Those who have Mandoline Slicers

[appnut]

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. 

 

[rp2813]

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.

 

[petek]

I have one from years ago, never much cared for it. Go with the FP.

 

[peteski50]

Mandoline Slicers!

I would stay away - I got one from Amazon about 8 months ago and sliced my finger badly - they did say to use a glove they gave with it and I didn't but I still think they should have more safety precautions - it went for 23 bucks and looked real appealing but not worth the grief!

 

[thomasortega]

This is so American...

Mandolines, Spiralizers...

Honestly, Who really needs this stuff?

Spiralizer... ok, it's super useful for zuchini spaghetti but... who realy needs zuchini spaghetti every day?

It's the kind of expensive appliance or KA mixer attachment that people will probably use once or twice (ok, everyday during a week) and then forget it in a pile in the garage for 10 years and will end up in a thrift store.

Mandolines are useful, but again, who need milimetrically accurate sheets for home use?

Eventually, to cook "cuisine", it is super handy, but who cooks cuisine every day?

What can't miss in a good kitchen is at least one excellent professional chef knife, always extremely sharp to be safe (dull knifes are very dangerous). a good knife can do everything a food processor + grater + mandoline can do.

A mandoline is very useful for fancy people like Bree Van der Camp that cooks 3 cuisine meals per day.

Appnut, you say you're coordination-challenged.
The best thing you can do is buy a big jar of plumbers patty or play-doh get an extremely sharp knife and practice cutting skills. The good about using plumber patty is that you can spend hours and hours practicing without wasting any food.

When your skills improve, then you can start with potatoes (to improve different cuts)

I can guarantee in 2 weels you'll be slicing as accurate and fast as a food processor or mandoline and in 6 months you'll have "optional blades" built in your brain to cut julienne, dice, shred and even make ground beef.

The only secret is practice, practice, practice.

And of course, posture, a safe and sturdy cutting board (if it's slippery and "dancing" on the board, put a wet cloth under it.) The board can't move a single millimeter while cutting.

And also, when you have advanced knife skills and the knife sounds like a machine gun hitting the cutting board, it looks fancy and impressive.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOLQKSvQSzo

 

[thomasortega]

Golden tip: The secret is not exactly the hand that holds the knife (over time you will learn how to be fast). The secret is the other hand, that holds the food and guides the blade to the right position.

Knowing the several areas a knife blade has is also helpful. If you do some research you may find tons of information on Internet and most cooking schools offer classes and workshops only to teach knife skills.

The more you learn, the more excited you get to improve your skills and cut even faster and with accurate.

There's nothing more satisfying than chop an onion in tiny pieces, similar size, in 30 seconds. Professional chefs can do that even faster.

 

[mikael3]

I’ve had a mandoline for years, and I love it.  True, a mandoline is a specialty piece that doesn’t have a large number of applications.  But when I need it, I’m glad it’s there. 

 

I haven’t had any luck getting really fine and clean slices out of the food processor.  Rough slices are fine, but not a fine slice of something like fennel.  I also use the mandoline for bulk cutting of super-thin potatoes au gratin, and for <span style="text-decoration: underline;">very thinly</span> sliced radishes and cucumbers, which again just don’t come out of the food processor quite right. This sort of thing I can do by hand with a knife, but not when I need a great big bowl-full.

 

[thomasortega]

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.

 

[parunner58]

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.

 

[brisnat81]

Mum has had a Borner V slicer since the 70s and I’ve had one since I left home, there are three things it does better than the food frocessor, all of which need long cuts. Mum has arthritis in her hands and has no issues using it. For volume cutting she finds it easier than trying to grip the knife.

The three things are
1) julienne cuts, it’s very easy to get perfect julienne.
2) slicing whole tomatoes or anything you don’t want to cut sideways through the feed chute on the FP
3) French fries/chips

For grating, slicing where appearance doesn’t matter and dicing, go with the food processor every time.

Mine is early enough it doesn’t have a storage box, I will admit I see it in the drawer and treat it with respect. Mine is bright orange so it screams danger . In use however as long as you use the food guard/ holder you’re safe, just don’t try and push things through the blade by hand.

I hope this helps, as mums arthritis gets worse we’ve had lots of trial runs on what equipment is easier for her to use, I got her, her first food prcessor last year, she’s always had a hand Mouli, but even that started to get too hard.

http://borner.com.au/v3/v-3-slicer-w-hat-bonus-rosti-g-b.html

 

[ea56]

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

 

[launderess]

Have a mandoline for ages

And can count on one hand how many times have used. The thing is just too dangerous IMHO. A moment of distraction can cause a very bad injury.

In fact soon as one can find a thrift store it is going....

 

[tolivac]

Knives banging into cutting boards and being scraped on them-the is Actually POOR knife skills-these are hard on the knife edge and the board.A GOOD knife user avoids these things-and cutting with the knife should be QUIET-not noisy as some in the video are.The tappers and scrapers will have to sharpen their blades more often-thus cause wear on the blades.

 

[iej]

Way to dangerous and I like my fingertips too much to use such a thing!

 

[sudsmaster]

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.

 

[gizmo]

I also use a V-slicer. They come with a storage box that has a safety interlock so you have to release a trigger to get the slicer out of the box. When in the box, the blades are covered.
It also comes with a food holder which protects your hand, it is shaped like a hat, the food is spiked into the hat and you only hold the hat. As the food is sliced away, the rim of the hat runs along the edge of the slicer so no fingers get cut and no plastic gets damaged.
It is so much faster and easier to use than a food processor as it is quick and easy to wash up after. (I don't have a dishwasher.) I was a professional cook for 30 years and we used one at work regularly.
I also have a Zyliss branded copy of a v-slicer, (I scrounged it when it was thrown out), it has more spacer attachments so you get a wider variety of cuts, but some of the attachments are distorting with age, I think the genuine Borner V-Slicer is a better quality qadget.

I would only recommend the ones with a V-shaped blade. Those with a single angled blade would tend to thrust the food sideways, more likely to cause an injury IMHO.

http://https//www.borner-slicer.com/products/borner-v3-trendline-slicer-including-slide-and-two-blade-inserts-with-food-safety-holder?variant=28201950546

 

[chachp]

Not a fan of them.

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;">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.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;">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.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;">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.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;">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. </span>

 

 

[foraloysius]

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.

 

[panthera]

Food Processor, no question

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.