[boar_d_laze]

Originally Posted by izbnso

BDL, know much about eye liner do ya?

Are you sure you want to know?

[...] I’m sure this is going to be absolute heresy to the knife purists, but I have found that a $10 electric knife is great for bread slicing.

I don't know about $10, but an electric knife can do a lot of things well. Definitely worth having.

[...] I gravitated to the electric knife because I found with all the bread I was slicing my right arm was decidedly more muscular than my left, which just looked funny when I wore my favorite spaghetti strap dress. With an electric knife, the knife makes the back and forth motion, not you, leaving one with perfectly symmetrical and matching flabby arms.

As I recall the whole sleveless dress thing was a big issue with Ben Hur. So much so, he asked to change sides on the galley rowing bank.

I think that a lot of folks tend to not slice bread well due to the instinct to add a chopping-esque push that squishes instead of slices. Then the extra force can tend to lead to the knife veering off course yielding a too skinny or too thick bottom of the slice.

That's so. It mostly comes from death-gripping the knife handle too tightly. I hadn't thought much about the instinct to chop-esque, you're undoubtedly right.

With the electric knife that tendency dissipates since you are just there to guide the knife, not exert pressure on it.

Yowzers. Let the tool do the work.

BDL

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by boar_d_laze

If you're having trouble making even slices, let me know. Think of slicing as the "eye-liner" of culinary techniques. It's a skill which doesn't take a lot of knowledge, does take some practice, is pretty easy when you get down to it, but don't do it when you're driving.

BDL

Lots of great opinions, thank you!

BDL- I always appreciate your humor! Yes, I’m having trouble with creating even slices that aren’t torn on the sides.

I’m currently using an electric knife and a cheap bread knife ($25.00 range) to cut my bread. We are only a family of three but I feel like I spend way too much time slicing breads each week. I’m happy with the cuts for bagels and sweet breads but my knife pulls on the edges of my sandwich loaves and tears a small chunk off the side each time. I get even slices for the first half of a loaf, but the last half is uneven.

Crusty French breads I’m able to cut okay but whole grain breads seems to tear more with a knife. I figured with as much cutting as I’m doing each week, it may be worth it to get a slicer. I don’t want the extra bulk in the kitchen but I’m up for anything to spare me a few extra minutes.

Are you saying that if I invest in a quality bread knife, then I could see better results? I’m up for any suggestions.

Thanks,
Emily

[DC Sunshine]

Have you tried chilling or even (sacrilege) freezing the bread first before slicing?

Works a treat.

P.S. BDL....you're a riot...give up the cook book and write comedy hehe j/k

[Phaedrus]

Maybe an electric knife would be okay at home [shudders!] but if you wanna use them to cut bread for banquets you better have a stack of 'em, cause you'll go thru 'em pretty fast. They're underpowered and not meant to operate continuously for long periods of time. Plus, the steel they use makes Costco blades look like Cowry X.