Cutting gem squash without risking amputation - how ?

[Beachless]

Serrated knife, what the problem is

+1

A good serrated knife will work or a heavy cleaver like the pic I posted and then just chop it in half.

 

[Picard]

5 pages about one of the most innutritious vegetables there is ... :wtf:

 

[AstroTurf]

so, i was asked to cut a couple of gem squash in half - i came perilously close to losing a finger.
some seem harder than others.

is there a secret i don't know of ?

I cook them before I cut them. That way the flavour is not lost during boiling.

 

[AstroTurf]

Gem squash for me has a poor ROI for a vegetable. They're hard as rock so you dull your blade opening them and they only taste good if they're loaded with sugar and butter which defeats the vegetableyness of them. I rather avoid.

Cause you cut before cooking

 

[AstroTurf]

I like eating gem squash skins as well...

I love the (cooked) seeds

 

[AstroTurf]

That's such terrible advice. Then you can't do anything with them because they're already cooked and plus they're boiling hot so you need to cool them down and reheat them.

Okay what I did the other day was, just cut the buggers with a good knife. It really wasn't all that hard. Then I steamed them over a pot of water till they were soft. Then filled them with stuff and roasted for about 10 minutes. Lovely.

you cook them, you run cold water over them and the skin gets cold for a few seconds (plenty time to complete), you cut them and use a teaspoon to remove the seeds.

 

[Seriously]

aaah
therein may lie the evasive answer

Ok. So I thought how difficult can it be. So I just tried cutting a squash with both a sharp and serrated knife in both directions suggested without much success and experienced your concern first hand.

Firstly the round gem moved and slipped when trying to cut, a saw action did not help. I used a cloth in circular fashion around the squash for support, it did help a bit but the danger was still there. So I gave up and asked the kitchen scientists for advise and she gave me the correct and safer method.

You use the sharp point of the knife in a downward direction to pierce and penetrate the tough skin of the squash and then its easy peasy to just carry on cutting in a circular motion all around. I tried it and it works a charm. You still need support to hold the round squash stable during the initial action.

So I guess its squash for supper tonight after the experiments.