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(More customer reviews)Let me start out by saying that it is not this TYPE of peeler which I don't like, but this particular peeler. I have used three different types of these peelers: one of these (The Pampered Chef Apple Peeler/corer/slicer) from probably 12 years ago that is now getting dull, one of these (Progressive International Apple Peeler and Corer) that I bought recently, and the one being reviewed here.
First, I'll give my review of these types of peelers generally, and then I'll move on to the specifics of this one.
These peelers are handy. I do a lot of chunky applesauce, and the peeling/coring/slicing (especially the slicing) is very handy. They do have their problems, though:
- The slicing blades aren't long enough. My apples are frequently too big to put in the machine until I cut them down, which means I have to peel them by hand as well.
- You have to be careful about the coring, just like with any corer. Apples aren't all alike, and it's a little hard to make sure that you have the apple on the prongs straight. So you have to make sure (if you're not using a food mill at some later point) that you cut out whatever little bits of core are left.
- It's a little messy. Juice sprays a bit and drips. You want to have a towel under the table, and you want to move anything a couple of feet away from the machine, unless you don't mind cleaning apple juice off it.
- The machine always misses some peel around the stem and blossom ends of the apple. It is trickier to remove the peel from the apple manually once the apple has been sliced.
Despite all of this, it is still a lot handier to use a good one of these than to do it by hand.
However, this one is not a good one. When I first got it out, I was impressed with the heft of it (it is a lot heavier and more solid-feeling than the others). Also the underside of the thing (that would be resting on top of the table) has a strip of rubber on it rather than a couple of removable rubber feet, and that looked like it might be a better idea.
On the other hand, when I tried to use it there were problems. The bottom of the clamp has no cover, so it's just the metal in contact with (and probably denting) the underside of the table. The mechanism for pulling back the peeling arm and keeping it there is a bit inconvenient because it takes two hands. But the real problem is that it was NOT sharp enough to do the job properly. The u-shaped peeling thing in particular was completely unable to peel any of the apples, no matter how I adjusted it. It just kind of mushed them. Also the slicing blade was sharp enough to slice, but sprayed a LOT more juice around than the others, and anyway, when I looked at the blade after my apple juice shower, I could tell by looking that it wasn't very sharp.
In the end, I found it completely useless, and I'll probably throw it away. I gave it two stars, because if you had some way to sharpen it, it would probably be very nice. But I don't. Caveat emptor!
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Peel Away Apple Peeler (Clamp Base)
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