What do you use your ULU knife for?

This seems to be a very popular souvenir. So I am wondering, when you get home, do you find you use it often and what do you use it for? Do you use it with or without the cutting board? What size knife is best? (I assume it will vary depending on what you use it for..)

I don't own one, but a friend BEGGED me to bring her one back from Alaska last year. She uses it for cutting pizza and dicing veggies. (At one time in her life she used them for dismembering game animals -- elk, deer, caribou, moose -- but she moved back to civilization :D )

I bought one when I went to Alaska in May. Mostly, I use it to chop vegetable. I use a regular cutting board that I have at home. I didn't purchased ULU cutting board. I asked a vedor and he said it not necessary. It work well with regular cutting board. I saw on the TV commercial in Anchorage they use it to filet a VERY big fish and cut them in to small pieces.

I' m glad I bought it. It is a good souvenir and you can use it too.

We bought the Ulu Factory boxed knife/cutting board set at the Tongass Trading Post. The cutting board is flat on one side, with a "bowl" indentation on the other. We use ours with a conventional flat board for cutting lots of vegies and I love the bowl-side for cutting fresh and dried herbs - it keeps me from having to chase them all over the counter. My SIL LOVEs hers (gift from our trip) and uses it constantly.

We recieved ours as a gift from my sis-in-law. I use it for EVERYTHING! If it needs cut up, the Ulu is fabulous! Very sharp, even after two + yrs of regular use in the kitchen. Pizza, veggies, meat, herbs, etc. It is a really fab tool that comes in handy for alot of different things. I plan to pick up another one on our trip for us and extras for gifts.

hmmm, good to know people are using them. anyone use them to cut steaks? They have a 4 piece steak knife set on-line that I thought was really unique but I can't imagine using them at the dinner table?! Anyone else? Recommendations on blade sizes?

I use mine to cut pizza. Also anytime you would use an Italian meza luna.

see I have a mezza luna and it is tucked back in the cupboard and we never use it :(

I'm so disappointed, every ULU i've purchased and given to my family and friends as gifts, have ended up unused and sitting on their stoves or counters. Perhaps they have been 'too fancy' to use - but - use it! ok - today I used my ULU to open a cardboard box from a recent ebay purchase that came in the mail.... :), oh yes, then there's the small ulu on my keychain that wasn't allowed in a government building I visited on Friday and had to leave at the counter until I left the building again......

I bought an ulu kniife on my first Alaska trip two years ago, and it's sitting in a drawer, kind of forgotten! I'll try to remember to get it out and start using it. :)

WHAT is a Ulu knife?

We bought an ULU knife on our first trip to Alaska in 06...just an inexpensive one. My husband uses it ALL the time. It's especially great for chopping fresh herbs and he uses it to make Salsa and Gaucamole. He can chop the jalapeno peppers without the burn....you can chop without your fingers touching the peppers. This time our first purchase is going to be a very nice stainless steel ulu knife. It was our best purchase and used on a regular basis. Be sure to get the chopping board also. It's hallowed out and works best with the knife.

I have found that my Ulu knife is the best for chopping nuts! (Also use it as many others have stated.)

are they pretty much the same price everywhere or is there a better place to buy them?

I just finished making a huge pot (2 gal) of spaghetti sauce. I grow my own herbs and cut lots for the sauce. The ulu with or without the bowl works beautifully on herbs. You can chop and "rock" the blade and it makes the chore kind of fun. The bowl keeps everything where it should be and not all over the counter. However, a cutting board works as well for herbs.

When making dips where you need small amounts of onion/garlic, etc it also works terrifically. Try it! :D

How did you get yours on the ship/home?

I bought a small Ulu knife for my 24-yr-old son; he has muscle tremors and I thought it might be an easier way for him to chop things - I thought that the rocking motion might work better for him than the traditional chopping one. So far, he's been kind of lazy and hasn't tried to use it much - but has discovered that it is indeed an awesome way to cut pizza! :) I've used it to mince peppers and have found it works very well (but have wished I'd bought the board with the concave surface so things stay put better).

I had no problem at all bringing it back onboard the ship.

And I inadvertently packed it in my carryon for the plane trip home.... and they pulled my bag aside for inspection because they saw a bottle of liquid inside.... I'd also accidentally packed a 100 ml bottle of maple syrup in there. They never even saw or questioned the Ulu. But I don't think many others would be that lucky; just put it in your checked baggage and you'll be fine.

The ulu works great on pizza, but I also discovered it works great on hard blocks of cheese and on spaghetti.

are they pretty much the same price everywhere or is there a better place to buy them?

I'd like to know this as well. :)

are they pretty much the same price everywhere or is there a better place to buy them?

I got mine in Skagway, but I've heard that they're at a lot of the shops in a lot of the ports, though.

HOWEVER - there seems to be a two-tiered pricing structure. One (lower) price for knives made in China, and one for those actually made in Alaska.

With a coupon from a booklet I was handed in the terminal in Vancouver, I could've picked up a knife-and-board set in one of the big stores (don't remember the name, it was right across from the train station for the White Pass railway) for about $6. My made-in-Alaska Ulu cost me about $15 in the same store.

Having only the one, I can't pass judgment on relative quality. I just wanted to buy local.

We've bought both, and though I think I'm in the minority, I think the cheap ulus are the better deal. The more expensive ones have a fancier handle, tend to be a little bigger, and come with bells-and-whistles like a cutting board, a knife stand, or a "How to Ulu" video. And there's the "Made in Alaska" thing, which may be your thing if you have convictions about the economy. But really, I see little difference when it comes to the knife itself. IMO, just get 3 cheap ones. Give them away--they're not going to care.

I bought an Ulu in 1984 on my only other trip to Alaska and we still use it to chop things like onions, peppers, etc. Only thing it came with was a small wooden stand.

Personally, I don't find the prices of the Alaska made ulu knives on the factory website to be particularly expensive for a good knife. i would assume the factory itself has good prices that would be at least the same as what you would find in gift shops, if not better as you are buying direct. the website (on page 1) will give you an idea of the prices.

1. Fillet Fish

2. Dice Vegetables

3. Chop Herbs

4. Skin Moose

5. Cut Pizza

6. Cut Finger

7. Make Peanut butter

8. Conversation Starter

9. Slice Whale Blubber

10. Gift for TSA Inspectors

This list was posted next to the Ulu's for sale in the gift shop of the Fairbanks Princess Lodge.