Friday Favorites

Calphalon Tomato & Bagel Knife

Tomato/Bagel Knife: photo by Cliff Hutson

This entry is a cheat. The Remodelista favorite (number 77 in the book) is actually a Wüsthof knife, and I do keep a set of them on my kitchen counter which are used on a daily basis. But, as I started to write this item, it came to me that my favorite kitchen knife, over the last ten years, is this Calphalon® Tomato & Bagel Knife.

While Alton Brown may prefer multi-taskers, I find the focused purpose of this knife to be appealing. And, Alton might approve of it as well - it does do both tomatoes and bagels. What a tool! Throw in an onion, then all I need is lox for a complete meal.

The serrated edge allows the knife to penetrate tomato skin without crushing the flesh. You can, of course, cut tomatoes with any properly sharpened knife, but the serrations are definitely a help. My Calphalon also has a forked tip to aid in lifting the tomato slices after they have been cut.

The serrated blades of bread knives also enable them to cut soft bread without crushing it. I certainly can't do as good as job on a bagel with a straight blade as I can with this one. So, it has to go to the top of my list of favorite knives.