I got a potato peeler as a wedding gift (1). It was just like my mother's and the only kind I had ever used. It worked great for about 25 years without any special care--meaning I put it in the dishwasher when I shouldn't have and so on. Then I decided it was getting a little dull so I bought a few inexpensive, new ones supposedly just like the first one. They didn't work as well as my old one, so I got rid of them and used my old one. Then after a few more years, my thumbs started to hurt when I used the peeler and it was still a bit dull, so I tried another kind altogether (2). This one has a place on the back to put your finger through so you hold the peeler in the palm of your had to use it. It was advertised to be gentle on your joints and hurting hands. Well, maybe my thumbs felt a little better, but I could never get the hang of using it. Thus I went back to using the old one.
A year of so later I listened to a friend's daughter give her pitch for Cutco products. These are expensive, fairly good knives that kids sell to raise money for college. I didn't want to spend much money, so I bought one of the cheapest things they had--a potato peeler (3). This one had an ergonomic handle with a good blade. It felt okay in my hand and I actually took care of it like I was supposed to. However, after a little while, I went back to the one I had gotten as a wedding gift. It just seemed to work better.
Then enter Theo who was doing the majority of the peeling in the house. He asked if he could buy a new peeler because none of the ones we had worked very well. He liked the original one the best also but the blade was getting dull. I asked if we could sharpen it, but he said there were several nicks on the blades and he thought that it wouldn't sharpen well. I said sure, so he researched and bought one (4) for $6 on Amazon that was guaranteed to be just like the ones that your mother and grandmother had. Sounded great because it looked just like the favorite one we have. However, when we got it, I found it is not as comfortable to use because the handle was narrower than the one we got all those years ago as a wedding gift.
These days I find myself using a knife (5 or 6) as much for peeling as a peeler. The peels are a little thicker so I'm wasting more of the fruit or vegetable, but that's what works best for me. Someday I'm going to look into having my 35 year old peeler sharpened. It seems to have a design that can't be beat.
However, you choose for yourself. Which one of these things would you want to peel with?
