[Sca-cooks] Electric knives

[Bill Fisher]

On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 23:22:33 -0500, Phlip <phlip at 99main.com> wrote:
> I'm sending this out to Cooks, as well as Chirurgeons, because I'd really
> like some input. I'm already discussing it with my mundane friends on
> TheForge, since we're referring to a hand tool here.

You get more control with the hand held blade and it comes out more like
hand carved meat than something slapped on a deli slicer.
 
> Last night, at EK 12th Night, I was helping Jaji in the kitchen, and he had
> 21 largish beef roasts that needed slicing. Since I'm pretty good at
> carving, I volunteered to do it, and was using an electric knife.
> 
> 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.

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?

> 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.

Sounds like the loop handled ones, they make you hold your hand at an 
odd angle and with the motor vibration it can make your hands sore. Reminds
me of a chicken chainsaw.

> I checked with Jaji on the timing, and took a break, and, at the suggestion
> of one of the other cooks, borrowed a wrist brace and was able to continue,
> and eventually got 18 done- 3 were done by other people during the period
> when the kitchen breaker blew, using regular knives- thank Heaven for the
> loan of Brandu's knife- it was the only sharp one in the kitchen, when I was
> doing 3 of them without power, by candlelight ;-)

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

> 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?
> 
> Saint Phlip,
> CoD

I've done an entire feast's carving with knife and fork myself.  Cuisinart makes
a nice electric knife though (my sister owns one, it is knife shaped).
I used it
to cut up various dead, cooked animals and it works well. It is fairly
left/right hand
compatible.

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?icatid=5563&stk_code=cuicek40&svbname=293

I stated before I don't like rotary bladed deli slicers, they do weird
things to the
meat because it pushes and pulls it in a circle while it cuts.  It ruins the 
texture of the meat and opens up the fibers and lets out more juices.

If you don't have juices in your roasts, what can I say....

Cadoc
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