From Season 7: Chicken Kiev
Cooking from an open cookbook can present real challenges: The book may not lie flat, pages flip over, splatters soil the pages, and pages can be difficult to turn with slippery hands. Short of photocopying the recipe or rewriting it on a separate sheet of paper, the obvious solution is to use a cookbook holder.
Arguably, any book holder can act as a cookbook holder, but we felt that at the very least a cookbook holder should have a shield that protects pages from splatters. Making this our baseline requirement for purchase, we ordered several candidates and evaluated them according to the following criteria:
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| Product Tested | Performance | Comfort | Price* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highly Recommended | ||||
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Victorinox (formerly Victorinox Forschner) 6-inch Straight Boning Knife: FlexibleThe nonslip grip and narrow, straight blade let testers remove the smallest bones with precision and complete comfort. Perfectly balanced with enough flexibility to maneuver around tight joints. The low price was a bonus. |
★ ★ ★ | ★ ★ ★ | $19.95 |
| Recommended | ||||
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Wüsthof Classic Boning KnifeHefty in weight, this knife was a solid performer when removing poultry bones, and the handle was easy to grip, even when covered in chicken fat. Piercing silver skin was a challenge since the tip wasnt sharp enough and the long narrow blade produced slightly jagged cuts. |
★ ★ | ★ ★ ★ | $99.95 |
| Recommended with Reservations | ||||
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Mundial Boning Knife: FlexibleThe sharp tip performed well when removing silver skin, but it was too flexible when maneuvering around poultry joints, leaving testers feeling a lack of control. The heavy handle was slightly unbalanced and became slippery once covered in poultry fat. |
★ ★ | ★ ★ | $19.95 |
| Not Recommended | ||||
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Shun Gokujo Filet KnifeDesigned to replicate a samurai blade, this expensive knife was a disappointment. It struggled to pierce the silver skin, although long cuts were smooth and even. Minimal flexibility and extreme curve got in the way when maneuvering around joints. The smooth handle was hard to grip and slippery. |
★ ★ | ★ | $179.95 |
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MAC Boning KnifeChef SeriesThe large, cumbersome handle reminded testers of an outdoors knife for fishing and hunting. The blade was too wide to maneuver around joints and it struggled to pierce silver skin. Unlike other knives, this boning knife could only slice in one direction, making intricate cuts around joints difficult. |
★ | ★ ★ | $34.95 |
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Messermeister San Moritz Elite Flexible Boning KnifeThe blade was so flexible it led to erratic cuttings; testers said the knife was hard to control. The blade was not sturdy enough to maneuver around joints and the lightweight handle felt flimsy and unbalanced. |
★ | ★ | $53.60 |