Customer Reviews

Zyliss Easy Slice Mandolin, White

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I bought this mandoline to replace a ten-year-old Boerner V-slicer which I though was getting a little dull and now I'm glad I didn't throw the old one away. I use a mandoline to get consistently thin, thin slices, and the Zyliss doesn't get the job done. Cutting with the .75-mm insert yields slices that vary between paper-thin and 1/16 of an inch thick -- a very long way from .75mm. I suspect the plastic used in the frame and insert is just too flexible or too poorly supported to provide thin slices every time.

In addition the rail-guide system is cumbersome and makes it very difficult to position food for slicing.

In short, for me, this product was a waste of money and the only product I've ever ordered from Amazon that I wish I could send back.

Buy a Boerner V-slicer instead: its a better slicer and it costs...less!

I have wanted a mandoline for years and finally recently bought the Zyliss safety-rail guided unit. I love it! It slices uniformly and easily. Ive never used one before and it was super simple, and super safe. If you want a product that will help cut prep time this is it. Ive read a review where the person had trouble with uniform slicing...no problem with mine. I cut through a green pepper and onion so fast I grabbed a zuchinni just so I could have something else to cut lol.

I had the opportunity to test this mandoline once without actually having to buy it, and I am thankful for that. (This is not even close to being on par with the Bron mandoline, but I guess that is what you get for spending a third of the price.) Anyway, I tried slicing cucumbers and carrots, as well as julienning the latter vegetable, and the pieces were far from uniform. The food holder was clumsy and difficult to use, especially with the orange that I tried to slice. None of the blade units contained particularly sharp blades, which you definately need in a mandoline. The only reason that I am even giving this object two stars instead of one is because of the safety rail, which did make me feel more comfortable about using a mandoline in the first place.

when my v-slicer dulled after nearly 10 years of lots of use and abuse, i decided to upgrade to this zyliss. big mistake! the guard rail is difficult to use, and i can't get the uniform slices i used to with my v-slicer. plus it is bulkier and harder to store than the v-slicer. so this is going back and i'm getting a v-slicer for half the price, but more than twice the results!

Buy a different mandoline. This one is awkward to use and very poorly designed. The higher quality stainless mandolines are a much better choice and worth the price difference.

Based on the poor reviews I almost returned this unused! Glad I didn't. Once I downloaded the manuals and saw the complexity of the other brands and that everyone who owned a Swissmar Borner cut themselves... I decided to try this one myself. Some of the complaints are the safe guards against "the hard to use other brands" and the dangerous Borner. The Zyliss is very easy to use, very easy to clean and to store. Though I took the warnings from the instructions not to throw the parts with blades in the dishwasher as they may become dulled. Anyone who appreciates their cutlery never uses the dishwasher! I made the best oven baked potato chips the first night I had it. I do recommend it. It is less expensive than the Oxo and much easier and safer to use.

I've had my Zyliss Mandoline for over six months now and I appreciate it more and more every time I use it. I have several less expensive units that have diagonal blades and they are close to useless. The Zyliss unit cuts beautifully and easily and the compact storage arrangement can't be beat. One could buy the much more expensive French design made entirely of metal but I doubt if it could cut any better or even as well. The Zyliss is made almost entirely of durable plastic - except for the *very* sharp cutting blade - so no rusting or denting. I frequently have used my Zyliss Mandoline rather than drag out my Cusinart Processor.

Lyndee Bee is right. I don't know what kind of slicer the one-star reviewer used before, but it must have been amazing to slam the Zyliss so badly.

To Lyndee's positive review, I can only add a couple of things. I can't even imagine how much sideways or twisting force it would take to "derail" the guide. The guide is a long, heavy plastic piece with a "C" profile that engages the track slots top and bottom.

I also like the fact that there are guide slots on both sides, so whether you're a lefty or righty you can put the guard on the side you want it.

I have medium-sized hands, and I find the pusher piece perfectly comfortable - and if it were smaller, the one-star poster would be griping about having to cut everything up to get it to fit into the guard tube. As it is, you can comfortably get a decent sized potato in there.

I also don't understand how you can get to the point that you're randomly jamming in the inserts into their storage box to the point that you're bending things. Friendly household tip - don't force things. Plus, there's no real need to have more than one insert out at a time anyway - they are clearly labeled in such a way that you only have to slide them out of the holder a half inch and you can see exactly which insert you've got.

And it's perfectly simple to store this upright. Slide the insert box onto the guide rails so that the open end is facing the tall end of the slicer. Then slide the guard onto the rail from the top. Put the pusher piece into the food tube from the underside, lower the guard and slide it up against the inserts - the edge of the guard will slip between a couple of the inserts. At that point, you can store it sitting on the flat end of the insert box, or hang it by the tall legs from a pot rack, which is where mine is right now.

I also don't understand where the blade risk is when properly stored. First, as Lyndee points out, storing a few inches of razor in dark places is probably not the best idea. But if you've stored it properly, you'll notice something. The thickest insert (mine says 7mm, roughly 1/4 inch) is longer than the other inserts. They made it that way for a reason. This is the insert you clip in to store the slicer, and it underhangs the blades quite safely. With the insert box covering the blade from the top, and the long insert covering the blade from the bottom, you'd have to be seriously talented and determined to touch the blade edge.

This is a good unit - the only reason I gave it 4.49 stars is that it's a plastic unit, and there are metal ones for a comparable price. On the flip side - the plastic seem strong enough, and in two years of routine use, mine still works like new.

First of all, I feel like im going to slice my wrist open just looking at this thing. It will not cut uniform shapes of anything, let alone potatoes. My sole desire was to make sweet potato chips with this waste case and I cannot even slice through one end of a potato without using all of my strength to push it through. It is easy for vegetables like zucchini ----but its a zucchini!!!!!!!! The white base deck was stained orange after one use and will not come clean, food gets trapped under the blades...Save your money and chop the old fashioned way.

I love to use this mandolin and so does the rest of my family. We use it to cut potatoes, eggplant, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber, apples, lettuce, cheese, and more. It does a fast job with it all. Our blades are still sharp after 4 years of frequent use....I do not put any parts into the dishwasher...I recommend hand washing only. I don't use the cut guard, but it's easy to use if you feel more comfortable with it on. My husband and I couldn't live without this piece of kitchen equipment. It cuts our prep time for making vegetable fried rice, salads, and more down to a few minutes. It's very durable and still looks new after 4 years.