EdgeCraft 610 Chef's Choice Premium Electric Food Slicer
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List Price: Our Price: $119.99 Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of EdgeCraft 610 Chef's Choice Premium Electric Food Slicer
Customer Review: Slicer exceeded my expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't know if this is more a testimony to the excellence of Amazon's customer reviews or to the machine itself.
I wanted a meat slicer so I could slice my smoked BBQ meats nice and thin, and was prepared to spend around $200-$250. After reading the reviews here on Amazon, I gritted my teeth and bought the much less expensive 610 because all the reviews said it was so good. They were right.
I received the 610 very quickly and started smoking a nice chunk of Pork Butt. When I finished, I refrigerated it overnight, then got to slicing the next morning. I was extremely pleased with the results! The machine handled the meat superbly and I got a great big pile of thinly sliced pork that got rave reviews from my guests.
I have since used the 610 for beef, which it handled nicely as well. What I discovered just playing around was how the machine handles vegetables. I thought it would be nice to try it on green peppers, portabellas, and tomatoes to go along with a roast beef (sliced also on the machine)sandwich. Man, was I pleased. Built a sort of "Dagwood" and it was wonderful.
My expectations were exceeded because I had bought one of those "department store" brands many years ago and not only did it cost more (even back then), it failed miserably in nearly all regards. The only way I could get that one to slice was in big fat slices, and even in that regard it was unsatisfactory. That is one of the reasons I was hesitant to spend a little less on this machine, but again, the reviews on Amazon convinced me otherwise.
The blade on this machine came out of the box ultra-sharp, the thickness gauge was robust and did not flex like other machines, and the sliding table the meat rode on was very smooth and flawless. I couldn't be happier.
My only complaint - a tiny one - was that one of the little ceramic(?) buttons that the blade rode against - behind the blade on the inside - came loose and I had to super glue it back in place. There are three of those buttons and they help the blade remain rigid and unable to flex when the meat is pushed up against the blade - a very good feature that helps make this little machine do what it does so well. Again, just a tiny complaint, and not any kind of reason not to purchase the 610. Probably just a one out of a million thing.
I am glad I listened to the advice of the Amazon reviewers - this is a great machine!
Customer Review: Great for slicing LARGE items!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this slicer specifically to slice large boneless primal cuts into steaks and chops. After years of slicing them tediously by hand, my aching muscles told me enough was enough! I'm getting too old for this! Upon receiving the Chef's Choice slicer from Amazon this week, I quickly found it easy to disassemble for washing and even easier to set up and use. To adjust the thickness of slices you simply turn a knob. But could my shiny new appliance handle big primal cuts of beef and pork? To my never-ending relief, it can! Although the primals have to be reduced in size lengthwise in order to fit comfortably on the food carriage, with a little planning I was able to get six 3/4-inch thick steaks out of each chunk of boneless beef ribeye and in seemingly little time and even less effort, the primal cut I'd bought yielded 22 perfectly even steaks, all ready to be packaged and frozen for luxurious future meals. Because we've been cutting our own steaks for years, my DH and I set up our usual assembly line, with me slicing and him packaging & labeling, and for the first time I felt as if he was the one doing the majority of the work. During the entire process the Chef's Choice slicer was steady as a rock. The blade moves slower than other slicers I've owned in the past, but it works very well regardless. As we always do prior to slicing raw meat, we partially froze the whole ribeye right after getting it home -- this takes about 2 hours -- as a firmer meat makes for easier slicing for man or machine. Unlike my manual efforts, however, the Chef's Choice breezed effortlessly through frozen and non-frozen sections alike. There was no slowing down of the blade nor any hesitation of the motor. After this triumph, we now look forward to using our new kitchen helper to assist in making all sorts of other foods, as well: shaving meats wafer thin for grinder sandwiches, slicing slabs of bacon as thick as we want them, fruits for the dehydrator, maybe even my homemade bread since I often like to slice that fairly thin. I've already seen that the Chef's Choice can do a much more even job of cutting than I can ever do with a knife! I'm hoping for many years of good service from this machine.Customer Review: Perfect for me!
Summary: 4 Stars
I read a lot of reviews and although all the talk of plastic screws and poor thin cut performance had me a little worried, I bought it anyway, and so far I'm glad I did. First off, the screw. As others have said, it has been redesigned and is now more of a plastic plug you unscrew with a coin. It looks like you'd have to try pretty hard to break this, so good job there! When I fired it up for the first time I was surprised by two things, first the speed of the blade. For some reason I was expecing the whirling death type of speed you get from a table saw, but nope - it's more like slow and steady. I think I counted about 1.5 seconds per full revolution. It was a nice surprise actually becuase the sharpness of these things had me a little intimidated to try it but the slolwer speed made it seem safer to use. Second was the sound. I'm not gonna lie, it is a little on the loud side. Comperable to a blender on low. Not a big deal for me, just surprising. The first thing I tried slicing was a 10 pound pit ham. I had to do it in thirds since it was so big, but the slicer had no trouble breaking it down. I did some thick and some pretty darn thin. Not exactly deli style, but close enough for me! I've heard you can go thinner with the optional smooth blade available here at Amazon. I also sliced a 4 pound eye of round beef roast for jerky. At first the beef was a little too mushy to slice evenly, but after freezing it for 20 minutes or so as other reviewers suggested I had no trouble at all. This really impressed me as I ended up with perfect slabs of 1/8" thick beef. Everything dried perfectly in large part to the uniform thickness this slicer delivered.
The slicer comes apart very easily and is about as easy to clean as a slicer can be. Honestly, I don't plan on whipping this thing out every time I need to slice an onion, but for the big jobs this will certainly be a lifesaver! I'm so confident I'll be keeping this one I've already recycled the box it came in.
Customer Review: Nice home-grade electric food slicer
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received my slicer a few days ago, and couldn't wait to try it out on deli meats. So I went to my local Smart and Final store to purchase a big loaf of pastrami or ham (went with pastrami - we'll go through it quicker), which costs about half in a bulk package than at the grocery deli counter. I cut the loaf into three pieces for easier handling, and went to work. It takes a little patience and a careful eye to make sure the loaf is properly positioned, but it sure slices meats very nicely. I used one of the thinnest settings to get shaved pieces, but tried one slice on a thicker setting (it works very well). I worked with a commercial slicer as a teenager in high school, and I daresay this worked almost as well as that one. I'm looking forward to slicing other meats and trying it on veggies, like potatoes, which will be a big timesaver during the holidays.
Taking it apart was a lot less trouble than I had anticipated. The blade removes easily with a flathead screwdriver or coin and can be held like a CD to keep sharp edges away from body parts. I cleaned the metal unremovable pieces with vinegar to de-grease, then bleach water to disinfect. Everything snaps right back together easily.
The only bummer thing about this slicer, and it's not worth a downgrade in the rating, is that it takes up a lot of counter space. But, I just put it back in the box and will store it in the pantry and pull it out about every three weeks when I want to do a mass slicing. Most deli meats can be frozen after cutting up and separating, making it an ideal way to save money and energy during the summer (no oven needed to make sandwiches!)
I recommend buying this slicer if you can get unsliced bulk deli meats where you live (prices are much cheaper) or plan to use it to slice up roast meats and veggies. A must have for a household with teenagers!!!
Customer Review: Good purchase
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband works out of his truck and does not have any way to heat up food so for the majority of the time he brings sandwiches for lunch. To keep lunch interesting I try to purchase a variety of meats for him and it's often cheaper to purchase a whole turkey breast or ham instead of the presliced type of lunch meat.
I did my homework when I decided we should purchase an electric food slicer. I was glad that I did, the reviews here on Amazon helped tremendously because it helped to know what to look for in an electric slicer.
I came across the Chef's Choice 610 here and compared it against a few other brands and found this to be the best value.
The item came very quickly, it only took about one week to arrive and was packed in molded styrofoam so none of it's parts had a chance to move around and become damaged.
The machine is made of solid metal with hard plastic guides and catch trays.
Assembly consisted of placing the wheel blade, the guide and the guard in the right place.
We have sliced meat and cheeses at variable thicknesses with ease. Most of the cheeses we have sliced have been around medium consistency such as cheddar. I don't know how this would work with softer cheese such as Gouda.
Clean up is simple. The back plate slides out when you set the adjustment knob to zero and the wheel has a center lock which you pop out and turn.
I haven't had a problem with it slicing larger cuts of meat, we were able to slice an 8 pound turkey breast without a problem. I admit I prefer to cut larger sizes down a bit for ease of handling so I have not run into any problems with it handling large portions of meat or cheese.
All and all I'm happy with this slicer and hopefully I will remain happy for years to come.