Customer Reviews

Chef's Choice 632 International Gourmet VariTilt Electric Food Slicer

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Positive: Great! Great! Great! I spent weeks going over reviews and comments about electric food slicers in preparation for replacing one that I had been using for about 25 years. It was heavy, clunky and would slide around the counter when used. I only took it out to use when nothing else would work. But it did slice. After reading all that I could in the reviews, I decided that the Model 632 seemed the best fit for my use. Cooking is a hobby and not a profession so I needed nothing more than a good quality, home slicer. I decided to keep the new slicer on the counter for a while so I could try it out. I think it has found a permanent home. I find that I am using it almost every day for bread, meat, cheese and vegetables. The operation is smooth and with the caliper dial, very repeatable. It is stable and does not "walk" on the counter when slicing. It appears to be well manufactured and durable. Several reviewers pointed to the on/off and lock switches locations as being a problem. I find just the opposite to be true. Their location is both logical and easy to use. Though I don't use it often, I found that the little extra that I paid for the tilt table was worth the cost. Overall, it has met and/or exceeded every expectation that I had prior to purchase.

Negative: If there is a downside, it would be that the component parts are not dishwasher safe. This is nothing more that a very minor annoyance, since the unit comes apart very easily and requires little or no effort to clean. (Just use caution when cleaning the blade.)

Overall: I may find problems in the future, but for the present it gets 5 stars plus. In my opinion, a good buy.

The performance of our food slicer is exceeding our expectations. It slices items like hard salami super thin without difficulty. It even works in making Beef Carpaccio with the standard blade. It had been on my wish list for years but I was afraid it would be a flimsy and dangerous tool, but the design of the carriage and the stability of the machine made my initial fears go away. The VariTilt is worth the extra price because the slices fall away from the blade instantly.

I put-off buying a slicer like this because I had heard they were a problem to operate, lacked power and were difficult to clean. Then I saw the reviews for the Chef's Choice 632 and took the plunge. When it arrived the first thing I noticed was that the blade had a Titanium-gold coating just like my power drills which meant extra durability. The machine itself is very well made. Fit and finish is top-notch. And the tilt feature makes it easy to slice heavy items like meats ( tilted up ) and soft vegetables like tomatos ( tray down ). The slicing is prcise and effortless. I use my machine to cut baked bread into perfect 5/8" slabs or steak into paper thin slices for steak sandwiches.

Cleaning is a snap. The tray and holder are made of hard, tough plastic that repells sticking food and stains. The blade comes off with a twist and washes up quickly with soap and water. The body is also so smooth nothing sticks to it and is almost like cleaning a well waxed car- the food just slides away.

All in all a very well designed, compact and fun to use piece of kitchen machinery.

I chose this product based on the customer reviews. It was the only slicer I found that consistently rated five stars and now I would like to add my five star rating. My only surprise was that the "Vari-tilt" didn't vary, it locks either straight up and down or at a 30 degree tilt only. This is actually quite fine but the descriptions I had read led me to believe that the tilt angle could be varied (not necessary). I love it!

I originally ordered the Chef's Choice 610 model and found many awful reviews, for example it couldn't cut prosciutto thin enough and the thinnest it was able to cut was the same thickness as sliced bacon you'd buy in a pack at the supermarket. Now after hearing all this I decided not to keep it and didn't even use it because I didn't want to take the risk of not being able to return it. So at that moment I went online and looked up some higher models. The 620 was lookin pretty snazzy, but it didn't have the tilt function that the 632 had (mind you that there was also a 630 model yet it also lacked the tilt function as well). And if there's one thing I know from all the research I'd done on slicers, it's that a tilt function makes usage so much easier because you're not pushing the meat on a horizontal surface. You just let gravity take it's toll while giving a nudge to the meat or whatever you're cutting, and voila! out comes beautiful and equally sliced pieces! Okay I'm geting wordy now, back to the subject. I used the slicer and tried cutting some rib eye I marinated the night before in some teriyaki sauce (Thanks Outback!). I set it to the thinnest possible amount that I would be able to slice and man was that thin. I meat it wasn't like "see-through" thin but it was damn thin. I think I've found a new way to make bulgogi too by the way (a korean bbq dish). I sliced turkey, cheese, salami, lettuce, onions, human flesh (okay so maybe I didn't do a human but i think this slicer has the ability!...geez) and every time it came out "fantastico". My opinion...BUY IT! I'm from north jersey and love deli meats. Now that I'm out in california I get frustrated dealing with awful dry shriveled deli meats that are sold at safeway and etc. If you can get your hands on some "thumanns" deli meats (only sold in tristate area) those are awesome to slice too. Anyway, bottom line is I love my slicer and I'm glad I bought it cuz I just checked the website and there's only 3 left!

"Hurry up and buy!" [spoken in the most chinese accent I can enunciate]

I've used some other slicers that were okay. This thing is great. I make beef jerky all the time and this is so easy to use that I don't even think about it. Just put the slab of meat in the freezer for a few hours and slice away. Thin, thick medium; it doesn't matter. This slicer keeps going without a hiccup at all.

Prior to getting the slicer, I had been using an electric knife and a bread slicing guide to slice homemade bread. This was always less than satisfactory, but I had not been able to find an electric bread slicer that didn't cost thousands of dollars, until just the other day, an internet search turned up the Chef's Choice 632 which could be used to slice bread. I ordered it and the package came today. I couldn't wait to try it out and sure enough, it exceeded my wildest dreams for smoothly slicing my homemade bread. For me, it is worth the cost just for this alone, but I am also looking forward to using it to slice meats for sandwiches. All in all, a very reasonably priced slicer for home use.

I have not had any problems with this slicer and I really wish I had known about this slicer before. This is my third slicer, and by far is the best quality and value.

I always wanted to have an electric slicer, way before we could find ones that are not commercial grade and incredibly expensive. I love carpaccio and roast beef, and wanted to be able to make them at home. While I could make roast beef, I could never slice it nice and thin like they do at the deli, which eventually just turned me off and I gave up on it.

A few years ago, I bought my first slicer, from another brand. It was ok, but not so great and it was so hard to clean it that I just ended up losing the interest in using it.

Then I found this slicer here on Amazon and read through the reviews. When I read someone saying they could use it for carpaccios, I decided I just had to get it!

So, here are the PROS:

- It will slice meat really thin and easily, as long as it it frozen (not rock hard, but firm enough that it will hold its shape while cutting the meat).

- It is not very heavy, even though it is a sturdy little machine.

- Cleaning is pretty easy.

- Removing and re-installing the blade is very easy and safe, the blade has a mechanism that opens a little piece to hold it from.

- It tilts, making it easier to slice without having to use as much pressure with your hand to keep the meat in place.

- It seems to slice better, as in making the meat that is still uncut flatter and easier to cut through all the way to the end of the piece. (If you have had a slicer that is not as good in the past, you probably know what I mean. The meat just seems to slip and cut at an angle, maybe the piece that holds it is not as good, but I have a feeling that the tilting is what does the trick in this one.)

- It looks nice, someone told me last weekend that it actually looks like the ones you see at the deli.

CONS - I can't come up with any!

Now, a previous reviewer said that in order to cut meats really thin, like carpaccios, you needed to get the non-serrated blade, which I did. But I received the slicer before I received the blade so I first used it with the regular blade that comes with it. To be honest, I regretted purchasing the non-serrated blade. Don't take me wrong, there is nothing wrong with it, but it just really wasn't necessary. I was slicing carpaccios and smoked roast beef for a couple of days, with no problem at all, using the serrated blade.

The same reviewer also mentioned that storing the blade that is not in use is a problem, since there is no case for it and they are both very, very sharp. Well, being aware of the issue, I just opened the plastic container carefully when I received the additional blade and keep whatever blade I am not using at the time in it. I even put an elastic band holding it shut, so there is really no problem there.

Now, when I posted a review about a grill, I had someone leave a comment asking for my recipe for the roast I make and it took me a couple of months to see the comment there. So I thought I'd post here how I make my carpaccios, which is really easy and, at $2.49/lb for the eye of round roast at the current sale at my grocery store, beats the hell out of paying $15 at the restaurant for one carpaccio alone... Not to mention that it's a nice, healthy and filling meal! :)

Homemade Carpaccio

- Buy an eye of round roast.

- Trim the roast really well, removing all the fat, etc. from the outside, but don't cut or slice it. (I actually usually cut the end that is thinner - about 1/3 of the length of the roast- and use that for roast beef, since you can't get full-sized slices from it)

- Put the trimmed piece in a plastic bag and leave it in the freezer for at least a few hours so it becomes frozen and firm.

- If you left the meat in the freezer for a day or longer, make sure you take it out of the freezer and leave it in one of the fridge drawers for a few hours before preparing the carpaccio so the meat is still frozen and firm but not hard as a rock.

- Get a large plate (the larger the better!) and put it next to the slicer.

- Start slicing the meat as thin as you can, without shredding it, and placing the slices on the plate. You are trying to cover the surface of the plate with a thin layer of sliced meat, so be organized. Starting from the edge of the plate, make a circle covering that area with slices that overlap slightly. Once you got that circle closed, start another one more towards the center of the plate and keep doing that until you place the last piece covering the center of the plate.

- Sprinkle some salt and ground black pepper to taste all over the meat.

- Squeeze the juice of one whole lemon (or more if you want) on top of the meat, make sure you get some of the juice on all the slices. You can use a lime too if you prefer, I prefer the lemon myself.

- Prepare some Good Seasons Italian dressing mix, or if you already have some mixed in your fridge, use that.

- In a small container, mix the salad dressing with a little bit of Grey Poupon course mustard. You can mix this to taste, but you want the end product to be a creamy, dressing-like consistency.

- Drizzle this mustard dressing over the carpaccio to taste.

- Sprinkle shredded (not ground) parmesan cheese on top.

And you're ready! :)

Enjoy!

We have had several inexpensive slicers, all of which were a disappointment. This slicer, however, slices quickly and cleanly, is able to create extremely thin slices, and is very easy to use. Cleanup is, like most slicers, not much fun, but is more tedious than difficult. The 30 degree tilt makes slicing meats very easy, as it creates an almost self-feeding process. We have not sliced cheese or breads - we wanted it to slice meats. And what a job it does.