Best meat slicer?

Do you have a budget you would like to stay in?

From experience, go with your gut and what you can afford.... if you have cash spend it.... if you can wait..... search and you all find deals.

the industrial slicer is a pain in the you know what to maneuver, but when in use; the PAIN is a distant memory.
 
This is my setup
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1186533/meet-the-twins#latest

I love it and wouldn't change a thing. "EXCEPT" its like a truck; your friends and family will come a callin' LOL.  Which isn't a bad thing in my case 

i gone through to small home units and what i didn't like about them is 1. they tend to slide on the counter surface.  2. difficult to sharpen the blade 3. Both were under powered and not much bed surface due to the small blade.

Here is what i did:

i purchased a small cheep machine, i found it was more dangerous that effective.  then i purchased a slice from BassPro, this little guy was ok not as dangerous limited in its use, i had to do some prepping to get it to slice what i needed to slice, i sold it; the funds from the sale went towards the purchase my industrial.

 good luck in you search

I bought a vintage Hobart on CL. Still cost me $400 and it is heavy. It has earned its keep with salami, bacon and proscuito. 

My suggestion is... use a knife. I thought I wanted a slicer. I read that the cheap homeowner models were not so good and knew the commercial models were far too expensive. So, I found one on Craigslist, a 1940something Globe Model 150. $100 or so.

It is only slightly smaller than my car. A pain to clean, takes up too much space, weighs too much to move around and I almost never use it. It definitely needs a cart (which I don't have) and a convenient place to park said cart (which I also don't have). I have a spot on the counter, but use the albatross so infrequently, I don't like to waste the counter space. It has a built in sharpener, will slice stuff paper thin and up to about 1/2" so if I ever wanted to slice a lot of stuff paper thin, I'd be golden. But I don't.

If I had it to do again, I'd use the knife I already had (which is what I virtually always do now). The slices aren't as thin, as pretty or as uniform, but it doesn't take much longer and the meat tastes just as good. And as I clean my knife and cutting board, I have a smile on my face.  

Carolina Q said:

My suggestion is... use a knife. I thought I wanted a slicer. I read that the cheap homeowner models were not so good and knew the commercial models were far too expensive. So, I found one on Craigslist, a 1940something Globe Model 150. $100 or so.

It is only slightly smaller than my car. A pain to clean, takes up too much space, weighs too much to move around and I almost never use it. It definitely needs a cart (which I don't have) and a convenient place to park said cart (which I also don't have). I have a spot on the counter, but use the albatross so infrequently, I don't like to waste the counter space. It has a built in sharpener, will slice stuff paper thin and up to about 1/2" so if I ever wanted to slice a lot of stuff paper thin, I'd be golden. But I don't.

If I had it to do again, I'd use the knife I already had (which is what I virtually always do now). The slices aren't as thin, as pretty or as uniform, but it doesn't take much longer and the meat tastes just as good. And as I clean my knife and cutting board, I have a smile on my face.     

nice post - not sexy - but I apprecaite the real feedback . . I can see myself doing same thing.  You convinced me Shun/Cutting Board.

I have a couple of suggestions. Look at a Chefs Choice 630. For a bigger heavy duty slicer look at Avantco. Good luck on your choice.

SaintJohnsEgger said:

Once I figure out where in the 'burg @NPHuskerFL lives, my plan is to go by and use his when I need a slicer.

In the meantime, I'll just stick with pulling my meat*




*I really struggled trying to figure out how to write that without sounding x-rated. Finally gave up    

It's your meat...pull it if you want!!!