Potato peelers are one of the essential tools in the kitchen. They make potato peeling easier within several minutes after getting home from a job or school.
However, its blades become too dull so quickly. Rather than tossing them out with thrash, you can sharpen these potato peelers to have an exciting time in the kitchen alongside saving on some bucks.
Here is a simplified step-by-step process of how you can sharpen your potato peeler.
- Look for a marker to assist with coloring the edge of the first blade.
- Use cardboard under the blade to attain a steady position.
- With a flat file of diamond-like sizes, position it on the blade cutting edge. Adjust the state position for it to match the blade’s angle. You can strike the file along the blade, ensuring it is in the same direction at least 10 to 20 times.
- The procedure applies the same with the second blade. You can first switch the peeler to 180 degrees. Always remember to use a marker and repeat the above steps. Once done, you can test the blade performance – pick a potato and ensure a swift experience.
What Is A Potato Peeler?
A potato peeler is a kitchen appliance with a blade and a handle. Most chefs use it when removing potatoes skin, besides other vegetables, including fruits and carrots. The peelers have a slotted blade and a side that minimizes deep cuts for your vegetables.
If you are a fan of apples or pears, you can use these tools to have thin cuts for your fruits. Potato peelers have an excellent grip that makes you feel good.
Tools To Sharpen A Potato Peeler
A potato peeler comes with a tiny blade with holes when utilizing a standard regular file. Or a sharpening tool that might fit perfectly with the holes.
A small-sized kitchen knife might be the ultimate option when sharpening your potato peeler. You can begin this process by first gripping your knife in the right hand while holding your peeler in the other hand.
Then, run your kitchen blade across the peelers’ blades, one at a time. Do it along the whole blade, multiple times – around 10 to 20 times from the left to the right direction.
Upon completion on both sides, test the peeler’s sharpness with your finger. Do it lightly and gently not to hurt yourself.
If the test results are not quite appealing, you can redo the sharping for several rounds to attain a satisfactory state. Then, clean your potato peeler with water and liquid soap and dry it.
A sharpening block or hone can be your alternative option when sharpening a potato peeler. You can start by rubbing one of the peeler’s blades against the block edge multiple times.
Position your blade perpendicularly with the sharpening tool’s edge. Once done with one blade, do the same with the other edge.
You can utilize the flat surface or the top part of the honing block since it might be tough to sharpen the blades simultaneously – with a curvature blade.
Place your cutting edge well and ensure it aligns with the honing block surface. Run the blade across the block, within the same direction.
Best Way To Use A Potato Peeler
A potato peeler makes things a little bit easier in the kitchen – it saves your time, simple to use alongside leaving you with minimal waste to handle.
Some of the recommended steps when using a potato peeler might include:
Gently grip your potato peeler, and slide your whole vegetable when removing the skin. Be cautious when stripping off the skin to minimize finger cuts.
After the skin is out, use less pressure when handling the vegetable’s top layer. Increase more pressure for thicker skin.
Upon finishing the peeling, clean and dry your equipment. Hand wash the peeler rather than using a dishwasher.
Other Purposes Of A Potato Peeler
We all know the primary function of a potato peeler is to remove the skin of our fruits or vegetable.
However, this popular kitchen equipment can do more than this. Other powers of a potato peeler are:
Get rid of the skin from your celery stick. A potato peeler can assist with slicing off the celery stick to get out the fibers – to have a crunchy taste.
Slice and dice your frozen butter. Butter life adds some additional taste to your cuisine. Instead of a knife, you can use a potato peeler to slice thinner pieces when quickly preparing your breakfast or dinner. Add these slices gradually to your heated pan to melt.
Cut your chocolate curls. Also, you can utilize your potato peeler to get the ideal thin slices of chocolates for tasty curls. And your birthday or graduation cake will have the perfect decorations and toppings.
Citrus skin purposes. Are you a fan of cocktails? Then this tool is helpful in your life. You can use a potato peeler to remove the strands from your citrus fruit and add them to your cocktail drink.
You will have a relaxed and lime effect as you wobble the drink down your throat. A potato peeler will do an excellent job for cheese lovers. It will assist in producing thin cheese slices when making pasta dishes for your family.
Also, potato peelers come in handy when dressing your salads or preparing your snacks or desserts.
Different Types Of Potato Peelers
There are multiple potato peelers in the market. It is wise to know these different options to get the perfect choice for your need.
1. Swivel peeler
It is the simplest form of potato peelers – that comes with a plastic handle. The swivel peeler is the commonest one that most chefs prefer.
Also known as the Jonas peeler, it comes with double blades that are narrow and sharp for effective vegetable peeling.
Once you put pressure on the handle, the blade swivels with the skin of your potato or fruit. The swivel peeler has a design that freely moves with most vegetables’ shapes.
It might be an ideal tool for fruits and vegetables with the tougher outer skin. Also, at the top part of the swivel peeler, there is an eye remover that you can use to eliminate potato eyes.
Some of these peelers have replaceable blades for a longer lifespan. However, it might not be a good idea to use this tool for tomatoes.
2. Lancashire peeler
It is a potato peeler like the swivel peeler. The primary difference might be on the blade. For this case, it has a stiff blade- not movable. Most chefs who dislike the free movement of the swivel peeler go for this option.
The manual-like peeler originated from a UK region well-known for potatoes. It initially had a string at the handle – however, not a popular design for the modern Lancashire peelers.
With it, you can skin your potatoes besides grating cheese on top of your pizza. The tool is most suitable for right-handed individuals.
3. Y peeler
The Y peeler got its name from its visual design and look. It has a broader handle that assists you with achieving that comfortable grip – with no sliding.
It also has an eye remover to remove the potatoes’ eyes. With the Y peeler, you can easily remove your vegetable skins from top to bottom.
It minimizes vegetable slipping. It might be challenging to use the Y peeler for the first time. But with time, it gets better.
A Swiss peeler is a popular option under the Y peelers category. It can eliminate the skin of most vegetables, even those with the firmest skins.
4. Julienne peeler
The peeler is an ideal choice for vegetable soups and coleslaw. It produces thin shreds of vegetables, including zucchini or carrots. It assists with forming vegetable pasta alongside retrieving zest from lemon or lime.
The peeler contains a serrated blade that assists with the thin strands. However, the peeler is not a good option for vegetables.
5. Speed peeler
You can grip the speed peeler with your hand. The speed peeler has a metal curve on its handle. From its name, it assists with quick peeling no matter the shape of your vegetable.
The peeler works similarly to a razor blade. There are different forms of speed peelers. One with a standard look like a vegetable knife and with a blade closer to the handle.
The other design form looks the same as a fork – with a blade between the double prongs. The speed peeler has a sharper blade – be careful when handling it with your potatoes.
Conclusion
Potato peelers are must-have kitchen appliances. They have a great design with blades and comfortable grip handles.
They help you get done with kitchen tasks fast and require no expert knowledge to use it. However, as you use potato peelers, their functionalities begin to wear out – similar to other tools.
It might be uncomfortable to use them while in this state. It is crucial to sharpen them to get that alive experience. The article has helped you with that – follow through and make that potato peeler appealing.
