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: There are better mandolines for less money.
Summary: 1 Stars
I used to use the German-made Borner V-Slicer Plus mandoline, which has some limitations: it only has two thicknesses of slices (3mm and 10mm). It does two sizes of julienne, like the Bron, but it won't do wavy cuts. I decided to upgrade to the Bron mandoline (same as Norpro). I wasn't too impressed. When not in use, the julienne blades dangle below the path of the slices, slightly scoring the underside of each slice as it comes out. Also, when not in use, the julienne blades get in the way of the adjustment plate and limit how much you can open the cutting slot to (I'm guessing) less than 1/4 inch. If you want to make thicker slices and/or get rid of the scoring, you have to get out a nut driver to remove the julienne blade assembly.
The blades are not particularly sharp after you use it for a while. They can cut yellow squash fine, but sweet potatoes jam halfway through the cutting slot. This makes it fairly dangerous to use because things jump around. I just saw a Bron in a store which had a different straight blade. Instead of being one piece, it had a separate leading edge spot-welded to the rest of the plate. Maybe this would solve the sharpness problem.
The mandoline guard is a complete joke. It is exremely noisy, can't hold larger items, can't hold skinny items (like carrots) upright, pushes down on the item at an angle so things tend to pop out or flip over, doesn't hold the item securely aginst the bottom so slices are uneven thickness, etc. I sent it back.
I think this particular mandoline is living on its reputation. I've gone back to using the Borner which provides MUCH better straight slices (but no wavy cuts), and only costs about 1/3 as much. It also has a much better safety holder. The frame is all plastic, so it's not good for heavy use, but the blades are very sharp and it's very easy to use: just a gentle zip-zip back and forth and the slices pile up.
Customer Review: Bad news!
Summary: 1 Stars
The fact that the "safety guard" had to be purchased separately should have raised a red flag. I hated this thing, safety guard and all. I started out with a carrot and finished with exactly 10 julienne strips, a bunch of shreds and a large hunk of carrot jammed in the blades. Pretty much the same results with a potato. I tried the ripple cutter with the potato and shredded a fingernail. The printed instructions had no diagrams and descriptions of how to adjust the cutting blades were confusing. I'm returning the mandoline and buying another good knife.