Chef's Choice Slicer First Look

I bought one of these last week and it delivered yesterday. I smoked 37 lbs of bacon over the holiday and slicing all of that by hand is going to be a pain.

The price was right so I ordered it. I really wanted something more heavy duty but cost is an issue at the moment.

I got it out of the box last night, cleaned it up a bit and got out a test slab of bacon. As I was getting setup I noticed that the blade was serrated which struck me as odd but I thought, "It's sold as a meat slicer so it must be OK." Wrong.

I've read where you need to partially freeze the slabs of bacon to make the cutting easier. Admittedly I did not do that at first. The first 3 slices (literally) went as expected. The operation was smooth and the cuts were uniform. Then things went horribly wrong. The slab actually got caught in the blade and flipped over upside down (the slab not the slicer). The cut pieces were stuck in the gap between the blade.

So my wife said, "Didn't you say you had to freeze it before slicing?" Grumbling to myself I admitted she was right. I put the test slab in the freezer for 30 minutes (the defacto time I've read again and again). I tried again with the same results. I then asked the Google what I should do and found that others had to order the smooth blade for the same slicer like it was a normal part of the buying process.

I find it misleading to sell a meat slicer with a serrated blade best served for slicing bread and veggies. The cost of the new blade is 1/3 the cost of the total unit which makes it a little more aggravating.

So this leads me to a question. I've searched the Charcuterie forum for the best way to slice smoked bacon but am coming up short. It could very well be user error with this new slicer rather than the tool.

Am I expecting too much of a slicer to just slice the meat at room temperature rather than frozen (soft rather than firm)?

This write up will go on the Amazon review I write after trying the new blade.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

i have the chef's choice 610 slicer and works well.
firmer meats do slice nice without problem.

Jim do you have the serrated blade or the smooth blade?

I do not have the chef's choice, but a european slicer with both the serrated and a smooth blade.
I find that both blades perform well, but then I have sharpened the smooth blade. It was sharp, but not razor sharp when I got it.
I actually prefer the serrated blade when slicing bacon. I leave the rind on, and the serrated blade does a nice job cutting the rind. Furthermore, there is no need for a very sharp blade, since bacon usually is sliced thicker than lunch meat.

I think you may look into the angle to the blade and pressure of your slab of bacon when you use your slicer. With some practice, you'll learn to apply the right amount of pressure on the slab. I't common for a home slicer to slice the start of the slice a tad thicker than the end. If you apply too much pressure, you may experience problems like those you have described, as the blade "digs in" on the bacon. Increase the thickness of the cut, and do not press so hard on the slab.
It is also vise to rotate the slab over from time to time. Flip it 180 degrees horizontally.

Firmer is better when slicing with any slicer.
I use a serrated blade without a problem.


~Martin

I use the same slicer with a serrated blade. Two tips:

1. Cold or very cold meat slices much better than room temperature.
2. Don't push hard on the meat, let the slicer do the work.

So I'm chalking this up to user error. I have the same blade Jim showed (thanks Jim!). I talked to a guy here at work today who has a slicer and he's said everything you guys have said. I know I was pushing too hard for sure and the meat was cold but it was just sitting in the fridge.

I will try again this weekend after freezing the slabs for a while.

Mark, you just might be in too much of a hurry to eet what you're trying to cut... and that's something i can totally understand.

Well my mama always said patience is a virtue. Thanks to all the replies.

What I finally ended up doing was freezing the slabs for 1.5 hours. The last slab was the easiest so I'm going to up that to 2 hours for the next batch I'm doing tomorrow.

Here's this batch all bundled up.

Lookin' good!


~Martin

On my wish list... Slicer...

I need a neighbor with a slicer who wants a little free bacon.

I always chill my bacon prior to slicing. Even coming out of the fridge, makes it much easier to handle, but nearly frozen is really ideal. While I don't have a Chef's Choice, even my cheapie slices pretty well, provided the meat is chilled. The only thing I dislike about it is the short travel of the food tray. You get a nice long piece of pork belly so you can have slices of bacon that fill a 12 inch fry pan and you have to form the bacon into an L shape to get it on the food tray. Because of that, I will be hunting a Chef's Choice or similar unit based both on quality and tray travel when I get back in the USA.