Norpro V-Slicer Grater Mandoline with Safety Guard Holder
by Norpro
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List Price: Our Price: $27.13 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Norpro V-Slicer Grater Mandoline with Safety Guard Holder
Customer Review: Every Serious Cook Needs One Of These
Summary: 5 Stars
I have fallen in love with this wonderful piece of steel. It can be dangerious, but you need to know how to use it.
This mandoline is great for shredding veg.
Example Carrots, potatoes, summer squash, and zucchini.
I love my Mondoline
Customer Review: Some tips from a chef
Summary: 4 Stars
First, the Norpro is %100 compatible with the Bron, including the Bron's replacement blades (available in a wide variety of sizes, though not at amazon--yet). Safety: First, if you haven't put in at least a hundred hours on a mandoline, be sure to use protection. No, not that ...worthless/dangerous pusher. Use a butcher's glove (or "oyster glove"), preferably a chain mail one. You could get by with significantly more affordable Kevlar or "Fibers Woven with Stainless Steel Threading" ones, but you will be more prone to bruising and nicks. Second, keep your eye on the blade, not on the vegetable. Third, use smooth, swift strokes applying as much pressure toward the mandoline's face as you do on the stroke itself. Last, and most importantly- don't rush! Take your time, maintain your focus, zone out that burning smell coming from the oven.
The mandoline produces narrow shallow decorative crinkles. While waffle cut vegetables are quite possible with this sturdy industry standard, it takes a lot of adjusting and they come out thin without good definition of holes. For a better waffle cut consider a stand alone crinkle cutter. The washboard style ones typically aren't adjustable, so I'd recommend a hand held crinkle blade (look for deeper/wider scallops).
To produce uniform slices, you can either move the julienne blades to neutral or remove the blades completely. The first method often produces slices with nicks on them from where the slices catch on the hanging julienne blades. The second method is time consuming and may lead to eventually stripping out the nuts (so be careful not to over tighten).
This is a time saving and indispensable tool once you get accustomed to it. It could use more documentation.
Customer Review: Excellent but there are cheaper solutions
Summary: 4 Stars
This mandoline is a sturdy and well-made tool, excellent for making even and precise slices, shoestring potatoes (pommes allumettes), waffle-cut potatoes, ordinary French fries, and so on. I have had mine for about 15 years, and it works like new.The main problem with it is that it's expensive. There are inexpensive plastic slicer/shredders available, such as Benriner (often sold in Japanese and Korean grocery stores), which work just as well. In fact, they're actually better for very fine slices and shredding. If you only want to make French fries, you're probably better off getting a French-fry cutter, which is faster, but it's hard to get blades fine enough for true shoestrings.
The Benriner plus a French-fry cutter together will cost about half as much as the mandoline, and work as well or better; of course, they are nowhere near as heavy-duty, but that won't matter for most home users.
The Bron mandoline has a couple of minor disadvantages. On older models, the feet would scratch countertops, but I believe this has been fixed now. Although most parts are stainless, the rivets and screws do rust a little; this has not been a problem.
The pusher does not work very well. On the other hand, this is a dangerous tool used without the pusher -- it produces especially ugly cuts if you're julienning. My solution is to use a cut-resistant fillet glove (also good for the Benriner). This gives you far better control and thus less waste.
Customer Review: Just Awfull
Summary: 2 Stars
Price doesn't always correlate with quality. So proves the Norpro. I found that this unit is clumsy and clogs often. The guard (sold separately) will not admit reasonably sized items, e.g. a large potato, doesn't secure the item to be sliced, and leaves an annoying amount of waste. Their legal department should take a look at the policy of selling the mandoline without a guard. You are looking at some serious time in the emergency room without it. I suggest you look elsewhere.Customer Review: Save your money
Summary: 2 Stars
I got this because I thought a stainless steel mandoline must be the greatest thing. It is good but cumbersome to use and clean. I ended up buying a plastic Japanese version for $20 works as well or better and although I bought another one after 2 years the first one works great still. Don't get impressed by fanciness like I did.