The Bottom Line
Pros
- Designed for safety; non-stick feet keep slicer from skidding
- Easy-to-hold food holder keeps hands safe from blades
- Clever design; blades fit inside unit and in separate storage case
- Dial easily changes slicing size for different cut thicknesses
Cons
- Takes a while to learn how to assemble and use mandoline slicer
- Blades can be difficult to remove
- Cleaning is tough because of blades stored inside, and pigmented foods can stain the white plastic
- Specialty cuts like dicing and julienne slicing don't work that well
- Very hard foods like carrots are difficult to cut
Description
- Mandoline slicer comes with V-shaped blades, designed to cut both hard and soft foods
- Includes blades for slicing, crinkle cuts, julienne, French fry, dicing and cubing
- Blades fit either within slicer or in a separate plastic container
- Comes with a food holder and a spacer for dicing and cubing cuts
- Comes with a detailed instruction manual
- Mandoline body and food holder are dishwasher safe (Blades should be hand-washed)
Guide Review - OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer (Item 1071480)
One of the easiest ways to make your cooking appear professional is to use a mandoline slicer for perfectly uniform, evenly cut vegetables. The OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer is less expensive than the stainless steel French varieties (which can cost as much as $200), and better designed than cheaper Asian versions.
This slicer comes with six interchangeable blades to accomplish all kinds of cuts, from paper-thin slices to crinkle cuts to strips to cubes. With so many parts, it takes awhile to figure out how to change the blades and accomplish the various cuts. I'd recommend buying a couple of potatoes and practicing with the detailed and well-illustrated instruction manual. The food holder is less cumbersome than those that come with other mandolins and will protect your hands from the very sharp blades.
The slicer excels at making the basic slices and crinkle cuts, particularly on softer foods like tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes. The specialty cuts are a little more difficult. Carrots got stuck in the blade and the julienne blade did not cut all the way through. And the cubing blade made messy, uneven potato cuts. A bit of practice (and using softer foods) might yield better results
I found the julienne and dicing blades difficult to pull out of the slicer and their storage compartments, but the straight and crinkle V-blades, with their squeeze, tabs, were easy to interchange.
The OXO Good Grips V-Blade Mandoline Slicer is priced at $49.99. If you're buying it primarily to quickly and evenly slice vegetables, it's a great option. Just keep in mind that some of its features might not be as easy to use.
