7/27/2023 0 Comments Jhutzler 571 banana slicer amazonThe third alternative, as favored by the scrupulously fair English, is to measure the length of the banana along its median line. ![]() Measuring length on the inside edge (Source: Max Maxfield)Ī big disadvantage of the inside-edge approach is that it’s difficult to hold one’s tape measure so as to fully follow the sensuous curve of the banana. At the other end of the banana scale we find the inoffensive Sami people (also known in English as Lapps or Laplanders), who are rarely heard boasting about the size of their bananas, and who therefore prefer to measure on the inside edge as illustrated below. ![]() The only real advantage of the French method for measuring bananas is that it makes holding the tape measure relatively easy. (Having said this, Texans, who are fond of boasting that “Everything is bigger in Texas,” are rumored to use similar techniques for a variety of measurements.) This approach, which was first adopted by the French in 1789 as a dastardly way of making their bananas seem larger, is generally frowned upon by more civilized countries. The technique illustrated in the image above is to measure the length of the banana on its outside edge. Of course, nothing is simple with bananas, which is why we have the Banana Police (What? You doubt me? Well, in that case, all I can say is that you need to visit ). Take the banana shown in the image below, for example it’s clear to see that this is a regulation-sized banana with a diameter of 1.5″ and a length of 21 cm.īanana length in the UK is measured in cm (Source: Max Maxfield) Although the diameter of an English banana is specified in inches, its length is measured in centimeters. The reason I’m waffling on about this here is that exactly the same thing applies to - you guessed it - bananas. Thus, it’s now common to ask for a 2 m length of 2″ x 4.” Over time, the length of wooden beams transitioned into metric units, but the cross-sectional dimensions continued to be specified as Imperial quantities. When I was a lad, you might go to a woodyard and purchase a 6′ length of 2″ x 4″. The problem is that, in some cases, progress has been half-hearted and sluggish. The process of adopting the metric system of measurement in place of imperial units in England was discussed in Parliament as early as 1818 (see Metrification in the United Kingdom). All of the other countries in the world use the metric system exclusively, apart from the United Kingdom, which claims to be metric, but which actually persists in using a mindboggling mixture of both systems. ![]() Well of course there is - the Hutzler 571-I - but this is not the solution in this case, because the only three backwater countries that continue to use the archaic Imperial system of weights and measures are Liberia, Myanmar (formally Burma), and the USA. He wants to buy a 571 as a gift for his mother who lives in England, so he was asking if an Imperial version producing 3/8″ thick slices was available. However, his is a metric version (he lives in Canada) resulting in 1 cm thick slices. One person emailed me to say that, based on my column, he purchased a Hutzler 571 for himself and that he is delighted with the result. ![]() Unfortunately, this has opened up a metaphorical “can of worms,” as they say, and I’m not talking about banana worms ( panagrellus Nepenthicola), which - as I’m sure we all know - are less than half the size of micro worms and - it probably goes without saying - somewhat smaller than Walter worms.Īs an aside, did you know that bananas first appeared in written history in the 6th century BC? That more songs have been written about bananas than about any other fruit? And that the seeds of the hairy pink banana ( Musa velutina) are quite hard and can chip a tooth? But we digress. In a recent column, I introduced the soon-to-be-legendary Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer (see What! Really? That’s Bananas!). Can a standard 18-slice Hutzler 571 be used to cut a banana into only 10 slices without wasting any of the banana or damaging the slicer?
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