Mandoline, the best one.. slicers?

[Care4raw]

I would really like to paper slice food like jicama, etc.My cheap mandoline is not only useless and awkward with the tough food, it is down right dangerous.

Whats the experience here?Any great mandolines?Options?

I also saw online electric slicing machines..anyone using these?

[Nani]

You took the question right out of my mouth. :D

[Eva]

I've been very happy with this one by Oneida: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009HHZ20

[Eva]

It's not electric, though. It's just a standard slicer but seems to work very well. I haven't lost any limbs or fingers with it. :)

[Care4raw]

I've been very happy with this one by Oneida: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009HHZ20

Hi Eva,

Thanks for the reply. However this one looks similiar to the one I have. I really struggled with Jicama for one.
It was too big for the thingy you hold it with, and it was uneven slicing.. a mess to make a looong raw story short.

Howdjadoit with this??

[Care4raw]

I know there's masses of you making paper thin raviolis, tacos, etc out of tough root vegetables on your perfect "machines'..oh where oh where are you and what are you using???

[baltochef]

Most inexpensive mandolines are not capable of being easily adjusted to make paper thin slices..The best that I have worked with are the Japanese-made Benriner mandolines..Just Google Benriner mandolines & you will find dozens of places selling them..There are two sizes, both less than $50.00..Benriner also makes both horizontal & vertical turning slicers..I highly recommend the horizontal version..It is both sturdier, & slightly more capable than the vertical model..It's julienne blades are thicker, & the prongs of the blades much more resistant to bending..Of course, it costs twice as much..You get what you pay for..

Whenever I need to repeatedly make a large quantity of paper thin slices, especially for hard foods, I grab my French-made Bron mandoline..Unfortunately, a Bron mandoiline, and any of it's competitors that are of like quality & with similar features; start in price at approximately $90.00, & go up to as much as $175.00..I paid $125.00 for my Bron about 7 years ago..

Always use a safety glove while using any mandoline, unless you like getting cut..Dexter-Russel manufactures the Sani-Safe Cut-Resistant Glove..Check them out at:

http://www.katom.com/135-82023.html

Hope this helps..

Bruce

[Care4raw]

Most inexpensive mandolines are not capable of being easily adjusted to make paper thin slices..The best that I have worked with are the Japanese-made Benriner mandolines..Just Google Benriner mandolines & you will find dozens of places selling them..There are two sizes, both less than $50.00..Benriner also makes both horizontal & vertical turning slicers..I highly recommend the horizontal version..It is both sturdier, & slightly more capable than the vertical model..It's julienne blades are thicker, & the prongs of the blades much more resistant to bending..Of course, it costs twice as much..You get what you pay for..

Whenever I need to repeatedly make a large quantity of paper thin slices, especially for hard foods, I grab my French-made Bron mandoline..Unfortunately, a Bron mandoiline, and any of it's competitors that are of like quality & with similar features; start in price at approximately $90.00, & go up to as much as $175.00..I paid $125.00 for my Bron about 7 years ago..

Always use a safety glove while using any mandoline, unless you like getting cut..Dexter-Russel manufactures the Sani-Safe Cut-Resistant Glove..Check them out at:

http://www.katom.com

Hope this helps..

Bruce


THANK YOU so much Bruce!
You're post is so helpful!Really wonderful information.

[Live Love Laugh]

I bought this electric Waring Pro a few months back , and really enjoy it . My TIME is very important to me . So this machine is quick . " I got tired of peeling ALL those potatoes for dehydrator CHIPS by hand , only to have my little one consume them in no time ."

It's easy to adjust for that ' paper thin jicama ' you want , and works great on root vegetables ,turnips ,beets , zucchini , egg plants etc ...

I bought mine at Canadian Tire for $129.99 - but I know Wal-Mart sells similar ones too .

[Arky]

Great post, Bruce. Very informative, thankyou.


J.

[Eva]

With my mandoline, I just have the adjust the little knob in the back to make the slices really thin. I'll tell you this -- my first several times, I was really clumsy with it, but I've just gotten a lot better with practice. Now it's a piece of cake and I don't come close to almost removing my fingers. ;)

The info from Bruce looks super helpful, though. :)

[Care4raw]

I bought this electric Waring Pro a few months back , and really enjoy it . My TIME is very important to me . So this machine is quick . " I got tired of peeling ALL those potatoes for dehydrator CHIPS by hand , only to have my little one consume them in no time ."

It's easy to adjust for that ' paper thin jicama ' you want , and works great on root vegetables ,turnips ,beets , zucchini , egg plants etc ...

I bought mine at Canadian Tire for $129.99 - but I know Wal-Mart sells similar ones too .

This looks really good!My one and only concern is the reviews online are not great,in the long term for this.Something about plastic screws and someone had the blade 'die' after a year too.Sorry to be neg..I love your "review" tho and I would looove to zip through things like oodles of potatoes for chips..hmmm still deciding..but 'she' sounds good".

Thanks!

[baltochef]

My experience with small electric slicers has shown me that to get a quality tool that can be used on a real regular basis will entail spending between $300.00 to 750.00..The less expensive slicers usually start getting loose & wobbly when used daily..They are truly designed for occasional slicing..

I worked in a very small kitchen once that had no room for a full-sized restaurant slicer..The owner purchased a much smaller commercial slicer that did the job of slicing mainly lunch meats & cheeses..But, it was not as precision of a tool as the full-sized slicers..Which is reasonable as it cost approximately 1/6th to 1/10th as much..

I believe that this was the model I used years ago..Or the closest thing to it..It was definitely a Berkel slicer..
http://www.katom.com/105-823E.html

Nothing beats a slicer for quickly & precisely slicing large quantities of vegetables..If I was preparing raw food for a large family, especially snacks, I'd really want one in the kitchen..The time it would save would more than pay for itself in the first month or two..

Using a safety glove while using any mandoline will allow you to push the very last bit of veggie through the blade without cutting oneself..Thus realizing more product per vegetable..

Bruce

[Live Love Laugh]

As for the reviews - I actually went to a site and read 5 reviews and 4 of them were positive before I ever posted .. Hmmm :confused:

Well , all I can say is I've only had it a few months with no problems yet and really do like it ." It works for ME " I just finished slicing some 6 heads of cabbage to start another batch of Sauerkraut - much easier and quicker than my small chute food processor .

It's made for home use , with a 130-watt motor , but that has a Limited Five Year Motor Warranty .

Good Luck !!

[baltochef]

Live Love Laugh

Being able to prep cabbage on a slicer is indeed one of the joys of using one..The speed & precision with with which the job gets done more than compensates for the somewhat tedious cleanup that results from the cabbage shreds sticking to the slicer..

How often are you sharpening the blade??..I have found that a blade that is kept constantly sharp by being sharpened often is key to how fast the work progresses..In a properly run restaurant where the slicer is used daily, it will be sharpened every day..

Many corporations are now requiring their employees to wear safety gloves while using & cleaning a slicer..While I don't care for wearing a safety glove while I'm slicing foods, I have started to wear one while cleaning it..It allows me to get close to the blade's edge without having to worry about cutting myself..

Bruce

[cara4art]

Like another poster here, I agree about Benriner ones - they have several different ones, all very reasonable in price and not too clunky either - very well designed. I've had them for years, having gotten them originally at Soko Hardware in Japantown in San Francisco. It seems that the Japanese are really strong on cool gadgets in this direction as they utilize many shredded and thinly-sliced things in their food. Both of mine are compact enough to take on a camping trip as well, an added benefit!

[baltochef]

Another mandoline to consider is one that I've been wanting to try for sometime, & will when funds allow..It is the Kyocera Adjustable Ceramic Mandoline Slicer..It received second top honors in the May/June issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine..The model tested was the straight bladed model..There is also a julienne model that is non-adjustable..Both sell for $24.95 at various on-line stores..Ceramic blades have the advantage of being non-reactive to foods..

Bruce

[DawnW]

I just ordered the Swissmar Borner slicer. I just went by customer reviews (244 reviews on Amazon). Hopefully it will work well.

Dawn