Sunday, November 2, 2008

you say tomato knife, I say WTF

I've certainly seen these before:













With it's serrated edge and it's fancy double pronged tip, it sure is fierce. Probably pretty good at cutting tomatoes, too. Better be, since Wusthof markets it as a tomato knife (MSRP $90).

Now, a good knife is nothing to sneeze at. I was pretty pleased with myself when I finally became an adult and bought a three pack of good quality knives (Chef, Paring, Boning) and this knife would would, of course, be useful for cutting other things (unlike say... a nylon knife that cuts leafy green things). However, I keep my knives pretty sharp most of the time and they do just fine going through a tomato; there would be no need for an additional knife to buy and store.

All this would be pointless however if it wasn't for the existence of this:
















I'm to believe the gently rounded cutting edge is going to be useful in slicing through vegetables? Well, I don't.

It does make more sense to me than this, though:


















Are the little wires really sharp enough to slice the skin of a tomato? If so, doesn't that mean this thing would be somewhat dangerous since it looks incredibly awkward? Perhaps the picture is trying to imply that it cuts tomatoes without human intervention. Maybe you just lay it on top of the tomato and step away. Maybe.

All I know is that if you're going to commit to a uni-tasker (hi, Alton) then why not just get the best:





















This industrial beauty comes in at just under 4' by 4' (with a customizable conveyor belt, typically 6.5' long), can do 80 tomatoes per minute (you choose the thickness - between 5-10 mm) and even removes the calyx (which must be the little stub at the top?).

Full details at millitec.com. I should also mention they make a very intriguing looking device called a "butterer".

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