I have an expensive metal mandolin that terrifies me and I have used it only twice. I have other, smaller devices that fit in my kitchen drawer with other tools that are basically useless. No in between. I'm a long time klutz but I do have good knife skills....

I have Kevlar gloves, and I have been wearing those when I grate anything on a Microplane grater, after having grated my hand once. I mainly use the Microplane box grater now for grating, and it is extremely sharp. I didn't think I would like it at first, but it's easier to use than the single graters.

My knife skills are fairly good, but I'm also fairly slow because I want precise cuts. I'm going to post some photos of my pickles and kimchi in progress on my kimchee thread. The pickles seem to be doing well, but I'm not sure about the kimchee.

I use a $40 OXO Good Grips "V-blade" mandoline and always use it with the pusher, though I still wear my Kevlar's for bushels of veg because I get mesmerized and forget. It has a little dial to choose the thickness (potato chips to pickles), a "julienne" blade (that is really just a wavy cutter), and a lock that takes the blade to a safe position to store it.

I have a very expensive stainless steel French mandoline that my SIL, the chef, gave me that is like a lethal weapon. But I feel it is only for the careful and alert very serious chefs who aren't klutzy like me, and that it would eat my Kevlar. He sharpened the blade before he gave it to me and handed me a box of band-aids. "Thanks - and I thought you LIKED me."

It doesn't do cubes -so -- I use the inexpensive $20 Vidalia Chop Wizard ("as seen on TV") onion chopper for that (and so many other slicing chores). I slice the onions on the mandoline, lay them flat on the grid and chop absolutely perfect cubes.

For very fine thin julienne slicing I use a Sunkuka peeler @$8, then slice them vertically on the cutting board though I keep looking for an adjustable 3 sided wooden box to line them up in to be attacked by my chef's knife.

For your kimchee - perhaps the old-timey cabbage shredder is what you need?

I do grate carrots when I put the into things like lentil soup, but I'm not sure that grated carrots would be good in kimchi, but maybe! I did think about grating them.

Jack of all trades mandoline.

I wonder if it can slice frozen meat.

dcarch

I've never seen them used for meat; I have an electric slicer that I use for that.

That looks like a serious piece of equipment!

I actually have a mandoline, but have only used it a couple of times over the years. I think I'm a bit scared of it too, perhaps.

I use my Cuisinart's slicing blade for most big slicing jobs. It's super fast.

I have a few but now use the Benriner most often, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day on the weekends. The big stainless French one when I make a big batch of chips since it is an inch wider. (and I need to dig it out from the heap of stuff in a lower cabinet)

The Benriner has its own drawer space since I use it so often.

Your new one looks great. The cube action looks like it needs some study and practice...sliding down, then a 1/4 turn, then back up and slice again?

No other way to get thin even slices. We have fresh raw veg salads every night so a quick minute and I've got a bowlful.

A 'no cry' glove is a must. They come in a pair so if one is in the wash, I have the other in the drawer. If I want julienne I just stack and slice with my chef knife.

My favorite contraption is called an Eight Slicer, I think. My brother bought it for me in an oriental shop in SF many years ago and I've never seen it for sale anywhere or I would buy one for every cook I know. Totally love it. It's a rectangular acrylic box that contains all kinds of interchangeable blades, graters, etc. etc.

Good luck with your new mandoline, Lars!

PS: sleeve, your sliced veggies are always GORGEOUS! Unfortunately, we can't buy vegetables like that around here, so I'll never know whether they taste as good as they look. :)

I do not use my Cuisinart slicer attachment because I generally do not slice huge quantities, but if I did, I would. Instead, I use my Avantco meat slicer when I want to make thin, even slices of hard vegetables - it does not work on tomatoes. It will also slice cheese (although the mfg says not to), but it is very slow for that. I have another cheaper slicer that has a serrated blade that I use mostly for slicing bread, but I have also used it for slicing zucchini and cucumbers. I plan to switch to the new mandoline for those, however.

I also have an acrylic box slicer, and it might be the same as yours. I used to use it for grating cheese, but now I do not use it much.

I bought an assortment of carrots at the farmers' market yesterday, and I will possibly practice making matchsticks with some of those. In the past, I used carrot matchsticks when making Vietnamese dipping sauce, and so maybe I'll make some more of that. The Benriner was really good for that.

One Christmas I asked for a cheap(er) mandoline and my parents got me a cuisinart which was garbage, figuratively, and then became, literally. That same Christmas my sister got me the Borner. It’s very limited in adjustment but works well for me, for what it does do.

Oddly no reviews, were they too bad?

I have an OXO, which looks just like the one in FOAS's post, and I loathe it. The pusher has hugely long prongs which must be embedded in what you're slicing, so you can only slice a small amount of any fruit/veggie, and it has several different blades which all store in the main body. That sounds like a good idea, but in actuality it means you have to handle every blade every time you slice something, either to wash them all afterwards or to totally disassemble the darned thing before using it so you don't have to wash them all afterwards.

I infinitely prefer my julienne peeler and a knife. OXO is generally a good brand, but I can't tell you how I dislike that thing.

writersblock - Sorry you didn't like the OXO. I don't take mine all apart to clean it - I just run it through soapy water and air dry. It doesn't get THAT dirty even with the juiciest cucumber or tomato, though I do squirt a little Clorox Cleanup on carrot reside. Food doesn't touch the blades you aren't using so you really don't have to clean them, or take them out. You do not have to push the prongs in to slice anything, they are there to use when you get to the last nub of the whatever. Perhaps you are pushing too hard?

Nothing stays with the pusher unless impaled on the prongs. I'm not alone in loathing this thing; there've been previous mandoline posts where others have chimed in with hate and fear of the OXO version, either here or in Kitchens, maybe both places, but I'm glad it works for you.

At least it has greatly improved my knife technique. :)

ETA Mine is six or seven years old; perhaps they've improved the design recently?

Gotta stop reading this type of thread... the PL8 Professional looks like something I'd love and use (altho I agree with sleevendog, the cubes look like they take some strength). I've an older model Zyliss that I use a lot (left it unpacked for the reno, actually), but it has so many parts to wash. I prefer a mandolin that has 'legs' rather than holding it up with one hand. Had a pair of gloves but they bit the dust (got sliced with my hand) so I just go slow where needed.

That's scary that your gloves got slice with your hand. Was that with a knife or with a mandoline? I can see that the hard, fast pushing required on a mandoline could possibly cut through the glove. I pretty much always use the hand guard, and the new guard that I got looks pretty good, but I'll post results later.

BTW, I'm still slicing onion and celery with a knife.

Lars, The glove got sliced (along with the muscle - the fatty area of the thumb/palm - abductor pollicis brevis ) on a knife, holding something (can't remember) and slicing it. Thought it'd be safe with the new glove. Duh. It was painful. That was 6 years ago (looked up the order on Amazon) - and these gloves: G & F 57100M CUTShield Classic level 5 Cut Resistant Gloves. Then I decided I could still use the darned thing with the grater... and it grated a whole in the middle fingertip of the glove and got my fingertip a bit (not bad, and I was pushing hard and I do remember that was cheese, and a cheap grater so not sharp).

Highly rated, so I don't trust gloves anymore. I do use the mandolin guard, but often only when it gets closer to the bottom as I find the guards don't hold large or roundish pieces or chunks (of say, potatoes, cucumbers, radishes) well. I go sloooow when I get closer to the blade ; )

Don't laugh, but if I've got a lot of chopping to do or mixing dressings, pico de gallo, and whatnot, I resort to this Kuhn Rikon Swiss Pull Chop gadget. I prefer it to my mini-processor, even. Easy to clean, and can rough chop or tiny chop in a jiffy. The mandolin still comes in so handy for precision.

Otherwise, my knives are always my go-to.

I have a couple of mandolins and hate them both. Mine was a cheap version and worked OK, Elery had a much more expensive version with a German name that I can't remember. It had legs which would collapse, they never stayed up, and in spite of the rubber tips on the "feet", it would slide across the counter just prior to collapse.

I use a knife, even when I'm canning salsa.

Annie

That Pull Chop looks interesting - I might have to get one! How is it for chopping nuts? I have a nut chopper that works pretty well, but it will only do a fairly fine chop, and sometimes I want them more coarsely chopped. When I chop nuts with a knife, the fly all over the place.

Very interesting, 2Many. I have an old Zyliss chopper (the kind you push down on) that needs replacing and this looks like it would be a big improvement. I like the fact that you have so much control over the fineness of the chop. I sometimes use the mini-food-processor attachment for my immersion blender, but that goes from super coarse to practically flour, or big chunks of onion to superfine mince, in just one pulse.

Thank you, writersblock. I had a couple mini-processors, but tossed one as I rarely use either now. I also rarely use my larger one. This is faster. And faster than knives - and I love to work with my knives, so that's saying a lot. Takes only a little time to figure out how many pulls one needs for the chop. Even with sore hands, this is easy. One cannot make nut-butters with this. Or rather, I can't : )

I do want an immersion blender for soups! That's another item on my wish list for after the reno : ) Dang, my wish list is far too long!

The nut demonstration convinced me, and so I ordered one. This should allow me to chop nuts to the coarseness or fineness that I want without the nuts going all over the place.

I'd apologize for making you spend money Lars, but you've advised me on some very worthwhile, useful purchases recently which I don't regret ; ) Glad to be of help to you!

No, the nuts won't run away as they did to me also, on my cutting board using the knife. I do think you'll like the control and ease of it, and ease of cleaning.

I honestly didn't use this thing for 3 months - it was a gift from a non-cook and thought it useless. That'll teach me to make assumptions!

I'll also use it for mincing vegetables when I make potato salad or deviled ham/egg/turkey. I had been using a mini processor for mincing vegetables, but this looks like it will give me more control. Sometimes the processor goes from coarse to purée too fast. I'm very particular about how I want things chopped/minced, and so having another tool will be very useful for me.

"Sometimes the processor goes from coarse to purée too fast." Yep, both my mini's did that too. It's so frustrating, especially with nuts for me, as sometimes I only buy as many as I need. Nothing like pressing a button only to find your nuts are crumbs.

2many, I got my immersion blender at the local GoodWill. In fact I got two of them, $2 each. They seem to be one of those items that people get and don't use, along with salad spinners and bread machines. I find them regularly at the second hand shops. I'm never looking for them, but I seem to find them, LOL.

Annie

"I got my immersion blender at the local GoodWill. In fact I got two of them, $2 each." Well, of course you did Annie - you are the queen of amazing finds!!! I'd agree with the salad spinner - I could live without mine, and gave my bread machine away... I do think an immersion blender would come in handy... perhaps as much as my salad spinner, LOL!

I have the basic Swissmar Borner which is much like the OXO, a gift from my chef sister. It does a good job, packs and stores well. But I’m still afraid of it and very cautious. Yes, I nicked myself twice on my old mandolin and on the second incident, my husband simply took it away from me and threw it in the trash. Probably wise. The Swissmar is safe so long as you use the pusher.

Off to watch the videos for all these cool gadgets. Goodness, this is going to be an expensive thread . . .

writersblock, be slow to trash your Zyliss chopper. I had one I purchased in Germany almost 40 years ago and I decided it was worn out, trashed it, and bought a new one because they were available on Amazon. It was total crap. Total. Crap. All labeled Zyliss. I have thrown away three of them now. Probably they were all Chinese knock offs — Amazon is getting to be SO bad about tolerating that. They are even selling knockoff OXO gear. Maybe BB&B?

Actually, I do love my immersion blender. It's probably my favorite kitchen appliance, but I have one of the older kitchen-aids that will crush ice and grind up hard-frozen fruits, too. I do use the mini-chopper quite a bit for things like making falafel and pie crust (either flour or walnut), although I have to divide what goes in. But it's still much easier to clean than the big food processor.

ETA I've been wanting to get a better immersion blender for friends who have an old plastic-stem Braun, which is the worst Braun appliance I've ever seen, but I don't know what's a good brand now. The KA motors are quite different in their newer models. Mine is infinitely variable and the new ones have three set speeds, for instance. Any suggestions?

Well, of course you did Annie - you are the queen of amazing finds!!!

That's for sure! Around here all I ever find is stained old tupperware and sippy cups.

^^^ LOL! Yep, me too.

I finally got around to using my new mandoline, and I have the replacement blade for the Benriner. I decided to test the new machine with carrots, which I wanted to use in coleslaw. The new machine did a pretty good job with the carrots, but only cut half a carrot, and then the food guard stopped working. Although I have Kevlar gloves, I was afraid to risk it with carrots, as it takes quite a bit of effort to get them through the machine. So I took the half carrots and put them through the Benriner, which was a bit awkward to use, as the food guard does not grip the food, but it did manage to get through two more passes with the carrots. After that, I was left with a fairly thin piece of carrot that I cut with a knife into matchsticks. For the kimchi, I ran the carrots through my electric meat slicer and then cut the matchsticks from thin slices of carrots, but this was slightly more labor intensive. I sliced the cabbage with a knife, as it is easy to cut. Here's how they looked together:

I had never made coleslaw before, as it was never one of my favorite salads, and I never liked what was served to me in restaurants that much. However, I decided that I like cabbage enough (what I get at the farmers' market is sweet), and so I decided to come up with my own recipe for it, as follow:

1/3 head of green cabbage, slice thinly
2 carrots (one red and one orange), cut into matchsticks

dressing:
2 Tbsp coconut vinegar
2 tsp raw sugar
1 tsp tomato bouillon (Knorr Caldo de Tomate Con Sabor de Pollo)
1/3 cup mayonnaise

Fresh ground black pepper

I microwaved the vinegar, sugar, and soup base in a one cup measuring cup for 10 seconds, so that the sugar would dissolve, let it cool, and then I added the mayonnaise and whisked it with a small whisk to combine. The I poured it over the cabbage and ground the pepper over that and mixed it together. Yes, the bouillon has MSG, and so you may want to substitute tomato powder plus 1/4 tsp salt, but I felt that it gave the salad a richer flavor. Also, the coconut vinegar gives a nice flavor, but you could use cider vinegar instead, but it would have less flavor. Anyway, I liked the salad enough that I might try making it with other vinegars, although this is my favorite use for the coconut vinegar so far.

I thought about grating the carrots next time, but I really prefer them in matchsticks.

Lars, that looks really good, but I do like coleslaw, pretty much everything from the sweet/mayo laden stuff to the cabbage with a sweet/sour dressing.

I went to look at the box the mandolin is in, and it's not German at all, it's "Bonny", LOL, shows you how much it gets used here. I can't even find one on Amazon or on Ebay that looks like ours, so maybe it was so bad it was discontinued?

Annie

I finally got around to using the Kuhn Pull Chop that I bought. I originally bought it for chopping nuts, but Sunday I decided to mince some broccoli stems to add to the rice I was making (side dish for seared Ahi tuna). I bought the broccoli and tuna at the farmers' market (along with many other vegetables), and this broccoli had especially tough stems, but I did remove the very bottom toughest part of the stems. The Pull Chop did a great job of mincing the stems, but I did discover that it will only do a small amount at at time. I also used it for mincing onion, since I was already using it, and it did save me a good deal of time. The next day I used it to mince pickled vegetables to make a tuna salad with the leftover cooked tuna. Now that I've broken it in (so to speak), I will be using it more often. I like to make deviled egg or turkey salads in the summer, and this will be helpful. I have a small food chopper that came with my Kitchenaid stick blender, but this works much better.

Anyway, thanks again for the recommendation.

Lars, I'm thrilled you're finding good uses for the pull-chop : ) As you use it more, and especially for 'mixtures' such as salads, dips, pico de gallo, etc., you'll get the hang of what should be cut large and what should be cut small before going into the pull-chop. Sure wish it included a lid but saran wrap works well if you need to store you mixture until ready to use.

Funny, I was thinking of you this weekend as I just pulled out my Chef's Choice knife sharpener from a bin to re-sharpen my knives. Yep, left it unpacked for the reno as it's indispensable to me! Thank you for that recommendation!