[Sca-cooks] Electric knives (with a short rant)

[Ruth Tannahill]

I'm quoting Cadoc's reply, because I somehow missed Phlip's original post.

> > That electric knife was the most ergonomically incorrect tool I had ever
> > tried to use. Its handle was WAY too big (and I have large hands), it
was
> > designed so that you had a safety button that you had to push in, while
> > pulling the trigger, which put your hand and wrist in a strange position
> > anyway, and the angle of the blade was such that the rest of your arm
was in
> > a weird position, to boot.

That has been my experience with electric knives as well.

> there are two designs out there.  One shaped like a knife, and the other
> like a food reciprocating saw with a handle loop, which kind were you
using?
>

It doesn't matter. Either will make you stiff, sore and miserable. Perhaps
one is slightly less ghastly than the other. I don't know. I have used both,
and hate them with a passion.

My family always liked to use the electric knife to carve. The meat in
question did not matter. I was always given the job of carving. I loathed
this chore. By the end of it, I wished my arm would just drop off already
and get it over with. Part of this was probably my mother's mistaken idea
that a knife could not be sharpened after purchase. Needless to say, all the
knives in my ancestral home were either serrated and dull (which you really
can't sharpen and are an abomination in and of themselves) or merely dull.
Given these choices, I suppose the electric knife was better than the dull
serrated knife pulling the horribly overcooked meat apart fiber by fiber or
the dull knife sawing away and getting nowhere. I should also mention that
my mother cooked meat of any kind until no juices of any color ran out of it
when pierced with a fork. The electric knife didn't so much slice as hack,
but at least you got the meat to fall to the plate in short stringy fibers
quickly.

After joining the SCA, I discovered that there were people out there that
actually had knives they sharpened. And I discovered my father's sharpening
stone. I don't know if he ever used it for knives, but he used it for tools.

That discovery changed family dinners forever. I still had to carve the
meat. It was still dry and overcooked. But at least I was able to slice it.

In recent years, my sister and I have taken over cooking family dinners, and
the meat is more palatable. My mother has even confessed that she prefers
her roast a little pink in the middle.


> > I was uncomfortable by the time I finished the first roast, I was in
pain by
> > the time I finished the third roast, and by the time I finished the 6th
> > roast, I was in so much pain that I couldn't continue- and mind you, I
have
> > a high pain tolerance- and no particular difficulties with my wrists.
>

Yep. That, I believe.

> Hrm, only one sharp knife in the kitchen?  There is a joke in that
somewhere...
>

Unfortunately, it probably was not a joke. If no one brings sharp knives,
there won't be any. If you're using group equipment, the chamberlain  might
not sharpen regularly. Sometimes the head cook is the only one to bring
knives to the party. It happens.

> > Anyway, it occurred to me, that since electric knives are so useful when
> > you're slicing large quantities of food- we were feeding 200- perhaps
> > someone out there has a brand of electric knife that they'd suggest.
There
> > HAS to be an effective tool for this purpose- what do you guys think?

I think the best tools for the job are a good sharp carving knife and a
nice, heavy meat fork.

For a feast that size, I might be tempted to just put the roasts on their
platters and send them to the tables whole. I usually buy 5-6 pound roasts
and cut them in half with half going to each table. Sometimes, I cut them
before roasting, sometimes after.

Carving at table will keep the feasters busy while you serve the remaining
dishes in that course.

But I might at least look at the link Cadoc sent.

Berelinde