There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
What are some of the strategies that people have employed to either train the other person how to use a knife when they really don't seem to care?
The best I've seen is giving up and having a backup they can use, any other ideas less extreme?
I mean, obviously teach them to use the knives properly first. But if that doesn't work then get bad knives.
Another idea would be to buy them their own cheaper blade, sharpen it so it has a nice sharp edge, then let them cut with that since they'll probably only care about how much sharper yours is than theirs.
In my personal kitchen, dishwasher use is rare anyways but it is an explicit rule that no blades go in. Regarding use, I've taught that blades are only to be used in contact with food and a proper board. I don't keep any boards in the kitchen that can't be used, so no problem there. Regarding heavy usage, I'm by far worse on my edges than my wife. Call me a fool, but I'll go through bones when necessary, and chop and scoop all day (never dragging vertically, but turning the blade at an angle in towards my non-dominant hand). However, I find maintenance an integral part of ownership, so I take pleasure in maintaining them and anything I do to my blades is my choice.
In other words, I believe teaching is the best way to translate care to your tools, which also makes the experience for the other user better and safer. The thing you mentioned that you really can't teach, though, is caring, in which case strict limits need to be implemented on usage.
I recently almost had an aneurysm from someone saying they just bought a knife block full of knives so they can just grab a clean one and throw it in the dishwasher between running it weekly. Crud sits on their blades for days!