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: fiddly cleanup, but a good slicer overall
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm glad I finally broke down and bought a slicer, and I am reasonably happy with my choice. So far we've used it to slice homemade bacon and leftover roast beef for sandwiches; we haven't tried it on very soft items like cheese or very hard items like charcuterie.
The slicer works well, although it's prone to unevenness on smaller pieces of meat. If you were slicing a whole turkey breast or a whole beef roast, for example, I don't think you'd have an issue.
The part that really keeps me from using it more often is the cleanup. It's a simple enough process (slide a release for the carriage, use a coin to unscrew the blade). But getting into all the nooks and crannies beneath the blade and between the carriage and the stationary surfaces of the slicer is a pain in the neck. I just cleaned up after slicing a half pound of bacon: It took me less than a minute to set up the slicer and slice the meat, but close to 20 minutes -- with sponges, dishrags, toothpicks, and bits of cheesecloth -- to get into all the places where crumbs and fat had collected. And none of the parts (not even the meat-collection platter) is dishwasher safe, so all of the washing up has to be done by hand.
Given that better slicers cost a LOT more and take up a LOT more space, I don't think I'd make a different purchasing decision. But be aware that you may spend as much time cleaning your slicer as you do enjoying your meal.
Customer Review: It's exactly what we needed at home to slice food...
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for my dad as a Christmas present. He had been making homemade beef jerky for well over 15 years now and was always hand cutting the meat. The first slicer he bought lasted about a year after being used a few times a month, so I set out to find a decent home slicer.
People have been saying that this is not a commercial grade slicer. Of course it isn't, but most of us aren't willing to spend $400+ on something that we will be using occasionally. This slicer fit perfectly into my budget and has worked to my dads expectations since Christmas. He can easily slice through 5lbs of meat in a few minutes, which saved at least 30 minutes of hand slicing. His beef jerky is now consistent in size and he's much happier about how it's been turning out.
I've used it a few times to cut 5lb deli pastrami, 5lb deli corned beef, and 10lbs of deli turkey. Most likely due to my own lack of experience in using the slicer, I managed to get pretty good slices on each meat. Not the best or most even slices but considering it was my first time using this slicer, I think I did okay. From what I can tell, it takes a bit of practice, but I wasn't expecting professional results like you see on the automatic $2000 machines.
I thought the clean up was easy. Mostly just remove the blade which was easy with a quarter, wipe down the rest of the machine, let dry and pack it away until next time.
Customer Review: Love It!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I checked out a ton of reviews on tons of slicers before purchasing this one. Most of them were poor, a few were positive, but this brand had by far the best reviews wherever I looked. But, the other machines were also less money. I figured how much will we really use this thing?? It was just something my husband has said we should get for years... I kept coming back to this brand/model and seeing the positive reviews and after much debate, common sense won out over my pocketbook and it is the best decision I could have made. Now I am a slicing fool! I have sliced everything from deli meat to bread to veggies, without a single problem. It is so easy to clean, everything pops off with no tools necessary (except for the blade, you'll need a quarter!)which makes it that it is not too much of a hassle to use. I have begun using my bread machine again, because slicing the bread makes it into a better option than store bought bread, you can slice the bread as thin as melba toast, or as thick as you want. I even made french toast the other day out of a day old loaf of Italian bread! We sliced up leftover pork tenderloin, (Something my kids will never eat is leftovers!) and they loved it so much they have requested all food be sliced on the slicer! If you cook at home, you will find so many uses for this machine it will make the kitchen fun again. Next stop for me - I want to try homemade Potato chips! Have fun!Customer Review: Great For The Money!
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this slicer less than a year ago. My main reason was that I had been tired of using an electric knife for slicing roasts.
What I liked about the 610 was the ease in thickness adjustment with a knob turn on the fly. The quality of Chef's Choice is second to none as I had found out with other slicers that were predominately made of plastic.
Slicing onions and tomatoes has now become a norm in the house for sandwiches, which I do in a group and place them in Tupperware.
The one major con with this product is the blade retaining screw. When you need to clean the blade (after every use) you need to turn the tab, which is plastic, clockwise in order to unscrew the retaining screw. This is nearly impossible due to the torque versus the tab. The tab pops off, leaving one to scratch their head on how to get the blade off safely.
After contacting Chefs Choice they told me to stick a butter knife in the middle and turn, which I did and the screw released. I do think that they can improve this with maintaining the screw threads in plastic (prevent any type of rust from sealing it over time) but use an aluminum cap to twist, or just going to a stainless steel retainer. Anything would be better but the current one. That is why I am giving four stars opposed to five.
Otherwise it's a great investment.
Customer Review: Chef's Choice Was The Right Choice For Me
Summary: 5 Stars
After researching meat slicers for a few days, and reading reviews after reviews, I finally settled on the 610 slicer, and I am glad that I did. I've been wanting to purchase a slicer for sometime now, but was completely confused on which one would be the best for my personal needs. I like to make beef jerky, so I wanted a slicer that would cut thin and evenly, had good power, and of course, ease of cleanup. I didn't need the expensive of a commerical slicer, I just wanted a decent machine that could handle my needs, and this slicer has certainly done that quite well. It comes with a serrated blade, and after reading a few reviews stating that I should purchase a non-serrated one for meats, I went ahead and bought one. However,I found that I should have waited until I received my machine. I say this because the non-serrated blade didn't even make it here the same day as the slicer, it didn't show until a few days later, and since I was anxious to use it, I went ahead and used the serrated blade that came with it. After freezing the meat slightly, this slicer whizzed right through it just like butter. I couldn't believe the ease, and the slices were perfect, within minutes my meat was ready to be marinated. And, as far as cleanup, I didn't find it to be a big deal at all. Personally, I'm happy to report that this purchase was a very good experience.