KT-mandolins-msg - 9/5/09 Kitchen Tools - Mandolins. History and use of the mandolin slicer. Reviews and recommendations on buying a mandolin. NOTE: See also the files: kitch-toolbox-msg, kitchen-knives-msg, kitchn-gloves-msg, cutting-onions-msg, Dresng-t-Dish-art, entertaing-fds-art, kitchen-tips-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 09:38:19 +1300 From: Adele de Maisieres Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Mandolin To: Cooks within the SCA Terry Decker wrote: > I have a eight string mandolin now I'm in the market for a mandolin slicer > (but not to slice the mandolin). Since I do feasts and the occasional > catering job, I want one that will stand up to commercial or near- > commercial > rigors. Suggestions about makes, models, design, and features are > solicited and appreciated. Likes and dislikes will be considered. I bought an OXO Good Grips mandolin a month or so ago. I haven't used it that much, but it did a good job on fennel salad for 136 and it's quite sturdy. -- Adele de Maisieres Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:46:47 -0800 From: aeduin Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Mandolin To: Cooks within the SCA I've got an Oneida that I got at Target for about $30 that has features similar to the Matfer? that we had in the kitchen of the catering company I used to work for. I really like the screw adjustment for cutting thickness and the removable blades for vertical slicing at the same time. It seems fairly sturdy. I haven't used it in a feast yet. I'll probably be bringing it to help with prep at Black Oak Lodge but that's in a month. aeduin Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:31:13 -0600 From: "otsisto" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Mandolin To: "Cooks within the SCA" I've had a cheap plastic one from a Chinese grocery store that has lasted me 6 yrs in making Welsh chips. The drawback is the pronged holder that prevents you from cutting yourself. You waste about 1/2" of veggy. But that isn't a bad idea of adding a mandolin to the feast tools. De Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 21:47:54 -0500 From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Mandolin To: Cooks within the SCA On Feb 16, 2008, at 8:31 PM, otsisto wrote: > I've had a cheap plastic one from a Chinese grocery store that has > lasted me > 6 yrs in making Welsh chips. The drawback is the pronged holder that > prevents you from cutting yourself. You waste about 1/2" of veggy. > But that isn't a bad idea of adding a mandolin to the feast tools. > > De I also ascribe to the cheap plastic mandoline school; both they and the expensive ones become dangerously dull in about the same amount of time. Yes, in theory the expensive ones can be sharpened if you're _really_ good at that sort of thing, but unless you're the only one that touches the device, it's pretty much a given that you'll get it back after someone has used it to repair shoes, or shave rattan, or something. I always seem to walk into kitchens where there's an expensive mandoline whose blades all remind me of that old Popeye cartoon where Popeye and Bluto are each giving a straight-razor shave the other, and Bluto takes the razor to a whetstone, sharpens it, then tests the edge by chopping the whetstone into little bits, leaving a terrifyingly-sawtoothed, jagged edge. It's a great way to practice your knife skills, though ;-). Avoiding such tools, I mean. Regarding the mysterious pronged handle, unless your blades are really dull and require a great deal of force, a folded kitchen towel works somewhat better than the prongy-thing, I find. Adamantius Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 21:55:38 -0500 From: Johnna Holloway Subject: [Sca-cooks] Mandolin To: Cooks within the SCA I have a Bron that I think I paid $135 for on a sale. One reason why I bought it. It's sturdy and stainless and I use it very infrequently. It was purchased prior to blowing out the knee and finding out that I'd be left permanently handicapped. I thought then I would do more feasts. And of course I do no feasts at all these days. http://www.chefdepot.net/mandoline.htm has the bron on sale. What I use for small jobs right now one of the cheaper Kyocera non-adjustable slicers. http://kyoceraadvancedceramics.com/products/kitchen/slicers.html It works great and makes the uniform slice. They also make an adjustable and julienne one now. A couple of those might work as well. They certainly clean up faster and store in less space. There are a number of new brands out that Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, and Prof Chef are carrying. http://www.cookswares.com/search.asp?SearchQ=mandoline&I1.x=8&I1.y=3 has a bunch. Johnna Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:11:14 -0500 From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Mandolin To: Cooks within the SCA I use a Beringer mandolin that I got in a Japanese cook store for around $15. It has a screw to adjust the slice size and several widths of julienne. I have another mandolin that I paid more for, but the Beringer has a thinner blade and does a better job of slicing. Ranvaig Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:12:03 -0500 From: "Christine Seelye-King" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Mandolin To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" I really like the OXO brand that goes for $60 retail at the Viking store I work at (I'm sure it could be had cheaper elsewhere). The parts all stay together and are easy to switch out the blade, and the dial on the side for the size of slice is easy to move and read. It has flip-down legs with good rubber pads to help stabilize it. I find it the easiest of the three models we have to choose from to use. http://www.oxo.com/OA_HTML/xxoxo_ibeCCtpOXOPrdDtl.jsp?a=b&item=50716 (oxo on-line has it for $50) Chef Christy Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:14:18 -0500 From: "Nick Sasso" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Mandolin To: "Cooks within the SCA" -----Original Message----- I find it the easiest of the three models we have to choose from to use. http://www.oxo.com/OA_HTML/xxoxo_ibeCCtpOXOPrdDtl.jsp?a=b&item=50716 (oxo on-line has it for $50) Chef Christy > > > > > > > > > > I am with Christianna about the design of the OXO. V-slicers are superior in my experience than the straight blades. I had a stainless Bron model that got the treatment Adamantius described. I have played h#ll trying to find just replacement blades for it. I don't know if you can even buy them. Inexpensive V-slicer would be cheaper even than replacing the blades. Personally, I have gone to a completely different direction in my restaurant: Nemco easy slicer. You can find one new at http://www.restaurantsource.com/prodDetail.cfm/308791,Nemco%20Easy% 20Slicer, MX2, just as an example ($257). I found mine on Craig's List for $75 and am thrilled. It has an adjustable blade width, and rolls through tomatoes, onions, peppers, zucchini, potatoes, and even hard cheeses. It is simpler and safer to use than a mandolin, dissasembles for easy cleaning, and is nigh indestructable. Though it is more expensive and heavier than the aforementioned plastic dealies. niccolo difrancesco Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:22:03 -0800 From: Dragon Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Mandolin To: Cooks within the SCA Go to a restaurant supply and buy a Matfer. Expensive but will stand up to anything and it stays sharp enough to remove fingers with little needed maintenance (stropping the straight edge once in a while is all mine has ever needed). Dragon Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:58:13 -0500 From: silverr0se at aol.com Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Mandolin To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org While the various brands we are discussing are, of course, OOP the mandolin is not. The guys at Hampton Court have one in their kitchen. Renata Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:21:12 -0800 (PST) From: Helen Schultz Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Mandolin To: Cooks within the SCA <<< While the various brands we are discussing are, of course, OOP the mandolin is not. The guys at Hampton Court have one in their kitchen. Renata >>> Besides the fact that there is one depicted in Scappi!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meisterin Katarina Helene von Sch?nborn, OL Shire of Narrental (Peru, Indiana) http://narrental.home.comcast.net Middle Kingdom Edited by Mark S. Harris KT-mandolins-msg Page 5 of 6