Benriner BN-1 Japanese Handheld Mandolin Slicer with Three Interchangeable Stainless-Steel Blades-Ivory, Vegetable Fruit Cutter Peeler, Stainless Steel, Off-White

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Slicing foods evenly is a skill that chefs learn in school and perfect over time. Some home cooks can handle a knife skillfully, though most don’t have as much practice as professional chefs, so their cuts are less likely to be identical. While uniform cuts make food look more presentable, they also mean that the food will cook evenly, so some bits won’t be soft while others are still crunchy. A mandoline replaces a knife for making those perfectly even cuts, and it’s particularly useful for making super-thin cuts for potato chips that are difficult with a knife. As far as compact mandolines go, this model from Swissmar is a great choice. It comes with a selection of blades for julienne, straight, and French fry cuts. This model features a V-style blade, which gives it an edge over straight-blade slicers for cutting softer foods, like tomatoes, but it works well on a variety of other fruits and vegetables, too. One feature that sets this slicer apart is its commitment to user safety. The set comes complete with a fingerguard and protective glove to ensure you and your family members remain unharmed during food preparation. Additionally, the ABS plastic used is non-toxic and BPA-free, guaranteeing healthy meals for your loved ones. This mandoline worked best with peeled vegetables, but some larger ones (like potatoes) will need to be pre-cut to fit the chute. We didn’t feel comfortable slicing very small radishes, as the hand guard didn’t seem to hold them well, and when slicing a bell pepper, the skin got caught, and it wasn’t as easy to slice through as some of the other models. Furthermore, if you want to make waffle cuts, you can’t use the guard because you can’t turn the vegetable to make the second cut. Extreme care should be taken, or cut-resistant gloves should be used. Since this is stainless steel, it should be dishwasher safe, but hand washing is likely to be easier and will keep the blades sharper for longer.

This model is made of angled Japanese stainless steel, so it’s built to last. It comes with a hand guard for safety and has sturdy legs to hold it at a comfortable angle while slicing. The blades are easy to remove for cleaning. Hand-washing is recommended.

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We found that our slicing motion was not seamless because of a slight ridge in the mandoline—you’ll want to watch out for this to avoid accidents. Mandoline slicers come with a range of safety features to protect users from accidental cuts. Some common safety features include:

The Music Power From Okinawa (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDSUB040401052322271536&sql=Ac8n8b5c4tsqg) - Shoukichi Kina (Globestyle)

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The musical esthetics of Japanese music are quite dissimilar to Western ones. I think Niles put it well above. It´s very difficult to "understand" the music you hear, but it stirs emotions and gives a feeling of being on the brink of something mysterious and deeply touching. In Japanese music and maybe especially in biwa it´s not the notes alone that are important, but also the quality of the sound and special effects that could on a superficial level sound only as "noise" (like the scraping sound Ms Tsuruta makes sliding the broad edge of the plectrum along the strings). Also, like in Far East landscape painting, the silences (empty canvas) is as important as the sounds (brush strokes). Totally fascinating... Grating and shredding tasks can also be accomplished using a mandoline slicer. Grated foods are typically smaller and finer, such as grated cheese or zested citrus fruits. Shredded foods, on the other hand, are larger and coarser, like shredded cabbage for coleslaw or julienned carrots for salads. Mandoline slicers are efficient in creating beautiful presentation for dishes by cutting even, uniform slices. Some of the popular options and features for home cooks are: In comparison to a French mandoline, Japanese mandolines are lighter, smaller, and easier to use. The blade sits at a diagonal angle, which makes for slightly more control and accuracy. The blade is super sharp and will last you a long time, and its compact size makes it a great option for a home kitchen with limited space.

We updated this article in April 2023 to include additional information from long-term testing and a new recommendation, the Fullstar All-in-1 Vegetable Chopper. Handguards: These attach to the food being sliced, acting as a barrier between the user’s hand and the blade. Handguards help to maintain a secure grip on the food and reduce the risk of injury. Mandoline slicers provide a variety of cut styles to cater to different culinary needs. This section will explore the applications of julienne cuts, wavy and ripple cuts, as well as grating and shredding. Julienne Cuts I like playing Greek music, watching good movies including anime, reading nice books, cooking, eating out and travelling, basically, I love to enjoy my life and stay happy.Another one that I encountered much later, is biwa, the Japanese lute with 4-5 silk strings. There are many types of it, some ancient and obscure. Probably the most popular types nowadays are Satsuma biwa and Chikuzen biwa. The types can be seen for example here. (http://www.hogaku.it/strumenti/biwa.html) Kinshi Tsuruta was the most famous exponent of Satsuma biwa, and she played also some modern compositions by Toru Takemitsu. Keep in mind that this mandoline can only be washed by hand, and we found while testing that it was difficult to reassemble after cleaning. Be prepared to spend a few extra moments with this mandoline slicer during clean up until you get used to it. Non-slip base or feet: Mandoline slicers with a non-slip base or feet help to increase stability during use, minimizing the chance of the slicer slipping or sliding. If a mandoline doesn’t come with a hand guard, you can always swap in a clean kitchen towel or a mesh, protective glove. Either way, it bears repeating that a mandoline blade is extremely sharp. Even if you’re comfortable with the tool, it’s never a bad idea to take extra precaution. The Dash Safe Slice Mandoline Slicer makes using a mandoline easy, as your fingers never get close to the blades. Instead, it uses a gravity feeder and a mechanism that you push down to cut.

We also tested the mandoline slicers out on tomatoes to determine how well they thinly slice something soft and delicate and whether or not they mashed the tomato as it went through the blade. We also evaluated how well the mandolines sliced lemons, which are a bit softer than a potato. After every slice test, we rated the mandoline slicers on how easy they were to use, hold, and keep steady while slicing. The most important feature of any mandoline is, of course, its blade. The three-blade varieties are French, Japanese, and V-shaped, and they all offer different capabilities. The types of food you’ll be cutting, how frequently you’ll use the tool, and whether you plan to use specialty-shaped blades (like julienne or waffle-cut) will determine which blade type to look for. Andrea Wurzburger is a freelance writer at Better Homes & Gardens. For this story, she spent several hours researching the mandoline slicers and interpreting results from our testers. She also spoke with Chef Cara Tannenbaum, former Dean of Students at Institute of Culinary Education. Familiarizing yourself with mandoline slicer features and cutting styles can help improve your overall cooking experience. After testing, our choice for the best mandoline is the Oxo Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer because of its fold-down legs that make it easy to store, and it has interchangeable blades that give you the option of cutting straight, wavy, or julienne. Our Testing ProcessThis high-quality mandoline slicer is a versatile tool that is a great addition to your kitchen, allowing for effortless slicing, julienne, and grating of various ingredients. While testing out the mandoline, we noticed that it was actually easier to slice firmer produce, whereas softer produce was occasionally more difficult to handle. We found that it made for nice thin slices of potato, and we were able to slice a full-size cucumber in about 30 seconds. With tomatoes, the slices were a bit uneven but still solid. We also liked how secure and comfortable the mandoline was to grip for being so small. Overall, the three slicing options covered all of our tasks with very little difficulty. The non-slip "feet" are another nice touch that makes slicing over a bowl or cutting board even easier.