Slicing vegetables

johngalway

I hate it Especially when the recipe says "finely", I swear they do it on purpose.

What gadgets, gizmos, and contraptions are out there to make my life perfect easier? Or should I ask, what's the best (reasonably priced - let's not lose the run of ourselves here) gadget, gizmo, or contraption out there for me?

It should be easy to use, effective, reliable & sturdy. I don't want much

Many thanks,

John.

Faith

A food processor with a grating attachment would be the best best. With the fancier ones, you can grate, slice, julienne and probably do loads more.

Or else, on a budget, use something like this:



Or I just found this on Google:

The Hill Billy

I use one of these.



It takes up hardly any space in the kitchen, no fiddly bit that might get lost or broken & is easy to wash.

It takes a wee bit of getting used to, but as long as you keep it sharp it will do a really great job after a bit of practice.

Darkginger

For chopping things finely, I use a Kenwood mini-chopper - think it's one of the best kitchen 'tools' I've got. It was something like €15 from Amazon, and it's brilliant for such stuff as finely chopping garlic and ginger, or smooshing up tomatoes for salsa, or eggs for egg sarnie filling. Very easy to wash, too, I just rinse it under the tap, most of the time.

For slicing, I use the food processor with a slicing attachment on it - does potatoes perfectly for dauphinoise, also things like carrots, courgettes, onions and so on. I only use it if I've got a significant amount of slicing to do though - sometimes it's just less bother to use a knife for small amounts.

Mellor

A mandolin slicer or V slicer does a pretty good job of fast slicing.
Can do strips, or fries with different attachments. Add a knife before hand and you've got diced.

rubadub

Mellor wrote: »

A mandolin slicer or V slicer does a pretty good job of fast slicing.

Yeah, you see them going cheap in supermarkets the odd time. Easy to rinse, thats what puts me off large food processors, you also loose more food if you are only doing small amounts in processors, i.e. sauces are stuck to the inside and washed away.

You can get decent brand ceramic blade mandolins which might be a wise investment. Ceramic blades are probably more suited to this lightweight chopping, and will also not discolour foods like some metal blades could.

eternal

The Hill Billy wrote: »

I use one of these.



It takes up hardly any space in the kitchen, no fiddly bit that might get lost or broken & is easy to wash.

It takes a wee bit of getting used to, but as long as you keep it sharp it will do a really great job after a bit of practice.

Thanks be, soembody else who actaully uses a knife/chopper. can not believe that people would use a processor for this, ruins the ideal of cooking and prep. Everything should be done from scratch, always.

huskerdu

johngalway wrote: »

I hate it Especially when the recipe says "finely", I swear they do it on purpose.

What gadgets, gizmos, and contraptions are out there to make my life perfect easier? Or should I ask, what's the best (reasonably priced - let's not lose the run of ourselves here) gadget, gizmo, or contraption out there for me?

It should be easy to use, effective, reliable & sturdy. I don't want much

Many thanks,

John.

As Hill Billy has pointed out, a good quality knife meets the requirement of "easy to use, effective, reliable & sturdy".

Anything else is fiddly to wash and is likely to end up in the gadget graveyard in the back of your cupboard ( don't deny that you have one, we all do!).

Buying a good knife and a knife sharpener, and using the sharpener very regularly will change your life. Chopping will become a joy.

Alun

I agree that most motorized chopping/slicing gadgets are far too fiddly to clean, but even professional chefs use a mandolin now and then

i71jskz5xu42pb

eternal wrote: »

Everything should be done from scratch, always.

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s664NsLeFM

(I'm in the knife camp myself, anything else involves too much cleaning)

AnonoBoy

A good set of knives takes all the stress out of chopping veg.

Honey-ec

A decent set of knives and good technique and you're set. But even I use a mandolin for making coleslaw!

rubadub

Alun wrote: »

even professional chefs use a mandolin now and then

Yes, I see them on TV quite a bit. If you are doing very fine chopping it can be a lot faster, and more consistent. For some people safety would be the main reason for using aids like these.

The Most Dangerous Vegetables Ranked

Knife in hand, you shoot a puzzled glance at the butternut squash sitting on the cutting board, unsure of where to begin. You’re not alone-a new study in the UK found that 88 percent of people injure themselves in the kitchen and over half of them do it while preparing vegetables.

In honor of National Safety Week, Just Eat surveyed over 2,000 of its customers to find the top five most dangerous vegetables to prep. Here’s what topped the list:

1. Pumpkin
2. Swede (rutabaga)
3. Butternut Squash
4. Turnip
5. Jerusalem Artichoke

Thirty-nine percent of people said they injured themselves because the vegetable was difficult to cut.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2012/06/the-most-dangerous-vegetables-ranked/

Honey-ec

rubadub wrote: »

Yes, I see them on TV quite a bit. If you are doing very fine chopping it can be a lot faster, and more consistent. For some people safety would be the main reason for using aids like these.


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2012/06/the-most-dangerous-vegetables-ranked/

I'd say most of those injuries are caused by blunt knives rather than the fact that the veg are inherently difficult to cut. I'm always appalled by the state of the knives in 90% of the houses other than my own.

Mr Simpson

Always use the hand guard if using a mandolin. I've learnt this the hard way

Also +1 on keeping your knife sharp, blunt knives tend to slip when chopping. Again another thing I've learnt the hard way. The disadvantage of working in kitchens.