Product Description

THE MATFER Stainless Steel MANDOLINE has been designed to be easy to use: It has one handle to hold in position during the chef's work, a smooth inclined plane, a perfect adjustment of the blades by milled nuts (6) and one adjustable foot. With the concept of the blade holders delivered with the Matfer Mandoline, you easily switch from 10 to 60 blades (4) (including 38 combination) in a few seconds and revert to the embossed or plain central blades (2) in a simple operation. After a long period of usage, you can sharpen the knives and correct the play of the blades for more precise cuts. Is easy to clean: No more screws and nooks anywhere to catch food. Each part is smooth and quick to dismantle. THE MATFER Stainless Steel MANDOLINE pusher does not limit the size of your vegetables and avoids waste by creating fewer vegetable heels. Comes with combinations of 30, 20, 10 (including 38 or 60) blades, carver and waffle.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41901 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Color: Stainless Steel
• Brand: Matfer
• Model: 215001
• Dimensions: 2.70" h x 5.80" w x 18.40" l, 4.20 pounds

Features

• Stainless steel mandoline creates precise, uniform slices of fruit or vegetables
• Made from 18/10 stainless steel; tempered steel blades
• Ideal for matchstick, crinkle and waffle cuts as well as julienne
• User-friendly; safe; blades can be sharpened and adjusted
• Easy-to-clean; dishwasher-safe; folds flat for storage

Amazon.com Review
Long favored by professional chefs, the traditional mandoline is still the best tool for creating precise, uniform slices of fruits or vegetables. Ideal for waffle cuts and julienne, it can produce attractive pommes Anna or paper-thin slices of cuke in record time. This French-made stainless steel mandoline is designed to make the slicing process both easier and safer, with a smooth inclined plane for a work surface, an adjustable folding foot, and a single handle to hold the device securely in place. Eminently adaptable for every cutting task in your kitchen, the Matfer features a slanted blade and plate that adjusts slicing width from 1-/4-inch thick to microscopically thin. A unique blade holder design permits users to julienne strips in 1/8, 3/16, and 3/8-inch sizes, then revert almost instantly to the reversible straight/serrated central blade for waffle cuts or straight slices. Unlike other mandolines, the Matfer's free-floating pusher assembly lets you slice any size vegetable and limits the waste that often occurs at the end of a piece of food. (For safety's sake, always use the pusher, which protects hands from extraordinarily sharp blades.) Also unlike other mandolines, the blades can be sharpened and adjusted, which, however should not be necessary for some time. Because there are no hidden screws and nooks, this unit is also remarkably easy to clean and take apart. It's safe to use in the dishwasher, although extreme caution should be used when handling the blades. --Mary Park

Customer Reviews

Matfer vs. Bron vs. Benriner
My first mandoline was the Bron which is visually the most serious/macho/cool of the bunch, but its shortcomings were unacceptable - the slicing blade is one-piece stainless, and can't hold a sharp edge; the julienne blades are not sharp and can't be sharpened; and the safety carriage is designed to not go past the cutting edge. I sold it.

I now have a Matfer (the all-stainless model) and it has a 2-piece slicing blade: the cutting edge is high-carbon steel (which can be sharpened and hold its edge) welded to a stainless part. The julienne blades are very sharp (altho can't be resharpened). The safety-gadget thing works well, but can't be used for waffle cuts. I use the Matfer only for waffle cuts and if I have large quantities of slicing. If you want french fry size potatoes or are slicing celeriac, you're better off with a sharp knife. The disadvantage of this machine is that you can't adjust the slicing blade's uniformity of thickness - my slices are thicker on one side (the Bron had more adjustment leeway).

The machine I use the most is the Benriner - the slicing blade is very sharp and is sharpenable. The (unsharpenable) julienne blades are extremely sharp. It can't do waffle cuts and is not good for massive quantities of large cuts. It's best for finer julienne and thin slicing such as potatoes, cucumber or daikon.

Don't even consider using these machines without the safety gadget.

Unless I have a large quantity of slicing to do, I'd opt for a sharp knife, because cleanup time counts too.

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Note: I originally wrote the above review in Nov. 2001, based on the then-current Matfer model 44595. Judging from the photo of the current model 215000, it appears that the slicing blade is now one-piece stainless steel instead of carbon welded to stainless. "... you can sharpen the knives and correct the play of the blades for more precise cuts" refers to the slicing/waffle blade, not the julienne. The julienne blades are not sharpenable.

Does the job!
I'm always fearful of anything that has a warning label showing a hand missing 2 fingers.... This is no toy! I have given the straight blade a huge workout having used it to dry and can over 100 jars of produce, most of it sliced with this mandoline. The pusher, being metal and quite sharp itself, will absolutely destroy the mandoline blade if you use it. I found a pair of rubber palmed gloves and find that does a superior job of protecting your fingers.
I keep mine on the counter since I use it so often during garden season and have found it to be exceedingly sturdy and easy to adjust thicknesses.

Cuts EVERYTHING Great!
There is no better tool than this mandoline when you have to do bulk slicing/waffling/julienne-ing of any veggie...or finger! The worst part about it is its VERY dangerous shuttle/food holder. The infinitely-adjustable blade can go from cutting potatoes thinly enough to make home-made potato chips (just fry them 20 or 30 seconds in oil, drain, sprinkle them with salt, and YUM!), to about 3/4". "Infinitely adjustable" means there are no "detents" when adjusting the degree of thickness--you turn a thumbscrew to the thickness you like and leave it at that. JUST BE CAREFUL! If the food shuttle were MUCH better, this would be 5 star mandoline. As many times as I've taken a very good chunk of skin off a thumb (needing stitches once...), though, the rating has to be just 3. It is VERY sharp and stays sharp. You never even know what's happened until it's too late. A few words of advice if you buy this mandoline: Buy a BETTER shuttle for it!