Knife Skills —

a kitchen guide to using the right knife the right way

This site will give you the confidence to choose and use the knives and other nonelectric sharp tools in your kitchen. It’s also a reference site that you can use as you improve your skills and acquire the tools that will make you a better cook!

Vegetable peeler

Vegetable peelers come in two different styles: the swivel style and the harp style (also called a Swiss or Y-style peeler). Like choosing a knife, it’s a matter of what’s comfortable in your hand. For that reason, my preference is the swivel-style peeler.

But other people have told me they feel the same way about the harp style. If you’re not sure, then you might want to buy both and see which you prefer. Different brands of each type of peeler range from $3 to $15. You can also spend almost $25 for a Swiss peeler that comes in right- and left-handed models. This, however, cuts down on the chances of having someone cook with you in your kitchen.

The one thing to verify whenever you buy a peeler is that the blade is sharp. For some odd reason, some peelers are sharp, and stay that way for years, while others arrive dull, and are never very useful.

There is a rounded end on most swivel-style peelers to remove potato eyes and blemishes. It’s easier and faster to use this rounded tip than to use a paring knife.

Harp-style peeler
Harp-style peeler
Swivel-style peeler
Swivel-style peeler
How to Choose and Use Your Knives

How to Choose and Use Your Knives

How to Buy a Knife

How to Buy a Knife

Caring for Your Knives

Caring for Your Knives

Nonknife, Nonmotorized Sharp Kitchen Tools

Nonknife, Nonmotorized Sharp Kitchen Tools


Give your wife the short knife, and keep the long one for yourself. Danish proverb

Give your wife the short knife, and keep the long one for yourself.

Danish proverb


Man must be sharpened on man, like knife on stone. African proverb

Man must be sharpened on man, like knife on stone.

African proverb


You do not drink soup with a knife. African proverb

You do not drink soup with a knife.

African proverb

James Russell Lowell

I have always been of the mind that in a democracy, manners are the only effective weapons against the bowie-knife.

Henry Glassford Bell

The damning tho’t stuck in my throat and cut me like a knife, that she, whom all my life I’d loved, should be another’s wife.

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The information in this site is true and complete to the best of our knowledge.
The author disclaims any liability in connection with the use of this information.
All recommendations are made without guarantee.