ottawa foodies

BF wants a meat slicer that will produce finely shaved meat like at the deli.

A friend of mine has a meat slicer, but his complaint is that the blade is serrated and not suitable for slicing very thin. In fact it mangles the meat instead of shaving it.

Does here have experience with table-top meat slicers that fit the bill, and will sell for under $150.00

An online friend suggested this brand but I'm unsure if I can find it around here:

www.gandermountain.com

Any input would be appreciated.

PS. nice to be back here..it's been a while.

Great topic since we're looking for one as well!

Costco sells a nice one but it's $450.

I also told me wife we have to check Preston Hardware.

She wants a manual (non electric) one.

BTW, in case it isn't obvious from the recent scare, make sure you buy something that comes apart easily for cleaning!!!

mmmfood - Didn't check out the particular item up close, so I can't give you any specific details, but I did see one this past weekend at Canadian Tire when I was looking for an electric frypan.

--- --- ---

BTW, Does anyone have an electric frypan that you can take the electrics off of and put in either a sink full of soapy water or the dishwasher to clean? "The Man" has decided he is tired of the mess that the standard skillet makes on the stovetop... splatter, long to heat up, can only cook so much bacon in one go -- so he has to cook bacon in a couple of batches. He likes the idea of putting all the bacon in one pan, throwing on the lid, and letting it cook away, and then having the ease of clean up.

It seems that Electric Frypans have come a long way since the one I got as a wedding present some 30 years ago.

Any info on your experiences, particular appliance or where to buy would be appreciated.

Here's one that offers an optional 'thin slice' blade.

citychef.ca

Just gotta figure out where to buy it, locally.

Food & think: I just threw out a retro electric frying pan with removable cord. It was in pretty good shape. I shouldn't say 'threw out'. I donated it. Too bad..would've loved to pass it on to someone I 'know'. :)

Hey, start a new thread for that frying pan you!

Food&Think I have an electric frypan like mmmfood's. The cord (and electrics) removes from the unit so you can just dunk the frypan in the sink and not worry about water getting in the electrical unit. My frypan actually got banished to the back of a cupboard during kitchen clean up last winter but I am now realizing that I could really use it for big batch cooking. I'm a soup kinda gal so I would love to use it to compliment my wok and slow cooker and stockpot for making batches of soups this winter. My ex mum-in-law used to use hers for making soups. She had an island in her kitchen and would line up three or four skillets so she could whip up several different soups at a time.

BTW at the risk of being the laughing stock of foodieland everywhere I am finally caving in to ask meat slicer owners/wannabies - what is the benefit of owning a slicer instead of using ye olde knyfe?...

Pasta Lover - Thanks for the info in regards to my frypan question... I guess I need to take "The Man`s" request more seriously... I never thought of all the other things I could use the frypan for... like your soup idea, as I too am a big lover of homemade soups over the Fall & Winter.

At the risk of also looking foolish (as I too don`t own a slicer) I`m guessing the attraction is the fact that they can slice paper-thin, something that can be quite difficult to do with a regular knife... I know it is my experience that a lot of times a knife will "rip or tear" the meat, and not get that flat smooth edge that a slicer would provide.

If I still had kids at home, and was making a pile of sandwiches everyday, and of course rethinking deli cold cuts these days, I`d probably consider a slicer as well.

Food & Think : exactly! :) Saves time. I don't want to resent the meat, I want to enjoy it.

Go to sears.ca and search on all products for "slicer" and they seem to have a few

One of the reviews for one of the ones at the sears.ca complained about being able to take it apart to clean it - going back to what I'd said above

Food&Think and mmmfood Thanks for the heads up on the preference for meat slicers. I figured you would want a slicer to make your own deli meats since we are all a little worried about listeriosis these days. However what I was trying to ask is that the only advantage I could think of is that the meat slicers could shave meat more finely than a knife. As zymurgist pointed out in his original post above you should make sure to buy a slicer that comes apart easily for cleaning. If not you would be no further ahead than Maple Leaf Foods-:) I was just wondering if there was any other advantages than just buying a ham or roast or whatever and just using a carving knife...

saw one at Princess auto this evening, 69.99$
scroll to the bottom
www.princessauto.com

i'm there tomorrow! excellent!

zymurgist: please report back on the slicer...what brand is it? is the blade serrated? does it come with different blades? etc..

BF was at Princess Auto last night! Surprised he didn't see it.

Chef's Choice makes a good electric meat slicer that Ashton Green (www.ashtongreen.com) sells for about $160. Good feed back on this model. Chef's Choice makes a good line of products including an electric knife sharpener, waffle makers etc. which I have tested and found to be excellent.

foodntrave: Yes, the one I linked in my original post is a Chef's Choice, and has good reviews. I wonder if there's somewhere local I can go check one out. I'll have to call the mfg and see if there is a distributor around here.

I may not make it out tonight afterall - forgot that i have to take my son to judo. But I should make it out there before the weekend is out.

The preston hardware website shows what appears to be the same italian model that Costco carries, but about $100 more

If you want a luddite solution to a deli slicer, you could always get a slicing knife (ranging in price from $30-hundreds of dollars I'm sure), which typically have scalloped thin blades that do not mangle "the meat".

The Princess Auto one will do the job alright, but parts of it are pretty flimsy - mainly the slider tray is really cheap plastic. If you are on a budget it could well be worth it. I didn't have time to check on removability of the blade for cleaning - though it did appear as though there were 3 screws to take it off.

If someone buys it, please report back.

A buddy just told me that he bought a cheap one a few years back for $80 and it's been worth every penny. "Paid for itself in 8 months" he said.

I've asked him for details on make and model, and how much of it is cheap plastic like the PA one.

Thanks zymurgist for all the input you have provided here. It's appreciated.

BTW, the buddy who bought the cheap one lives in Newfoundland and does a great deal of hunting, so the slicer got extremely heavy use but still held up.

Here is the one my buddy in newfoundland has. He said it's almost all plastic and is a bit slow, but has held up well for a few years now given his heavy use.

cgi.ebay.ca

My wife just picked this one up at a church yard sale for $4!!!

It is a heavy duty cast aluminum body, made in Germany. I'd guess 30 to 50 years old. Solid as the day it was bought. Looks like it had gotten some really good use and will get a lot more.

Back view.

BTW, forgot to mention it is adjustable. You can see the tiny bit of the adjustment knob sticking out in the bottom right of the first photo.

And really easy to take apart and clean so you don't end up like Maple Leaf :-(

I've got a little video that I just posted on the Urban Hippy website. But it is still being processed by Youtube at this moment.

Curses, now I am tempted to get another piece of hardware. I will have to tell myself that my knives will do the trick well enough.

I'm jealous - great score Zym!

Just used it for the first time to slice up some bacon. On my last pork order I got the belly left all in one big piece so that I could brine and smoke it. Then I cut it into chunks that could be frozen. I hauled out 2 chunks from the freezer and sliced it while still frozen. The slicer did a really great job of it - made for very easy work. Slicing bacon is no longer a major PITA!

Then my wife cooked me an awesome bacon and eggs breakfast for father's day :-)

Zym - I'm still jealous! Eff you, man! :)

bumping this

need a slicer that can handle slicing bacon, roast beef, or other larg(er) cuts in addition to deli meats and cheeses (ottawafoodies.com/forum/2524)

where should i look? something cheap and easy to clean. a fire sale on a used Berkel or Hobart would be excellent!

Here is a new one: www.hendrixequip.com

Hobart Fire sale!!! ottawa.kijiji.ca

Ha, ha, good luck on the Hobart monty!

Check the little used resto store on the corner of Wellington and Somerset (where the bend in the road is as it changes names). I seem to recall I saw some cheapo ones there. But depends what you want. If you want under $100 then that, or Princess Auto. If you want to drop a few hundred then look at Costco online.

Costco has a newer inexpensive model, since last time I looked

www.costco.ca

Nesco is the brand of dehydrator I got from them, and I like it very much.

There's one available at Princess Auto for $100 with the same sized blade I think?

hey snoopy that Hobart is exactly what i'm looking for. too bad it's not local.

i have looked into the Nesco from Costco, and the Waring from CT. both are priced right but have a lot of negative reviews with respect to cleanup and durability. that Princess Auto model looks similar.

i'm having trouble finding a middle ground between cheapo-grade and commercial grade. zym i'll check that place on Wellington, otherwise, i guess i'll keep an eye on usedottawa/kijiji/craigslist until i can snag a deal on a used commercial rig.

Have you looked at Preston Hardware yet?

no i figured Preston HW and Russell would be too high brow, looking in the $200-$300 range. at that pricepoint i'm probably limited to something used for the quality i'm seeking (ie that Hobart on Kijiji in Gananoque! argh)

how's that hand cranked jobbie working out for you?

Gan is only a 1 hour drive from here :)

The hand crank works really well though the adjustment guage slips out. I think it would be easy to rig something up to lock it in place though - but it has never bothered me enough to try.

Here is one at Preston that is outside your range. But I recall Costco used to carry one very similar to this in the $350 range. But it is no longer on their website

www.prestonestore.ca(8)__SL195-F.aspx

I'd go look there anyway - you never know.

Pretty hard to go wrong trying this for 10 bucks monty

ottawa.kijiji.ca

Worse comes to worse you donate it to StVdP. But it looks like it is all metal and reasonably sturdy.

thanks for posting - i emailed an hour after you posted and unfortunately it was gone :\

so who sniped it?! ;)

Hopefully somewhere here who can report on it. It looked like it was probably 30 or 40 years old, which means it would have been built well and built to last like the manual one that I have.

Here you go monty

www.goldaskitchen.com

might find a used one at.... that knife sharpening place, just off preston. damm cannot remember the name right now. But they always have a huge selection of used kitchen equipment

On sale at Princess Auto
www.princessauto.com

In 08' I bought a slicer, with a motor, from Canadian Tire for under $100.
1) It's adjustable (thin/thick slice options- and pretty sure it advertised slicing cheeses, breads...etc)
2) It's durable (we used it 3x's/week, 30 minutes per time, and it still works to this day).
3) It's cleanable (you can take the blade right off to wash in the sink, then clean behind the blade, and other pieces come off as well)
So I think Canadian Tire has a good reputation for quality products such as that, especially if it's for home use.
Not too sure if this is the exact same product, but it's from Canadian Tire and it's (just) under $100.
This is my first time posting a comment too, so I hope the link works. If not, I Googled "Canadian Tire meat slicer".

www.canadiantire.ca!-519766843?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443291812&bmUID=1282417484394

A buddy of mine has this cheapo one for 5 or 6 years now and says it still works great

www.walmart.com

food is YUM - your link didn't work - but I'm guessing this is the correct one? I've been contemplating picking one of these up - maybe now is the time ...

here's the link to the cdntire slicer:
www.canadiantire.ca

Hi Sourdough,

Yes! I didn't put the link in properly- but that is the slicer I'm talking about :)

Oh yeah! Just scored another Made in Germany manual meat slicer for 8 bucks at Saint Vincent de Paul. Photos to follow in the next few days. Somewhat similar to the above but I would guess newer. Mostly stainless versus cast aluminum. The base is made of MDF I think it is called - high density press board. But looks like it has to be 30 years old anyway and no problems yet.

It is missing a few suction cups from the base but that should be easy to take care of! Can't wait to use it!

Jupiter brand - cannot find it in google images

Finally had a chance to make a video of my new slicer (and my old one)

I bought an OMRA unit at Preston Hardware some years ago. Made in Italy. Works very well but it is a bit of a pain clean - no more than any other unit I'd think. Just have to be careful. :)

Came with a sharpening tool that attaches to the frame, etc. Had it for about 3-4 years. Cuts all my meats nicely.

There are few meat slicer which are the top one and sharp blade and people willbe satisfied to use these devices. The deatils are Chef'sChoice 610 Food Slicer ($159.95), ARKSEN Electric Meat Slicer 7.5" Blade Home Deli Meat Food Slicer Premium Home Kitchen, 180 Watt ($54.90).

I bought a used Omega from a hotel that was closing down. It does a really nice job.

Hank.