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Poor Man's Mandoline

HungryChris

By HungryChris
in Kitchen Consumer

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HungryChris

HungryChris

Posted
Posted (edited)

The Feemster Vegetable Slicer is one of my absolute favorite go to devices. If you are not good with your hands, using the safety holder is a must, but I don't think I have ever used it. I like to grow pickling cukes in the summer and do make my fair share of pickles, but I also love a good cucumber salad and this bad boy delivers a boatload of nicely sliced cukes for the purpose in a heartbeat. It makes scalloped potatoes in a flash, is easy to clean and takes up little space. Anyone else use one?https://www.lehmans.com/p-1414-feemsters-famous-vegetable-slicer.aspx?show=all

 

 

Edited by HungryChris
clarity (log)
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Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted

I'd never seen one like this, either.  I may have to try one - at $9.99 (I didn't check shipping costs) it looks worth trying.

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

 Just looking at it and I am reaching for my phone to dial 911.  I have a Benriner and although I love it I am very wary when using it. Nevertheless it seems far less dangerous.  

  • Like 5

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

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HungryChris

HungryChris

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Anna N,

There definitely is that aspect to it and if that is how you feel, it's not for you. I have been using it for easily 25 years without so much as a nick. The blade is sharp, but not razor sharp. The last few passes I just push through with my thumb. I have a Globe commercial slicer that I use for some things, but in the time it  takes to clean up, I can be all done with the cucumber salad, dressing and cleaned up with the Feemster. Deb doesn't even like to look at it, so there you go.

 

HC

rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

I have two of these puppies.  the blade is wicked sharp and Ive been using mine for also at least 25 y

 

you do have to pay attention and be careful

 

i don't have those kevlar mitts but im very careful with mine  no pre-fizz for sure, and no distractions

 

over the last several years ive used the Benriner version, the larger of the two that are made, the white one.

 

it is also dangerous but less so.   I have not been injured.  I think there was a thread about injuries and mandolins \

 

 

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, HungryChris said:

Anna N,

There definitely is that aspect to it and if that is how you feel, it's not for you. I have been using it for easily 25 years without so much as a nick. The blade is sharp, but not razor sharp. The last few passes I just push through with my thumb. I have a Globe commercial slicer that I use for some things, but in the time it  takes to clean up, I can be all done with the cucumber salad, dressing and cleaned up with the Feemster. Deb doesn't even like to look at it, so there you go.

 

HC

 I am an absolute proponent of to each his/her own. But the Benriner needs nothing more than a quick rinse under the tap and includes two julienne blades one of which makes the best matchstick fries. But we all love the tools that work best for us and that is how it should be.  

  • Like 1

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted

I'm also a fan of the Benriner (Super Benriner!)... I love the medium size julienne blade - it's great for making green papaya salad in a flash.  But, looking at the Feemster online, it doesn't really seem any more or less safe than the Benriner... in fact, I think the Benriner with the julienne blade may be less safe as the julienne blades stick up past the slicing blade (depending on the height to which it was set).

rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

the Feemster Vegetable Slice has less real-estate for the food to slide on, which might make it tricky to use.

 

you don't want any tricky with these slicers.

Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted

I have a de Buyer mandoline. It comes in a case that looks to be made for a clarinet and is probably way more annoying to put together. I hate it. In the time it takes me to set it up I could have sliced by hand enough potatoes for Potatoes Anna and have no dishes to wash or jigsaw puzzle pieces to put in the case. I admit that I am pretty fast at slicing by hand, and also I really don't cut myself. But I am getting a bit bored with slicing, and seem to cry more than I used to when it comes to onions.

 

Anna N (not potatoes): is the super benriner simply the wider one? On Amazon it looks to be about $30 compared with the regular width for closer to $20. How does it do with things like citrus (that still has the rind on), which I find trickier to slice evenly and thinly than most other veggies. Can it be used for ripe tomatoes? For large amounts of julienne produce I am okay with using the food processor, but for smaller amounts it would be nice not to have to drag it out. How does the Benriner do with celery root, which is one of the toughest to do by hand in my opinion?

 

Ready to toss the de Buyer overboard.  

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted (edited)

Katie,

 

I do not have the super model just the regular. But I do know that the super is wider and I have sometimes wished I did own it. Do not believe I have ever needed to slice enough tomatoes to warrant bringing it out.  I did do citrus once and as I recall it worked well.  Never tried celery root.  For small amounts of julienne vegetables I find a julienne peeler to be quite adequate.

Edited by Anna N
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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

MSRadell

MSRadell

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I would love to find an old Ktel Dial 0 Matic - it slices, it dices - made great waffle chips.

 

There's actually quite a few of them on eBay. Here's one of them: Dial-O-Matic

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, MSRadell said:

There's actually quite a few of them on eBay. Here's one of them: Dial-O-Matic

Shipping to Canada is a bit dear! I've seen them in thrift stores - and resisted - one day I'll give in. Had one when I was a kid.

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  • 4 weeks later...
DianaB

DianaB

Posted
Posted

Just checked this out on Amazon UK after following the link provided by HungryChris.  Rather than $9.99 these retail at £53.79 in the UK, postage is charged in addition.  Other, more reasonable sources might be available and I will research them as the device does seem really interesting.  I just couldn't believe the difference in price!  I think I'll check Lehman's shipping cost, perhaps cheaper to import direct.    

Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted

What does the Dial-O-Matic do that the Benriner doesn't? I never heard of this contraption. Probably because in the 50's and 60's I wasn't doing any cooking, really, and my mother wasn't into kitchen gadgets or cooking much either. She did have a great passion for celery root remoulade, but I haven't a clue how she julienned anything. And when I was a teenager I didn't care what she was doing anyway.

 

I did end up buying the Benriner wide body, and I love it. So simple! Great for citrus slices. That deBuyer mandoline is never going to see any action in my house. I'm completely intimidated by it.

  • Like 2
andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

 

1 hour ago, Katie Meadow said:

What does the Dial-O-Matic do that the Benriner doesn't? I never heard of this contraption. Probably because in the 50's and 60's I wasn't doing any cooking, really, and my mother wasn't into kitchen gadgets or cooking much either. She did have a great passion for celery root remoulade, but I haven't a clue how she julienned anything. And when I was a teenager I didn't care what she was doing anyway.

 

I did end up buying the Benriner wide body, and I love it. So simple! Great for citrus slices. That deBuyer mandoline is never going to see any action in my house. I'm completely intimidated by it.

I've used my big de Buyer a lot.  I used it a few days ago to slice some large eggplants (using the long holder) into thin "panels" to wrap around a filling where I would ordinary use pasta.  I also made long slices of zucchini, carrots and cucumbers, all these for a party my neighbors were having prior to their relocating to Iowa.  I couldn't do those on many other mandolins.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

Tere

Tere

Posted
Posted

Wow at that mark up. I have a ceramic mandolin kicking about somewhere but it doesn't have a great guard and having taken the top of my thumb off once, I refuse to use it and delegate it to my sous chef. I use my standard ceramic Y peeler by Kyocera for a few small slices and they also do a ceramic mandolin with a better looking guard which is quite similar to what I own.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kyocera-335100-Slicer-CSN-202-Black/dp/B000KKNQZ6/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1456668834&sr=1-2&keywords=kyocera+mandolin

 

If I sliced things more I might look at their large Y peeler, that's quite nifty. But it's not something I do enough to really bother with additional kit.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kyocera-Ceramic-Mega-Peeler-CWP-N/dp/B000FUJ5CO/ref=sr_1_4?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1456668941&sr=1-4&keywords=kyocera+peeler 

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