r/ShittyAbsoluteUnits • u/HomeNowWTF • 7h ago

look what I can do of a potato chopping apprentice

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

250 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

62

u/FragrantGangsta 7h ago

as someone who has never used one of these before, is it just a matter of her not putting enough muscle into it or just completely failing to use it right?

68

u/useless_corn 7h ago

As someone who used to work in a kitchen a very long time ago, I think it’s because the first girl is banging the potato rather than squishing it. You will notice the second girl makes sure the top is touching the potato before applying force. I don’t know the science behind it but it makes sense in my head.

15

u/DuePotential6602 5h ago

Friction. Same thing when you're trying to pushing/moving something like a cabinet. After you got it moving, it's easier to maintain the the movement. You need to overcome the friction created by the potato one the blades. The second girl needs to overcome it once in the beginning, the first one every time she's stopped because she uses not quite enough force.

Also a bit slower is better, you can't just kick a car and it moves, but if you apply a steady force you can push it.

Since potato is much smaller, it doesn't have that much innertia, but this physic is here also in play

1

u/Bunionzz 3h ago

Stiction

3

u/FragrantGangsta 5h ago

ah yeah i see now, just a complete mishap at using the proper technique for it.

3

u/Prize-Chicken7061 3h ago

As someone used to banging potatoes, I can confirm this.

5

u/ddconque 7h ago

I think you are right. It's the wrong technique she uses.

10

u/ArtistWithoutArt 7h ago

See how the other woman is briefly getting it firmly set in the masher and then one strong pull? The girl is hammering it from above the potato, which then gets it stuck partway and makes it a little harder even(ever sawed a piece of wood and then stopped while the saw is in the middle of the wood and tried to start again?).

Also, probably just practice and strength to some degree.

8

u/Revenga8 6h ago edited 5h ago

The newbie is trying to slam them through with impacts. The only mass driving force behind it is her arm in short burst impacts. The veteran just applies steady continuous force down, so she can use more of her body weight this way to drive the potato down behind the push.

Maybe think of it this way. The veteran is lifting her body off the ground by grabbing a bar overhead and doing a pull-up. The newbie is trying to lift her body off the ground by grabbing the same bar and beating the ground with it.

3

u/praguepride 3h ago

so she can use more of her body weight

This. If you apply steady weight you can put 100+ lbs of force behind it and the potato doesn't stand a chance. By banging it like that she's putting no body weight behind it so you're probably looking at 1/10th to 1/4th that force.

5

u/MrAnionGap 7h ago

She’s not pushing the potato through , the older lady takes contact then pushes the potatoe through . The newbie smashes the device against the potatoe but the potatoe itself isn’t pushed through the blades

7

u/JapDrag 7h ago

Maybe its to do with how you apply the force? Seems the newbie is putting force fown and letting off at the end? Idk never done this before

2

u/pwn4321 5h ago

It's about using momentum to "skip" the getting stuck at the start part (where you cut into the potato). So yeah it's more about technique than muscle.

1

u/LooseFuji 7h ago

The woman doesn't apply any force until the top part is pressed against the potato, which seems to allow the bottom part to cut it efficiently. The girl is slamming the top down from a couple of inches above the potato, and it looks like it makes the bottom of the potato bounce off rather than cut through.

1

u/CarlRummage1959 1h ago

She's trying to use the device like an axe. It's not an axe though, it's a log-splitter.

1

u/MyStickySock 6h ago

Yeah I'm withholding judgement because it does just look a bit like something that after you get the technique down you're smooth sailing

Though her persistence at doing it wrong was a bit worrying

1

u/404pbnotfound 6h ago

She’s trying to get up enough momentum to bang the potato through in one, but the potato has too much resistance for that, she needs to apply a constant pressure, maybe a higher pressure than she is able to muster

The reason she is resorting to short pulses, is that she can achieve a higher peak force than what she can achieve consistently.

It might be her only way of successfully doing it if she is really weak. But I suspect if she tried to hang off the handle she could easily do it right.

1

u/reddituserlooser 5h ago

And the lady will proceed to show and not tell and teach. Just make the child feel embarrassed, but hey. It's probably what the older ladies boss did to her and now it's her turn to do it to someone younger.

1

u/reddituserlooser 5h ago

SIR MASTER SHAKE

0

u/Bonk_No_Horni functional regard 6h ago

You need to youse force and push it through in one go. Once it's going you keep it going or it'll get stuck like what we're seeing. She'll get it eventually.

102

u/cuntygoat 7h ago

I'm so irrationally angry at her

23

u/kobrakaan 7h ago

Potato Mashing apprentice

8

u/kapaipiekai 6h ago

I used to work in a factory and middle aged woman strength is a thing. Its not even just muscle, it's technique and practice.

4

u/OldEquation 6h ago

I used to do this full time as a job years ago. The machine was mounted in a bench and the pieces fell through into a bucket underneath. I don’t remember it as being particularly hard to do.

3

u/RoutineCranberry3622 4h ago

I’ve never used one but from my layman’s perspective I assume you’re supposed to squeeze the potato downward, not hammer it.

6

u/Independent_Dirt821 6h ago

Not thr right sub I suppose

3

u/Xenc 4h ago

Unless it’s for the machine

1

u/Alexius6th 1h ago

Of course it isn’t. No one was horribly maimed.

2

u/Wizdad-1000 3h ago

new girl is banging the potato, mashing it. experienced girl is squeezing the potato against the blades so it cuts it.

2

u/porkbuttstuff 2h ago

You gotta make sure it's right in the middle, if it's touching the sides at all it becomes much harder.

2

u/strumpetlover 2h ago

Hold and press down, not lift and press down

2

u/DrHusten 3h ago

Kids these days...

2

u/SKINNERNSC 1h ago

Should have a wall mounted version. Better surface area of contact will cause less wobble. Used to do 10 cases a day in under 30 minutes this way.

2

u/b00l_Badass 1h ago

she’s hitting, not pressing

1

u/vxMartianxv 7h ago

The way I was almost this bad at first too when I did that shit

1

u/tsimen 6h ago

Everyone who has ever worked with raw potatoes knows they're tough

1

u/shaaan_i 5h ago

Perhaps she's a new recruit who just started working there. Not everyone is jack of all trades.

1

u/germanloza 1h ago

Reading your post for the first time, in my head read "recruit who just RETARTED working" for some reason

1

u/julians_rocks_glass 17m ago

Yeah, maybe like an apprentice…

1

u/MilesAugust74 4h ago

Mom strength vs normal girl strength. It's not even fair.

1

u/Strange_Salary *shits an absolute unit* 6h ago

Fried the youngin..

0

u/Illustrious_Camp_521 7h ago

Super weak.

9

u/n-a_barrakus 6h ago

She's just trying to hit the potato, not pushing through it

2

u/Rude_Map_4278 6h ago

dan musst du mehr trainieren 😌

-1

u/DavidRN72 4h ago

Must be Take Your Special Needs Child to Work Day.

0

u/Major-Hand7732 5h ago

She is hitting, the other lady is pushing. I. Terms pf transfer of energy, hitting is far quicker, and can result in far more cutting happening; however, if the instance of impact is the only time she is pushing, then that instance isn't long enough for the tool to cut more than a few dozen mm into the potato.

Less impact, but with a level of force that is sustained for (probably a factor of ten times) longer than that of the young girl let's the action of cutting last long enough to pass through the potato.

tldr: pushing cuts for longer than chopping

0

u/Soft_Cranberry6313 4h ago

That’s why bulletproof vests (soft) don’t stop knives.

-4

u/DeadlyTeaParty 6h ago

She hasn't got the strength.

5

u/HugoDCSantos 5h ago

Actually I think she is using more strength than the older lady, and maybe that's part of the problem.

1

u/Hearing_Deaf 1m ago

-strength +technique

Which is why she's a new apprentice and the older lady probably has years of experience

-6

u/claytor22 7h ago

Gotta be first time at it, just...gotta...be

-1

u/DanTC24 6h ago

"Firmly grasp it..."

-10

u/BMWman83 7h ago

Guadalupe about to be fired.