Squash meet their match in Hatfield man's peeler

HATFIELD. MA - Every fall, millions of butternut squash come out of the fields of New England, and every fall, almost everyone complains about peeling them.

Now, Ronald Widelo has come up with the answer: the RJW Automated Butternut Squash Peeler.

After watching area farmers struggling to find efficient ways to peel butternut squash and turnips, Widelo, a welder, invented his apparatus, which now has a U.S. patent.

The idea for the peeler was born when Widelo, of 326 West St., began observing procedures at local farms. As owner of Ronny's Welding Service, Widelo frequently found himself repairing equipment used to ready produce for distribution, but had not seen an effective tool for peeling squash.

"He noticed that most of the time squash was peeled by hand," said his wife Sandra Widelo. "Doing that took too much time and produced too much waste."

Widelo's peeler allows for neater removal of the squash's outer skin as well as a thinner peel, leaving more of the vegetable intact.

Widelo said he created five prototypes before settling on the final model.

"It just took persistence," Widelo said. "And it finally worked."

According to Widelo, the stainless steel unit is about three feet wide and can easily peel 3 butternut squash per minute, with a 97 percent product yield. When squash is peeled by hand, up to 40 percent of it can end up as waste. One person can operate two peelers.

"The peeler really makes a difference," Widelo said. "Doing it by hand gouges too much out. This way it doesn't even look like it's peeled, it's so perfect."

Butternut squash is harvested during the fall months, and is sold and usually consumed through the winter holidays, said Sandra Widelo.

Excerpted from article published by the Daily Hampshire Gazette, October 23, 2001. Reprinted with permission.

 

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