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sixes_and_sevens comments on Low Hanging fruit for buying a better life - Less Wrong
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Upgrading barely-satisfactory household goods to better versions. Many such goods are bequeathed or obtained when the user can't afford better, and never replaced once they're in a position to do so.
Example #1: laundry apparatus. When I was younger and poorer I bought the cheapest laundry basket and airer I could get. They weren't very good, but I laboured with them for over a decade because they were satisfactory. A replacement set in my 30s cost me less than I would even notice spending, and vastly improved my laundry workflow and throughput.
Example #2: kitchen knives. It's alarming to me how many people think a bread knife and one other miscellaneous sharp knife constitutes a fully-equipped kitchen. If you spend any appreciable amount of time preparing food, and you only own one straight-edged kitchen knife you don't know the name of, you're almost certainly making life harder for yourself. Buy an inexpensive 5-piece block set and experiment with each type of knife on different foodstuffs.
(On the subject of #2, does anyone else freak out when they see someone trying to chop mushrooms with a boning knife, and if so, would they like to form a support group?)
How do you figure out what is best? I used the "sort by customer rating" function on Amazon when I bought my first set of household goods with decent results.
The standard advice for the best quality/price tradeoff seems to be Victorinox knives with the fibrox handle.
I have one of these. Can confirm, pretty good relative to other similarly priced knives I've tried, and even better than a high quality knife of the same age, when both hadn't been properly maintained.
Honestly, most kitchens do not need more than 4 knives. I own and use more, but I cook a lot, and have very good knife skills. I can do almost anything I need with a single large knife (ideally a santoku, but a chef's knife or chinese cleaver would do ok as well). One serrated knife for bread.
The most important thing is that whatever knife you use is good enough to hold an edge, and kept sharp. Have your knives professionally sharpened at least once a year (or learn how to do it yourself) and use a steel to hone them once a week or before/after any hard use (1/2 hr+ of prep chopping). It's also worth some time learning proper knife technique.
All that is much more important than having more than two knives, as long as your two knives are good choices. When I vacation in cottages with a kitchen, or when I visit relatives that I know do not maintain sharp knives -- if I will be cooking, I make it a point to pack my own knives (I bought a chef's knife caddy from a local culinary school for this purpose). And I am a massively nazi-ish light packer, typically packing for a week+ trip in a single carry-on bag (including my knives). That's how important this is to me. That said, I love cooking, and tend to do a lot even on vacation.
I think this principle generalizes. Tools are a nice force multiplier. For anything that you love to do, or need do frequently, having good tools that will last a long time is generally a hugely efficient upgrade in your QOL.
It can, of course, be taken too far. Upgrading everyday use tools to cheapest professional grade is a very good use of money. Upgrading to the best possible, or upgrading things you rarely use is generally not.
my solution was to pack a sharpening stone. and a steel.
As far as kitchen equipment goes, a reliable can opener and a set of good (for whatever your definition of good is) kitchen towels are also inexpensive items that can seriously cut down on frustration in the kitchen.
Totally agree with kitchen knives - i really loved the ones I received as a gift for xmas.
To add to that - I'd also suggest a really good skillet (eg I have a scanpan one). One good skillet every ten years is much better than having to buy a crappy one every year after the teflon peels off (or worse, eating all that peeling teflon). Also consider a deep saute pan with a lid, if you do a lot of multi-meal cooking - it doubles as both big frypan and huge pot.
I recently realized that the price of the skillet is quite comparable to the price of meat being cooked in it nowadays.
You mean "one other miscellaneous dull knife", right? X-D
I am starting to think about bringing a pocket knife sharpener on trips...
You don't need sharpeners. Most mugs of decent quality have their stoneware exposed at the bottom. And this is a very good sharpener. You don't need steel. Your dull knife will be sharp (enough) within seconds.
Hah, good idea. I wouldn't do this to any knife I care about, but we are talking about pretty bad knives here.
That's pragmatics. Most kitchen work I do requires no really sharp knives Also I have children to take care of. Significantly sharp knives are a risk. But getting a plain old kitchen knife up to speed to cut meat is a real solution here.
Sharp knives are safer than dull ones.
If you have internalized the concept of what a sharp edge is and if you are using said knive to cut things.
If, on the other hand, you are a child, no or a very dull knife is the best option.
OK, fair point.
That's an oft-repeated adage, but, having used both dull and scary-sharp knives, I'm not sure it's true.
Once you've cut the top off your first finger... you learn to grow much more cautious about using them ;)
What's the procedure for sharpening a knife with the bottom of a mug? Do you just drag the side of the knife along it a few times?
Yeah, you basically just run the edge across the exposed ceramic. The angle the edge makes with the sharpening surface is important, though. There's no single bevel angle that works for all knives; sharper angles cut more cleanly but are less durable and can't handle as much force, so a sushi knife needs a different bevel than a machete. Whatever angle you choose should be consistent all the way through.
Unless the knife is old or very dull, you're probably best off trying to match the factory angle. An easy way of doing this is to run a Sharpie along the beveled part of the blade and then check it after a couple of strokes; you're looking for the smallest angle that'll take the ink off all the way to the edge.
I don't think the bottom of a mug is capable of enough precision to make the Sharpie trick worthwhile (or even (=flat) enough to talk about choosing bevel angles), but here is more info about knife sharpening than most people need :-)
It's never going to give you as consistent an angle as a water stone is, certainly. But I'd still expect a difference if you tried to bevel one knife to 30 degrees and the next to 12.
You may be right about the Sharpie trick.
I second the kitchen recommendations. I've been slowly replacing everything with OXO Good Grips products (not knives or utensils though) over the last couple years and I couldn't be happier with them. It's amazing what quality design and craftsmanship can do.