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We’ve all seen these medieval contraptions. They can slice the most delicate foods into clean and precise measurements each and every time. They make the job of cutting potatoes for homemade chips or strips of thin veggies a breeze. I’m talking about mandolines. Now some spell them mandolin and others mandoline. A mandolin is a musical instrument.. fyi. On today’s Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer we’re talking about Mandoline Slicing.
Now when it comes to chopping, dicing, cubing and so forth I’m am not a kitchen knife ninja. Hardly! I can do it so I get consistent slices each and every time but it would take me like 4 hours to cut a single potato evenly. I can remember the first season of Masterchef where the first challenge even to present to the judges was you had to cut onions thinly and consistently for X amount of time. Yeah, I’d so fail that.
And if we’re not careful, we can easily hurt ourselves on these things. You need to ensure the feet are skid-proof, that the blades lock in place, that it has protective measures put in place. And I’m sorry I’ve tried those ones you get at your local bedding store or even home kitchen party hosting company. They are horrible. I’ve broken so many of them or have cut myself more times than I care to count. If you buy cheap products, you get sub quality.
For me I go with what the professionals use AND recommend. I love these 2 listed. Sure they are amazon affiliate links but even if they weren’t, I’d still buy and recommend them. Even cuts every single time, they stay put when you use them (no sliding) and they last! Plus you get a variety of cuts out of a single machine AND AND AND… did you see the one below?! It cuts CUBES! DUDE! No seriously, DUDE!!!
So what is a mandoline anyway? Essentially it’s as kitchen utensil that’s used for making evenly cut and consistent strips or slices. It can julienne, cube or even make crinkle cuts. It allows for uniformity. It’s safer than a knife and can give you perfectly thin cuts like you’d need for home made chips! Per wikipedia “A mandoline is used by running a piece of food (with some protection for fingers) along an adjustable inclined plane into one or more blades. On some models vertical blades cut to produce julienne, or a wavy blade is used that produces crinkle cuts. In these models a quarter turn to the food between passes produces dice and waffle cuts.”
If you’re looking to upgrade and get quality items, go with these two below!
Progressive International PL8 Mandoline Slicer – There are julienne, slice and waffle cutting options with four slicing thicknesses that vary from 1mm, 3.5mm, 5.5mm and 7.5mm. This mandolin features a blade adjustment knob for a seamless change between the built-in slicing and waffle blades, eliminating loose blades or parts. There are 4 fixed settings 1/16″, 1/8″, 3/8″, and 1/4″
Progressive International PL8 Cubing Mandoline – You can slice, julienne and cube with 4 adjustable slicing thicknesses. Guys, you can CUBE with this!!!
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