There's A Right Way To Use Your Vegetable Peeler And You Didn't Even Know It

Chances are you've never really questioned how to use your vegetable peeler. It is, after all, a pretty self-explanatory and simple kitchen tool, even if it is pretty essential. But that doesn't mean there isn't a right way to use it. Not to mention that when you are done using it to prep produce for a meal, the peeler can also be used in a lot of other useful ways.

Many people might have learned or assumed that the right way to use a vegetable peeler is to swipe it in one direction, namely away from your body (via Cranberry Island Kitchen). While that is certainly a very safe approach to peeling any kind of vegetable, it isn't the fastest or even the best use of the kitchen tool. According to Taste of Home, you should be swiping the vegetable peeler in both directions to cut down on both the time it takes to peel the vegetable and the amount of work you ultimately end up doing. So long as you're paying attention and moving carefully, you should be safe. That's a kitchen tip almost anyone can get behind.

Before you even start swiping the vegetable peeler up and down your vegetables as Taste of Home suggests, there's an entirely different part of the tool you should use on the produce — and on potatoes in particular.

Look carefully, and you'll see that many vegetable peelers have a scoop or pointed end. This is designed to gouge out problem spots like the sprouts on potatoes (sometimes called the "eyes"). That same part of the tool can also be used to remove bad places on other kinds of produce, especially firmer ones like carrots or zucchini. To have a fast and smooth peeling process, you typically need to remove any sprouts or bad places so you are not stopping mid-peel to remove them.

Once you know how to correctly use your vegetable peeler, why stop there? You can use it for all kinds of other foods as well. Use it to slice cheese, shave chocolate for a fancy garnish, or even remove a twist of citrus peel (via TODAY).