12: Forschner Bread Knives, Magnum Pepper Mill

A prime example of how sometimes the inexpensive thing is better: the Forschner bread knives (model 40400 with wood handle, model 40547 fibrox plastic) beat out all the pricey high end bread knives in a Cook's Illustrated test a few years back. They are indeed wonderful-designed to work rather than just look pretty, they are wide so that your fingers don't get in the way of cutting all the way through the bottom crust, and long so that you can deal with large loaves easily. Made by Victorinox (the swiss army knife company) so you know they've got a great blade. Here they are demonstrated by Christina, who prepares an afternoon staff snack. YUM! Also mentioned: the Tom David Magnum peppermill. If you're tired of crappy mills, this is the one you want. Trust me. Comes in black, black, black, and black.

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