We Xenos love our fruits.  Being South Floridians might have you believe that our idea of fruit would be of the citrus variety and perhaps our beloved Plant City strawberries.  You wouldn’t be entirely wrong of course, but after living for so many years in Connecticut and Buck’s County, PA, we also have a passion for apples and pears.  In fact, at our home in New Hope, PA we had a small orchard in which we grew McIntosh, Red Delicious and Granny Smith apples.  During the fall, if I was walking the property it was rare not to see me chomping down on either a Mack or a super-tart Granny Smith.

Now if you’ve owned even one mature apple tree you know how hard it is to keep up with it by mid-fall.  Unless you’re a commercial grower (we weren’t) then you’re going to need any or all of the following.
 
1.    Lots and lots of apple eating friends
2.    A herd of apple-loving deer
3.    A love of cooking and baking
4.    A really good apple divider
 
Well fortunately we had no shortage of friends and as for the deer, some days they were so thick and occupied eating the fallen apples that they didn’t even bother to scatter as I walked to the orchard.
 
Most of you who read me regularly know that cooking is a passion of mine.  It may have started out as a labor of necessity when I found myself a “suddenly single guy” about 20 years ago, but it gradually became a labor of love.

But when it comes to baking, it’s just nothing that I’ve ever developed a skill for or a love of.  I’ve just never been a real lover of baked goods like cakes, muffins and the like.  Having said this I do make one major exception.  Fruit pies!  Lord, do I love the likes of a freshly baked apple, peach, blueberry, cherry or pumpkin pie.  A good thing too, because there’s only so many baked apples you can foist off on your family as dessert.

So, when you get serious about cooking and baking with apples (or pears) you’re going to need a good slicer or divider.  Sure, you can do it the old fashioned way with a coring blade and a sharp knife but that takes forever and I can still see the healed wound on my right palm where years ago I stabbed myself with a coring blade while preparing baked apples.  No, I’ll take a good apple divider any day and that brings us to the:

OXO Good Grips  7” Apple Divider
Like all OXO kitchen tools the OXO Good Grips Apple Divider is exquisite in its simplicity.  It’s not that it is some revolutionary step forward, it’s just designed a little smarter, an OXO trademark.  The OXO Apple Divider is nominally 7”, but that of course includes the raised rubber coated handles.  The business portion of this divider is a 4” in diameter heavy duty plastic circle that houses 8 high quality sharpened stainless blades arranged around a 1” in diameter coring blade.  At this point it may make sense to look at the picture in the upper left of this review.  Got it?  Good.  See, nothing very complicated there.

Using It
I usually peel my apples first before slicing unless there’s a reason for me to leave their skin on.  Placing the apple on a wooden cutting board I center the 1” diameter coring blade over the center of the apple and then firmly gripping each handle, sharply press the blades through the meat of the apple.  This produces 8 symmetrical wedges that measure 3/8 ths of an inch near the core to a maximum of 1 ½” at their outer edge.  If enough force is used the core will separate from the wedges and they’ll fall away cleanly.  Occasionally, when dividing larger apples some of the core may still be attached to the wedge requiring you to do some trimming.  I find that this is more frequent now that we use store bought apples.

The raised wide handles prevent your knuckles and fingers from making contact with the cutting board.  Trust me when I tell you that this is a key feature and selling point of this kitchen tool.

The OXO Good Grips Apple Divider will accommodate most varieties of apples.  A notable exception seems to be Rome apples which are often larger than the 4” diameter of the divider.  When using Rome apples either carefully select them for size or be prepared to do some trimming.

Clean Up
The OXO Good Grips Apple Divider is easily hand washed with little more than a rinse under running water.  Its stainless steel blades are of high enough quality that they resist any tendency to rust.  Alternatively, the divider can be put on the top rack of your dishwasher.  Although no special care has to be taken with the divider and most will simply put it in their kitchen utility (junk) drawer, I’ve made a habit of keeping mine in a tupperware-type container to protect the blades.

Other Uses
Sure it’s an Apple Divider, but I routinely use it on root vegetables such as Russet Potatoes and white turnips (as in braised cabbage & turnips).  The wedges can either be used whole or cut in half for faster roasting along with a chicken or pork loin roast.  The center cores needn’t be wasted.  I simply cut them in half and add them to the roast pan.

In recent years I have come to frequently cook as well as bake with fruits. The OXO Good Grips Apple Divider has proven indispensible in the preparation of pear and apple chutneys.  Chutney can be prepared in very large quantities and if properly stored it just continues to improve with age.

Bottom Line
For those of us who enjoy baking and cooking with fruits such as apples and pears, the OXO Good Grips Apple Divider rises to a must have addition to our cooking tools.  It is available either on-line or in-store virtually anywhere cooking utensils are sold.  Expect to pay somewhere in the $10 range for this excellent OXO product.

Regards,
Rudi

Recommended: Yes