Monday, December 13, 2010

Cuttin Cheese

A few weeks ago I broke the wire on the cheese cutter that I'd been using since my senior year of high school. A sad day- yes, but I'll get by. For some unknown reason I threw away the handle of the cutter, I could have just replaced the wire, dumb move. I thought it would be simple to find another, I think I paid 2-3 bucks for the first one. It's a simple tool, the bent shape of the handle holds the wire real tight. The problem with most current types is that the wire is somewhat loose and can be hard to tighten. I've looked for one every time I've been out and about, even made a couple trips to kitchen stores but no luck. I searched online today and it was fairly discouraging. Apparently this type of cheese cutter has since become a vintage item. I found one on ebay for way too much money but thought to myself: vintage, I should look on etsy and sure enough I found one for a fair price. I ordered it today. The advantage to this type vs. the newer adjustable ones is 1) the tension of the wire and 2) there is plenty of room behind the wire to make deep cuts. I used to do lots of faceting years ago but now I primarily use it for cutting out the feet on my cap jars. After I broke the cutter I attempted to make one, I used an adjustable and I even tried using a cutting wire held taught between my fingers, none worked to my satisfaction. Sherrill Mud Tools makes a similar tool which is too large for my needs on top of being grossly over-priced. This cheap little cheese cutter is just right for my needs and I haven't found anything to replace it so I'm willing to search far and wide for a proper replacement. It's amazing how dependent and attached you can become on a seemingly insignificant tool. Enough about cheese cutters, eh?



I've posted a few more pots on etsy, mostly to replace what's sold. Real gems from the last firing in my opinion. Here are a few photos.







Cheers!

9 comments:

Linda Starr said...

They're all gems, love the first jar. I've seen those cheese cutters in antique stores too. I'll have to keep my eye out as faceting and texturing has been on my mind lately. Some of the vintage kitchen utensils are much better to use than modern ones, they lasted so long they must have been good.

cookingwithgas said...

next time the string breaks try replacing it with a guitar string.
I use to have one for cheese- really I did use it for cheese and Mark always replaced it with one of his guitar strings and it worked better then anything else we tried.
I bet it is long gone....
vintage....

Craig Edwards said...

Hey Brandon: My friend Hank Murrow makes a really great cheese cutter/ faceting tool, that has replaceable wires.. worth a look.
Nice pots!
Cheers
~Craig

Ron said...

Nice looking pots. Glad you found a new(old) cutter.

ang design said...

i've been looking for one of those for ages where did ya find it??

brandon phillips said...

i found it on etsy, though i just found some cheap ones on ebay. probably cost you an arm and leg to get is to aussie though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-STAINLESS-STEEL-CHEESE-SLICER-free-shipping-/170416209898?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ad98ffea

ang design said...

stinkers US shipping only....oh well add it to my shopping list for next year :))

Mr. Young said...

if you want one with a much deeper reach, I came across this one today:
http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/hand-forged-cheese-slicer
It's a bit pricey though.

Jessica said...

Hi,
Just found your blog and want to share my five cents to this one.
If you "have to", you might need to buy the Foie Gras also to get your hand on one of their cutters. Not politicaly correct maybe but...
http://www.nextag.com/matfer-mandolin/compare-html

I found it on Googl, use the picture search and write: foie gras cutter wire

That will be enough I guess.

I have one in my studio but haven't used it yet. But my eye saw the use for it right away!

Now back to your blog to continue your fantastic work!

Thanks for sharing.