Dialing for Apples

I grew up using—or rather, trying to use—an apple slicer that had such dull blades you nearly bruised your palms trying to push it through the fruit. There are still many slicers like that on the market, but the Williams-Sonoma Dial-a-Slice Apple Divider is a vast improvement. It requires some effort, but it has comfortable handles and can cut through even firm-fleshed varieties like Granny Smiths. You can adjust the blade setting to make eight or 16 slices, and the wide, serrated corer does a good job of removing the apple's middle.