Electric knives are among the least well understood kitchen appliances, and that is in part because purchasing a sub-standard cordless knife (and there are a lot of them out there) can leave folks with a bad experience. Many other people have never even used an electric knife and don't understand why they would even want one. In short, electric knives are far superior to standard knives for a whole range of purposes. It's not uncommon for someone to own both a blender and a food processor. They are used for similar things, but each has its strong and weak points. The same is true for electric knives as compared with a standard carving knife.
A good electric knife should have two, removable blades. There should be two blades because the simultaneous slicing motion in opposing directions gives electric knives their best feature: the ability to slice foods without otherwise damaging or misshaping them. Consider every time you have tried to cut a stuffed meat only to have the stuffing start to spill out. Consider every time you have cut a piece of pie and ended up with a slice that was so mangled it was hardly recognizable as a slice of pie. Those things happen because you have to push or pull the knife and simultaneously press down. Having two blades going opposing directions means you just need to press down, and not nearly with as much force.
You can actually get some pretty good electric knives very inexpensively, but there is a problem with a standard electric: the cord. Either you need to find a model with a cord long enough to reach every corner of your kitchen (or dining table, if you plan to carve ham or turkey at the table) and risk getting tangled up in it, or you end up with a knife you can only use in one place. The solution is the cordless knife.
Of course, nothing is simple. Now there is a new problem to consider: power. A lot of these cordless models are weak or the batteries don't last. This is something you'll need to research from model to model, it's not something you can tell by looking at the unit itself, unfortunately. If you check consumer reports or even youtube you are likely to find some solid advice on which current models are worth avoiding and which do the job well. A good cordless knife won't be cheap, but it will last you and it will make your life a lot easier in the kitchen.
A good electric knife should have two, removable blades. There should be two blades because the simultaneous slicing motion in opposing directions gives electric knives their best feature: the ability to slice foods without otherwise damaging or misshaping them. Consider every time you have tried to cut a stuffed meat only to have the stuffing start to spill out. Consider every time you have cut a piece of pie and ended up with a slice that was so mangled it was hardly recognizable as a slice of pie. Those things happen because you have to push or pull the knife and simultaneously press down. Having two blades going opposing directions means you just need to press down, and not nearly with as much force.
You can actually get some pretty good electric knives very inexpensively, but there is a problem with a standard electric: the cord. Either you need to find a model with a cord long enough to reach every corner of your kitchen (or dining table, if you plan to carve ham or turkey at the table) and risk getting tangled up in it, or you end up with a knife you can only use in one place. The solution is the cordless knife.
Of course, nothing is simple. Now there is a new problem to consider: power. A lot of these cordless models are weak or the batteries don't last. This is something you'll need to research from model to model, it's not something you can tell by looking at the unit itself, unfortunately. If you check consumer reports or even youtube you are likely to find some solid advice on which current models are worth avoiding and which do the job well. A good cordless knife won't be cheap, but it will last you and it will make your life a lot easier in the kitchen.
- John Potemkin is a writer and enthusiast of many subjects - including health, travel, work and home improvement. For more information about cordless electric knife go to Electric Cordless Knife
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