This week Value for Moneylooks at Vegetable peelers
Rosle Vegetable Peeler €23.50
Highs:This stainless-steel peeler is very sharp
and very solid. It is clearly a well-made product and one that will
probably give its owner many years of peeling. It is the heaviest
of the brands tried and its chunky handle makes it easy to grip and
to control and is great for hard-to-peel vegetables such as
butternut squash.
Lows:It has a ridiculous price, one which
Pricewatch could not countenance under almost any circumstances. It
is over 10 times more expensive than the cheapest brands on the
market and almost three times dearer than other, equally good,
peelers. It has no natty features that could conceivably take the
drudgery out of potato-peeling, which is the very least we would
expect for this price.
Verdict:Too dear
Star rating:***
Stellar Swivel Peeler €6.95
Highs:This is the most palatable option when it
comes to price and quality. It is a nicely solid product and comes
with a little protective rail above the blade where you can safely
rest your fingers as you go about your chore. The pointy top is
ideal for gouging unsightly eyes from potatoes and the slender
handle, while mostly made up of brushed metal, has a decent
non-slip rubber grip. The swivelling blade might not be to
everyone's taste, but we liked it.
Lows:It's hard to fault in terms of quality or
price, but if we were to be very picky, we would say that the
handle was just a little too thin and the natty finger-guard
obscured the view of the peeling process, which was every so
slightly irritating.
Verdict:Just right
Star rating:****
Cook and Eat Peeler €1.95
Highs:This was the cheapest of the peelers we found,
and its slightly unorthodox Ladyshave-like handle may be to some
people's tastes. It would be next to impossible to cut yourself
using this peeler and it gets its job done at a fairly leisurely
pace.
Lows:It's hard to manoeuvre quickly, and making
our way through a mound of potatoes using this was a little
tiresome. It is very cheap but seems awful flimsy and looks as if
it might be just a little too fond of rusting. The attachment at
the side, which we presumed was intended for gouging the bad bits
from vegetables, seemed to be singularly ill-equipped for the task.
The space between the two blades was too long and - while it may be
an acquired skill - we found it a little tricky to control.
Verdict:Too cheap
Star rating:**
WMF €16.50
Highs:Although it is still quite expensive, this has
a slightly more palatable price than the other upmarket German
peeler we tried and is made by a company that even we recognised.
The blade is very flexible, helping to glide over gnarly vegetables
with undue fuss. It has a nice brushed chrome finish and a very
sharp blade that was equally effective peeling vegetables and
fingers.
Lows:While it is certainly well-made and should
last donkey's years if treated right, it does lack a little of the
solidity and heavyweight qualities of its main rival. It is not the
kind of product that you'll find in just any old department store,
so if you really want one, you'll have to go looking. But you might
not be bothered - seeing as all it will ever do is peel things, it
might be considered just a little overpriced.
Verdict:Fine, but still too dear
Star rating: ***
Cullinaire Swivel Peeler €4.95
Highs:While many of the other brands make much of
their steely natured and brushed chrome finish, this is unashamedly
plastic. As a consequence, it is also very lightweight, perfectly
functional and pretty good value to boot. It has a nice sharp blade
which swivels with gusto and made light work of all the vegetables
we introduced it to.
Lows:While it is absolutely fine, we're not
convinced it will last nearly as long as some of the competition.
The gap between the two blades seemed a little on the wide side
and, with the safety rail totally obscuring the peeling action, we
found ourselves taking unnecessarily large chunks out of all the
vegetables we peeled.
Verdict:Cheap and functional
Star rating: ***