I love working in the kitchen, but I have to admit that I’m a total chicken when it comes to using a mandoline. Knives don’t frighten me, since I keep them really sharp with my whetstone and have pretty decent knife skills. But when I finally broke down and bought an expensive mandoline, I had heard so many horror stories of chefs cutting the ends of their fingers off while carelessly using these razor-like slicing and julienning machines, I made sure to get a really expensive one with all the safety options. And then I actually bought a kevlar glove to wear while I used it.
So I actually only used it once, with nervous sweat dripping off my nose and flavoring my mise en place. Then I put it back on a high shelf of my kitchen cabinet, out of sight and out of mine.
Fortunately OXO has come up with a simple and safe mandoline that is easy to use and not nearly as intimidating.
The OXO GoodGrips Handheld Mandoline is a sturdy inexpensive piece of kitchen gear that will simplify your slicing work in your home kitchen. The device has an adjustable slicing surface and a detachable safety handle to protect your hands and keep you away from the sharp cutting blade.
The depth of your slicing is easily adjustable with a slider on the side of the mandoline which allows you to cut potatoes, squash, carrots, peppers or anything else that you need sliced for a recipe. The thickest slice setting is perfect for making home fries or potatoes au gratin, and the thinnest slice is almost see-through.
The slicer is easy to grip and has a convenient curve at the end across from the handle that allows you to position it stably on a cutting board or to hook it over a bowl to catch your slices.
The safety handle has short plastic spikes to firmly attach it to whatever you’re cutting to allow for safe handling. Simply by moving the handle back and forth across the blade you can quickly produce a pile of sliced vegetables, working like a hot knife through butter.
So why buy a bag of Ore-Ida’s when you can make up a batch of home-made french fries in seconds? Or dress up your boring salad with fresh disks of beets and rings of bell peppers. With this easy to use and quick to clean piece of kitchen gear, you no longer have any excuse to be lazy (or scared) in the kitchen.
In fact, OXO and Gear Diary want to empower one lucky reader to add a little panache to his or her cooking by giving away a free Handheld Mandoline Slicer. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post that says “I want one!” and we’ll draw a winner on Wednesday May 9. It’s just that easy!
But still be careful using this, like you would any piece of sharp kitchen equipment. We want to be sure you have all ten fingers to type comments for future contests!
OXO GoodGrips Handheld Mandoline is available at many kitchen supply stores or direct from the company website.
MSRP: $14.99
What I Liked: Easy to use. Simple to clean. Feels sturdy and safe while in use. Great price.
What Needs Improvement: Wish I’d found it earlier when I was such a little wuss about my old mandoline.
The fine print–
1. This contest will be open until May 9, 2012. The winner will be announced shortly after.
2. Shipping address must be in the USA
3. If you’re entering this giveaway using Facebook connect, you MUST have your Facebook page set to accept messages from non-friends so we can contact you through your page if you are the winner. If you are unsure how to set your privacy settings to allow this, feel free to contact us for assistance or read Facebook’s instructions.
4. The winner will be announced on the site and will have 24 hours to contact us. After 24 hours a new winner will be picked.