In the quest to be healthy, there seems to be no end to the ideas we come up with. We have become very familiar with the problems a diet high in simple or high glycemic foods can cause (diabetes, weight gain, heart disease, etc), and many of us look for ways to reduce our dependence on things like white wheat products and other white grains. But if you love pasta, there is simply something very satisfying about sitting down with a plate of noodles you twist on your fork, covered in a delicious sauce. However, I've never found substituting whole wheat spaghetti for white at all satisfying due to texture and taste differences - (and now I learn that is a big mistake anyway - but more on that later). When I heard about spiralizing veggies as a replacement, I wondered how that would work.
I've tried 2 other types of spiralizers before deciding to try this one. The first was one of the hand held ones, shaped something like an hourglass. While it made spirals out of veggies, I wasn't happy with the result and gave up on spiralizing for a while. Then recently I decided to try the Cuisinart handcranked spiralizer I found at Costco (also sold on Amazon) excited to try my hand at it again. However, while it made ribbons just fine out of the zucchini I used, it made mush out of it when I tried to make noodles. (Turns out it is probably defective and Cuisinart had no replacements.) I did like how the zucchini ribbons tasted with marinara sauce, so I continued my hunt for a decent spiralizer. After looking at several, I decided on the Paderno Pro 4 Blade.
It came yesterday and I immediately put it to work. I found it to be very intuitive and easy to disassemble from its stored state and reassemble into its in-use state, very easy to set up and then fold back up for storage. It feels quite solid and sturdy. I also like how the storage lid doubles as a food container to catch the spiralized veggies.
After preparing it for use, I pulled out a zucchini, cut it as directed, and began producing wonderful spiral noodles effortlessly with very little waste. The very sharp blades worked perfectly. When I compare these blades for making noodles with the blades in the Cuisinart, there is simply no comparison. These are very well designed. Needless to say, given my previous two experiences with spiralizers, I was immediately impressed. I dumped the spiralized "noodles" into a wok type pan, added some oil, stirred them up, then added some marinara sauce for a simple dish. I loved it. I can't see myself ever desiring to eat regular pasta again.
My next spiralizing project will involve focusing on helping me incorporate into my diet foods low in lectins, such as sweet potatoes/yams, etc. Unfortunately, zucchini and other squash are not in that group (neither are seeded fruits or vegetables in general, or grains). People have become familiar with the problems of gluten - but may not realize that gluten is a lectin, one of many, many lectins that negatively affect our health.
If you're interested in finding out what lectins are, how very seriously damaging to your health they are, and how a "healthy" diet is likely full of them, prepare to have your health conscious lifestyle, full of "healthy" fruits, vegetables and grains, turned upside down. If you pursue this, you will discover much of what we have been told is healthy and good for us, really isn't. This is a pretty big paradigm shift and takes some time to digest, but an easy way to introduce yourself to this is with the new book "PLANT PARADOX" written by a practicing cardiologist, cardiac surgeon and leader of a team that has done more heart transplants, adult and pediatric, than anyone else in the world. His credentials are prestigious, so I decided to give what he had to say a hearing. I recommend others do so as well. I can tell you, after learning about the lectin "WHEAT GERM AGLUTININ" or WGA (which is not a gluten), and how very dangerous it is, I won't be eating whole wheat products again. WGA is found in the bran of wheat - thus in ALL whole wheat breads and foods. Due to its small size, not only can WGA be absorbed through your gut, but it can also pass through the blood brain barrier, something other lectins can't do, thus it can wreck more havoc than other lectins.
Now I understand why I've always felt better when I ate white bread vs whole wheat bread. If I eat wheat products from now on, they will be made with white flour where the bran has been removed, such as white bread, or better yet, sourdough which is fermented. I won't be eating those "healthy" grains like quinoa unless I can properly prepare them - for example, through pressure cooking or fermentation, which destroys lectins.
Given how following a low lectin diet removes a great many food choices which have become staples in the American diet, having a good spiralizer to turn good vegetables into delicious, attractive meals has become even more important for me. I am very happy with this one, and hope to be using it for several years to come.
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This Item  Paderno World Cuisine 4-Blade Folding Vegetable Slicer / Spiralizer Pro, Counter-Mounted and includes 4 Different Stainless Steel Blades | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | — | $24.99 | -30% $34.99 List: $49.99 | $59.95 | $30.99 | -17% $39.96 List: $47.95 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Thursday, Nov 21 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Nov 21 | — | Get it as soon as Thursday, Nov 21 | Get it as soon as Thursday, Nov 21 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Brieftons | PACIFIC DRAGON | Amazon.com | Brieftons | Hour Loop |
| blade material | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel |
| blade shape | Round | Rectangular | Round | Round | Rectangular | Rectangular |
| blade length | — | 6 centimeters | 5 inches | — | 7.5 centimeters | 1 inches |
| material | Plastic | Quality ABS plastic | Stainless Steel | Plastic | Quality ABS plastic, Stainless Steel | Plastic |
| operation mode | Manual | Manual | Manual | Automatic | Manual | Manual |
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Clunky & Hard to Use
I found this device difficult to use. I'm an experienced cook, and I like new gadgets as long as they do what they say they will do. It's important that they make meal prep easier & more convenient. I also like quality, particularly when it comes to kitchen tools.Experienced cooks need reliable, solid, easy-to-use tools, and this is a.) not reliable because it sometimes takes 2 people to operate safely, b.) not solid because it is almost entirely made of molded plastic except for the razor-sharp exposed blades, and c.) not easy-to-use because the entire machine needs to be rinsed off with every use. It's not a matter of breaking it down into parts & cleaning the parts. I'm saying that food gets into every crevice, and you need to wipe or rinse the main cabinet which also contains the blade storage compartments. I have owned a Cuisinart for many years, as well as a Kitchenaid Mixer, so I don't have a problem taking apart a machine for cleaning. But, to clean this thing, you have to wipe or rinse the main body of the machine, as well as its individual moving parts. What a pain!I also don't have a problem with manually-operated devices, as long as they are safe and as long as they work. On my first attempt, I tried to spiralize a sweet potato for a sweet potato carbonara recipe. In order to grind this SOB potato, I had to hold & turn the potato in place because the very sharp plastic teeth on the gripping piece kept stripping through the raw end of the potato, and the plastic handle did not have the strength to continuously crank it over. You have to use smaller, softer veggies for the machine to work smoothly. In addition, my husband had to use both of his hands to keep the press moving forward and to keep the suction cups firmly attached to the counter. If the suction releases, the spiralizer becomes completely useless because the design relies on the force of pressing the vegetable through the blade.The shallow catch tray that doubles as a cover for the machine is another impractical aspect of an overall poor design. It is an inch deep, so you can imagine what happens when big piles of spirals start to build up almost immediately. I couldn't use my normal cutting board to catch the spirals because it has a textured surface and the suction feet could not get a secure hold. So, you have to dump the spirals as you go, which just adds another inconvenient step to using this device. In addition, the machine can't be moved easily because it is suctioned onto the countertop!All I can say is that this thing is way to flimsy for practical use, at least in my kitchen. I'll try it again with softer vegetables. The long spirals are pretty neat, but not worth hassling with this beast. As a side note, eating a plateful of sweet potato spirals is NOT like eating a plate of pasta. It's like having a plate of sweet potato fries for dinner. Not same.The basic side-ways design is flawed and potentially dangerous if you're fumbling around with a stubborn vegetable that keeps slipping away from the grip. A top-down feed would make more sense than a side-to-side feed. That way, gravity would be working with the direction of the feed, and the force of pressing down on the vegetable would help maintain the suction attachment to the counter. Spiralizers are a trend, but I'll wait until I see one that is a sturdier machine before I buy another one.
