Oregonian Haruspex wrote:
>
>I cut my squash with an axe. Really. I grab my nice, razor sharp
>Gransfors Bruks carpenter's axe, start it into the flesh, and then
>gently hammer it through with a mallet. This works great and it
>totally prevents any possibility of injury from over-exerting yourself
>with the knife.

What kind of squash requires it being cut with an axe hammered with a
mallet... has to be an inedible gourd. I'd like to have seen a photo
of this squash with your axe buried into it.

I've cut too many winter squash to count, all sizes, with an ordinary
8" chefs knife. Iv're found the larger tha squash the easier to
slice, smaller squash are like slicing ball bearings, but a large
winter squash is no tougher than a small specimen. I have larger
chefs knives but they have thicker blades so require more force, and
exerting more force than necessary is dangerous. Actually I find
slicing smaller winter squash more dangerous because their smaller
diameter makes them more apt to roll. I have two good sized winter
squash to cook this weekend... my 8" chefs knife will slice them
handily... the blade of that 12" carbon steel Sabetier is too thick
for slicing squash but it's razor sharp and is my go to tool for
shredding cabbage micro thin for slaw. That butcher's braker knife
has a blade too thin for winter squash but is perfect for attacking
large watermelons. So Paul Bunyan, lets see what you can do.
http://i57.tinypic.com/2rqf33a.jpg