Vegetable Peeler

What would you do without a vegetable peeler?

• ‘Vegetable peelers’ are also known as ‘potato peelers’ and ‘peelers’.
• Vegetable peelers are a kitchen utensil, typically used to peel the skin off fruit and vegetables.
• A vegetable peeler is typically a steel blade with a handle, that is usually made from wood, steel or plastic, some of which have ergonomic features.
• The handles of vegetable peelers generally are straight, ‘C-shaped’,  ‘U-shaped’ or ‘Y-shaped’, with the straight peeler more like a knife, the C-shaped is like the letter C with a handle, the Y-shaped like a safety razor, and the U-shaped similar but shaped like a ‘U’ rather than a ‘Y’.
• A vegetable peeler blade usually has a slot, that has one side that is sharp to peel the food, and the other side stops the blade digging into the food as you peel it.

• Vegetable peelers have been reinvented hundreds of times in history with numerous patents taken out for various styles, and in the 1800s alone, 500 peeler inventions were patented.
• Some industrial vegetable peelers have rubber bumps that peel the skin off potatoes or other round foods.
• Most vegetable peelers have a sharp point or other feature to remove the eyes from potatoes or gouge out other unwanted parts of the food.
• Many vegetable peelers has a swivel blade, which allows more flexibility for following the curves of the food, making it easier to use.
• Blunt vegetable peeler blades are more dangerous as they slip easier than sharp blades.

Bibliography:
How do I choose the best vegetable peeler?, 2013, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-choose-the-best-vegetable-peeler.htm

Peeler, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peeler