Raadvad is rad
By Stacey Ballis Updated June 27, 2018
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Credit: Photo Courtesy eBay Danish-Mood danishmood.com
The people of Denmark are serious about their baking. The wonderful breads and pastries that come out of that country are famous worldwide, and even here in the states we have a whole line of breakfast sweets we refer to simply as “danishes,” much like Kleenex became the verbal standard reference for all facial tissues. But beyond the pastries, the Danes are pretty passionate about their hearty artisanal breads, especially their rye breads. These dense loaves, usually made with wild yeast starters, have thick crispy crusts and are often filled with whole grains. That makes them delicious, but also a bit hard to slice.
Luckily for the residents of Denmark, they have always had access to the products of the Raadvad company. Founded in the mid 1640s, it was originally a series of mills, which included a sharpening mill. This led them to begin to produce high quality knives and other kitchen equipment in the late 1700s. But it was the perfect storm of a knife company in a land filled with hard to slice breads that things really got interesting. In the late 1800s the company opened an inn to help serve the people who were coming to visit the factory and environs, and the restaurant there was serving lunches to guests who included members of the royal family. Anyone who has ever worked a busy lunch service in a place that serves bread and sandwiches knows that keeping up with the slicing can be something of a chore, especially since pre-sliced bread was still decades away.
But the Raadvad company, being a knife company, designed a solution. The bread slicer—or bread guillotine—was born. It's a handy gadget with a v-shaped wooden rest for a loaf of bread, and an arm with a specially designed blade for effectively removing uniform slices from even the toughest loaves. The operation was simple because the machine is made of solid cast iron with a steel blade, and even better, there's no need to get your fingers anywhere in the way of the slicing operation.
This is where I come in. A few months ago I had a not-so-minor kitchen accident involving my serrated bread knife, a loaf of my homemade sourdough, and a moment of distraction. While my left index finger has been healing fairly well, all things considered, my relationship with my knife is at something of a tenuous place. We decided not to divorce, and after our trial separation, we are back together, but a bit dubious of each other. Part of me is convinced that now that the blade has tasted blood it will want more. I still respect it, but I don’t love it the way I did before it bit me. Now I am in possession of the world’s most amazing husband, who took over the morning toast duties when I was one-handed and has retained them even now that I am back to full-functioning digits. We divide and conquer. I bake the bread, he slices it.
Since I am a passionate sourdough breadmaker, I often scroll through the bread baking videos on YouTube, and recently caught a short one out of Denmark about a man baking traditional rye breads. And at the end of the video, he sliced one with a bread guillotine. I had never seen anything like it, but I was mightily intrigued. It took four viewings to pause the video at just the right moment to see the brand name on the side of the gadget: Raadvad. Off to Google I went, to see if such a thing were available. And while they have not made them new in several decades, they are available on eBay and Etsy and through some auction sites.
They are not an insignificant purchase. Not a whim sort of thing, not an impulse buy—especially since most of them reside abroad and they are made of cast iron, so shipping costs can often double the price of the item. This is a special occasion sort of purchase and requires justification. For me, it became a simple link. My beloved husband makes my toast every morning, which puts him in direct proximity to the bloodthirsty bread knife, which is just waiting for its next opportunity to strike. I do not want him to get hurt, and I also don’t want him to stop making me breakfast. Ergo, he needed a vintage Raadvad bread guillotine for his birthday present as a deep expression of my love and gratitude for the literal daily bread. When I spotted one that was in amazing condition and was the same deep orange as our ovens, it sealed the deal.
I have to say, the thing works like a dream. It has a specially-shaped blade that catches the bread and slices evenly without crushing the loaf. You can easily adjust the thickness of the slices you want, and your digits are blissfully well away from all potential danger. My husband was very happy with the gift, because it is a big heavy machinery sort of toy and the design of it is super cool. He was also completely aware that the “gift” for him was really at its core about my addiction to vintage cookery gadgets, but because he is so lovely, he did not even once accuse me of using his birthday as an excuse to buy myself a present. And then he made me toast.
Strangely, since the new bread guillotine arrived, my relationship with the bread knife has gotten a bit better. Perhaps because I realize without the injury, I would never have thought to buy this fabulous new bit of gear. So while I still am wary, I’m also the teeniest bit grateful.
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FAQs
What is the origin of this phrase? In 1928, the Chillicothe Baking Company became the first company to sell sliced bread. It's advertising for sliced bread included the sentence: “The greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.”
What is the idiom the best thing since sliced bread? ›
The idiom 'Greatest thing since sliced bread' means that something is the best and most useful innovation or development invented for a long time. Example of use: "I've bought a new touchscreen computer, it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, I can't believe I ever worked without it".
How sliced bread became the greatest thing? ›
It was first sold in 1928, advertised as "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped". By 1933, around 80% of bread sold in the US was pre-sliced, leading to the popular idiom "greatest thing since sliced bread".
How is the bread slicer used today? ›
The bread slicer is a very important piece of equipment in bakeries where bread is the foremost concern. Having these pieces of equipment will make packing and arranging bread much easier. Slicers can cut into a range of sizes and styles, depending on your needs.
Why was sliced bread briefly banned in the US? ›
In 1943, sliced bread joined the list of prohibited products due to the wheat used in its dough, the steel in the industrial slicing machines, and the wax paper for wrapping the loaves. Despite the fact that sliced bread had not been on the market for long — less than 20 years — it was already hugely popular.
Where did the phrase bread is buttered come from? ›
The idiom know which side your bread is buttered on was first recorded in John Heywood's Proverbs, published in 1546: “I knowe on whiche syde my breade is buttred.” Related phrases are knows which side his bread is buttered on, knew which side his bread was buttered on, knowing which side your bread is buttered on.
What type of figurative language is the best thing since sliced bread? ›
The idiom “the greatest thing since sliced bread” is used to describe something that is very good, useful, or innovative. It is a hyperbole, suggesting that something is the best thing ever invented, even better than sliced bread, which is widely considered to be a major convenience.
What does a slice of bread mean in slang? ›
(informal) if you say that something is the best thing since sliced bread, you think it is extremely good, interesting, etc.
What does cross the bridge when you come to it mean? ›
: to not worry about a possible problem until it actually happens. I don't know how we'll pay the bills if you quit your job, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Which country eats the least bread? ›
Another surprise is that China, with its population exceeding 1.4 billion people, comes in at around just 5.83 kilograms (almost 13 pounds) of bread per capita per year, and the second most populated country in the world, India, eats the least amount of bread, coming in a 1.75 kilos (or almost four pounds per person) ...
Before the neat slices came along, bread was sold in loaves. People tore off chunks to eat, which probably gave rise to the rather aggressive idiom of “breaking bread together”. All this changed with Otto Frederick Rohwedder, of Davenport, United States, who decided bread should come pre-cut, in equal-sized slices.
Who invented the bread slicer? ›
Otto Frederick Rohwedder (July 28, 1880 – November 8, 1960) was an American inventor and engineer who created the first automatic bread-slicing machine for commercial use. It was first used by the Chillicothe Missouri Baking Company.
What is a bread slicer knife called? ›
The Bread Slicer is often called "Wave knife" that has of course a lot of wave patterns at the edge of the blade. It is suitable for cutting bread, cakes, and sponge cakes.
What is the best tool to use to cut a loaf of bread? ›
A serrated bread knife is extremely important when cutting into bread. “You want to cut a loaf of bread like you're cutting a tree. What I mean by this is when you're using a saw-like motion going side to side, you aren't putting pressure on the bread, like you would with a non-serrated knife.
What do bakeries use to slice bread? ›
Slicers: Slicers are used to slice the cooked bread into pieces that are ready to be sold or served. This machine can either cut the bread manually or automatically. Packaging Machines: Packaging machines are used to pack the sliced bread into bags or boxes for sale or storage.
Why do people say better than sliced bread? ›
It is a hyperbole, suggesting that something is the best thing ever invented, even better than sliced bread, which is widely considered to be a major convenience.
Was the Queen born before sliced bread? ›
Queen Elizabeth II was born in 1926… making her officially older than sliced bread. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, fillings between slices of bread such as a cheese, or peanut butter & jam are in fact not classified as sandwiches.
Where did the term bread come from? ›
The Middle and Modern English word bread appears in other Germanic languages, such as West Frisian: brea, Dutch: brood, German: Brot, Swedish: bröd, and Norwegian and Danish: brød; it may be related to brew or perhaps to break, originally meaning "broken piece", "morsel".
What is the saying about cutting bread? ›
Otto Frederick Rohwedder made slicing bread a normal thing. His invention led to the saying “best thing since sliced bread.” This means it stands for top-level creativity and ease.