# whats a good slicer?



## actech (May 24, 2017)

Im looking at slicers. I have a waring. It was cheap and is cheap. Plastic gears. Will not cut cheese at all. My canadian bacon has to be at least 1/4" thick. any thinner and it grinds and slips. That makes no sense to me thinner harder than thicker??? Looking to be able to shave meats. But cant swing a $2k hobart. like to stay under or close to $200.  Anything like that out there??

Thanks


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## mds51 (May 24, 2017)

A friend and I both purchased the Chef`s Choice Model 615 a few months ago and both of us are very pleased with the performance of these slicers. I do a lot of bacon and jerky and it has performed well with all of these tasks. I semi freeze bottom round roasts for jerky and this slicer does a great job at a very thin setting. It is very easy to clean and I use a PetroGel on the gears and moving parts to keep it running smoothly. It is not a commercial unit but is light and easy to move around. This company has bigger and more powerful units that you can look at on their website. I have a big Hobart 1612 slicer and will use it for big jobs but this slicer is doing a great job for me on almost all of my smokes. It does have plastic gears but feeding the meat or product into it slowly gets the job done. I do recommend ordering the smooth blade with the unit as it comes with a serrated blade. We got ours from Bed Bath and Beyond and each of us  received a 20% off certificate that paid for the second blade.

mds51


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## shyzabrau (May 24, 2017)

Absolutely avoid the LEM 1164 8.5" slicer. Absolutely garbage.


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## actech (May 24, 2017)

mds51 said:


> A friend and I both purchased the Chef`s Choice Model 615 a few months ago and both of us are very pleased with the performance of these slicers. I do a lot of bacon and jerky and it has performed well with all of these tasks. I semi freeze bottom round roasts for jerky and this slicer does a great job at a very thin setting. It is very easy to clean and I use a PetroGel on the gears and moving parts to keep it running smoothly. It is not a commercial unit but is light and easy to move around. This company has bigger and more powerful units that you can look at on their website. I have a big Hobart 1612 slicer and will use it for big jobs but this slicer is doing a great job for me on almost all of my smokes. It does have plastic gears but feeding the meat or product into it slowly gets the job done. I do recommend ordering the smooth blade with the unit as it comes with a serrated blade. We got ours from Bed Bath and Beyond and each of us  received a 20% off certificate that paid for the second blade.
> 
> mds51


Good to know. I think thats the one Al showed on a post awhile back.


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## tropics (May 25, 2017)

I did a post on that slicer take a look

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/256349/meat-slicer-review

they have  a sharpener,I did not get the sharpener I did buy the smooth blade


Hope this helps

Richie


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## SmokinAl (May 25, 2017)

Check this out, this guy is a friend of mine & the slicer is a 10" from the Sausage maker.

He probably used it 5 times, it's like brand new.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...oking-books-wood-cabinet-with-all-accessories

Al


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## rexster314 (May 25, 2017)

Are you in a hurry to get a slicer? If  not, check out Craigslist frequently. After a couple of months I found this cherry Hobart 1612 slicer for $150 out the door. Cleaned it up and replaced the broken thickness gauge dial. That was almost 2 years ago and it's running strong


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## shyzabrau (May 25, 2017)

rexster314 said:


> Are you in a hurry to get a slicer? If  not, check out Craigslist frequently. After a couple of months I found this cherry Hobart 1612 slicer for $150 out the door. Cleaned it up and replaced the broken thickness gauge dial. That was almost 2 years ago and it's running strong


Good point. I'll keep using my crappy LEM (and keep kvetching about it) and check out craigslist every so often...


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## johnmeyer (May 25, 2017)

I also have the Chef's Choice 615. I paid $150 for it, shipped, from Amazon. I've had it for three years. I use it at least once a week. It does have plastic gears, but I've never had it even begin to stall. I usually semi-freeze my meat before I slice it (or only partially defrost the meat, if it is already frozen) and can get slices that are transparently thin, if I really want it that thin.

I cut cheese all the time, although I've never tried to slice a thick block of Costco sharp cheddar. I suspect it would slice just fine. I've occasionally done vegetables (carrots, for instance), but I have a mandolin that is a better tool for that job.

It is a pain to clean up, but having not owned any other slicer prior to this, I don't know if other slicers are easier to clean. I suspect they all take quite a bit of effort because of all the moving parts.

The unit comes with a serrated blade, but I did buy a non-serrated blade which is supposed to let you get thinner slices on some meats. I use it about 50% of the time, but don't notice any appreciable difference. If I had to do it over again, I'd still get the 615 (I still like it after three years), but I wouldn't bother with the extra blade.


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## browneyesvictim (May 25, 2017)

Another plug for the Chef's Choice 615. I do have a couple of gripes, but they are small in the overall picture. Bacon, Ham, Jerkey, , Deli meats and Cheeses. Even the big blocks of cheese were no problem. I've got the cleaning down so its pretty quick now, but the plastic blade screw and mating threads are pretty delicate, so be sure to use a coin and be careful not to strip or cross-thread.


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## actech (May 25, 2017)

SmokinAl said:


> Check this out, this guy is a friend of mine & the slicer is a 10" from the Sausage maker.
> 
> He probably used it 5 times, it's like brand new.
> 
> ...


Heck of a deal, but a lil bit more of a drive than I want. lol


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## actech (May 25, 2017)

rexster314 said:


> Are you in a hurry to get a slicer? If  not, check out Craigslist frequently. After a couple of months I found this cherry Hobart 1612 slicer for $150 out the door. Cleaned it up and replaced the broken thickness gauge dial. That was almost 2 years ago and it's running strong


Been looking at craigslist. Id just like to shave my brasaola when its done. So i got awhile since I just started it.


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