Meat Slicers

[Jenise]

Yesterday we had lunch with friends who served a charcuterie buffet of cured meats, smoked fish and cheeses. In particular, the well-aged tomme style cheeses and impossibly soft German mortadella (all from a German delicatessen in Seattle's Kenmore neighborhood) were sliced paper thin. How was this possible? Hal then showed off his new meat slicer.

It's a WaringPro, but forget the 'pro' part, this is made for home use. He bought it at a Seattle-area Costco about "4-6 weeks ago" for $65. Hal loves it and can't recommend it enough.

I WANT ONE! I will happily replace my strange and complicated little Krups slicer with it's 48 parts (or is it just 5) with this Waring. Unfortunately, it's not available from Costco Online. They have a different one, a Deni, which looks good and isn't too costly at about $120, but the Deni weighs 15 pounds where, though I didn't pick up the Waring myself, Hal picked it up and waved it in the air with one hand (because he had a wine glass in the other). It works just like the real delicatessen models, it's just not as big or as heavy. And replacement parts (like the blade) are easy to get on line, I noticed.

I don't expect our little Costco to have these so I went ahead and ordered one on line from another source. Brand new they can be found for $99, and factory refurbs are as little as $49.

Anyway, if you've ever dreamed of owning a meat slicer but have been daunted by price and size, Waring has your answer. A one-piece meat slicer you just plug in to operate, that's so compact and portable it doesn't have to live on your countertop.

Is this the Waring Pro FS150 model?

Would this thing be able to thin-slice raw flank steak? If so, I want one!

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Paul,

That's the one. And I presume the answer would be yes re Flank steak (I'm sure you know to freeze it half solid first). My Braun would slice raw meat quite well--that's in fact what I originally purchased it to do. But no way would I be able to slice cheeses and delicate German mortadella (much softer than Italian) paper thin, or get perfectly even end-to-end slices of fresh bread less than 1/4" thick which Hal did. I didn't use it myself but I enjoyed the results and I trust Hal--he not only can afford the best money can buy but he demands perfection. If he's happy, I'll be happy.

Reading the reviews for this appliance on Amazon gives one the impression that either the thing is fantastic or it really sucks. There didn't seem to be any middle ground in the 18 reviews. It definitely sounds like the device has a learning curve that may be too steep for some people. I'll be real interested to read your impressions of it when it arrives.

[Jenise]

Peter, I saw those reviews too. And in fact, had I not seen Hal's results, I'd have been reticent to order. But after looking at both, I tend to think that this appliance might be like a very sharp knife--some people shouldn't have them.

Btw, appropos of nothing, but guess where I first met Hal? Here on FLDG. He posted years and years ago in a couple threads. It was entirely coincidence that we found ourselves living close by, meeting, and sharing an interest in wine and food--I didn't discover it until I met him and googled his name. Now we see each other regularly. You would like his style--he invited us over yesterday to show off a great $11 chardonnay he found. That wine, he served with lunch. Before lunch, for an aperitif? '81 Cristal.

I purchased this device a couple of months ago after buying a whole Benton's prosciutto. For $65 it's not too bad! A few nits - it could have a little more horsepower and the slider arm's 'throat' is short so that you are not able to place the full face of the leg on it to be cut. However, I'm glad I bought it and would recommend it.

[Jenise]

Kim, glad to hear from you. Yeah, there's probably no help for something as large as a proscuitto leg on an under l5 pound home model--the Deni that Costco has listed online is identical to the Waring in blade size (7.5") and motor wattage (130), so that's not a better alternative, at least for either of those two reasons.

Speaking of whole proscuittos, I sent my hubby a link to La Tienda, the Spanish food purveyor's website, and pointed out the whole ham leg with instructions to remember this when my birthday comes in August.

Make Bob open up his dusty old wallet and get you one of these for your birthday -- problems solved...

2912PS Hobart Slicer
With Portion Scale

Smart Slicer/Portion Control, semi-auto, angle feed, 12" s/s CleanCut™ knf, MICROBAN® antimicrobial product prot'n, 6lb cap scale w/fnt ctls w/4 pre-set keys, perm. ring guard, 6-spd auto s/s carriage & knife cover, low fence, 120/60/1, 1/2 hp

Availability: Usually ships in 5-7 business days.

Regular Price: $8,571.00
VALIANT PRICE with FREE SHIPPING: $5,999.70

[Jenise]

Hey! And who could say no to the Valiant Price offer plus free shipping?

Speaking of whole proscuittos, I sent my hubby a link to La Tienda, the Spanish food purveyor's website, and pointed out the whole ham leg with instructions to remember this when my birthday comes in August.

Don't think home slicers do too well with bone-in slicing......

Might need something bigger....

[Jenise]

You have an emoticon for EVERYthing, don't you? But whose talking about needing to cut through bones? A Spanish ham wouldn't require that.

You have an emoticon for EVERYthing, don't you? But whose talking about needing to cut through bones? A Spanish ham wouldn't require that.

Not if you cut the meat from the bone first.....

I know. You are right. I guess I didn't think about it when I bought it but on the other hand, a flattened leg is only about 7 inches thick by maybe 12 inches wide and it didn't occur to me that the slider throat would not accommodate that. I just cut the leg to fit and my slices are now smaller but. hey, it's a Benton prosciut aged 18 months. I don't care.

For the La Tienda legs, what are those going for, about $1500.00 each? Better put your order in now!! Yum.

[Jenise]

Kim, the La Tienda stuff is quite affordable. $239 or $259, can't remember which. But it's a lot of oink. The Benton--is that the bacon producer that Dale and Bucko were recently raving about.

I believe it is but if I recall, they were talking about the bacon - which is really, really good.