The Sharper, the Better
Adult testers used each peeler with a variety of fruits and vegetables, evaluating sharpness, efficiency, and safety. All the models were successful on carrots, which are fairly uniform, with thin skin. Peeling rough, bumpy potatoes and removing thick, waxy skin from apples were harder. A few peelers dug jaggedly into the food, leaving behind divots and damage. Sometimes we had to press so hard that the produce slipped from our grip. And the process occasionally felt inefficient and choppy, as we were able to slice off only small pieces of peel at a time and often had to go over the same spot twice. The worst offender, a kids’ peeler with a plastic blade, was unable to break through the skin of an apple. We pressed hard when trying to do so and bruised the fruit underneath. The blade was just too dull.
The best peelers had sharp metal blades, which slid along the produce with little friction and gave us good control. These models were also more efficient, removing long swaths of peel—and little of the fruit—with each swipe. Adult testers liked both Y-shaped and straight designs, so the sharper it felt, the higher it rated.
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