One of the most common questions we get is when to use a serrated peeler versus a straight peeler. Are all those little teeth really necessary just to remove the skin from soft fruits and vegetables?
Well, yes. Just as a serrated knife slices cleanly through a tomato that a chef’s knife would have otherwise smush-ploded, a serrated peeler will expertly and easily remove a tomato's peel while leaving the fleshy fruit unscathed. That’s right, you can kiss goodbye the time-consuming process of plunging tomatoes into hot water and then shocking them in ice water to get the peels to release. A serrated peeler will remove those skins in no time and keep the tomato otherwise perfectly intact. In fact, with a serrated peeler the skin comes off in thin swaths, leaving more flesh behind than the boil-and-shock method.
Great for Zesting
A serrated peeler’s uses go beyond simple produce prep: If you don’t have a citrus peeler, then a serrated one is great for this purpose, too, especially if you need to zest a lime for cocktails. The serrated peeler easily takes off nice wide strips that have zero bitter white pith attached. If you’re looking for a solution to zesting a lemon for lemonade, this is your answer.
Peeling Peaches and Other Stone Fruits
More than anything, we have found a serrated peeler a lifesaver with stone fruit—particularly with extra-ripe peaches, plums and apricots, where one false move with a knife can reduce the flesh to juicy mush. When delicate measures must be taken, a serrated peeler is the tool for the job. Trust us, your joy will be multiplied when you’re faced with not one, but a bowlful of peaches to peel, as you are when making a peach pie (the thicker peach skin is removed for consistency). Go ahead, give it a whirl, and you won’t believe the words coming out of your mouth when you serve it. “Peach pie? Oh, it was easy, really.”
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