Note: This is the start of a section devoted to new and old equipment that I've either just found out about, and want you to be the first to know, or just a look at the tools and ingredients I find I can't do without - those bits of kit that get me through the night...

I'm very particular about slicing bread and it's one of my pet hates to see a loaf mashed by the careless hand of a hurried waiter. Many years ago I remember going ape at a waiter in a restaurant where I worked crushing the life out of a loaf, with me gasping, "just let the blade of the knife do the work, don't press down on it like you were trying to guillotine it". To be fair, who's going to teach anyone to use a knife to its best advantage outside of the kitchen, butchers or fishmongers?

Marilyn Parker Roberts, from www.bay6kitchen.com, asked me to "test slice" a knife she's imported from the US. Looking very much like one of those old handsaws a pair of lumberjacks might use on an old redwood tree, the slicer arrived in the post packed in a long mailing tube and appeared to weigh very little - I thought the tube might just be a calender before I opened it. Marilyn had asked whether I was right or left handed, as the knife blade would be configured to suit before shipping. So on opening the tube out slipped a long cardboard knife box containing a right-handed bread slicer, weighing just under 70g.

above, incredibly light and razor sharp, you'll need to find a special safe place for this tool.

Good points:
The knife cuts through really rather tough crusts with very little effort. I was concerned that the wide spaced teeth on the blade (the spec says it's made from "surgical quality stainless steel") might catch a bit on slicing, like a handsaw does when first sawing a plank of wood. But no, so long as you hold the bread firmly the blades sink quickly into the loaf and slice quickly and cleanly to the bottom. The handle and frame of the slicer look like they're formed from a single piece of wood (American elder, a Native American tree with a pale reddish caramel coloured wood when polished) finished with a matt varnish. It's incredibly light, which means that you can slice lots of loaves without arm ache. The handle is comfortable as the finish on the wood is very smooth.

Not so good points:
Part of the sturdiness and slicing accuracy in a knife is determined by the weight. Though a heavier knife requires more effort, it makes accurate slicing easier. Ease aside, I found the knife didn't produce the most even slices and, if number of slices per loaf was a concern or if you were trying to produce very thin slices for a summer pudding or an apple charlotte you might prefer to use a knife. Though the handle is very smooth to hold it felt slightly short in my hand and, added to the lightness, this increased the feeling that control wasn't its best attribute. This is a knife for bread slices rather than wide chunks as the gap between the blade and the frame means that you can't use it to cut a focaccia into large squares or pita bread in half.

Overall:
I'd buy one, use one, but to supplement my best serrated knife. There have been many times when I've had to slice lots of loaves and the task would have been faster and easier if I'd had one of these razor sharp beauties. Because of it's sharpness and lightness it isn't a blade for unsupervised use by children. But it will wizz through those crusty hearth loaves like a hot knife through butter.

above, the farmhouse loaf from The Lighthouse Bakery cut cleanly and quickly.