MIU Professional Mandoline Food Slicer

Kitchen Stainless Steel Blade Set

MIU Professional Mandoline Food Slicer This large Mandoline from MIU, with five interchangeable blades, a stainless steel vegetable holder (to protect your fingers) and easily adjustable settings, can be either a welcome and useful addition to your kitchen or a complete frustration. Mandolines are often touted as labor saving, capable of producing uniformly sliced, julienned or grated vegetables, fruits, and cheeses in short order. They do require some practice to reach that level of utility.

The most common issue is sharpness. The blades probably will not be--I'd say it's rare that a set arrives razor sharp. In any case, the blades won't stay razor sharp for long if used very often. Sharpening one of these removable blades with its tiny serrations will require special tools most cooks won't have. If you use a cheap vegetable grater (the kind that looks a little like an old-fashioned washboard) you know the fundamental problem.

The way to make a mandoline work is the same trick that makes my three piece set of graters work even though they haven't been sharp for about ten years. Don't push the food through the mandoline; play it like a musical instrument. Sounds silly, but yes, you have to strum it and flash the food over the cutter. It works more by velocity than sharpness.

Here's where the extra features of the MIU Mandoline help. The holder keeps your fingers from becoming part of the meal. Part of the vegetable will be left uncut. Accept that. Some cuts will be imperfect; it's a limitation of the device. Work with it and it's a great help for holiday meals when work has to be done in large amounts and quickly, but as an everyday item you may find you prefer a knife and a cutting board.

The MIU Mandoline takes care of your slicing chores. For fine grating, see the Microplane 4-in-1 Box Grater.