Peelers

peelers

The other day I had visitors drop in while I was prepping some fruits and vegetables for a few dishes I was making.  They commented on the kiwi which were sitting in a bowl, completed free of skin and yet looking undamaged and whole.  They had no idea how it was done since they had tried various ways of using a peeler or a knife to cleanly and neatly peel a kiwi, but had never met the same result.

In the picture above, the top item, in black, is a normal peeler.  Use this for potatoes, apples, etc., basically firm or hard fruits and vegetables.  However, if you have a soft-skinned fruit such as a kiwi, then choose the red one in the center.  Looking closely, ones sees that the blade is serrated with very very small teeth, and when used on a soft-skinned fruit allows you to penetrate the skin, and remove it cleanly and quickly.  All this is done without taking any significant flesh from the fruit.

The blue peeler on the bottom is also advertised as working especially well to peel kiwi.  However, I (and most people I have heard talk of this tool) have found that what this is really good for is shredding vegetables and fruits, especially things like papaya, or cucumbers, etc.  Actually this tool allows for a few different decorate things as you become more comfortable with it.  The metal edge is actually in waves rather than teeth.  And you want to draw it along the surface of your fruit or vegetable rather than pulling into the flesh by pressing overly hard.

Years ago I experimented with a rotating device for potatoes and kiwi and apples, etc.  It worked best on harder items like potatoes and apples, but took a lot of fruit off the kiwi.  (Actually it took a surprising amount off an apple as well.)  When I found these other tools to complement the normal peeler that most people already have, I tossed the rotating device and did everything by hand from then on.

So there you go.  If you like kiwi, but always demolish it when trying a normal peeler or lose too much fruit with a paring knife, now you know what to do.