Thread Number: 74967
/ Tag: Recipes, Cooking Accessories
Those who have Mandoline Slicers |
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Post# 987888   3/24/2018 at 10:56 (2,196 days old) by appnut (TX)   |   | |
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How well do you like it? Could it be helpful with anyone that is somewhat coordination-challenged? I'm just not sure how well I'll be able to deal with moving the food back & forth/up & down on what looks to me like a tack with side guides. Or would an updated food processor be better for slicing, shredding, and dicing. |
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Post# 987890 , Reply# 1   3/24/2018 at 11:21 (2,196 days old) by rp2813 (Sannazay)   |   | |
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Many years ago, Dave received a mandoline slicer as a gift. I knew it was an accident waiting to happen. Sure enough, the first time he used it he sliced off a piece of his finger. Additionally, there was no way to store the thing without having the slicing blade exposed.
I hid it from him and would not back down. It didn't take him long to forget about it. I don't know whatever happened to it. It probably ended up in a donation pile when we moved about ten years ago.
Unless they've made safety improvements, I would advise against one. |
Post# 987891 , Reply# 2   3/24/2018 at 11:24 (2,196 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )   |   | |
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Post# 987894 , Reply# 3   3/24/2018 at 11:29 (2,196 days old) by peteski50 (New York)   |   | |
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Post# 987909 , Reply# 7   3/24/2018 at 13:05 (2,196 days old) by thomasortega (El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles de Porciúncula)   |   | |
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The only blades I really like in a food processor are the S blade and the plastic S blade (dough) Lately i1've been interested on the dicing blade, but I bet it's not perfect, but "acceptable" when we need to dice tons of food. |
Post# 987917 , Reply# 8   3/24/2018 at 13:58 (2,196 days old) by parunner58 (Davenport, FL)   |   | |
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Hi Bob,
I have a Mandoline slicer and use it often. I use the cutting guard or if the item is bulky i use a cutting glove. Had it for over 15 years and no accidents yet.
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Post# 987943 , Reply# 10   3/24/2018 at 16:19 (2,196 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)   |   | |
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I have a Cuisinart that David bought me when we were first married in 1981 that I seldom use. I find that I primarly use only 3 different knives. My little razor sharp 3” Good Cook paring knife, my chefs knife and my dime store 12” serrated knife that I paid $2.69 for at TG&Y variety store in 1976. Even though I have a nice set of knives in a knife block, the only knife I really use very often from this set is the chef’s knife. And for grating and shredding I use old fashioned graters, its just easier to clean and put away than the Cuisinart. About the only time I use the Cuisinart is if I’m making lasagna, then it makes sense, because I can chop the onions and garlic, then slice the mushrooms and lastly shred the cheese and only have to clean the darn thing once.
I am a creature of habit when it comes to cooking I like to use old familar knives, bowls, pots, pans and other implements. I always clean up as I go along and then theres not a big mess at the end. If you are experienced you don’t need all those gadgets. My motto is simple is always better. Eddie |
Post# 987951 , Reply# 11   3/24/2018 at 16:53 (2,196 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Post# 987992 , Reply# 13   3/25/2018 at 00:50 (2,196 days old) by iej (.... )   |   | |
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Way to dangerous and I like my fingertips too much to use such a thing! |
Post# 987996 , Reply# 14   3/25/2018 at 02:36 (2,196 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)   |   | |
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I've had an orange plastic Rubbermaid slicer for about 30 years now. It has one fixed straight blade (riveted in place) I got a stainless version with all the bells and whistles, multiple blades, thickness adjustment, safe food pusher, etc... But when I need to slice some carrots or radishes quickly usually out comes the old Rubbermaid. I've had to sharpen the blade occasionally, using a fine jeweler's file, and it still works great. You just have to be aware as the food gets reduced in size and slow down.
For lots of slicing I'll pull out the Cuisinart. But for a quick salad for one that's way to much bother. And I'm quite adept with a knife and cutting board as well. I keep my knives razor sharp and rock them on the board to slice, pivoting on the tip of the knife, never "chopping". For Chinese style stir fry, it's the only sure way to get bias cuts. For this kind of work a Chinese flat rectangular knife works great, although for the past decade I generally use a Santoku knife. |
Post# 988010 , Reply# 16   3/25/2018 at 05:52 (2,196 days old) by Chachp (North Little Rock, AR)   |   | |
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I have a Pampered Chef version only because my niece used to sell the stuff and every time she was a little short on an order she'd call and say "Uncle Ralph, will you buy...." and being the sucker I am I would always help her out.
Used the thing once and cut myself. I find this particular model difficult to change the blades and the safety handle thingie doesn't work all that well. We are getting ready to move and when I pack the kitchen it will go if I haven't already thrown it already. I haven't seen it in years so it's either buried in the pantry or it's gone.
Bob, if you don' have a need for razor thin slices of anything you might just be better with a food processor. Many come with slicing blades in different widths. The Cuisinart one I had had an adjustment for the width. Like a few others here I fell for the hype about the KA Food Processor that fits in the front of the mixer. That has an adjustment too on the slice width but that thing is a POS and I wouldn't spend the money on it.
Or, would one of these manual ones work? I also had a friend who hand one of those Salad shooters that was electric and he loved that thing. Never saw it in action but I know he used it a lot. I see those from time to time at Estate and Garage Sales.
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Post# 988012 , Reply# 17   3/25/2018 at 06:15 (2,196 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)   |   | |
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I'm coordination-challenged too and have decreased muscle power. I'm not going to bother with slicers, too much risk of damaging yourself. I've had an accident with a cheese slicer in the past, that was quite enough. Sometimes I have to use one of those but I limit the use to the necessary. I prefer using my foodprocessor for slicing and shredding. The dishwasher will take care of the cleaning.
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Post# 988024 , Reply# 18   3/25/2018 at 08:50 (2,196 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains)   |   | |
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Because I have to avoid gluten in anything my husband eats we eat a lot of 'zucchini pasta' and such. Those attachments (the KA works well) and gizmos are worth it, they get used by us a lot. For the rest, every single, solitary time we have a major party/feast and one of the 'guests' is being helpful in the kitchen, they head for the mandoline or an ancient upright slicer. I cringe, blood (and more than once) severed finger tips is always the result. Not 'nearly' or 'frequently' or 'quite often', but every single freakin' time - and I don't eat meat. Sheesh. Use the food processor. It need not be BrAun or those late 1990s Philips which both weighed a ton and were built for 24x7x365 use in commercial salad kitchens. Those plastic spiralizers you can buy at any department store in Europe work more than well enough for the zucchine pasta and decorative stuff. Forget the mandoline. It's an unnecessary accident waiting to happen. Heck, the inexpensive but well built hand-crank all-in-one devices are perfectly up to the task and then some. Something I did in Germany when planning barbecues and parties for my students was to buy frozen pre-sliced/cut onions and potatoes and carrots at a local store in the deep freeze section. Saved on lost fingers and blood and made things go much faster. Price was better than organic and comparable (sometimes cheaper) than fresh - and in the depths of winter, often better quality. |
Post# 988043 , Reply# 20   3/25/2018 at 11:44 (2,195 days old) by golittlesport (California)   |   | |
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Hi Bob!
We have an expensive stainless steel mandolin that was given to us as a gift. I used it once and decided it was too much trouble to set up and clean afterwards for the relatively small amount of slicing I ever do. So it sits in its' box in the back of the pantry. I'm sure it would be a good tool for a professional with a catering business who would need to slice a bushel of onions or tomatoes and make a nice presentation. I typically just use a large sharp chef's knife for most slicing and dicing. That said, we recently got a slicer-shredder attachment for the Kitchenaid mixer that is great! It does a wonderful job shredding hard cheese (like parmesan) and makes quick work of slicing carrots, potatoes and other veggies. Perfect for making fresh coleslaw or other larger shredding jobs. It is also very safe, easy to attach, use and clean. Hope all is well in the great state of Texas! Rich |
Post# 988115 , Reply# 21   3/25/2018 at 18:03 (2,195 days old) by appnut (TX)   |   | |
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Thank you everyone for the responses. I think I'm going to forego the mandolin. I think my partner would have a "come-apart" if I ever got one. The 1st time Ivisited himj and I tried to help him cut some things in the kitchen, I cut myself because I didn't have what I'm used to. I have a big knife that looks like a saw with a big handle for me to hold on with and has helped big time all these years. But precise slicing isn't something I do well with any knife and takes a lot out of me concentrating on trying to be precise as I get older. And shredding cheese is getting more taxing as I get older too. I still have the slicing and shredding discs from my Dad's Sunbeam LeChef. I used it to shred a pound of cheese about a month or so ago and realized just how much I miss having this convenience. I had a base stem with interchangeable sized slicing/shredding blades for my Le Chef. But cracked that stem a long time ago. And as our beloved Kelly told me, he too loved the Le Chef, but the plastic quality deteriorated quickly over time and stems cracked. I may get the Fresh Prep slicer/shredder option for my KA mixer. I just wish it had more than the 3 mm slicing blade. It has 3 different size shredders though.
HIIIII Richie!! I miss you & Gary!!!! |
Post# 988122 , Reply# 22   3/25/2018 at 18:25 (2,195 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)   |   | |
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The Chinese knife I mentioned earlier has the same overall dimensions as a meat cleaver, is often referred to as a cleaver, however it is anything but a cleaver. It has a fine blade (mine is good quality stainless) the can be sharpened to a razor edge. It really is the best knife for slicing vegetables or meat, because the tall rectangular blade gives one the opportunity to rest one's left knuckles on it, keeping the fingertips well back from the cutting action, which still can push the food forward under the blade, with the back of the fingernails. Its large dimensions belie the delicacy with which it can cut. I've used it to fillet a chicken (Joyce Chen refers to it as "boning a chicken", a phrase I try to avoid for obvious reasons, LOL).
I got mine in the 1970's, still have it, it's in perfect condition. I've learned not to let others touch it, because most people start slamming it down like a meat cleaver, which is verboten.
Also have a Salad Shooter, which is nice because (as far as I can recall) it can do crinkle cuts, but the results are relatively crude. The blades are all rather dull, which tears at the veggies as much as it slices them. Oh, well, can't have everything.
It's similar to this one, although mine has Chinese characters on the blade...
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Post# 988134 , Reply# 23   3/25/2018 at 19:01 (2,195 days old) by kenwashesmonday (Carlstadt, NJ)   |   | |
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So that's what Martin Yan uses! CLICK HERE TO GO TO kenwashesmonday's LINK |
Post# 988238 , Reply# 24   3/26/2018 at 08:23 (2,195 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)   |   | |
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Yes, the knife Yan is using is about the same as the one I was talking about.
However I noticed some things he does that I don't do:
1) Banging the blade on the board. I gather this is done for emphasis, and he probably has to resharpen that blade after every show. When doing the julienne cuts he showed the proper rocking motion.
2) Parallel cuts: potentially very dangerous if you are not careful. I never do those. Even Yan, at one point, said something to the effect that you could continue depending on how brave you are. No thanks! Although I suppose the long flat blade makes it easier to make sure the blade doesn't flip upwards to cut the fingers. It's still something I don't like.
I did like his technique for cutting a bell pepper: slice off both ends and then roll the pepper to cut away the outer part, and discard the core and seeds. It's a form of parallel cut but perhaps safer than those thin parallel sliced he did later. Also I don't see how a parallel cut is required to slice off the ends - that can be done just as easily, and safer, using a vertical cut. The only problem I might have with the rolling cut is that it might require a bigger cutting board than I normally use.
My technique for bell peppers has been to section them from step to flower end, then separate them and break them away from the core with seeds. But this still leaves some seeds attached to the outer part. |
Post# 988273 , Reply# 25   3/26/2018 at 10:36 (2,194 days old) by jkbff (Happy Rock, ND)   |   | |
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Just to clarify something "so American".. The mandoline slicer has Italian and French origins.
Bob, I have a couple of full mandolines but I absolutely prefer a handheld ceramic slicer. I have more control over it, I can put it in what ever dish I need to catch what ever I'm slicing and because of the ceramic blade, I can run it through the dishwasher and it doesn't get dull. chefharvey.com/mandoline.html... www.amazon.com/Kyocera-Ad...
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Post# 988282 , Reply# 26   3/26/2018 at 10:52 (2,194 days old) by jkbff (Happy Rock, ND)   |   | |
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Sudsmaster, what is the name of that exact knife you posted pictures of?
I have been trying to find two of those same ones for a friend. When we catered together, those were her go-to knives. She used them for everything. When she ran her own place, she had a guy working for her that introduced her to them and gave her the pair. She had them for decades. The owners sister was so jealous of all the stuff my friend did and one day 'accidentally' threw away the knives. She is celebrating her 80th birthday next month, still caters full time and I would love to buy her a gift. |
Post# 988318 , Reply# 28   3/26/2018 at 12:43 (2,194 days old) by sarahperdue (Alabama)   |   | |
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As a many of you have said, you can do all of this stuff with a good knife and some practice. That said, I'd recommend the following:
Pampered Chef mandoline -- loved the safety features. I even felt comfortable letting my young boys help use it. I really liked it but haven't missed it too much since I let it go. I have a ceramic one similar to the one kbff posted. I would really miss it for thinly sliced tomatoes, cabbage and potatoes. Even though I don't use it often, it is compact enough that I don't mind giving it the space. Cuisinart food processor--great for bulk slicing where precision doesn't matter and purees and chops stuff like nobody's business Saladmaster or similar manual rotary processors--do a great job and have a devoted following. I've used several but think they take up a large amount of space for what they do. I've resold many of them. Sunbeam Oskar food processor--this little food processor is a workhorse and a gem. The continuous feed slicer is awesome but blades are limited to thin slices and fine grating. My grandmother gave me one when I was in college, and I used it for years before upsizing to the Cuisinart. I resell a lot of the ones made in France on eBay. Compact spiralizer--again, I don't use it often, but it's simple and compact so I don't mind having it take up space. I've never used one of the big ones with the crank handles, but they appear to take up too much space for the amount I use one. CLICK HERE TO GO TO sarahperdue's LINK This post was last edited 03/26/2018 at 13:49 |
Post# 988400 , Reply# 29   3/26/2018 at 22:30 (2,194 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)   |   | |
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Joshua,
Here's a link to the site where I got that pic. It's about $9 mail order. Such a deal!
You could also try Bed Bath and Beyond for a higher priced (and maybe higher quality) version.
I also took a look at mine again... it's been a while... and it's a Dexter brand. In addition to the Chinese characters, it says, "Dexter Super Stainless Made in USA".
Here's another link:
And the Dexter site:
The Dexter site calls this a Chinese Chef's Knife, which is preferable to "Chinese Cleaver". It has seven different knives, several of which look like the one I have, except instead of calling it Super Stainless, they call it "Dexsteel". It has several that appear similar to what I have, for different prices, and I honestly don't know why some are priced differently since they all look the same to me. But since I've had such good luck with my Dexter I'd go with that brand if you want the "best".
Good Luck! CLICK HERE TO GO TO SudsMaster's LINK |
Post# 988406 , Reply# 30   3/26/2018 at 22:46 (2,194 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)   |   | |
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Post# 988416 , Reply# 31   3/27/2018 at 00:36 (2,194 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California)   |   | |
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Post# 988500 , Reply# 32   3/27/2018 at 16:12 (2,193 days old) by Michaelman2 (Lauderdale by the Sea, FL)   |   | |
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Came across this video and found it to be informative. CLICK HERE TO GO TO Michaelman2's LINK |
Post# 988512 , Reply# 33   3/27/2018 at 17:58 (2,193 days old) by jkbff (Happy Rock, ND)   |   | |
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SudsMaster: Thank you thank you thank you, Sir!!!!!!
I have 2 of swissmar borner original v slicers, the progressive one and the kyocera one lol. Mom bought the v slicer first, was scared of it, so she gave it to me. Bought another one after seeing how much I enjoyed it, got scared of it, gave it to me and then bought a third of the same one and has kept that one and uses it regularly now. I only use the v slicer when I do a lot of stuff. I like the handheld ones for little prep sessions. The ceramic blade stays the sharpest. |
Post# 988562 , Reply# 35   3/28/2018 at 06:33 (2,193 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )   |   | |
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I have a mandolin, but rarely use it since I got a Kitchen Aid Pelican slicer, I use that a lot, I will do ANYTHING to keep from chopping onions, I chop them in the small food processor attachment for my Osterizer. |
Post# 988567 , Reply# 36   3/28/2018 at 08:37 (2,193 days old) by Iheartmaytag (Wichita, Kansas)   |   | |
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Post# 994827 , Reply# 37   5/21/2018 at 13:48 (2,138 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)   |   | |
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We had something similar, at the Burger King that I used to work at... It was a tomato slicer, and it really couldn't do much damage...
Despite the 1st aid's "don't use self-treatment", I fixed myself up & could work it again, but did so very carefully... Not so, at another job, inspecting seat foam with hog wires, that I poked myself with--and there, I bled so much that I needed semi-serious medical attention, and that its where they just threw that box of band aids at me, expecting me to treat myself... (And then I got the snide comment: "the hog wire DID it?", not: "did the hog wire DO it?", well, really, I just couldn't handle the assembly of that product & the fast inspection needed, much like the I LOVE LUCY episode where Lucy & Ethel were wrapping chocolates in the candy factory they were working at...) -- Dave |
Post# 995149 , Reply# 38   5/25/2018 at 07:38 (2,135 days old) by dermacie (my forever home (Glenshaw, PA))   |   | |
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Post# 995183 , Reply# 39   5/25/2018 at 16:59 (2,134 days old) by Spacedogb (Lafayette, LA)   |   | |
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I use mine all the time!!!!
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Post# 995211 , Reply# 40   5/25/2018 at 20:26 (2,134 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))   |   | |
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