slicer recommendations?
Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 18:53
First, let me introduce myself, as this is Post No. 1 for me here. I can't believe I hadn't found this forum until doing research on slicers. Rytek Kutas and the Marianskis are my heroes! I have been making sausages for 20 years and have recently been dabbling in other cured meat products. Slicing by hand doesn't do them justice.
I have read a few threads here in which slicers have been discussed. It seems there are a number of options. I have ruled out the el-cheapo consumer grade slicers in the sub-$200 range. I'd rather pay a few hundred dollars for something that will last a hobbyist many years. I see a number of similar looking slicers in the $500-600 range sold under various brand names--not unlikely all made by the same manufacturer in China. I have had poor experiences with this sort of equipment--things that look like the well-known commercial models but are made cheaply, sometimes of poor quality stainless steel, so I am skeptical. Brand-new big-name commercial slicers seem to start at $800 or so and of course go into the thousands. For example, I see on Webrestaurantstore that Globe has a low-end line called Chefmate in the $800 range, and Berkel has an Economy slicer that can be found for under $1000, I believe. I have forked out as much for other equipment like my Vacmaster. However, there is a lot of used restaurant equipment out there, in stores as well as ebay and Craigslist. The difficulty I see with Craigslist is knowing in advance what I'm getting into; some of those units may be old, too large for my space, gunked up and in need deep cleaning, or who knows what. I can only imagine what having one repaired by the manufacturer costs if I can't do it myself. I vaguely recall seeing factory-refurbished slicers somewhere. All this pondering leads to my question of whether anyone has a recommendation for a slicer in this range?
I have read a few threads here in which slicers have been discussed. It seems there are a number of options. I have ruled out the el-cheapo consumer grade slicers in the sub-$200 range. I'd rather pay a few hundred dollars for something that will last a hobbyist many years. I see a number of similar looking slicers in the $500-600 range sold under various brand names--not unlikely all made by the same manufacturer in China. I have had poor experiences with this sort of equipment--things that look like the well-known commercial models but are made cheaply, sometimes of poor quality stainless steel, so I am skeptical. Brand-new big-name commercial slicers seem to start at $800 or so and of course go into the thousands. For example, I see on Webrestaurantstore that Globe has a low-end line called Chefmate in the $800 range, and Berkel has an Economy slicer that can be found for under $1000, I believe. I have forked out as much for other equipment like my Vacmaster. However, there is a lot of used restaurant equipment out there, in stores as well as ebay and Craigslist. The difficulty I see with Craigslist is knowing in advance what I'm getting into; some of those units may be old, too large for my space, gunked up and in need deep cleaning, or who knows what. I can only imagine what having one repaired by the manufacturer costs if I can't do it myself. I vaguely recall seeing factory-refurbished slicers somewhere. All this pondering leads to my question of whether anyone has a recommendation for a slicer in this range?