Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler Item of the Day
Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.
Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is the Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler. I covered this item in my episode Episode-1820- 15 Items for the Prepper Kitchen and How to Use Them. But it is an great item especially for those of you on the low carb lifestyle. But I can tell you anyone will love the dish I am going to tell you how to make today with this peeler.
First I think any kitchen should have a good Julienne Peeler in it. From Asian dishes, to making salads look and taste awesome and more they are just a great tool. They do so much and cost so little.
But when it comes to making zoodles, they really shine. What is a zoodle, a made up word meaning zucchini noodle. They are simple to make but there is a right and a wrong way to do it. There are also cool machines like The Sprializer that making them a bit thicker and in long sprials. Those machines are not expensive but they are one more big item in your kitchen and a Julienne Peeler fits in a knife drawer.
In the PS I now have a video showing you how to make these. It is really easy though, this is all you do, take a few zucchinis and just julienne them, turning them as you go. As you get to the seedy part you are going to stop. Toss that to the chickens, ducks or compost bin and go to the next one. You can cut bit into the seeds it won’t hurt anything but you will notice a point that you have worn it out.
NOW COMES THE IMPORTANT PART, you Do NOT COOK THEM THIS WAY. Put them into a strainer and sprinkle kosher salt on them. How much? Not a lot just enough to coat the top, toss them around, give them a bit more and leave them to drain into the sink or a bowl. In about 10 minutes they should be very wet, if not add a tiny bit more salt. After a few times you will know how much to add. Over the next 30 minutes turn them by hand 2-3 times. Make sure they drain at least 30 minutes.
Now put down a couple layers of paper towel and spread them out (don’t be all fussy about one layer, but just spread them out). Let them sit that way, perhaps flip a few times. This is less work to do than to read and write about.
I generally do this all when I start cooking, once they are on the paper towels they can sit there an hour if you need them too. When everything else is about ready, heat up some olive oil (I like garlic infused for this) in a skillet, toss in your zoodles with any other seasonings (no salt though of course) toss them at medium heat for a minute or two. Finish with some real butter melted in and serve. This is a go to side dish for grilled steaks at my house.
The salt is the key, zucchini squash have a huge amount of water in them. The salt draws it out and they taste like and have the texture of an actual noodle. I won’t say they taste just like spaghetti, what I am saying is if you ate them blind folded you would swear they are a type of thin noodle. Omit the salt treatment and they are fine but they taste like well zucchini rather than a noodle.
Pasta is one thing I really have missed going back to low carb living, until I found these. Once I did it isn’t even an issue any more. And here is a big bonus! If you have a garden you likely grow zucchini and get a lot of them. Miss a day of picking and you end up with big zucs, they start to get tough, way too seedy, etc. Well when you julienne them, that issue is not a problem and you discard the big seeds anyway. In fact we have found zucchini about twice the size you find in stores make the best zoodles.
So give zoodles and the Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler a shot. If you already have a julienne peeler you are happy with by all means just try the zoodles. But that being said if you need one or a new one, get the Kuhn. It is the highest quality tool of its kind I can find. Kuhn Rikon is a Swiss Based company, think Swiss Army Knives, they make some of the best cooking tools on the planet. Besides with this tool being only 13 dollars, why wouldn’t you buy the best?
Remember you can always find all of our reviews at TspAz.com
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This tool is also great for julienning carrots/peppers/whathaveyou for pickling and canning. The strips are thin enough so that you can heap them on a sandwich! Detour, new project for today, thanks Jack! Also, zoodle-project!
Great sandwich slaw recipe using this tool:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/06/pickled-vegetable-sandwich-slaw/
Oh hell, fermented slaw! I am gonna be “on the jazz” this weekend.
How long do they keep in the fridge?
zoodles? you should make em, cook em and eat em. Just leave them whole until the day you make them.
Could zoodles be dehydrated to keep?
I don’t think that would work well. For storage I recommend this, grow your own zucchini and for zoodles let them get really big, this works because the core is tossed away. I let mine get as big as my forearm.
Once they are that big they keep about as well as most winter squash. I have one I saved for seed from last year that is still good. That one is a bit bigger than I usually let them get but it makes the point well enough.
Zoodles don’t work the best for dehydrating. I did dehydrate long strips like lasagna noodles for lasagna. That turned out great.
Speaking of peelers, does anyone know of a straight blade, ie potato peeler, that can be sharpened? My toddlers eat a ton of fruit, but they like it peeled. I’ve gone through two peelers with a blade that I don’t think can be sharpened, eg: https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KC112OHOBA-Euro-Peeler-Black/dp/B005D6FYL6
After a few hundred peels the blade is so dull it just pushes the skin half the time and makes me so frustrated… I’d love to either know how to sharpen one of these, or one that has a blade that can be removed and sharpened.
Eric
Wife bought into this idea, going to give it a go. Something to do with all those Zukes!