Vegetable Peelers
Product(s): (From left to right, then top)
Calphalon Vegetable Peeler,
Zyliss Swivel Peeler,
Oxo Steel Swivel Peeler,
KitchenArt Gel Grip Swivel Peeler,
chef’n Palm Peeler
Prices: Varies
I wouldn’t exactly say that I have an obsession with vegetable peelers, but I do seem to own more than a normal person for some strange reason.
When I became a stay-at-home mom I started cooking more. Not because I wanted to, but because I felt obligated to. Obligated to present my husband with a decent meal when he came home from work (since taking care of the household and our son was now my full-time job), and obligated to feed decent food to my ever-growing son. And I guess I’m one of those people that, if I’m going to do a job that I don’t exactly relish, I at least want to it to be as easy as possible. This, in a roundabout way, explains how I came to own so many vegetable peelers.
One day I found myself in the kitchen with a recipe in front of me. This recipe called for peeling something or other. Okay fine. But a couple of steps later I had to peel something else entirely. This is where I found myself having to dig my peeler out of the sink (which was filled with all sorts of stuff that I had just peeled – totally gross), and then hand washing it so that I could reuse it. Ugh. To make matters worse, the next night I found myself in the very same position, except this time my vegetable peeler was in the dishwasher with the dirty dishes. After a half dozen or so episodes of the exact same thing happening I decided that I was going to splurge and buy myself a 2nd vegetable peeler. That way, I could just toss it into the dishwasher and not have to go searching for it when I needed to peel something else. In this perfect world that I created in my head, I would just reach into the utensil drawer and pull out another, clean, vegetable peeler.
This is how I ended up with not 2, but 5 vegetable peelers. Once I had 2 I realized that a 3rd would be even more helpful. And once I had a 3rd, I found one that just looked really cool (the Palm Peeler by chef’n), so of course I had to check it out. Ditto for the 5th.
Now, I know what you’re asking yourself….you’re asking what could possibly be so different about all these peelers right? Well, truth be told, not a heck of a lot. Yes, they all peeled vegetables perfectly fine. The Zyliss, however, actually had a nifty little digger thingy on the end that you could pick the eyes out of potatoes with (not that I’ve ever used it). The Palm Peeler was entirely different in that you slid your middle finger through the loop, rather than grasping it in your hand. Kind of cool, but did it actually work any better? No.
The difference really boils down to, for me, the feel of them. I tend to prefer the KitchenArt because it’s on the weighty side. I find that easier to grasp when peeling vegetables. And I like the slightly curved gel grip too. It makes for a very ergonomic experience. It’s usually the first one I grab for whenever I reach into my utensil drawer.
If I had to rate them in order of like most, to like least it would be:
- KitchenArt
- chef’n
- Calphalon
- Zyliss
- Oxo
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