Customer Reviews

Chef's Choice 630 International Gourmet Electric Food Slicer

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I used to work in a deli and have used my fair share of commercial slicers. When I decided to buy one for home use, I knew that I didn't want one of the large, cumbersome slicers that I had used in the past, and that this would mean some tradeoffs in terms of power and quality. After taking a long look around, I finally decided on the CC-630, and I'm glad I did. I believe this unit offers an excellent compromise between commercial power and everyday practicality.

Please don't misunderstand... you don't want this slicer if you're looking to open a deli or restaurant. You can feel the slicer slow down as it cuts through denser foods (like meat and cheese) that the commercial slicers would just pass right through.

This little unit is best suited to the home user who wants to be able to cut enough cold cuts for a day's use - say packing lunches for the family. It's also great for slicing up roasts, BONELESS turkey/chicken, cheeses, and vegetables. Whatever you slice, slice only what you will consume immediately - or at least in the next day or so. That's the secret to those deli sandwiches... cut everything fresh for the best flavor.

Of surprise to me was how well this unit handles bread. It needs to be a fairly flexible bread (no cornbread/biscuits) as it has to bend slightly to accomodate the shape of the slicer. If you make your own bread, you can now slice it perfectly at nearly any thickness.

Just be sure to let anything that you make yourself cool completely before slicing. A warm roast or turkey breast just isn't rigid enough to hold itself together against the moving blade. If you're looking to use this for your thanksgiving dinner then you'd be better off investing in a good sharp carving set (not the serrated kind, but the kind you can resharpen). For thanksgiving leftovers, the slicer is ideal. Just don't do anything silly like trying to cut through bones as they can get caught in the moving blade... a serious safety hazard.

Why only 4 stars? Well, this unit would rate 5 in my opinion if not for two issues. First, a safety concern: the unit has seperate on/off and thickness controls. So what? Well, that means that you can turn the unit off and still leave the blade in an exposed cutting position (and at thinner settings, this is almost imperceptable visually). This can lead to serious injury should someone try to clean the unit thinking that the blade is safely shielded. Not a good idea if you have children around, or even if you don't. A simple solution is just to get in the habit of turning the thickness to zero immediately before or after turning the slicer off.

My other issue is that the manual says that no part of the slicer is dishwasher safe. This is extremely annoying as there are several removable non-electronic parts that are difficult to clean by hand. It seems absurd that the heavy duty plastic and stainless steel that these parts are made of would not hold up to a household dishwasher.

Overall, I find this to be an excellent slicer and highly recommend for home use. Much better than the cheaper underpowered models that are nearly impossible to clean properly.

I owned this slicer for two years, and used it maybe twenty times at most--usually for slicing ham. At first it seemed to work fine. Then I noticed it ran a bit slower with each use until it finally quit working entirely. I disassembled the slicer to see if it could be repaired. Inside I found a rather small burned-out electric motor. In my opinion, this motor is much too weak to last very long if used for slicing meat. The motor in my Kitchen Aid blender is larger (and has lasted for many years under daily use.)

FYI, the EdgeCraft company which manufactures Chef's Choice does not sell replacement motor or gear parts. You must send it to them for repair. However, they don't make repair estimates over the phone. Considering the price I paid for this product, I feel totally ripped off. I will never buy another Chef's Choice product.

I read a review about a different slicer which recommends limiting use to under 10 minutes at a time. I would strongly advise anyone using this slicer for meat to follow the same advice. The tiny 100 watt (~1/8hp) motor in this slicer simply cannot tolerate extended use. It would probably work fine for slicing bread however.

A few final notes:
* These slicers used to have 1 yr warrantees, now they are 90 days.
* The "condenser" motor mentioned in their ads is nothing special. All small appliances have this type of electric motor.
* Some of the Chef's Choice slicers list "peak horsepower". This is a very misleading term. A ¼ peak hp motor is not as powerful as a ¼ hp motor.

I can only give this slicer 5 stars, if I had a choice I would give it 10 stars.
I got this as a Christmas gift. My first use was to test it at slicing the dinner turkey leftovers for lunch meat. It worked perfectly.
I have since used it to slice roast beef, sharp cheddar cheese, ham and vegetables.
The meat is cut as thin as you want, I prefer very thin, no problem.
This is a dream machine, it is built to last and easy to clean.
I have tried to find something negitive to say but I really cannot. If you need a slicer Buy it,
No I don;t work for chefchoice. I am really a satisified customer.

If you like roast beef sandwiches from Arby's, this is EXACTLY what you are looking for. I bought this ham slicing blade [ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000X6EHK/qid=1115663701/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-0484266-3618452?v=glance&s=kitchen ] to go along with this slicer. The first thing I did was buy a sirloin tip roast at Sam's and slow roast it at 325 for 3 hours. I sliced the roast nice and thin, topped it with some horseradish sauce and -POOF-, I had the best roast beef sandwich I have ever had. I am so excited to cook my hams and turkeys now.

When I first turned it on, I thought it would be too weak to slice the beef, but it was not. It was like a hot knife through butter. Changing/removing the blade was extremely simple.

The best part about this slicer is the ease of cleaning. I was able to thoroughly clean and sanitize all of it in less than 5 minutes.

The only thing I didn't like was the power button. It seemed as though it should have been designed different. There were no problems with the button, it just seemed awkward.

You will thoroughly love this machine. It is very simple to use. I didn't even need to read the instructions.

Top quality sllicer. Cleans like a dream. Only problem I had was in slicing fresh bread, the slices tended to catch on the plastic blade protector. Other than that It did all things well.

After looking over all the slicers, reviews, prices, we decided on this slicer, first one came with a broken part. Sent it back got a new one, it works great. Slices everything, bread, cheese, ham you name it. It doesn't like things too hard or too soft, either breaks whatever it is or pulls the soft stuff into the blade cover. The catch tray is sort of an afterthought, it doesn't fit anywhere and slides around like it has no real home. To clean everything up is a snap, everything snaps out and is real easy to clean up, other slicers have screws to mess with, that's why we got this one, cheap enough to afford yet well built enough to use. Nice slicer.

This slicer works GREAT! - Do yourself a favor & pony-up the extra $ for this model (or any higher # model) as its made in Germany whilst the cheaper models are made in China. I have used this to slice several roasts & some flank steak for jerkey & it works as advertised, you can slice as thick or thin as you like. I strongly suggest you pay attention to all warnings & watch what youre doing as the blade is SUPER sharp! Treat the machine with respect as one careless move & youll regret it Im sure.

I chose this slicer after reviewing others available. I had worn out another slicer several years ago and was hunting something more durable and easier to clean. This one is a very nice slicer, well constructed and easy to take apart and put back together. The price is right. Have used it frequently already and am really pleased with the variable thicknesses from which to choose. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good product for the home.

I'm very Happy this product.
Slice the Hardest Italian Salami and the softest Bread the Same
way.Easy to clean. I'm recomending this product for everybody.

My brother and I bought this food slicer for our mom for Christmas. She loves it!
Prior to owning this one she had a fold down one (made by a well known and respected company)that she disliked so much she would absolutely never use it. (Rather than sending it back, she just put it in a drawer - never wanting to see it again!)
She had all but given up hope that she could have her own food slicer at home that was both affordable and really did a good job. Though there are several things that you can do with this slicer, she most enjoys taking a hunk of meat and slicing it into fresh deli-style meat for sandwiches.
In her words, "It is excellent. It is very easy to clean, and I am thrilled with it."