Customer Reviews

MIU Stainless-Steel Professional Mandoline Slicer

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I am skeptical of fancy kitchen tools because I tend to be a kitchen purist who believes that with a good set of knives and some skills a wanna-be-chef can slice paper-thin potatoes, onions, or anything that comes along the way. So, when this mandoline was brought home, I was ready to find faults.

My first impression was that this was a larger mandoline than I had seen before; it's really more of a professional size and demands some counter space. Setup is simple: expand the two "feet" which are covered with non-slip rubber and the mandoline sets up on the counter at an appropriate angle. Six blades also come in a handy plastic box. One thing that was a tad strange was that the box seems to hold only five blades; so the sixth one hangs homeless! However, the blades are very easy to slide into or out of the mandoline.

The piece that you hold your vegetables with looks serious but operates quite simply. You put your vegetable on one side and push it into the 'pins' which dig into it. This also pushes out holding end. The trick is to keep a steady pressure on this holding end and slice on the blade. You can adjust thickness of the cut using a small lever underneath the cutting surface that angles the resting surface-- a simple and elegant design. I see some reviewers have talked about half of the vegetable getting caught in the blade. Two words of advice: one, you have to learn to push veggies into the food-holder so that the pins can grip on and not slide off. Two, keep constant pressure on the food-holder--it takes about a minute to get used to.

Let's talk about the actual food that comes out of this device. Depending on which blade you use, you can get julienne, waffle, or sliced cuts. I found that after a couple of potatoes, I started getting very even waffle cuts straight to the last slice! Something that even the sharpest knives and months of practice will not do!

PROS:
- Very well-constructed.
- Matches with professional stainless steel kitchen appliances and tools.
- Handy blade-set holder.
- Non-slip feet.
- Easy to adjust thickness of cuts.
- Dishwasher safe.

CON:
- The manual does not recommend how to place food in the food holder.

I have had a borner slicer (plastic mandoline) for years and love it except that the plastic is slightly flexible and so it has started to crack and bend when I use it. I have been wanting to upgrade it to a stainless steel mandoline forever, but couldn't afford one. Well, when I saw the price on this one and read the reviews I was very excited to get my new mandoline. Boy was I dissappointed. I found that ALL of the negative comments that I found in various reviews below were true plus some. Too bad they weren't posted until AFTER I purchased mine which I am promptly returning to Amazon.

My biggest complaint is that the blades are very dull and not nearly as sharp as my 12 year old borner slicer. As a result (and as one other reviewer commented) you have too use too much force to slice potatoes or other hard veggies so it is somewhat dangerous. The food does often get stuck halfway through the cut and I kept feeling like my hand might slip at any moment because I had to push so hard. I never had this problem with my borner.

My second biggest complaint was that the box that holds the extra blades and more importantly the safetly holder were both broken when I received the item. The box isn't a big deal, mostly just a bummer, but the knob on the safety holder had completely popped off, so you could not pull it up to press food into the holder without pulling it off completely and if you turned it over it just fell right off.

In addition to these two major complaints, I totally agree with another reviewer that you must keep the safety holder "on track" for the mandoline to work correctly and safely but I found it very difficult to do this because of the force needed to push the food over the dull blades so it easily slides to one side causing it to jam in the blades etc... As that reviewer also pointed out, the space for the food isn't nearly as wide as the cutting blades, so there is a lot of wasted cutting edge and you have to cut food into smaller pieces in order to fit them in the holder. I could live this problem if everything else worked well, but it doesn't.

I still gave the item one star because it would be really well designed and comfortable to use if the blades were just sharp. It is very sturdy (except for the button on the safety holder) and seems of good quality in many other ways, and it does come with a really nice assortment of blades, but who cares how good it looks if it doeesn't cut well???

I have owned a few plastic mandolines and even had something called a waffle fry cutter that I attempted to use one time and threw away along with the mangled potatoes.

Though I haven't mastered waffle cuts with this mandoline, the potatoes glide across the blade into perfect crinkle cuts. The mandoline is 18/10 stainless steel and is very sturdy. It doesn't wobble around or bend as it's being used so there is a feeling of security that it won't give way under pressure as some of the plastic ones tend to do.

I like the storage case for the blades, they can be stored neatly and safely when they are not being used. All of the blades are really sharp. I have used all of them except the largest julienne blade.

The 1/8" blade is perfect for cutting zucchini for zucchini fries. The thickness can be adjusted with a lever that is located on the bottom. I sliced onions that were really thin to ones that were nice and plump.

The directions that come with the mandoline are basic and have a few typos but there isn't anything complicated about using it and it's easy to figure out. This is a good buy for the price.

This is a 2006 model, differing in only insignificant details from the 2007 model. I had been a bit worried about it, having read the reviews here, but I've found that in every case, the customers' objections have been the result of incorrect setup or use. First: blade sharpness. The blades are certainly adequately sharp as delivered, and 5 minutes work with a slipstone and a kitchen steel gets the blade sharp enough to shave with. It's a knife, for goodness sakes; keep it sharp! (The company's web site says German steel, not German-made, by the way.) Secondly, it's difficult to imagine how the blades might move once installed correctly: the forces of cutting tend to keep them in place. Thirdly, one user's comment described how the cutting guard (or guide) interfered with the blades. That can only be the result of setting it up wrong. (To be fair, the manual is minimal, and the guide is described in only one sentence, and without step by step instructions.) However, if the grooves in the guide are slipped over the top flanges of the main rails, there is no way the guide can come closer than about a quarter inch from the blades, nor further away, for that matter. The guide rides captive on the rails, and a collision with the blade is simply not possible. Nor can the pusher descend below the bottom of the guide; it can not touch the blade ever, under any circumstance. Fourthly, in using it on a wide variety of foods, I've never had a jam. I suspect that the users who experienced that tried to slowly push each slice through, rather than "strum" it like, well, a mandoline. (That's why it's named that!) Getting through a large onion or a potato is the work of 15 seconds. In terms of the quality of cut, it's equal to my Cuisinart. The cut is far superior to the slicing drums for the KitchenAid mixer. It's quicker to set up and clean up than either of those. (The Cuisinart will slice small things, like mushrooms, which can't be done safely on this or any mandoline, and is a better choice for cooking "for an army." It won't take a whole large potato, though, while the mandoline will.) In sum, I've never found anything to criticize, having used it for a wide range of ingredients. I don't even put it away any more; I leave it hanging on the wall so I can grab it quickly. The current price for this mandoline, given its quality, is excellent - I'd suggest you snag it before it goes away.

I have been looking for a nice mandoline for years... I knew the features I wanted and virtually everyone fell a bit short or was more than I wished to spend.. FINALLY Amazon has this MIU designed mandoline I have been looking for. I have been slicing, dicing, waffling, and playing with vegetables like a little kid during last holiday celebration. If ANYONE out there has never used or is unaware of the wonders of a mandoline.. try finely chopping an onion into perfectly even pieces like this thing will in virtually a nano-second! WOW..

I seen few bad comments from other reviewer. I have call the company up. The one that come with a storage case is two years old model that have the old cutting blade which is not as sharp as the one I got.

The new model have the cutting blade imported from Germany which is razor sharp.

On opening my unit I was initially excited to find the unit to be a sturdy well constructed product. However, when I opened the blades my excitement was dampened as they did not appear very sharp. Not wanting to jump to any conclusions I put the slicing blade into the unit and got a firm tomato as a test item. My fears were confirmed. Rather than nice even slices I ended up with jagged, uneven partial mush. The other blades were no better even when I switched to a test potato. The blades were so dull in fact, that I could safely run my finger along the edge (something I would not try with my cheaper $15 (retail) plastic v-slicer.

I would like to use this unit due to it robust construction, however I must first find a source of sharper blades or a way to sharpen the existing ones. Until then it is back to my old plastic v-slicer for now.

UPDATE
I contacted the manufacture MUI France via email about my dull blades and they responded right away indicating that they would send a replacement set to me free of charge. 10 points so far for quick and friendly customer service. I will provide another update when the blades arrive.

Sarah Deming has said it all very well. This machine is a highly polished piece of junk which is very difficult to use. The blades are so dull that they often stop midway through the food that is being sliced. To use the machine safely, the food must be cut into very small pieces which often don't suit my needs.

I just got this mandolin and was very excited to use it. After reading the reviews, I read the manual, examined the whole thing and carefully put it together. I got mushy slices when I was able to get a slice. I tried a lime, a bell pepper and a sweet potato. The blades do seem a little dull. I took it out and tried slicing paper with it - it sliced it but not as easily as I expect brand new 'very sharp' blades to do. But I think there's a problem with the safety handle: how do I hold the food down so it makes a firm slice? The pins won't hold the food. I tried it without the safety handle (not recommended) and was able to slice the items. Maybe mine is defective, maybe I'm not using it correctly, I don't know. But if I can't figure it out, I'm returning it.
By the way, the product is made in China, not France.

The angle of the blade makes it very hard to get an even cut. Basic slices, like potato, were thicker on one end than the other no matter what technique or effore was made. Waffle fries are NOT happening with this thing. The depth of the serated blade was too shallow to allow for a real waffle cut, and the 'thicker on one end' symptom described above makes it extra impossible.

I promptly returned it.

This is definately a great mandoline. Unlike some other mandolines which cut at pre-set thicknesses the lever on the MIU allows micro adjustments so you can cut at the exact thickness you desire....I do have one problem with this product however. It does not come exactly as it is shown in the "expanded" picture. The plastic container appearing on the right hand side of the picture DOES NOT come with the item. It only comes with the storage container for the blades. The larger plastic container for storing the mandoline certainly would have been a nice addition and it's one of the reasons why I ordered this product. The product description says it "comes with a case for safe, convenient storage". I guess that must mean the cardboard box it is packed in. Not really the biggest deal but still I'm dissapointed after having spent $80