Peeling apples in heaven
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Discoveries, Kitchen equipment | 20 comments
Photo: The Lakeland Apple Master
I’ve been trying to use up all the apples from our trees in the garden. Bottling with blueberries and blackberries, making apple chutney and apple sauce. I’m going to make apple butter and dry slices when the dehydrator eventually arrives.
I hadn’t realised that peeling, coring and slicing apples could be such a chore and take so long. I began to make excuses to avoid dealing with the windfalls.
“The chickens will love these apples and also the Min Pins.”
The flock and Min Pins chomped and chomped. But the bounty was so overwhelming that eventually even the animals were replete on the apple front.
Then one happy afternoon I was lolling in bed watching Dehydrate2Store videos on YouTube (still laid up – how my life has changed) and the lady demonstrated how to use an apple peeler. She turned the handle of this quaint looking gadget and within seconds the apple was peeled, sliced and cored. It looked so much fun that if I had one the chickens and Min Pins would never have a windfall proffered ever again. Apart from being offered the opportunity of devouring yards and yards of perfectly trimmed uniform peel.
So I had a quick foray on the internet expecting such an efficient machine to set me back a lot of dosh. Amazon have a good selection but Lakeland had the cheapest one that I could find. So I invested £12.99 and am delighted with my Apple Master. So is Danny. His neck revolved so fast as he watched the first apple go through its paces that he might be planning to sue for repetitive strain injury.
“Next to the dishwasher, this is a brilliant invention. It has that Ahhh, ‘ I don’t have to do that again factor’”.
It can also peel hard pears. The length of Lakeland peeler is quite short and as our pears are diminutive this is fine. A more substantial machine would probably be a better long term investment. But for the time being, I’m in love.
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Help, I’ve done it again, going to invest in the lakeland sites’ apple peeler, oh no it’s all those clever little devices that one spies in their fantastic catalougue that tempt me,then trying to condense my order is nigh on impossible!
Agree they provide excellent service.
Where can I purchase a ‘dehydrator’? Sounds fun and useful.
Thanks Odelle.
Well, be all the holies, tis the mother of Seamus!
Hiya Kate V – but I have to say that your idea of a labour pool is reminiscent of Victorian England. Are Social Services aware? 🙂
(other readers should note that Kate V lives in our village and is more than capable of accepting and dishing out a little light repartee and bandidage!)
Hi Natalia
Loved the video! I don’t know how I survived without one.
Hi Virginia
I only discovered these wonderful machines when I started researching dehydrating techniques on American food sites.
If pears are quite hard they can be gently peeled and sliced using the apple master too.
Good luck with the renovating.
Hello N16annie
The Lakeland one is quite short. I use mine for medium length hard pears. It just depends how long your quinces are? If you give me the average length I can quickly see if they will fit.
Hi Kate V
Isn’t it great that it’s so easy to use up the harvest of apples without the pain of peeling by hand. I must admit in the olden (pre apple master days) a lot of our apples just rotted on the ground.
What a generous and practical brother you have!
Hi Fiona and Danny,
The best invention ever! My brother gave me one of these last year after spending hours hand peeling apples one weekend. This year we are still using it on the last few apples. My two little helpers fight over who should turn the handle and we have a happy production line peeling and stewing apples for the freezer while the baby looks on rather bemused. Domestic bliss!
Sounds like the Lakeland apple master would be too short to handle quince? That’s what I’d really like to peel with one of these. I’m lucky enough to be given the produce of a local tree, but by the time I get to the 5th 3 kilo batch, I’m finding displacement activities like there’s no tomorrow…can anyone suggest a longer model that could cope with quince, mine are rarely wider than a bramley apple, but the biggest ones might be a few centimetres longer ‘nose to tail’.
Hello Fiona
I received my Lakeland Apple Master last week which I bought having read this article – I am so pleased that I did! In June this year, we moved into a huge neglected house in a huge neglected garden which used to be lovingly cared for by a team of gardeners. There is an orchard with 12 apple trees, and I was beginning to despair of ever making even a slight indent into the windfalls (which are being eaten by deer so are not totally wasted) but now my apple master is allowing me to whiz through piles of apples in no time – leaving me free(er) to continue with the house renovation!!!
Thanks for the recommendation and the fantastic site!
Ooh, yes, I have the pampered chef version, and it works great. I also once had the Starfrit version and it worked great too.
Oh, this review site even has a video of it in action!
http://www.thefancychef.com/apple-peeler-corer-slicer-by-the-pampered-chef-review/
And I love the idea of calling it an apple slinky.
Hi Louise
Danny is the same and gets quite jumpy when the catalogue arrives.
I pretend that I’m not really interested and then smuggle it away to read in secret.
Hello Sue
I’ve only been to Lakeland once and was bowled over by the ideas and gadgets. Now I stick to catalogue shopping which is a bit safer 🙂
I had been ogling one of these for years but somehow never got around to buying one until this week! How did I manage without it? The truth is I live too near to Lakelands headquarters to be safe! When I told the other half I had to visit on Mum’s behalf he groaned loudly & wanted to know what else I would come back with. I don’t need anything I said but actually Lakeland is full of those essentials that you never knew you couldn’t live without until you pay a visit there!!! So, mother’s £4.99 Banana bag actually cost me nearer £44.99 with the apple peeler & other necessities I had to buy. Sadly I need to pay another visit on Mum’s behalf quite soon – I made the mistake (?) of giving her the latest catalogues.
Glad to know I am not the only one to be hooked by both the apple peeler and the Lakeland catalogue. Peeler works a treat but my husband thinks the catalogue should come with a health warning- he gets very anxious about the bank balance when the new ones drops on the doorstep!!!