Alton Brown's Preferred Type Of Vegetable Peeler

Kitchen tools are a God send. Per Hippo, kitchen technology and the pursuit of gadgets and appliances that make our life easier and more convenient, like toasters are refrigerators, have been filling inventors' workshops since the 1900s. How could a cook possibly grind nuts and herbs into a beautiful homemade pesto and get the perfect consistency without a traditional mortar and pestle? And how could a new baker learn the concept of eyeballing without first learning how to measure ingredients with the measuring cups we know and need? And what busy parent doesn't thank the inventor of the microwave on a weekly — if not daily — basis?

Modern day kitchen tools should definitely give us some serious pause. In fact, one kitchen tool we all know and love is a food peeler, and boy are there a few of them out there to pick from. According to Home Stratosphere, there are at least 14 different types of these sweet gadgets on the market to help peel and strip your fruits and vegetables of their outer layers. 

Two of the most common types of peelers you will find in a kitchen drawer are a y-shaped peeler and a straight peeler. And of these two, Alton Brown definitely has a preference that might surprise you. 

According to an episode of his online "Quarantine Quitchen," Alton Brown is a fan of the "harp" peeler, which is a Y-shaped peeler. Brown reveals that while he grew-up using a straight peeler, he has come to like this harp shaped peeler better. In an episode of "Good Eats," Brown also shared his love for this peeler. He said, "...harp or 'y' peelers. They usually have a deeper, wider bite so they're really adept at handling heavy peels and large surface areas like a really big eggplant. I also like these for shaving chocolate."

What are the advantages of this harp or y-shaped vegetable peeler? Home Stratosphere says this y-shaped peeler doesn't favor left or right-handed folks and can be used easily by either. The site goes on to explain this peeler allows for a "fluid motion" making it quicker to peel a food. Additionally, the site shares it makes for a clean peel, free of nicks in your carrots, eggplants, and cucumbers. When it comes to the best Y-peeler to fill your kitchen drawers with, the New York Times Wirecutter suggests the Kuhn Rikon Swiss peeler and Home Stratosphere concurs. Wirecutter highlighted this peeler's "sharpness" and "consistency."