slicer recommendations?

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Lorenzoid
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slicer recommendations?

Post by Lorenzoid » Sat Jul 18, 2020 18:53

First, let me introduce myself, as this is Post No. 1 for me here. I can't believe I hadn't found this forum until doing research on slicers. Rytek Kutas and the Marianskis are my heroes! I have been making sausages for 20 years and have recently been dabbling in other cured meat products. Slicing by hand doesn't do them justice.

I have read a few threads here in which slicers have been discussed. It seems there are a number of options. I have ruled out the el-cheapo consumer grade slicers in the sub-$200 range. I'd rather pay a few hundred dollars for something that will last a hobbyist many years. I see a number of similar looking slicers in the $500-600 range sold under various brand names--not unlikely all made by the same manufacturer in China. I have had poor experiences with this sort of equipment--things that look like the well-known commercial models but are made cheaply, sometimes of poor quality stainless steel, so I am skeptical. Brand-new big-name commercial slicers seem to start at $800 or so and of course go into the thousands. For example, I see on Webrestaurantstore that Globe has a low-end line called Chefmate in the $800 range, and Berkel has an Economy slicer that can be found for under $1000, I believe. I have forked out as much for other equipment like my Vacmaster. However, there is a lot of used restaurant equipment out there, in stores as well as ebay and Craigslist. The difficulty I see with Craigslist is knowing in advance what I'm getting into; some of those units may be old, too large for my space, gunked up and in need deep cleaning, or who knows what. I can only imagine what having one repaired by the manufacturer costs if I can't do it myself. I vaguely recall seeing factory-refurbished slicers somewhere. All this pondering leads to my question of whether anyone has a recommendation for a slicer in this range?
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Scogar
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Re: slicer recommendations?

Post by Scogar » Sun Jul 19, 2020 14:10

Welcome Lorenzoid, after waiting for 20 years to slice by machine my thought is wait just a tad more and go for a restaurant auction, there are a few national online variations. If you wait long enough you should be able to get something that you can drive to; to pick up at a fair price. I was able to pick up a 120VAC Manual (Mod 1612) Hobart Slicer for about $350-$400. It is true that it was gunked up more than I thought possible. Almost like they stored it in the vent hood of a frycook for 20 years. It was daunting but I grabbed a friend and a case of beer and we completely disassembled it and with some scrubbies, some bleach cleaner and a scraper it actually went kind of fast. Fast being 4 hours instead of the 4 days I anticipated. I didn't look forward to it and I didn't actually enjoy doing it, other than the beer and camaraderie, but in the end I am happy that I have a professional manual slicer that will last another generation at least.

As for new, I'll let others chime in
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Butterbean
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Re: slicer recommendations?

Post by Butterbean » Tue Jul 21, 2020 21:01

I agree with Scogar. Be patient and look at the restaurant equipment auction places. Up around the Atlanta area there are a lot of things for sale at reasonable prices. Personally, I like Hobart and have found several good quality commercial slicers for just a couple hundred dollars. Keep in mind that not many people are in the market for something that big so if you are patient its a buyers market.
Lorenzoid
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Re: slicer recommendations?

Post by Lorenzoid » Tue Jul 21, 2020 23:09

Thanks, guys. I’ll look out for a used Hobart. That thing ought to last forever.
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