We have finally decided that we don't use knives enough for slicing vegetables to become proficient at getting even thickness slices. We also do it much more slowly than the chefs on television do it. We slice enough vegetables for salads or cooking that we decided to purchase a mandoline. So we went to the local music store...well, actually, Target...to get one.

OXO Good Grips Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer
 
Target has a good selection of decent quality kitchen tools. A whole section of one of their tool walls is reserved for Oxo. When Honey dispatched me to find a mandoline, she also said not to get some cheap thing, but rather one from Oxo or another quality purveyor. The size and looks of the one slicer in the Oxo section appealed to me so it came home. This is a hand held mandoline slicer. It has the typical Oxo soft grip handle and the bottom is non-slip for holding against a cutting board or even the lip of a bowl. Its relative small size makes storage easier than some others. The blade is adjustable for three different thicknesses of slice. The portion above the blade is transparent so the result can be easily seen while slicing. Below the blade there are ridges to help keep things being sliced straight. There is also a food holder with a soft grip knob. It has some knobby protrusions on the bottom for holding the material you are slicing. It snaps over the sides of the mandoline to cover the blade for easy storage.

With this mandoline from Oxo we have been able to easily and quickly slice foods for our needs. Its first use was in slicing several cucumbers and an onion to make pickled cucumbers and onions. We selected the middle thickness for our slices. We chose to cut an end off of each to get started. The cucumbers were a breeze. Three long cucumbers were turned into slices in a just a minute or two. The onion also worked well. We had cut it in half to get half rings of onion. We used the thickest setting for our onion slices. When it comes to the knob for helping hold and move the vegetable over the blade, we were disappointed. We found it easier to just hold the cucumber or onion. Of course this is more dangerous so we did use the holder for the last few slices of each. We since have sliced carrots with a diagonal slice for looks mostly and it makes getting those cute celery slices, also sliced on a diagonal, easy.

The Oxo Hand Held Mandoline Slicer is dishwasher safe, but also cleans up quite well under the faucet if you are careful around the very sharp blade. It carries the usual Oxo satisfaction guarantee. I am left handed and Honey is right handed. This difference often causes problems when buying things we both plan to use. The Oxo Hand Held Mandoline Slicer is ambidextrous. We are happy with our decision and will use the mandoline often. It is the usual top quality from Oxo.

Recommended: Yes