Back To Basics, a Brand of Focus Electric, LLC Peel Away Peeler Review

I'm not a cook.  And I'm certainly not a peeler.  One time hand-peeling a half dozen apples for a go at microwave-chunky applesauce pooped me out.  Unfortunately, the homemade applesauce (I used Granny Smith apples) emerged so warm and delicious that I was trapped.  To peel?  Or not to peel?

My answer, after a little research, turned out to be the Back to Basics Peel Away Peeler which, if you're comparison shopping varies widely through the $20+ dollar range online and in stores.  I liked the fact that it this was a cast iron gadget just like the one Grandma used to use.  (She didn't know nothing from the aluminum options also available now.)

After choosing the Back to Basics brand, I decided on the vacuum grip model that sticks to the counter with a mere turn of the handle on the suction device.  Clamping, I believed, would create difficulties, but there is that option if you're working at a table.

Of course, you can't turn on an apple peeler and leisurely watch it work.  Uh-huh.  To go "back to basics", you must assemble the device with its coring/slicing blade, blade thumb screws, peeling arm lock lever, shaft and handle arm, ETC.  This is where, if you're like TunefulGal, you call in the troop, ie TunefulPAL.  Pal was very patient with the alignment procedure and in such a good mood that he decided he should man the first apple peeling.

Did we want to just peel?  Or did we want to core and peel?  Or, how about all three -- coring, peeling and slicing?  We eliminated the directions for everything except the whole enchilada. 

Pal  fussed with the coring procedure on several of the apples because they were too big for the gadget.  Peel and slicing went without a hitch, however.  As Pal handed the apple slices over to me, I cut them into chunks and tossed them in a casserole dish with apple juice for added moisture plus sugar and cinnamon to taste.

The cooking took less time than our learning-curve assembly of the Peek Away Peeler.  Somewhere between eight and ten minutes we struck our golden applesauce at just the perfect degree of "cooked".  Thank heaven for another olden-days appliance.  My giant, Goodwill Store potato masher did a bang up job mooshing in just a couple of minutes.

I love the chunky texture of applesauce made this way and can't imagine buying a jar of pulverized commercial applesauce ever again.  Now that we have the Back to Basics Peel Away Peeler, we're into ten and twelve apples per session.  That way we can have a large supply and wash and adjust our Peel Away a little less often.

I'm sure the process will become more user friendly as I go along.  But when it comes time to peel potatoes, I think I'll call the troop in once again!