Julienne Peelers

Julienne peeler. © CooksInfo / 2015

A julienne peeler is used to made small, decorative strips of vegetable or fruit. 

It’s actually less a peeler, and more a small spiralizer or “handheld mandoline” for producing quick garnishes and decorative salad toppings in very small quantities.

Each pass you make using it on a piece of hard fruit or veg makes strips of food.

Sometimes it may be appropriate to actually peel the item first with a regular peeler before switching to the julienne peeler; other times it may be appropriate to leave the skin on. Regardless, be sure to wash the produce well first before starting to avoid pressing any surface bacterial load into the flesh.

A julienne blade is sometimes included on other peelers as an alternative blade. There will be a regular blade on one side, julienne on the other. You use one side to do the actual peeling first, and then the other side to do the julienne. Check first before purchasing whether the model you are purchasing has dual functionality or is just a julienne peeler, if that is important to you.

The OXO julienne peeler has a safety cover over the julienne blade that flips out of the way when in use but back into place when not, allowing for safer storage in drawers.

These peelers can be handy for very small jobs for which you don’t want to haul out a mandoline. Still, some cooks say you can’t expect mandoline quality results: “Similarly, some peelers have specific blades that will julienne, but Barry said he hasn’t been satisfied with their results. Better to just use a mandoline.” ^[1]Clisset, Christine Cyr et al. The Best Vegetable Peeler. New York Times. 7 December 2018. Accessed August 2018 at https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-vegetable-peeler/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb6o-9Zyw3A