I pull it out for pomme anna once a year, which reminds me of how useful it could be.
Then I put it away and go back to using my chef knife.
The Matfer was found while visiting my mom and my plane ticket didn’t allow checked luggage and I learned mandoline a are not allowed to carry on. So I left it until my next trip back at which time I’ll fly an airline that allows free checked luggage. So for now I can’t train myself on this larger mandoline unless I find one locally.
Okay, what’s your take on the “slam” effect of perpendicular blades…
If the blade is sharp, I do not have an issue with it. If it is dull, it is super annoying and yields messy cuts.
Not to put down your idea of cooking in your motel room, but one of the things I love when I’ve driven across the continent is seeking out little diners and coffee shops just off the main road. Or restaurants being run out of gas stations occasionally (a cool Persian restaurant with delicious breakfasts at a gas station in the burbs of San Diego). Or grabbing food from a local bakery or grocery store.
I have been avoiding full fast food meals on the road because the salt is too much lately. I do get occasional burgers or breakfast sandwiches on the go.
I don’t travel much these days. I guess I’ve had 7 overnight hotel stays in the past 3 years. I usually get takeout from a local indie restaurant and eat it in my hotel room.
One gadget I’ve considered that I haven’t bought yet is a small portable fridge for my vehicle. My friends have one.
I do have a portable kettle, and I have used it for tea and oatmeal.
I used to have one that had a wide mouth lid that allowed you to heat canned beans or pasta inside, but I found it difficult or a pain to wash out the food with dish soap, while keeping the electrical parts away from the water.
I’m just a little “gun shy” from eating at “take out” places on the road. Many years ago I got sick en route to a friend’s “Destination” style wedding. I (was driving and) stopped at a “Mom & Pop” diner I got really bad food poisoning… not fun at a wedding.
For some reason, my stomach can’t take “Fast Food” any more. I could eat it as a kid, but now… not so much.
That’s too bad. It’s awful when you get sick when you’re away from home. I’m lucky I haven’t had food poisoning in a long time.
I have usually picked up food poisoning from fast food restaurants (McD’s in Cologne, Germany, the sickest I’ve been from food poisoning) or restaurants inside hotels, not from mom & pop restaurants, but you never know!
Yes, It would be nice to stop and just get some “fast food”, as we are always receiving coupons.
I don’t know if its the grease or the salt, but my stomach has issues with all “fast food”.
Well, I think for any given degree of sharpness, a blade that slices across the food will cut more easily and effectively than will a blade that just pushes into the food. The V-shaped mandolines have this going for them in spades, plush the pressure on the food is equal on both sides.
Much more reason to do it yourself!
I have had my “As Seen on TV” mandoline for probably 25 years, and use it for thinly sliced onions for caramelization and for thinly sliced potatoes, for whatever.
Worth its weight in gold for the onions alone.
I’ve have a Börner V slicer for about 20 years and use it regularly. You can’t kill the thing and it still works almost as well as when it was new. I also have their rösti grater which gets used quite often. Their stuff works well.
This is my experience exactly. I think people are put off by the light plastic housing. I was, too, at first…
Love my Börner V slicer.
That first patent listed was filed October 28, 1904 by inventor Robert L. Dorsey. The related improvement patents were filed in 1907 and 1910.
Definitely one of those, “Welp! They don’t make `em like they used to!” examples.
Not a kitchen tool story, but I stopped at the local Humane Society thrift yesterday looking for something a daughter can use as a spatula caddy next to the stove.
As I approached the door I see this nice example of “Do As I Say, Not As I Do!”:
Good thing I’m not an honorary deputy fire marshall…
What a dad!
That’s interesting. Thanks for looking this up. Makes you wonder whether the US Army took some “over there”.
I’d been looking for a kraut cutter for a long time. Triple removable blades and the giant size were plusses, but what sold me was that all the joinery was tight and rock solid. So many of these old things are loose and rickety, and suitable for nothing besides decor.
Thanks. But it’s either that, or I’m just cheap. Maybe both. But with 4 kids in 4 apartments, thrifting for the stuff I know (furniture and kitchenwares) is the way to go.
The girls have been thrifting for the majority of their clothing for a long time. My son, OTOH, is freaky about the notion of wearing something someone else has worn.
I really didn’t start getting into myself it until @alarash started this thread. Now I go at least once most weeks.
This sliding across the food sounds better than cutting perfectly perpendicularly. Some straight blades designs achieve this by placing the blade at an angle like the benriner. It’s like one side of the V shape. The sliding across the food by angling the blade as in a V shape or angled style mandoline seems like it would allow the blade to catch and cut into the food at the beginning of each slice making the follow through to complete the cut easier.
The perpendicular approach of the blade seems like it would be more prone to failure during cut initiation and possibly bounce off the surface of the vegetable, leading to blunt malformed choppy slices.
It just means the perpendicular style is less forgiving for any blades that have become less than laser sharp.
For firm things like potatoes, carrots, onions, truffles, etc. the perpendicular cutting Bron works quite well. I would never try tomatoes or other soft fruits.
