Pinzon Round Bamboo Chopping Block with Inset Mezzaluna
by Pinzon
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List Price: Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Pinzon Round Bamboo Chopping Block with Inset Mezzaluna
Customer Review: It doesn't make the cut: A Pinzon round bamboo chopping block with inset mezzaluna review
Summary: 2 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I recently received the Pinzon round bamboo chopping block with inset mezzaluna. As a chef I enjoy many kitchen products and typically cook from scratch. Although I commonly use kitchen products made for home use, I tend to look at them from a professional point of view. As for cutting boards and chopping blocks, I like a variety for different uses. I've never used a mezzaluna set before as I generally use my chef's knife or products similar to this herb mincer to quickly chop herbs. Being intrigued by this set, I wanted the opportunity to put this chopping block to the test.
Being made from bamboo, the board is manufactured from a renewable resource for a greener product without sacrificing the quality of typical maple boards. Bamboo has a tendency to be more decorative as well and this chopping block, about the size of a dinner plate but much thicker, is no exception. This chopping block also includes storage for the mezzaluna and two insets for handles. When cutting with a mezzaluna set, food should fall back towards the center of the bowl.
The mezzaluna included with this set uses a single blade knife only going about a half inch deep into the bamboo handle and is riveted at each end. With the grain of the handle and how the blade is joined to it makes me think the mezzaluna will have a tendency to break after awhile. The blade is not sharp either; I can run my fingertip over the edge without fear of cutting myself. In fact I can look at the edge and see it has a thin flat surface. It would take significant work with a sharpening stone or blade sharpener to put a proper edge on this mezzaluna. Additionally many quality mezzalunas consist of double blades for efficient chopping, making this blade less efficient. Plus the bowl for using the mezzaluna is too shallow for gravity to do its job. I had to push the herbs back towards the center myself as I attempted to cut them.
The blade stores nicely in an inset on the cutting board's side with an internal magnet to keep the mezzaluna from accidentally falling out. I can turn the board on its side holding it in the air and the knife won't fall from its storage area. When using the mezzaluna, the handle fits nicely in the hand and comfortably rocks back and forth in the board's shallow bowl.
The cutting area is adequate for chopping a large onion, but have a plate handy to hold your preparations as you cut. The board's handles are positioned so the edge of my dinner plates will rest inside while scraping food onto them no matter which side of the board I am using. Alternatively, this board would be excellent to serve a few smaller chunks of cheese with a bunch of grapes for an appetizer.
The mezzaluna is dull plus could be improved with an added blade. This item also has a specialized use, making it somewhat less versatile. However the board is attractive and I can see thought went into the design. When it comes down to it though, this set didn't convince me to change my ways. Had the mezzaluna knife impressed me, it could have. If you want an attractive mezzaluna set, this is a good option. But if you are interested in function, look for a mezzaluna set with a quality knife, even if it costs a bit more.
PROS:
Looks great
A greener choice
Mezzaluna storage
CONS:
Single blade mezzaluna
Dull mezzaluna blade
Customer Review: terrible packaging
Summary: 1 Stars
I was very excited to receive the block as the box was so heavy I assumed it was going to be great. Then I turned the box and the bottom was not secured at all. There was no tape, the ends were just folded together and it looked as if it had been opened and closed more than once (like perhaps it had opened in transit and been shoved closed again). I opened the box and the board slid out in two pieces! It was completely unglued. Probably from being knocked around in shipping so much since there was no packaging around the actual board in the box either. ANd the edges of the board had some dings also. It looked like the board itself was awesome, very pretty and hefty, but it doesn't do any good in two pieces! And, there was no knife included!! It is supposed to be nestled in a slot at the side of the board, but since it was IN TWO PIECES there was nothing holding it there. They either didn't pack it, or maybe one of the times the box opened in transit it fell out and is now a threat to some poor UPS driver when he sticks his hands underneath all his boxes!
It really looks as if the entire board banged out of the box a couple times, and just kept getting shoved back in and 'closed'.
Apparantly the glue used was sub-par and it probably would have come apart eventually so I guess I am better off not having given it as a gift in the long run.
Terrbily disappointed.
Customer Review: Pinzon round bamboo chopping block with inset mezzaluna
Summary: 1 Stars
I once had an excellent chopping set for the kitchen, and thought I'd finally found another. The original set consisted of a shallow wooden bowl, much like a small salad bowl, with a crescent-shaped chopper. It was the best tool I've found for coarsely chopping things like boiled vegetables or chicken giblets. I find that a food processor produces shreds and large chunks. With the original set, because it was manual, the user could direct the chopper to the larger chunks to reduce them to the desired size. The original bowl was about a foot in diameter and about three inches deep. The chopper was about an inch longer than the mezzaluna of this product, and its handle was set about two inches higher.
I thought at last I'd found that excellent set again, but not so. The shallow indentation of this block is too shallow to confine the food being chopped, which scatters. The mezzaluna is so dull it can hardly be said to chop the food so much as to press it apart. The food ends up mushy, through being crushed, rather than cleanly cut. The chopping block is very heavy, which is fine for a chopping block, but inconvenient for something that should be a light-weight wooden bowl, easily turned during the chopping.
I cannot recommend this set.
Customer Review: Much Prettier then Functional
Summary: 1 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
If your are NOT a serious cook and you do NOT chop large quantities of herbs then you might like this pretty little set. I however was not impressed. I found the tiny blade to barely fit my hand and it is so dull it mashes the herbs rather then quickly chopping them. The idea of bamboo is a good one as it is a very hard surface yet the workmanship is a little rough. The dished out area is just barely concave making it a mess to use and it has places that are a bit rough and uneven in the concave area. The space for the blade is also a bit misaligned just not fine clean finished craftsmanship. Now maybe I'm being over critical because I cook a lot and I am use to a large, high quality razor sharp mezzaluna which I use in a wood bowl. That works much better then this for me. I think for the casual cook that only needs to occasionally chop a bit of parsley this might be OK and it does make for a lovely cheese board but this is really Not for the serious cook!Customer Review: broken cracked right out of the box ..
Summary: 1 Stars
this was a christmas present along with a 6 quart kitchen aid mixer when it was opened it was cracked half way around.now going through the hassle of return and wait for my money back and a dissapointment for a gift..