Mandolines have become a very useful tool in all types of kitchens. They make it easy to make several uniform cuts in a short amount of time. There are alternatives to them such as Robo-Coup attachments, the ever popular Salad Shooter from the ’90’s, or great knife skills with a lot of patience. I have seen several different models of Mandolins come to market recently, so I thought I would go over a few of them.

A Mandoline is basically a plastic or metal "chute" with a razor sharp blade three quarters the way down to slice whatever you may be forcing down on to it. A Mandoline makes such a great kitchen tool because it allows you to make several cuts both quickly and uniformly. There are also several types of attachments to can use with a Mandoline. You can get attachments that make sharp zig-zag cuts or wavy crinkle cuts. Often times a Mandoline comes with a hand guard. These are useful for protecting your hands from getting sliced, as I have done many times.

Mandolines are actually quite basic tools. The differences among them are the materials that are used to make them and they way they are constructed. You see, Mandolines tend to be abused quite regularly. Also, a well endowed Mandoline will have the ability to adjust the angle at which it stands, and adjust the height of the cutting blade, to make thinner or thicker cuts. Imagine making potato chips from a 50 pound bag of russets. You will almost never find a plastic Mandoline in a restaurants kitchen, it will be made of metal, and treated like gold. A good Mandoline is not cheap, however it is very useful. Here are some Mandolines that I found that are available.

1- Bron Professional Mandoline Slicer

This is the best Mandoline Slicer on the market, hands down. It is made of stainless steel and nothing else. These guys practically invented the Mandoline. This is what restaurants buy and use.

Cost - $150 to $190 (depending on options)

Bron Mandoline on Amazon

2 - MIU Stainless-Steel Professional Mandoline Slicer

If I were to buy a Mandoline for a home kitchen, and didn’t feel it necessary to spend almost $200, I would get this Mandoline. It is mostly stainless steel, comes with a few decent blades. And it doesn’t have the annoying gimmicks built in claiming to make it better than the Bron.

Cost - $60

MIU Professional Mandoline on Amazon

3 - OXO Good Grips Mandoline Slicer

This slicer looks pretty simple to use. The chute is very adjustable, it comes with a hand guard, has a few blades, and at least the plastic is not too thin. However, there is a lot of plastic, so it would probably break if it fell out of my 3 story window. (which is what happened to my last Mandoline)

Cost - $68

OXO Mandoline Slicer on Amazon

4 - Cuisinart Mandoline Slicer

I would not recommend buying this Mandoline. It looks like a joke. If you adjust a Mandoline to a specific cut height, you want it to be just right. Lets say you put a potato on it, with some pressure as is the method for using a Mandoline, and the metal bends a little you will get a messed up cut. Now add some wiggly plastic legs to that and pray that you do not shave the skin off of your palm.

Cost - $40

Cuisinart Mandoline on Amazon.

5 - Benriner Japanese Mandolin Slicer

I like this Mandoline. It is small enough to put in a knife bag, it has an angled blade that seems to cut everything with less force, and it is made in Japan so it must be sharp. This is the type of Mandoline you pull out to do a quick or detailed job. Has a couple blades, and you can rip off the hand guard and throw it away. Good-bye Salad Shooter!

Cost - $37

Benriner Mandoline Slicer on Amazon