Am I using the Saladacco (spiral slicer) correctly?

[RawTruth]

So, I made the pasta with marinara the other night and it was yummy. But, I was so frustrated with my zucchini noodles. I must be doing something wrong.
At one point, the Saladacco flew out of my hand, hit the floor and went spinning, leaving trails of little "noodles" across the kitchen. And my dogs weren't interested in cleaning them up! I keep wanting the noodles to be longer and separate, but they're short and many of them are sort of attached at the side to an uncut piece of zucchini. Any hints on this? I keep trying to make the zucchini chunks stand up in the hopper of the device, too? Is this possible? It seems that with them laying over on their sides, I'm not getting great noodles. (Of course they taste great, regardless.)

[askcassyfirst]

Which ever way you put in the squash, be sure that it easily fits in the slicer, and that the top locks on. I haven't had any problems with it so long as it is sealed right.

Also, sometimes it takes muscle...The first night I used it, I worked up a bunch of things. The next day my triceps were sore... :)

Cassy. :)

[RawTruth]

Do you end up with some slender pieces left in the top that haven't gone through the little blades?

[askcassyfirst]

yes. They are the height of the 'bumper' that keeps one from slicing up the plastic piece itself.

I just chop that little left over piece up for a salad. Or just dice it for the pasta or whatever dish I am making...

Cassy. :)

[RawTruth]

Thanks, Cassy. I've made myself hungry for this now, so I've got some sundried tomatoes soaking (while I watch Oprah -- thanks to Catherine!) and I'm going to have some pasta and marinara soon. Yummy. Gotta eat it no later than 7:30 pm, though!

[rawpriestess]

Hi,
the Saladaco can be a challeng to use.

When I first got mine, I couldn't figure out how to make the little strands, only the thin slices, and the curls.

So, I took it back, and the person who sold it to me, mentioned how "no one ever reads the directions", well, I would have read the directions, except they were in Chinese, so there you have it.

I finally learned how to use it, and my friend tried hers, and spent about an hour trying to make noodles, she was going backward.

So, it is easy to have challenges with.

You need to make sure that the little switch on the side is up, to make noodles, and not circles, then you need to cut the veggie short enough to fit into the machine, and still have the top locl onto the middle part, then turn away, while pressing down.

then you have to kind of shake the bottom, (with the middle and top attached), to get the noodles out of your way, or you have to empty it often.

Alissa shows this in her video. (I love her video, there are things there, I never would have figured out othewise)

And if you want long strands, make sure the one piece of veggie you put into the middle part thingy, is in the middle, not to one side, or you will have little short pieces, not long strands.

Hope this all helps.

Blessings,
Rawpriestess

[RawTruth]

Thanks, RP. I did watch Alissa's video, so I've mastered some of it. Getting long strands is still a challenge, though, since it's difficult to keep the one piece in the middle -- especially with the zucchinis being small -- rather than it sliding over to the side. I'll just keep practicing. Also, when I did sweet potato slices, they came out into one long ribbon that I had to pull apart with my fingers in funny circles. That cracks me up about the directions! Yeah, I tried to read them also!

[Rawkinlocs]

RawTruth,

When making your sweet potato chip slices (or any chips such as zucchini), CAREFULLY (sweet potatoes are kinda hard to cut into when raw as I'm sure you know...don't want you cutting yourself!) slice halfway into the potato lengthwise and that usually helps them break apart rather than staying in that one long continuous ribbon.

As for the zucchini shifting to the side, I used to get that everytime! But I learned that you first want to make sure that both ends are as flat as possible. I also found that if I take the zucchini and press it against the little prickly things at the part where the handle is (on the lid of it) and then take the part that holds the blades and secure it on the lid like that, it stays a little better. Hope that didn't sound confusing. Also, make sure you are pressing down with gentle but firm pressure as you crank that baby!