I should have bought a cordless carving knife. Where to begin? Have you ever planned a big family get together where you were hosting dinner, and everything just seemed to be going TOO perfectly? I’m curious, is it abnormal to have everything going smoothly and then suddenly you realize how well it’s all been working out and panic sets in because you know something is going to go terribly wrong? I mean, I’m not by nature a pessimist but it just seems to be the way of the world, you know? Family events do not go smoothly. It just doesn’t happen.

Of course this story begins the year before, right after my wife and I got married, and of course it ends up being my fault. Such is also the way of things. We were out getting some appliances we needed for the kitchen when I spotted an electric knife. Now, my mom had one of these things and it was great. It also happened to be a lot cheaper than the set of knives that came in the big wood block, which is what my wife originally wanted. They had a cordless knife there too, but it was also more expensive so I went with the standard model.

My wife went along with it because of the price on the other knife set and also because I promised her we could return it if she still hated it in a week. Needless to say, she loved it, and lest I forgot to mention that I have to take the blame for that as well. We used it for over a year with no problems. We do have a small kitchen and didn’t have much company over, but those things never really raised any alarm bells until afterward.

So my wife’s parents and siblings come over and we’ve got ham and turkey, a real feast. We serve appetizers, then all head into the dining room. My wife served the soup course and everyone loved it. Now we bring out the main course, to the delight of all… and realize there is no electrical outlet in the dining room. And we have no regular knives, other than your standard table knives which are not very sharp. THEN my wife had to explain to her confused parents that we had no knives, and of course however it was phrased the basic gist of the reasoning was: because my husband was too cheap to buy any. Needless to say, after I brought everything back in the kitchen, sliced it and returned, the mood of the evening had taken a bit of a turn. Moral of the story? The cordless knife was still a lot cheaper than the ones in the wood block!

In a day and age when every household has a microwave oven, an electric mixer in their kitchen cabinet, and many other electric gadgets, comparatively few households own any kind of cordless knives (electric). It may be that people think to themselves, “I have a knife. It cuts. Why would I need it to be electric?” because I know I certainly did. The concept of an electric knife almost seems to be more counter-intuitive the more experienced you are using knives in the kitchen, but believe me these super slicers are a culinary tool everyone should have. In fact, if you have a large kitchen or prepare your food in multiple rooms you might even want a cordless knife.

Many people aren’t even entirely clear on what an electric knife is or does, and that’s part of why they don’t understand the benefits. Most electric knives have two serrated blades which are mounted side-by-side. The blades typically move in an alternating motion. If you’ve ever sliced anything soft before you know that as you exert downward pressure (while pushing or pulling) the object you are slicing can tend to deform in the direction you are moving the blade. By having two, alternating blades an electric knife is like if you were standing across from yourself (as if there were two of you) and mirrored your original slicing motion at the same time. The force pulling your meat / cheese / fish / poultry sideways is equal in both directions and therefore it does not move as it is sliced.

For this reason, an electric knife can make incredibly neat slices. Its particular excellent for slicing not only soft textured foods but also those with multiple textures, such as stuffed meats or dessert pies. Hors d’oeuvres in particular benefit from the electric knife because one always wants the presentation to be perfect with finger foods. The only problem with an electric knife is that you don’t always have an electrical outlet everywhere you need one and the power cord is not always long enough to reach where you do the slicing. One notable problem often encountered is when it is desirable to carve a ham or turkey on the dinner table. Having normally used the slicer in the kitchen, many people do not realize the problem they are about to face until they are standing over the dinner table holding an un-powered kitchen tool. For these eventualities it is a lucky thing that it’s a simple matter to purchase an electric cordless knife.

It sounds strange, “Cordless Knife”. Why would a knife ever need a cord? Thinking in it further, it’s actually a little odd that it should seem so odd. Electric knives have been around for decades. Some people grew up with an electric knife in their kitchen, but there are quite a few people who have never even seen one used. My parents never had one and only in the last few years have I learned what I’d been missing out on.

Electric knives are misunderstood. Many people don’t understand why they would need one. The best way I can explain it is to imagine every time you have tried slicing something and ended up damaging the food or not getting the thickness you wanted. When you use a regular knife, you are pushing and pulling (towards and away from yourself) while you also push down. You don’t really think about it, but those motions can make all sorts of bad things happen: Filling can squeeze out of a stuffed load, pies with brittle crusts and soft fillings can crumble.

These are problems of regular knives, of the non-electric variety. Using an cordless carving knife almost completely eliminates them. The reason is there are two knife blades and they both move at the same time, in opposite directions. This means everything you slice has equal force pulling both ways and therefore it does not move. A cordless knife is even better because you can bring it to the dining table for carving ham or a turkey. All you need to do is place the blade, turn it on and gently push downward with just enough force to get the cut going.

For appetizers it is an incredibly useful tool to have around because it makes such perfect cuts. Presentation is everything with finger food and you simply cannot get cuts as consistently perfect with a standard carving knife, unless of course you are a master chef who can handle a carving knife the way Carlos Santana handles a guitar. And most of us are not in that category of skill. Of course there is the common problem with electricity: the power cord. Rather than muck about with a corded model that will inevitably either get you tangled up in a cord that is far too long, or frustrate you to know end with a cord that isn’t long enough, simply take the easy solution: buy a cordless knife whenever you can.

Fish fillets are an object of far too much confusion and far too many problems, most of which could be solved simply by owning an electric cordless knife. Many people either find it takes them forever to fillet a single fish, or they end up with bones in the fillet, or they end up cutting themselves, or some unfortunate combination of the three. If you are one such person then I’m happy to tell you that there is a simple way to do the job, quickly, easily, safely, and well. It does require the right tool for the job however.

There is a saying that when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. That’s as true in the kitchen as it is anywhere else. If you don’t have a particular kitchen implement and aren’t used to using it, you don’t think about it. When a difficult problem comes up, you choose which tool to use based on what you have. Unfortunately, many people do not have an electric carving knife.

If you don’t have an electric knife, you need one. They are really the only tool for the job when it comes to slicing meats, pies, soft cheeses, really anything soft or anything with stuffing. When you use an electric cordless knife the food slices perfectly and doesn’t get at all misshapen.

So what’s the trick to fish fillets? Lay the fish flat on your cutting board and angle the electric knife in just behind the front fins (or gills if there are none). You want to use between a 30 and 45 degree angle at first, and let the knife cut until you feel it hit bone. Then gently angle the blade towards the tail to move along the bones and slice all the way down, until there is just a bit of skin left near the tail that the knife has not yet cut through.

Do not cut through that last patch of skin! It should be about 1-2 inches wide. Now flip over the almost-fillet and what you want to do is use the same motion you just used between the bone and the fillet, except now you will be separating the fillet from the skin (which should now be on the bottom). You can help this along by actually pulling the fish with your other hand. Repeat this process with the other side of the fish and you can have two fish fillets, neat and perfect in under two minutes. If you don’t already have one, get yourself an electric cordless knife and save yourself a lot of effort and frustration in the kitchen.

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A cordless cutting knife can cut up so many things, like meat and at the joints of the animal, fruit, vegetables, cheeses, hard breads, soft breads, desserts like cake and pies. Even ice cream! A cordless knife is a great little piece of technology – it it works by moving back and forth at a very fast rate, via a tiny motor inside. The motor does all the work for you, and you don’t have to slice back and forth one bit, it basically just cuts right through.

Because you’re not sawing through the food, the cut is extremely clean. Of course, it’s even better that there’s no cord for the knife. No need to worry about where the cord is and if you might accidentally cut into or , or trip over it even. You can use it inside the kitchen or out by the barbeque because it’s a cordless knife. Banging. If you like having barbeques at the park with family and friends, it can be used there too. Sweet!

Of course you store the knife in a block that charges it when not in use. Two blades should come with it, and they are for different types of slicing. One blade is great for hard food items like meats, fruits, vegetables, hard breads, etc. The other blade is for soft food items like desserts, soft cheeses and soft breads. They are totally safe for the dishwasher (just like your plastic martini glasses)  so there’s no need to hand wash them and worry about cutting yourself. Of course there are many styles of knives and many brands to choose from like Cuisinart, Black & Decker, Toastmaster, Sonic Blade, Hamilton Beach, Oster and many more.

So you can see how great of a kitchen tool the cordless knife is, not only saving your wrists, but also cutting your food more cleanly.