Decluttering - do I need a peeler or a whisk?

[january2021]

I’ve recently moved house and am having a major declutter of my kitchen utensils before our new kitchen is installed. I really want a clutter-free space. I have a peeler and a whisk that I’ve never used. Do I really need them or can I throw them away? For context, I use a knife for peeling carrots and potatoes, and have never felt the need to use a whisk. Is it worth keeping them or shall I get rid?

You have A single wooden spoon?

Tbh I really don't think you need to declutter.

And no to your wooden spoon question, but I don't have a dishwasher. Our two favourite wooden spoons were bought new in 1991 and are beautifully smooth and well seasoned. My mother is still using one she had before she got married in the 60s.

This is my favourite sort of peeler.

I use mine for potatoes etc, but even if I didn't I also use it for making curls of chocolate to decorate cakes, long slivers of parmesan for salads, and for peeling things like butternut squash.

I wouldn't put a wooden spoon in a dishwasher. I had a cheap one crack, I bought a more substantial one. Do you need the dishwasher?

How strange! I wonder why mine haven’t lasted. Perhaps it is the dishwasher, or they’re just cheap and not well made?

No - I was just being lazy to be honest!

They’re not meant to go in the dishwasher- I never put wooden utensils in there. They shouldn’t be left to soak in water like that.

Do you use the same wooden spoon for stirring onions and porridge? I have one for sweet and one for savoury.

You could declutter the dishwasher? That's much bigger. Unless it isn't yours of course!

I used to use a knife to peel veg and then got a peeler like that and it was lifechanging - so much quicker and less wasteful than a knife (doesn’t peel off massive chunks of useable veg with the skin like my technique with a knife does).

Personally, would try the peeler the next time you peel veg. If you don’t like it after trying it then give it away.

Yes! It sounds like I may need two.

Even a cheap spoon like this should last more than a year, shouldn’t it? This is the one I’m thinking of replacing my old one with…

https://www.johnlewis.com/tala-cooking-spoon-30-5cm-fsc-certified-beech-wood-natural/p110430465

Treat yourself to a decent pealer.
And, if you are going to insist on putting the dushwasher, some silicon mixing spoons

Thanks. What’s the general consensus - do people prefer silicon or wooden spoons? I’m happy to wash mine up if it’ll make it last longer.

This is making me feel very worried.

Surely you’re going to need a utensils drawer anyway, and a whisk and peeler won’t take up much room in there’s

We use the peelers regularly (yes we have multiple, just in case one is in the wash or somehow misplaced). I wouldn't even attempt to peel with a knife as I imagine I'd manage to peel myself in the meantime.

I don't use a bulb whisk but I inherited a random flat whisk from my grandmother-in-law and it has revolutionised everything. I'd never fork whisk with this baby around. And I have not bothered with a bulb one since, even though I know supposedly it's meant to be better for getting air into batter etc. Flat whisk for life ✊

Wooden spoon over silicon always.

I had a big kitchen declutter.
Got rid of garlic press, lemon zester, nut cracker. All the specific gadgets Kept the whisk and peeler though. But I have a load of knives to get rid of but no idea where to.

Oh yuck!!! I can't believe that someone never peels a potato!! I peel them for boiling, mashing, roasting, frying, occasionally making chips!! I peel them with a knife, but only a specific Prestige finely serrated knife (I have two of them and I have never been able to get another one) - I can't do it with any of my other knives!! I will never get rid of my masher, crucial for mashed potatoes (mine are good if I say so myself!)

I've peelers for the rest of the family who can't use the knives, and for things like carrots and parsnips.

I wouldn't get rid of my hand whisk either - I use it for scrambled eggs and omelettes.

If you've never used them then no you don't need them.

I bought a new knife a few years ago and could never get on with it - the poster who said that utensils are personal was so right! There was nothing wrong with the knife but I just hated using it and it didn’t feel like the right fit for me. I felt the blade was too thick. I gave it away to my brother and he loved it! I have an ancient knife that I use for pretty much everything. It has a very thin blade and I love it.

Do you have kids? If so are you happy for them
To learn to use the knife to peel when they learn to cook? Just a thought. All for decluttering otherwise!

I thought my wooden spoon lasting 5 years was terrible @january2021 and now I'm scoulding myself for my cruelty and writing a beautiful poem about all the good things my wooden spoon helped make for me to show my gratitude.

I still need to buy a new one, despite my last one passing from this life over 6 months ago

I have a curry wooden spoon, can't really get rid of the taste after using it once! Re wooden spoons, I have a fairly battered collection, a couple only have half a bowl!

I’m sorry for your loss, @spookehtooth 😆

Can anyone recommend a trusty wooden spoon? Or should the cheap one from John Lewis be okay as long as it’s not put in the dishwasher? I use it for stirring porridge, frying onions, cooking casseroles… all sorts really.

I have a mixture of silicone and wooden spoons, silicone are easiest if you are heating beans or soup as they can just be shoved in the dishwasher but if you are cooking proper then wooden is best.