Comments on: Unitasker Wednesday: BeanSlice

By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:11:27 +0000

For once, a unitasker which I would never be without. Our bean slicer is a bit different from this one; it has a blade on the outside of it for topping and tailing the beans. This summer, lots of runner beans – the old one was getting blunt after 20 years – so we bought a new one very willingly. Essential in our kitchen.

By: Jacquie

Jacquie — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:05:56 +0000

I am not sure which beans the US call green beans. In the UK green beans are the round ones, also known as french beans. I would never think of slicing these as they are usually very skinny anyway – less than a 1/4″ across.

Runner beans on the other hand, which are much wider than they are deep, should always be (in my view)sliced. All my nearly 60 years of life there has been a bean slicer in the drawer wherever I live; why slice with a knife when you can cut the bean just by pulling it through. Way quicker. But they are small rectangular cutters and much less cumbersome than this.

If you need to cut the sides off, they are about two days too old, which is why many, many people in the UK grow their own; often the only vegetable they do grow. For sale they wait until they are much bigger, but then you need to throw the sides away and they are a much bigger hassle to prepare. Picked small they have a lovely flavour.

When my SIL first emigrated to Canada her neighbour was growing them as an ornamental plant over the adjoining fence, and thought SIL very strange when she asked if she could pick the beans, then found it a good idea as they flowered for longer. She never did try eating them.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:44:57 +0000

Haha, my first thought when I saw this post was, “wow, I kind of want one of those…” I can eat my green beans any which way, so I think I’ll stick to just trimming the ends for now

By: Alix

Alix — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:23:38 +0000

A slicer? Why, it juliennes! If I liked green beans I, too, would be sorely tempted. It’s cute.

By: NeenaJ

NeenaJ — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:58:52 +0000

I like my green beans straight out of the can. Problem solved.

By: Janelle

Janelle — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:08:55 +0000

This is so funny because when I saw this on Real Simple’s website last week, I almost sent this to you for a unitasker! I’m sure others had the same idea as me.

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:00:08 +0000

@Val, Just start with the absolute basics. There is no harm in struggling in the kitchen for a while until you decide that you cannot live with out an item. By the time you break down and buy the needed item, you will know what you are looking for in that product. It is amazing how even when you have something basic, like a can opener or potato masher you think, Oh, I wish I had one that has rubber grips or I wish I had one that is longer. At least you’ll know how it will really be used.

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:21:00 +0000

@Allison and Erin – I agree that there are many single-task items that are useful and necessary in our lives (though they vary by person). In fact, if one item tries to do too many things, it often ends up not doing any of them very well – the printer/copier/scanner/fax dilemma. Sometimes it’s better to own just a printer that prints high quality photos if that’s what is important to you. (Or maybe you just need one item that gets the job done and a mediocre job on all of those things is just fine, as it is in my house.) But this general principle applies to many different types of items in the house – I recently bought a new microwave and came across a couple of models that were toaster ovens AND microwaves in one and thought I’d like to combine the two to gain the counter space. But I read the reviews and found that these units neither toasted nor microwaved very well.

By: Ruth

Ruth — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:18:06 +0000

Wonder if this would also do skinny carrot sticks? I love carrot sticks and don’t ever take time to make them.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:39:11 +0000

My parents got good use out of their bean slicer. It was safer and easier to use than a knife so quite small children could be sat next to a big bowl of beans and put to work in helping to prepare dinner.

By: priest's wife

priest's wife — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:16:49 +0000

Val- search the blog “simple bites”- she has a few lists of kitchen stuff that are useful

By: priest's wife

priest's wife — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:16:03 +0000

actually- I guess I am weird- I hate my green beans french-sliced (don’t ask me why- I have no idea)

By: Val

Val — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:03:18 +0000

I do agree that in the kitchen, some single task items can have very high utility. (You’d have to pry the electric kettle out of my hands to get me to stop using it)
It can be hard to decide what you need. I’m “building” my first kitchen of supplies right now and some items are obviously very useful, like the aforementioned kettle or my cast iron frying pan, but I’m still trying to work out which other items I need.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:53:34 +0000

This is one that I wouldn’t mind having. Frenching beans by hand (that sounds naughty) is such a pain, but I love them prepared that way!

By: Lynne

Lynne — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:47:01 +0000

The one I have is a potato peeler at one end with a bean frencher on the other end. I had it for years before I knew why my potato peeler had this funny thing on the opposite end!