeling is done, the blade should be kept stationary, and the vegetable rotated against the blade to peel.

In all cases that the most important thing to keep in mind when using a potato peeler is that the blade must not be too close to the fingers, to keep your skin from being peeled along with the potatoes’.

Tags: kitchen, cooking, potato peelers