So, a few weeks ago, I was at an antique farm equipment show. They had a silent auction. I rarely do anything with those because you are tied to the event until the auction is over. This time, I saw what I thought was a monstrous kraut cutter, so I bid on it and I won it (there was actually a bidding war on this thing even though no one was really sure if it was a kraut cutter.
We brought it home and cleaned it up. I bought cabbage heads to test, it didn't do a great job of cabbage slicing. I also happened to have some russets and thought, eh, what the heck? This is where I think we started thinking it was a potato chipper instead.
Today I decided to put it in use. I bought 4 medium-ish russets and we cranked them through. 350F oil and dang if we didn't have fantastic potato chips. The machine is labeled JE Smith & Sons, Buffalo NY. Research shows it may be from 1889-1890. This thing is the most entertaining mandoline ever. It made the most consistent potato slices. Delicious with ribs and salad on the patio. EDIT: The ribs were done in the Big Easy, so that's 2 gadgets in use for 1 meal!
