Spent $400 on a fancy mandoline that just sits in my drawer

I bought a high end, stainless steel mandoline last year thinking it would speed up prep for things like potato gratin, but the blade guard is so clunky I can't use it safely on small vegetables. It took me three tries to julienne a carrot before I gave up and went back to my knife, wasting that money. Do you all have a mandoline you actually like, or is it just a gadget most kitchens don't need?

3 comments

3 Comments

rose_cooper9d ago

So you're saying mark_thomas is right and the cheap ones just work better?

haydeng477d ago

Remember my mom got one of those all metal ones as a wedding gift decades ago. It lived in its box until she finally gave it to a church rummage sale, never used. She said the thing looked like it was made to slice fingers, not potatoes. I stick with a simple plastic one that has a big handle, and I only pull it out for making really thin cucumber slices.

mark_thomas9d ago

My buddy runs a food truck and swears by the cheap plastic ones from a restaurant supply store. He says the guards on those are way less annoying for quick jobs. The heavy duty ones seem built for big batches, not home cooking where you just need a few carrots sliced. Maybe try a basic model before giving up on the tool entirely.