French Fry Slicer
Two things I'm trying to perfect cooking at home are burgers and fries and pizza. Right now I'm considering purchasing a french fry slicer. Is it worth it? Could anyone recommend a decent one under $30?
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6 Comments:
I hardly ever use it, but I like my Star Frit - it suits my purposes.
bareneed at 8:27AM on 08/14/09
Chef's knife works great.
onepercent99 at 9:22AM on 08/14/09
I don't know if I'd go with a dedicated fry slicer-- all those Alton Brown admonishments against single-task devices have influenced me. If you can stretch a little more than $30, you could get a mandoline that'll do much more than just cut fries. Be careful, though-- the last time I cut fries, I managed to cut myself with my mandoline-- and I like to think that I'm very careful in the kitchen.
The cheapest I've seen a good (i.e., commercial) fry slicer is mid $40s. I priced them not too long ago when I was also on the quest to make perfect fries at home after being disappointed with deep frying on the stovetop. I ended up spending a couple of hundred bucks on a commercial fryer, oil filters and a mandoline, and I couldn't be happier with it all.
And fries are on the menu tonight.
MarvinDog at 9:49AM on 08/14/09
According to these food slicer reviews, you can get a good hand-held mandoline for less than $30. If you're a fan of OXO, they sell one for $22. And the high-rated Swissmar is normally $40, but on sale at Amazon for $30.
alexand at 7:34PM on 08/14/09
A good mandoline (and the know-how to use it without ending up with brunoise of finger) is your second best friend in the kitchen (the first being your chef's knife). The Joyce Chen Beriner is what most of the cooks i know have in their kit. It's cheap, it's plastic, but it works. And it comes with three sizes of julienne blades.
sailordave at 11:33PM on 08/14/09
A hand-held manoline might work for softer vegetables, but I don't know about using one for fries-- you're going to be pushing quite a bit harder than you are for slicing a cucumber, for example.
And after reading this line about mandolines-- "Plus, it's safer to use than knives, so you may be able to let your children help out," I don't think I can trust the opinions on that food slicer review site. Mandolines are not "safer to use than knives," and in fact are probably the most dangerous tool to use in the kitchen, even when using them correctly.
MarvinDog at 6:39PM on 08/15/09