OT - Food/ Meat Slicers

DFW

Hey guys,

I know this topic has been discussed, but wanted to get some more (updated?) opinions.  

Lem has a 15% off sale (SPECIAL19) right now, that brings this $419.99 slicer down to $356.99.  Is this a decent slicer for the money?

Other recommendations appreciated if there's something else I should be checking out (this will be our first slicer).

Thanks!


https://www.lemproducts.com/product/big-bite-slicer-10-inch/butcher-saws-slicers

lkapigian

No matter what you choose, get the 10", I have the nine and "That 1" makes a difference" . Mine is Avantco but I love my LEM Products....That looks just like my Avantco and that is a great price

blasting

Looks like a nice slicer, at a good price.

I recently got a Globe 12", and I'd just mention to plan ahead for storage.  These things are large - best suited to their own cart.

nolaegghead

Make sure that slicer has enough travel to do what you want.  If you plan on slicing 12" of bacon, it may be too small.  Check out user reviews. 

DFW

@lkapigian - thanks.  My wife wants me to start with a smaller slicer, 7.5"-9", but I'm worried the 10" product tray is already going to be too small.   Homemade bacon is one of my motivators for this purchase, and I'm pretty sure I'll have to cut it in half to fit the tray.  

The Avantco's look nice, I need to look at those more closely.

DFW

@blasting the Globe must be a beast!  I bet it does need a cart.  Would love to have one of those, but this is my first...so really need to make sure I'm gonna use it regularly before making that type of investment.  Thanks!

DFW

nolaegghead said:

Make sure that slicer has enough travel to do what you want.  If you plan on slicing 12" of bacon, it may be too small.  Check out user reviews. 

This is exactly what I'm concerned about.  Thanks, man!

Carolina Q

DFW said:

...so really need to make sure I'm gonna use it regularly before making that type of investment.  Thanks!

Absolutely! I bought a 1949 Globe 150 a few years ago (11 7/16" blade). Don't remember when I last used it, but it was to slice up a loaf of homemade bread! Probably been a couple of years, considerably longer for meat! Too heavy to move around, PITA to clean and I don't often cook things that require a slicer. The good news is, it only cost me 100 bucks.

Watch the videos of Franklin BBQ or Katz's Deli in NYC. They cut a gazillion pounds of meat every day... with a knife! Food for thought.

fishlessman

1 mm seems too thick for thin slicing.  the three things i see with the smaller inexpensive slicers are the travel of the tray, thin slicing for prosciutto... shaved ham and turkey, and the center bearing wearing out quickly.  when the center bearing starts to wear the cuts start to become uneaven as a slice gets cut.  you might be able to fold the bacon or roll and tie it for slicing, i roll/tie brisket flats for slicing pastrami

DFW

@fishlessman You make a good point about 1mm being to thick for certain cuts.  We love a hearty piece of bacon around here, but shaved ham & turkey gets equal love when it's all piled up on a club sandwich.  Thanks for pointing that out.

DFW

Carolina Q said:

DFW said:

...so really need to make sure I'm gonna use it regularly before making that type of investment.  Thanks!

Absolutely! I bought a 1949 Globe 150 a few years ago (11 7/16" blade). Don't remember when I last used it, but it was to slice up a loaf of homemade bread! Probably been a couple of years, considerably longer for meat! Too heavy to move around, PITA to clean and I don't often cook things that require a slicer. The good news is, it only cost me 100 bucks.

Watch the videos of Franklin BBQ or Katz's Deli in NYC. They cut a gazillion pounds of meat every day... with a knife! Food for thought.

Love that it was only $100 though!  I've looked around CL here in the Dallas area and seems like everyone wants $500+ for the big slicers.  

This also brings up another pain point: cleaning the slicer.  What features should I be looking for that will make cleaning easier?

lkapigian

DFW said:h

Carolina Q said:

DFW said:

...so really need to make sure I'm gonna use it regularly before making that type of investment.  Thanks!

Absolutely! I bought a 1949 Globe 150 a few years ago (11 7/16" blade). Don't remember when I last used it, but it was to slice up a loaf of homemade bread! Probably been a couple of years, considerably longer for meat! Too heavy to move around, PITA to clean and I don't often cook things that require a slicer. The good news is, it only cost me 100 bucks.

Watch the videos of Franklin BBQ or Katz's Deli in NYC. They cut a gazillion pounds of meat every day... with a knife! Food for thought.

Love that it was only $100 though!  I've looked around CL here in the Dallas area and seems like everyone wants $500+ for the big slicers.  

This also brings up another pain point: cleaning the slicer.  What features should I be looking for that will make cleaning easier?

Safely come apart and apart completely ...water tight switches and cord cap....i can remove me blade, blade cover carriage easily ( I keep the sharpener off unless using ) I can then put the slicer body in my sink ( it's commercial size ) spray with bleach and wash off with hot water without worrying about the electrical 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

DFW said:

@lkapigian - thanks.  My wife wants me to start with a smaller slicer, 7.5"-9", but I'm worried the 10" product tray is already going to be too small.   Homemade bacon is one of my motivators for this purchase, and I'm pretty sure I'll have to cut it in half to fit the tray.  

The Avantco's look nice, I need to look at those more closely.

I have a 10” slicer and I can do full bellies on it. You just get them really cold and fold in half to slice. As long as its very cold it slices through like butter. If the belly is room temp it squishes it and makes a disfigured looking slice. Keeping it very cold (even semi-frozen) also keeps it from tailing off as you slice. This is true even for belly you don’t fold but when you do fold, if it tails, it’s in the middle of the slice. Makes for a funky looking piece of bacon. I think 10” is the smallest I would go if you are planning on doing a lot of bacon. 

Sea2Ski

I have the advantco 9” as well.  No, you can not do a full width of bacon on it, but I am perfectly fine with that. I cut my bellies in half anyway and when cooked they end up being the width of white bread without breaking the slice.  

I was standing in front of the entire Advantco line when I went to buy one. The footprint size and weight of the 10” made me go with the 9”. The difference between the two was huge.  For me, it was the correct decision. I had it for 5-6 years now and use it often. 2x a month at least and sometimes weekly. If I got the 10”, I do not think I would use it nearly as much because I can not keep mine in my kitchen. I keep it under a 30” round table in our dining room. The 10” would never be able to fit there.

I make all my lunch meats with it and if doing a charcuterie board, all that as well.  Cleaning for me from beginning to end takes me about 25 min if doing something clean (like bacon) or 40-45 min for a messy slicing session like a lot of roast beef or pork.

Also, one thing that sticks out in my head was that there was a sign in front of the advantco that said something like “If you are going to slice cheese, 10” is the minimum”.  Not sure exactly why that is.  Maybe for large bricks of cheese like Swiss or provolone I can see it. That constraint did not apply to me. With that being said, I slice other cheeeses with mine - think Cracker Barrel, and other small bricks of cheese that you can get in the cheese section in the grocery store with no problem. 

If you have the opportunity, see if you can see them in person before pulling the trigger. Then weigh size and portability vs real needs vs wants. 

DFW

Thanks for all the info.  We’re shopping 10” slicers, and my wife is on board with getting a small cart to keep it on, in what’s now become my BBQ closet.  Just gotta clear out a spot once Infind the right deal on a slicer!

DFW

fishlessman said:

1 mm seems too thick for thin slicing.  the three things i see with the smaller inexpensive slicers are the travel of the tray, thin slicing for prosciutto... shaved ham and turkey, and the center bearing wearing out quickly.  when the center bearing starts to wear the cuts start to become uneaven as a slice gets cut.  you might be able to fold the bacon or roll and tie it for slicing, i roll/tie brisket flats for slicing pastrami

How small of a slice size do you recommend for shaved ham?  I think the smallest I’ve seen in the price range I’m shopping has been about 0.9 mm so far. Thanks.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Also, one thing that sticks out in my head was that there was a sign in front of the advantco that said something like “If you are going to slice cheese, 10” is the minimum”.  Not sure exactly why that is.  

I’m guessing It’s the motor size, not the blade size. Cheese needs more horsepower than meat

Photo Egg

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Also, one thing that sticks out in my head was that there was a sign in front of the advantco that said something like “If you are going to slice cheese, 10” is the minimum”.  Not sure exactly why that is.  

I’m guessing It’s the motor size, not the blade size. Cheese needs more horsepower than meat

Could the friction on a smaller blade cause to much heat to cut cheese well?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Photo Egg said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Also, one thing that sticks out in my head was that there was a sign in front of the advantco that said something like “If you are going to slice cheese, 10” is the minimum”.  Not sure exactly why that is.  

I’m guessing It’s the motor size, not the blade size. Cheese needs more horsepower than meat

Could the friction on a smaller blade cause to much heat to cut cheese well?

Maybe but the answer is always more horsepower. 

HeavyG

Photo Egg said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Also, one thing that sticks out in my head was that there was a sign in front of the advantco that said something like “If you are going to slice cheese, 10” is the minimum”.  Not sure exactly why that is.  

I’m guessing It’s the motor size, not the blade size. Cheese needs more horsepower than meat

Could the friction on a smaller blade cause to much heat to cut cheese well?

I've only got a "toy" slicer (Chef'sChoice 615A) not one of those big burley slicers that are all the rage.

It's a 7" blade and it has no problem cutting the cheese I run through it. I cut the cheese straight from the fridge and I haven't noticed that it heats it up to any noticeable degree (no pun intended).

I've never tried cutting cheese paper thin tho so that might well make a difference in heating up the cheese. I'm also not cutting more than just a couple pounds at a time so that might make a difference also.

OhioEgger

Cheese depends on the type. Easy to slice semisoft cheeses, but when you get to the really hard ones like Parmigiana Reggiano or an aged Gouda, it's a different ballgame. Visit a real cheese shop in Europe and you'll almost always see them slicing the cheese with a piano wire.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

HeavyG said:

Photo Egg said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Also, one thing that sticks out in my head was that there was a sign in front of the advantco that said something like “If you are going to slice cheese, 10” is the minimum”.  Not sure exactly why that is.  

I’m guessing It’s the motor size, not the blade size. Cheese needs more horsepower than meat

Could the friction on a smaller blade cause to much heat to cut cheese well?

I've only got a "toy" slicer (Chef'sChoice 615A) not one of those big burley slicers that are all the rage.

It's a 7" blade and it has no problem cutting the cheese I run through it. I cut the cheese straight from the fridge and I haven't noticed that it heats it up to any noticeable degree (no pun intended).

I've never tried cutting cheese paper thin tho so that might well make a difference in heating up the cheese. I'm also not cutting more than just a couple pounds at a time so that might make a difference also.

For home use it's likely fine. For a deli or grocery store doing it all day it's another story.

CtTOPGUN

 I was at an estate sale last weekend. I ended up buying a cheap "toy" slicer for $5. It is a Chef's Choice 620 with 7" multi use blade. I have long looked at slicers thinking I may like one. Of course the more I looked into them I began to want the bigger and better ones. This little slicer will allow me to see how useful one may be and how often I would use one. If I enjoy the experience I can buy an expensive one knowing it will be worthwhile. If I don't find it useful enough I only risked five bucks to find that out.


   

Skiddymarker

@CtTOPGUN - I have a 10 inch, used commercial machine but my Chef’s Choice 615 is the most used. Great for firm cheeses and most cured meats. 

HeavyG

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

HeavyG said:

Photo Egg said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Also, one thing that sticks out in my head was that there was a sign in front of the advantco that said something like “If you are going to slice cheese, 10” is the minimum”.  Not sure exactly why that is.  

I’m guessing It’s the motor size, not the blade size. Cheese needs more horsepower than meat

Could the friction on a smaller blade cause to much heat to cut cheese well?

I've only got a "toy" slicer (Chef'sChoice 615A) not one of those big burley slicers that are all the rage.

It's a 7" blade and it has no problem cutting the cheese I run through it. I cut the cheese straight from the fridge and I haven't noticed that it heats it up to any noticeable degree (no pun intended).

I've never tried cutting cheese paper thin tho so that might well make a difference in heating up the cheese. I'm also not cutting more than just a couple pounds at a time so that might make a difference also.

For home use it's likely fine. For a deli or grocery store doing it all day it's another story.

Yeah, my needs are modest and it's done everything I've asked it to with meat/cheese/bread. At the deli counter last week I was getting a pound of emmentaler sliced very thin and of course their slicer ripped thru that big log in no time. No way I would even try to do that on mine with one of those deli style cheese "timbers".

DFW

I’m sill shopping slicers, but somehow talked my wife into a minimum price point of $1500 for this purchase...better lucky any day, right?

She’s also pissed every time I say ‘buy once, cry once’ so thanks for that forum dudes...

Probably overdoing the slicer needs, but the more expensive ones seem to clean up easier...and for us I think that’s more important for the long run and how much utility value we’ll get out of it. Still, my wife is awesome and I get what I want. Win-win.

Happy Easter forum guys!

DFW

By the way, I’m down to the Berkel 87A because it will fit on a cart in my BBQ closet...and also watching the Globe g12 and Hobart edge12. I don’t think the Globe or Hobart will fit in my bbq closet (door is only 22”) but all 3 slicers seem really nice and easy to clean (easier??)

nolaegghead

For some reason people are turned off when I cut the cheese. Maybe it's the size of my slicer? Advice needed, folks.

DFW

@nolaegghead it’s not about the size, but how you use it!

Also, I meant 827a, not 87a above. A local Craigslist guy has the 827e for sale at $350, but the E variant has the 1/3 hp instead of 1/2 and we plan to slice cheese. They are both probably sufficient for our needs, but ya know we get something in our mind and now ‘need’ the extra horsepower.

Happy Easter all!

DFW

Ended up with a slicer that was way bigger than needed...

13” Bizerba - my wife actually found it on Facebook (which I bounced like 10yrs ago out of deserving paranoia)

DFW