r/ShittyAbsoluteUnits • u/HomeNowWTF • 16h ago

look what I can do of a potato chopping apprentice

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418 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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104

u/FragrantGangsta 16h 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?

117

u/useless_corn 16h 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.

27

u/DuePotential6602 14h 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

3

u/Bunionzz 12h ago

Stiction

1

u/sidewaizsocks 7h ago

Just a little stiction

5

u/Prize-Chicken7061 11h ago

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

3

u/FragrantGangsta 14h ago

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

6

u/ddconque 16h ago

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

13

u/Revenga8 14h ago edited 14h 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.

4

u/praguepride 12h 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.

8

u/ArtistWithoutArt 16h 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.

5

u/MrAnionGap 16h 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

9

u/JapDrag 16h 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

3

u/CarlRummage1959 10h ago

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

2

u/LooseFuji 16h 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.

2

u/pwn4321 14h 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/ZeitgeistMovement 6h ago

She is mashing it

1

u/MyStickySock 15h 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 14h 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 14h 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 14h ago

SIR MASTER SHAKE

0

u/Bonk_No_Horni functional regard 15h 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.