Top positive review
57 people found this helpful
A well-designed slicer that is good for what you expect, and then some.
By Jake Justice on Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2009
A mandoline slicer is a must for an OCD cook like me. The perfect slices you see in cooking shows cook evenly and quickly and look great on the plate- but they're impossible with a knife. Oxo has always provided good, solid kitchen gadgets, and their track record in my kitchen drove me towards this unit when I began the hunt for a mandoline slicer. Upon unpackaging, this slicer seems a bit daunting. There are (2) extra blades in a seperate case along with a spacer to go with the food holder, and an additional (3) blades are housed in the unit itself along with the (1) installed slicer blade (a total of 6 blades included). All fit nicely within their respective slots / containers, and you can't shake any of the spares loose. The instruction manual is pretty good. Good diagrams with supporting text. It has a bit of a learning curve (pages titled "How to Cube" require you to reference "How to Change V-Blades" and "How to Change Cubing Blades"). Also, each blade is color coordinated with the thickness know along the side, which matches the manual. This assures that your cubes will always be, well, cubes! Your first and most basic slicing is simple. Food + food holder + back and forth motion = perfect slices (my first-cut items were a bell pepper and an apple). More complex operations require some reading- unlock, open food track section, open cubing / julienning blade section, remove / install cubing / julienning blade, install slicer blade, close up, unlock. But again, the slices were perfect (my next item was an onion- cubed perfectly within about 10 seconds). The crinkle blade adds some drag (USE THE FOOD HOLDER) but results in beautiful food. The cubing feature alone is well worth the price. The food first passes over the vertical sawtooth blades and is scored, and then each subsequent pass a 90 degree turn scores the food in the opposite direction and the slicing blade seperates perfect little cubes from the food. Repeat until the end. Chopping an onion like your favorite Food Network star is complex and often leaves a good chunk of food un-choppable. This baby makes little pieces of 90% of the onion. Nice. Cleaning is fairly simple. A stainless model would be nicer dishwater-safety, but longevity of the product is my goal, so I hand-washed after use. The dishwasher is said to dull blades anyways, so it's better to just take it for a dunk in some warm soapy water. Rince and let air dry on a towel and bam- you're good to go. A storage container for the whole setup would be nice, but hey - this will probably remain on my counter anyways. I can't imagine a meal that wouldn't benefit from use of the mandoline. One or two uses of this unit and you'll be an expert. Also, you can chop everything in about 5 minutes and put it all in little bowls mis-en-place style and host your OWN cooking show.
Top critical review
40 people found this helpful
Decent, but could be better
By Matt on Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2022
I recently purchased this product based on the great review. After receiving it and using it for tomatoes, strawberries, and other fruits and vegetables I feel I can give a better opinion on the product as a first-time buyer. The product has an excellent instruction booklet, which includes pictures detailing how to use it for different purposes properly. It also includes a variety of blades in order to get different cuts such as julienne. Most notably, the blades are extremely sharp, so purchasing cut resistant gloves is probably a good choice, even with the handguard. For the negatives, I find it difficult to take apart and reassemble. Even after following the instructions and taking it a part several times, I have found that it does not always fit properly. After a few times, the pieces seem to slip into place, but ultimately it can be difficult regardless of how careful or precise you are. When separating the pieces, there is a lock and unlock feature that allows notches in the plastic to fit properly. I have found this is not always the case and tend to struggle re-assembling it. With the way the device is designed, if you do not put it together properly, there is the possibility of cutting your hand on the exposed blades when trying to put it back together. This can obviously be very dangerous if you do not pay attention. The blade storage is a nice feature but seems pointless. If the blades are stored underneath the mandolin when in use, you will ultimately get them dirty and have more blades to wash even though you did not use them. So I would suggest finding a storage area or container and placing the blades in that rather than keeping them stored on the actual mandolin itself. For the additional blades, I would prefer if the plastic piece in front was longer. I have large hands and when I lift the triangle portion to pop the blades off of the mandolin, my fingers are extremely close to the blades due to a lack of surface area. The guard that comes with the mandolin as well is rather awkward as it does not fit in the grove and slides on top with a plunger-like device and 4 skewers inside. The plunger pushed down, sliding on the 4 skewers, but they are not as good as they could be. Overall I would rate the device a 3.5, but have rounded it up to a 4 because there is no 3.5 star. Currently, I am undecided as to whether or not I will keep it. It is decent for a mandolin, but there are probably better options out there available at the same or similar price point. If anything changes I will update this review.
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