Electric Meat Slicers

[rooftop1000]

Well, I have a slicer under the tree (dont know what kind yet) and Pastrami and Bacon on the smoker. Not perfect timing but I'll take it. : )

tracey

[Chris Amirault]

Tracey, what did you get?

Meanwhile, does anyone with an old Hobart know how to use the sharpening "stones", which are more like disks? Do you just screw them forward to meet the blade, turn it on, step back and watch the sparks fly?

[Chris Hennes]

Chris, that's what I do, basically. They are spring-loaded on mine, so you have to hold them in place, though. They work ok.

[dougal]

Tracey, what did you get?

Meanwhile, does anyone with an old Hobart know how to use the sharpening "stones", which are more like disks? Do you just screw them forward to meet the blade, turn it on, step back and watch the sparks fly?

Dunno about your mechanism (and where your fingers have to be), but it sounds like it might be a better idea to have the motor running before advancing the stone(s) to contact the spinning blade.

I doubt that the motor should be expected to start up against the extra friction from the stones.

The sharpening load on the running disc would be more similar to a slicing load. Especially if you only advance the stone gently ...

Edited January 19, 2010 by dougal (log)

[Dave the Cook]

thanks, that would bother me no end, even if I won't use that thing much. I'll look for a used one or get one like the Chef's Choice for $299. Not exactly cheap, but I can't deal with flimsy things, just a personal hickup.

Not sure I'd have the time (and patience) to restore one of those nice old ones, though I'd probably like it in it's banged up and used state more anyway. Gotta check craigs list I guess :-)

Oliver

Just to be clear, the Chef's Choice won't accommodate a whole uncut pork belly either. However, once you trim the belly, squaring it up to a more or less commercial width (about seven inches), it works fine. I use the trim for batons and seasoning.

[Chris Amirault]

Tracey, what did you get?

Meanwhile, does anyone with an old Hobart know how to use the sharpening "stones", which are more like disks? Do you just screw them forward to meet the blade, turn it on, step back and watch the sparks fly?

Dunno about your mechanism (and where your fingers have to be), but it sounds like it might be a better idea to have the motor running before advancing the stone(s) to contact the spinning blade.

I doubt that the motor should be expected to start up against the extra friction from the stones.

The sharpening load on the running disc would be more similar to a slicing load. Especially if you only advance the stone gently ...

Thanks, dougal. That makes a lot more sense to me. I'll take a look tonight and report back if I learn anything.

[rooftop1000]

Santa brought me the Waring Pro...its small and the motor will burn out within a year, but it has made it through 6lb of Bacon and about 10lb of Pastrami so far. Makes a mean coleslaw shread too.

tracey

[Chris Amirault]

Well, in preparation for slicing some bresaola, I couldn't get the sharpening discs to move at all, so I went ahead and sliced with the blade as is. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I spied my ceramic sharpening rod, thought "DOH!", and got to it.

I simply lined up the angle of the rod with the angle of the face of the discs, turned on the machine, and applied light pressure on both sides of the blade. The meat side was flat, and the "slice side" was beveled. I couldn't exactly feel for a burr as it was rotating -- the thought of it give me weak knees -- but I think the edge sharpened up nicely.

On a related topic, does anyone get a concave curl as meat comes off the blade? Any idea how to fix it?

[DerekW]

does anyone get a concave curl as meat comes off the blade? Any idea how to fix it?

Concave as in curling away from the machine and remaining meat? You mean they're not meant to do that?

Ours is one of the old iron monsters with a vertical blade, and the slices part company with the blade several inches above the catch tray. Gravity imparts a slight twist as the slice falls, and the slice is briefly concave along its length.

Can you be more specific about the plane and axis of the concavity, Chris? Does it occur with all products, all thicknesses of slice?

[Chris Amirault]

Sorry -- I was unclear.

Of course, the meat is intended to feed away from the machine. What's happening, however, is that the slice of meat is itself concave, creating a bowl shape with the bottom of the bowl facing the blade as it leaves. So far it's happened with bacon, bread, bresaola. Maybe it's just with stuff that starts with "B"....

[dougal]

... What's happening, however, is that the slice of meat is itself concave, creating a bowl shape with the bottom of the bowl facing the blade as it leaves. ...

If the plane of the blade is angled to the carriage travel, the slices won't be 'straight' when looked at along the carriage travel axis ... is that what you are getting?

[Chris Amirault]

Not quite.

Imagine you're cutting some bresaola on the slicer. As each piece comes off the blade, the little slice of bresaola forms a shallow bowl, with the convex side facing the blade.

I'll try to take photos next time I slice something.

[DerekW]

...the little slice of bresaola forms a shallow bowl, with the convex side facing the blade

Interesting. If I use the wee Benriner mandoline to slice radishes or carrots [for example] I get the 'bowl' effect. It's very pronounced. The implication [it seemed to me] was that the circumference of the slice was smaller than the natural state of the interior surface area of the object being sliced, and at the time I attributed that to the outer surface being drier than the interior. That extra surface area has to go somewhere...

I've never noticed that same degree of pronounced cupping on things coming off the blade of the meat slicer, but most of what I slice is too irregular in cross section for it to show up, perhaps.

[cpl55]

Hello, Chrises and any other Hobart owners/restorers. I have just acquired a vintage Hobart slicer myself, a 410.

I am trying to clean it up a bit, and it has the typical "crud" in the recesses. In particular, the thickness index numbers and marks, which are recessed. I would like to clean them out, and then repaint with black enamel. Can you recommend the best way to do this? (Trying to scrape them out isn't working too well.) Is there a product that will clean out the crud without damaging the burnished aluminum?

I appreciate any suggestions...

thanks!

Christina

www.sleepleessfoodie.com

[Chris Hennes]

Well Christina, the bad news is that the professional solution is to sandblast it. The good news is that a toothbrush and some Barkeepers Friend will do the trick nicely for our purposes. You don't need to remove the existing enamel, after all. Once it's cleaned thoroughly and dried, paint a sloppy, thick layer of black enamel over the whole area and carefully wipe off the enamel not in the depressions before it dries. Et viola! Restoration on the cheap.

[cpl55]

Sounds good, Chris... thanks for the information!

Christina

[slkinsey]

Some questions, observations and answers for owners of Hobart 210 models. I recently acquired two of them off of Craigslist: one in the "all metal" design, fully functional with all its parts, and the other in the "cream colored paint" design, with a working motor and carriage but missing the blade guards, sharpener housing and sharpener.

So. . .

First, I was interested to observe that the design of the two slicers, while very similar, was not identical. Maybe one of them is the 110 and the other is the 210? I don't know. Looking upthread, the slicer that randallrosa enameled to such nice effect is actually not supposed to be enameled like that, as it is the "all metal" model.

Second, if anyone wants an original owner's manual for the Hobart 110/210 Slicer, please download this PDF.

Third, the "all metal" model does seem to have some scratching through a finish of some kind (a layer of "finish metal" maybe?). Anyone know if these can be polished out, or if the metal can be re-layered. The carriage, for example, shows scratches where the spikes on the meat grip slid across it so many times.

Fourth, does anyone know how to remove the blade? Do you have to pry off the cap somehow?

Fifth, the stones are supposed to freely rotate as they contact the blade and entire sharpener assembly is supposed to slide back and forth in its housing. The way it works is that you start the motor and push in the little knob so that the "grinding wheel" contacts the blade. You do this until you think there has been enough sharpening. Then you pull back on the little knob until the "truing wheel" contacts the blade for one second or less. Then you go back to the grinding wheel for one second or less. Since the slicer blade is only ground on one bevel, the one-second stuff is just to remove the burr. Unfortunately, a lot of the grinder assemblies are seriously gunked up (I know mine was) so they don't slide back and forth very easily and the wheels don't turn very freely. This is not so great when you're wanting to just kiss the back of the blade for a half-second. I unscrewed mine, removed the grinding stones and spent some time soaking various parts in CLR and other solvents to remove the rust and accumulated gunky grease, then relubricated and replaced the sharpening wheels with new ones.

Sixth, yes you can get new sharpening wheels http://www.onesharpstore.com/catalog/item/2529431/2788330.htm'>right here. I very much recommend it, as mine were original and not in very good shape in addition to being gunked up with God-knows-what. Not for nothing does the original manual recommend cleaning these things in gasoline! I just received my new sharpening wheels, and it's striking how much grittier they are than the ones that were in the machine when I got it.

Seventh, for those of you who may be looking for Hobard 110/210 parts, the company that sells the sharpening wheels sells them. These guys have the best and largest selection, however. Although it ain't cheap. A sharpener assembly will run you a cool 180 bucks.

Eighth, as for lubricating the machines, the manual recommends "slicer oil." Not sure whether that's all that different from mineral oil, but I think it might be worthwhile picking up some of this stuff. The glider bars, etc. are supposed to be lubricated with this slicer oil via some kind of reservoir-and-wick system. There's a little hole in the side of the slicer where you're supposed to put in a bit of slicer oil every so often.

Edited April 25, 2011 by slkinsey (log)

[Chris Hennes]

It's been a while since we've talked about meat slicers, and I'm in the market for a new one (the Hobart I restored had a close encounter with the power cord for the vacuum cleaner... the slicer won the battle, but lost the war, as the resulting arc chewed off a disturbingly large chunk of the blade). I've been looking at the various "light commercial use" slicers out there. Does anyone else have one of these? What are your experiences with them?

[curls]

I bought a light deli use Berkel a few years ago and I am very happy with it.  So sorry to hear about your Hobart; it was a beauty.

[Mjx]

Several years ago we picked up a the smallest available Azeta commercial slicer, and it's proved itself to be a great unit. It is quite compact (when we got it, it didn't dominate the miniscule kitchen in the student flat we were living in):

 

 

 

No chance of replacing the blade on the Hobart?

[rotuts]

Rats.

 

FeChef kicked over the 'Hornets Nest' and Im back to being interested in an electric slicer.

 

Rats.   i need this less than I need another hole in my head.  but .....

 

BB&B has these :

 

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/category/kitchen/specialty-small-appliances/meat-slicers-grinders/12114/

 

of note they seem to come w a serrated blade, but you can get a smooth blade for $ 30.

 

I know a bit about circular cutting blades, as i have a 5 HP Powermatic 66.

 

its for wood not meat.

 

the smooth blade 'is said' to make thiner cuts.

 

Id use this for various SV ( not from the deli   ) I have for Sandwiches, etc

 

and it is true, no mater where you start, for the Sandwich, thinner is better.

 

I of course had Knife Skills,  EdgePro'd blades, etc

 

what's your take on these meat slicers ?

 

I hope this Fever Passes, but it might not

 

Smooth blade ? it has to be easy to clean ......

 

give it an honest try then  ....  ?

 

 

[FeChef]

I love my Hobart 1612. Got it for $125. I had to replace the Centrifugal switch with a $50 electronic switch. Motor was barely used, so i basicly got a mint condition Hobart 1612 for $175.

[rotuts]

Sooooooooooooo Cooooooooooooool

 

send me one, just like that 

 

Ill cover  say   $ 10 for the postage ?

 

Sooooooooooo  envious 

 

 

 

so does it have a 'serrated blade'  or a smooth one

 

im guessing that the Stuff at the Deli has a smooth blade

 

the serrated blade are for The Great Unwashed .

 

[FeChef]

You could always get a "Magna Wonder Knife"

 

I had a slicer with a serrated blade before i got my Hobart and other then being a pain in the butt to take apart and clean, the serrated blade did a decent job of slicing pre cooked and chilled meats really thin. I forgot the model but it was $60 at Cabela's and was all black.

[rotuts]

thanks

 

Im interested in an Electrical Assist

 

like the PowerMatic :

 

http://www.wholesalepowertools.com/jetr-1792010k-model-pm2000-table-saw-5hp-1ph-w-50-accu-fence?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=CSE

 

I could use a hand saw for the wood   .....

 

and no  i did not pay that much

 

it was 35 years ago

Edited April 2, 2015 by rotuts (log)