Mandoline slicers have a scary popularity. And sure, they’re sharp as heck, and may do main injury in case you don’t respect the blade. But inviting one into your kitchen is without doubt one of the best methods to chop down on prep time and enhance your cooking.
One of many best methods to inform a real-deal chef from an newbie is to take a look at their slicing and dicing. Uniform cuts look skilled, however additionally they guarantee substances cook dinner on the similar charge and are seasoned or dressed evenly, with every slice of zucchini or dice of potato receiving the identical quantity of affection. And whereas everybody ought to take the time to study primary knife cuts, a mandoline can assist you obtain skilled trying slices, matchsticks, and cubes way more rapidly. Not solely will your sandwiches, salads, and aspect dishes look extra polished, however they are going to style higher, leading to you consuming extra greens (and maybe a number of extra fruits, as properly).
However first, a word on security
Mandoline slicers are available in many alternative sizes and styles, however all of them have one factor in frequent: extraordinarily sharp blades. These blades are housed in a plastic body, and it sort of seems just like the world’s most painful plastic slide. To make use of the slicer, you slide the meals down the plastic ramp and over the blade, which, relying on the blade you’re utilizing, cuts the vegetable right into a paper skinny slice, a julienned matchstick, or—in some circumstances—a waffle fry.
But when your hand slips on the slide, and also you aren’t utilizing a guard or carrying a cut-resistant glove, you possibly can wind up with a horrific harm. In case your mandoline comes with a guard, use it, however in any other case: Get a protecting glove and put it in your hand.
Along with carrying the right PPE, there are different steps you possibly can take to chop down the chance of harm, like ensuring the slicer is secure, slicing your meals into manageable parts earlier than slicing, and conserving the blade sharp (boring blades require extra power to chop, and that’s typically the place you run into hassle).
Selecting a mandoline slicer
I’ve used elaborate slicer methods with a lot of attachments, however my present (and favourite) mandoline is the Benriner vegetable slicer, a rudimentary slicer that’s adjusted with a number of easy screws.
Along with a straight blade, it comes with a number of attachments for making julienne cuts and shredding. It additionally comes with slightly plastic guard which, once more, you actually ought to use. It’s simple to wash and retailer, and inexpensive—often within the $30-$40 vary, relying on the place you purchase it.
If the thought of a tiny little plastic guard makes your nervous, there are many slicers with extra substantial guards, like this one (which comes with a kick-out stand), or this handheld slicer, each from OXO. When you want to preserve your fingers solely out of harms manner, you will get a slicer with a security shoot, like this one from As soon as for All. If none of these tickle your fancy, check out a number of the most up-to-date solutions from The Spruce Eats, which has fairly a number of.
Inventive methods to make use of a mandoline slicer
Slicing greens earlier than cooking is the obvious use for the mandoline slicer, however after you have one in hand, you’ll end up slicing and dicing all kinds of meals. Listed below are a few of my favourite makes use of for the device, in no explicit order:
- Construct higher a greater submarine (sandwich): Making a great sandwich is all about balancing taste and texture, which is why I like my lettuce shredded and my onions sliced paper skinny. You may accomplish each with a mandoline. Bonus: You’ll shed fewer onion associated tears, because the slicer is quicker and sharper than most knives, and fewer publicity time and cleaner cuts means much less syn-Propanethial-S-oxide (the compound answerable for your tears) is launched into the air. And don’t overlook the fruits: A thinly sliced pear or apple is completely heavenly on a brie-based grilled cheese.
- Make tastier salads and slaws: I can not not abide a salad bowl stuffed with uneven chunks of greens. A mandoline allows you to slice cucumbers into paper skinny ribbons, shred cabbage for slaw, and—relying on the obtainable attachments—reduce potatoes into excellent cubes for potato salad. Uniformity might not look like such a giant deal whenever you’re tossing every thing into a giant mixing bowl, however correct slicing means each bit is coated with an excellent quantity of dressing, which interprets to a uniform texture and taste.
- Pickle uniformly: Whether or not you’re pickling onions or cucumbers, slicing them with a mandoline will guarantee even thickness from slice to slice, so each pickles on the similar charge.
- Make your individual chips, be they potato or apple: I’m not saying you can’t use a knife to slice potatoes as thinly as Frito-Lay, however you are able to do it loads sooner and extra persistently with a mandoline. Along with the basic potato chip, you need to use your slicer to show any root vegetable (and a few squashes) right into a chip, or prep fruit for the dehydrator.
- Slice crumbly cheeses: Aged cheddars and different crystal-flecked beauties can crumble beneath the stress of a knife, however a mandoline seems skinny, deli-worthy slices.
- Make prettier charcuterie boards: You need to use a mandoline to slice salami (or any agency sausage or salumi) into pleasing slices that look fairly on a board, however my favourite meat to mandoline is the dried out steak, which slices into fairly little petals that soften right into a comfortable scramble and sit fairly on crostini.
Mandoline slicers are additionally simply plain enjoyable to make use of. They really feel chef-y, make your meals look fairly, and allow you to guarantee every thing cooks at an excellent, predictable charge. Simply please ensure to make use of the guard, or no less than a glove. A bit hazard may appear enjoyable, however a sliced hand decidedly isn’t.
