Where have all the cheese planes gone? (Long time grating...)

[LaMarschallin]

My cheese plane broke just before Christmas.
No problem, I thought, I'll pick one up next time I'm at the supermarket.
None there, so I asked family and friends to keep an eye out.

None in Morrisons, M&S, Waitrose or Sainsbury.

Last night I got around to looking online and everywhere they were out of stock:
Amazon
Lakeland
Robert Dyas
John Lewis
etc

Does anyone know where to get one or is this some weird side-effect of Brexit?
Only thinking that because it was a Dutch friend who introduced me to them and, back then, they weren't easily available here and she brought me one back from Holland.

But that was decades ago; surely we manufacture them here now?

Grateful for any advice on how to procure one.

They are back in stock at John Lewis and Amazon.

WrongKindOfFace

Really? Brilliant - thank you!

Off I go

I have never heard of a cheese plane. Now I feel like I need one in my life!!

@WrongKindOfFace

Thank you!
Although it was very spendy.
Mainly because, in the same way that popping in to a supermarket for a sandwich can end up costing £15, I've added Ira Levin's "A Kiss for the Dying" and a CD* of the soundtrack of "Mack and Mabel" to my order

@schmockdown

You do need a cheese plane in your life: it's so satisfying and easy to produce lovely slices of any hard cheese you can think of.
It's especially good on Gouda and Edam which is why they may have started in Holland (my friend tells me they did).
You do end up eating a bit more cheese than usual though, just because it's fun.

*Oh dear - that ages me.

Buying a CD, I mean.

Glad you got one.

I don’t know where mine has gone. I might have to get round to sorting the drawer of doom.

I thought that was going to be a typo for cheese plants. My nan had a cheese plant back in the 70s, you don't see them often nowadays.

Well you should have looked at Hema, Dutch shop selling all the things you didn't know you needed! www.hema.com/en-gb/cooking-dining/kitchen-cookware/kitchen-utensils/cheese-slicer-80810318.html

Oh, Hema not delivering at the mo

[quote TheSpottedZebra]Well you should have looked at Hema, Dutch shop selling all the things you didn't know you needed! www.hema.com/en-gb/cooking-dining/kitchen-cookware/kitchen-utensils/cheese-slicer-80810318.html[/quote]
The Hema web shop is closed and may not reopen due to bloody brexit.

I'm wondering now what my next Amazon "recommendations based on your previous purchases" are going to be.

A CD of the soundtrack of a musical based on a murderer whose weapon of choice is a cheese plane...?

user1495884620

And they used to get really big, iirc.
I'm definitely older than you: my grandmother had an aspidistra (sp?).

The Hema web shop is closed and may not reopen due to bloody brexit.

My Dutch friend will be in despair (she lives in the UK now).

I got the impression, back in the day, that Hema for her was a bit like M&S for me - sort of comforting and predictable.

Hopefully at least some of the UK shops will reopen. I love a wander round Hema.

I'm thoroughly overexcited because my cheese plane has arrived!

(It's lockdown; I take my excitement where I can get it)

I made myself a very-over-stuffed-indeed toasted cheese sandwich for lunch.
Just because I could.

Thank you @WrongKindOfFace

Is this not just what the side of the cheese grater does?

Hema may not even survive in Holland, so I wouldn't expect it back.

KenAdams

Not quite.

It's a down-pressing and pushing motion on the (four-sided, I'm guessing) cheese grater, but a pulling toward you motion with a cheese plane.

I always found it easier, even back in the day, but since I broke my shoulder it's even more of a cinch.

By the by, those little holes with spikey edges on one side of the grater...
What are they for?

sirfredfredgeorge

Hema may not even survive in Holland, so I wouldn't expect it back.

Oh no

Does anywhere else do the Christmas sweets that look like Smarties but are matte-coloured red, green and white and shiny gold and silver?

Used to love putting bowls of those out at Christmas.

And no chocolate hail? Can't remember the Dutch for it.

Ooh I didn't know these were a thing. I usually use a veggie peeler for the same effect

Spiky holes are to make breadcrumbs from slightly stale bread.

greenemerald

Ooh I didn't know these were a thing. I usually use a veggie peeler for the same effect

Good point, actually.
Just went and had a go - does work quite well with a Y-shaped peeler.

To justify my purchase (plus book and CD) I would say that the plane's slices are wider (better for my use) and the longer handle makes it easier to use, but that may be the old broken shoulder trouble again.

And the plane is more attractive, imo.
I realise that's neither here nor there.

randomsabreuse

Spiky holes are to make breadcrumbs from slightly stale bread.

Ah!
I didn't know that.
I always just use a food processor, but if I was making a grated cheese and breadcrumb topping for eg macaroni cheese that would make perfect sense and cut down on the washing up.

Spiky holes are for zesting citrus fruit. You have to scrape the zest off, mind, it doesn't really fall free.

As an alternative to a cheese plane, I bring you the humble... vegetable peeler. Particularly excellent for Parmesan. I often shave cheese.

I'll just add that a cheese plane is excellent for using on straight out of the fridge butter. No more ripping bread.

picklemewalnuts

Spiky holes are for zesting citrus fruit.

I've been using my microplane fine grater for that. I do have a zester but it tends to make the tendrils of zest too thick, unless they're being removed later like eg in a marinade.

Fuckingcrustybread

I'll just add that a cheese plane is excellent for using on straight out of the fridge butter

Now you're talking!

I've been described as someone who likes a bit of toadt with her butter, so that would be a brilliant method of conveyance.

Now....I feel a bit bad because I'm answering lots of things on a thread I started. Looks horribly like self-promotion.

It's just because it's like having a conversation with several people at once, which I haven't done since October

Anyway, I'll just finish by saying that (like a vegetable peeler can work as a cheese plane) those exfoliating gloves for the shower work excellently to scrub new potatoes. And, amazingly, are cheaper the cook shops' products for the purpose.

And if you use them for both jobs you probably get a wonderful mud treatment for the skin.
Maybe.

I didn’t know that these were even a thing and now I want one !

My mum had a metal one for years (1970s) and it produced lovely slices, same thickness all the way along. Haven't found anything nearly as good as all the ones I can find are plastic and just don't cut properly

I've used a potato peeler to do carrots for a stir fry when I couldn't be bothered to julienne them !