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I Ran Around The Kitchen…Arms Flailing…Screaming Loudly…Look At Me – I’m Leatherface!Jun 20 '03 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Choose your electric knife with care and consider all your options before you make your purchase. Until a few years ago I thought that electric knives were utterly useless. Something for social snobs, lazy turkey lovers and the criminally insane to indulge in. When you stop to think about it, who really needs an electric knife? Are you carving up a pig every other day? Serving dinners for 30 or more? Planning on filming a low budget horror movie? As luck would have it, I was presented with an electric knife for my birthday and was pretty happy about it – for once I didn’t receive a coffee maker, clothing that I’d never wear or some useless beauty product. In my elation I was struck with the sickening fact that for many years I chastised those that picked up the electric knives and carved away – but there I was – breaking open the box and reading the instructions. Now that a few years have passed I like to think that I have come up in the ranks of electric knives. No, I haven’t added any to my kitchen but I have a new found respect for them. Besides, there is nothing better than pulling it out of the closet, plugging it in and reenacting a scene from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [hence the title] to shock your guests. If you are considering purchasing an electric knife there are a few things that you’ll want to keep in mind when picking one out – brand name, corded or cordless, attachments or interchangeable blades, ease of cleaning and warranty are just a few of the things to think about. But the bottom line is this – how often do you plan on using it and what type of meat or food will you be using it for most? Brand Names There’s no shortage of brand names when it comes to electric knives. Krups, Black & Decker, Proctor Silex, Toastmaster, Oster and Sunbeam are some of the most popular with electric carvers starting at about $15.00. When purchasing a brand name knife you usually get a better warranty and if you already favor a certain manufacturer, you’ll know the quality of the product before you even open the box. Then again, store brand or ‘no name’ items will afford you the best price but when you are talking about something as inexpensive as a $15.00 item that’s electric I try to stick with the main names just for the warranty. Do a little research on electric carving knifes to see which ones last the longest, do the best job and are the safest – sometimes spending that extra few dollars will pay off in the long run. Accessories Some electric knives come with a bread slicing attachment, others a removable blade that makes storage a breeze. You’ll want to look for one that allows you to remove the blade for cleaning and sanitation purposes and possibly one that has an on board storage compartment for the blade when you are done. This will cut down on the amount of storage space you’ll need, the possibility of an accident and preserving the dexterity of the blade itself. Professional electric knives [starting at about $120.00] will offer you several different cutting blades as well as ones for bread and larger pieces of meat like ribs or pork sections. If possible, see if the manufacturer of the electric knife you are interested in sells after market items or accessories. This way you can avoid having to purchase a knife with a wide assortment of accessories and only purchase the ones you want or need. Corded Vs. Cordless Ahhh the great debate. Most traditional Thanksgiving dinners of late have involved making sure the bird is cooked correctly and trying to find a plug for the electric knife. The one that I own is corded so I never have to worry about it not having enough power to slice through even the toughest pieces of meat. Cordless ones have come a long way over the past few years and are generally operated by batteries or are popped into a recharging base. Unless you plan on using this every day or at least three or four times a week, the latter is probably something that you won’t make good use of. The main concern with the battery operated ones is the amount of power you will get from it when slicing through tough cuts of meat. Even the freshest and strongest batteries might not have enough zip to get through shoulder cuts or rump roasts – no matter how long you slow cook them. Safety Issues You’ll want to look at how the unit is turned off and on – and as silly as that sounds – it’s for a very good reason, especially around the holidays. Let’s say you are in the kitchen, tending to the gravy, making sure the buns down burn and trying to listen to Uncle Willard tell that fishing story for the twelfth time – your mind is in ten different places but yet you insist on picking up the electric knife and carving away – suddenly the fish Uncle Willard caught isn’t ten feet – it’s a massive 20 foot – biggest-thing-ever-caught-in-the-lake – award winning fish. Shocked at Uncle Willard’s fishing expertise you drop the knife. Understand why it’s important to check out the on and off switch? The better models have a pressure sensitive toggle switch that only powers up when it’s pressed and as soon as the pressure is taken off of it – it stops and powers down. This could mean the difference between enjoying a nice holiday meal or sitting in the emergency room waiting for stitches. You’ll want to try and get an electric knife that allows you to completely remove the blade from the housing so it can be cleaned properly and dried. This will eliminate the chance of food building up against the butt of the blade, rusting and ensure that everything is sanitized. If I need to tell you to clean the blade after you slice raw meat – before you go and use it on cooked meat – chances are you don’t have the I.Q. that is needed to operate this. If you are going to be slicing raw chicken or beef it is imperative that you remove the blade and clean it thoroughly before you move on to other cuts or use it on cooked meats. This shouldn’t be used by anyone that has been hitting the bottle either – nothing worse than a slightly drunk person who thinks he or she can operate one of these only to end up mutilating a turkey or ham and scaring off sensitive guests. But all humor aside, anyone that has had more than a few glasses of wine or bottles of beer might want to leave the carving to someone a little more sober. Why Get An Electric Knife? As I said in the beginning of this editorial, I always assumed that electric knives were for food snob or lazy people. Since I’ve had this I’ve found a ton of uses for it but I use it most when making jerky. My local butcher never complained about slicing the pieces of meat ultra thin for me but I always felt guilty about how long it took – more so when other customers were waiting behind me. Now that I’ve almost mastered using the electric knife I can slice my own meat for jerky and get it just the thickness – or thinness – that I want. I’ve also used this for slicing through fresh whole pineapples, when I bake fresh bread and a serrated knife does nothing but destroy it and for slicing up a lot of fruits and vegetables at one time. The Bottom Line I never knew that I’d get so much use from an electric carving knife – but this certainly isn’t something that I would have purchased for myself. I consider this to be one of those things that someone receives as a gift when someone else is stumped and needs to slap a bow on something in less than two hours [other similar items – electric wok, lint remover and coffee bean grinder]. Since I received mine as a gift I’ve found a lot of uses for it and would never go back to hand slicing meat for jerky. What used to take me two hours of precision slicing [and a lot of swearing] now takes about a half hour [and only a minimal amount of foul language]. When considering an electric carving knife look at the different options and brands that are available, set a spending limit and don’t purchase one on an impulse – wait until you find the one that you really want rather than settling for one that you sorta, kinda like. As always … thanks for the visit! ^V^ Freak ^V^ © 2003 Freak369  |
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