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Celebrity chef Ina Garten is known for cooking hearty meals that are perfect for anything from a cozy night in to a summer soiree. But the Hamptons-based chef knows that meal preparation should always be done well, and that includes keeping your cooking tools in good shape. That’s why she recommends replacing your vegetable peeler once a year. According to Garten, the peelers dull quickly, and since they’re such an inexpensive kitchen tool, it makes sense to just toss yours out periodically and buy a new one.
“Vegetable peelers get rusty, they get dull,” Garten told Food & Wine. Of course, Garten cooks for a living, so replacing her peeler once a year might be a necessity to ensure a safe and productive peeling process. Peeling vegetables is common practice for anything like removing the skin from an apple or adding texture to a salad, but there are also plenty of other creative ways to use your peeler. Still, if you only use it every once in a while, you can likely get away with replacing it less often — just know what to look for to understand when it’s time for a new one.
How to tell when your vegetable peeler is too old
As Garten said, a key sign of an old vegetable peeler is rust. Rust develops as a result of oxidation, or when iron in the metal reacts with both air and water. If you place your peeler in the dishwasher after each use, that oxidation process will inevitably occur over time. To prevent rust, avoid that extended contact with water by hand-washing your peeler and thoroughly drying it immediately.
Dull vegetable peelers are pretty easy to spot, too. If it’s becoming harder to peel the vegetables, or you notice they aren’t peeling as evenly as they should, then it’s likely due to a dull blade. If you’re adamant about not spending the money on a new peeler, you can sharpen the blade with a knife sharpener, but it does require a little bit of technique to ensure you’re accurately sharpening those oddly shaped blades. As long as you’re open to replacing your peeler every year, consider going with a rust-resistant option like the Mad Shark peeler or a dishwasher-safe choice like the Spring Chef peeler. While neither will prevent rust forever, they’ll at least fend it off for some time — whether you’re sliding it over veggies or using it to easily slice cheese.
