Meat Slicer - School me

[SamSteele]

Hi all,

Been doing our own meat processing for quite some time, but I don’t currently own a meat slicer. I’m thinking about picking one up for the odd job, but probably not enough to go with a heavy duty commercial unit.

I don’t know a whole lot about what to look for in a slicer, so if any of you care to share some experience or advice I would appreciate it.

SS


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[hogie]

A good knife and cutting board, been down that road. Hard to clean, contamination can happen. Maybe you have some different thickness meats but can be more safe.

[SamSteele]

Yeah, that’s what I have done to date, but after hand slicing 11 lbs of bacon I was hoping to find something that was a bit more consistent.

SS


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[antlercarver]

We have a Chefs Choice 615A. comes apart for easy cleaning, no hard to get at crevice's that may hold blood or meat juices.

[MountainTi]

I've run $150 meat slicers. They work, but you get what you pay for, they're all the same. Have a hard time spending $600 on one. Someday.. Most likely better off looking for a used commercial one

[dfarms11]

We have had 2 different cheap slicers. I'd rather use my knife honestly. If I were buying another one, I'd definitely look at paying some good money for one.

[Hunter65]

I have a cabelas light duty model about10 years old. Works for my needs. Only 2 complaints, the sliding action is not long enough to slice normal length bacon so I have to cut my bacon to about 4-5" so it fits the rack, and 2nd it seems to not cut clean through all the way to the end of the slice, it seems to get hung up just as you are about to finish each cut. Minor annoyance. Works for me otherwise. Use it maybe 3 times a year.

[Tannerdog]

I just bought a Weston 9" from crappy tire on sale. Cut up 2 hams and 2 lb of back bacon last night and it worked great. Probably 20 min and 3 big ziplocks of slices. By hand would have taken me....way too long. You get what you pay for as said but for occasional use it worked well.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by Hunter65

I have a cabelas light duty model about10 years old. Works for my needs. Only 2 complaints, the sliding action is not long enough to slice normal length bacon so I have to cut my bacon to about 4-5" so it fits the rack, and 2nd it seems to not cut clean through all the way to the end of the slice, it seems to get hung up just as you are about to finish each cut. Minor annoyance. Works for me otherwise. Use it maybe 3 times a year.

That's the biggest problem I have with cheap slicers. When doing back bacon I do 2 slices then roll it over 180 degrees and do 2. It does help make a cheap slicer a little more tolerable

[ditch donkey]

I bought a used 12” Berkel. Really nice shape. I think I paid $275. Took a long time to find a deal. But I’d never be without it. It’s meant to be taken apart and cleaned. No spots you can’t get into. But it’s incredibly heavy. I have a dedicated butcher space, so it can stay put. But something to think about.

I usually do 1 beef, and 3 hogs a year. Slice all your stir fry and jerky meat on meat cutting day. I’ll start doing bacon probably next year.

Make sure all the pieces are there. The knife sharpener is often missing. Make sure the knife is in really good condition. No dings because someone’s employee was day dreaming and sliced a bone.

If it needs a knife or sharpener replaced, those are big money items, so you’d better get an amazing deal on it! Like almost free. Otherwise have patience, keep and eye on buy and sells.

[waldedw]

I have a sunbeam model 320 meat slicer, it must be 15 years old now, $79 when I bought it, probably double that now, I probably slice 50+ lbs a year with it, all our sandwich meats for the crew in hunting camp, bacon, larger ham rolls split in 4 then sliced and frozen, roast beef cooked and overnighted in the fridge sliced for sandwiches or beef on a bun. adjustable from shaved to 25mm thickness.

It's very easy to strip down for cleaning, just keeps rolling along, wouldn't be without it.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by SamSteele

Yeah, that’s what I have done to date, but after hand slicing 11 lbs of bacon I was hoping to find something that was a bit more consistent.

SS


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I cut my pork belly into 5 vertical sections, 4 cuts and it makes 5 pieces about 1kg ea. I process these and then cut each in half to freeze, I end up with 10 pcs aprox. 1lb square pieces that are easy to slice with a knife because they are not to long. I freeze them without slicing and then slice as I need.

[calgarychef]

This has been asked before but I’ll chime in again.

Look at fb marketplace, Kijiji etc. and find a used commercial slicer.
Berkel or Hobart are good choices. Check the blade isn’t worn out, and that the
Sharpening attachement is still there, it needs 2 stones by the way. No sharpener =no sale. You can usually buy new stones for the sharpener but a whole new attachment is often hundreds of dollars. Check that the attachment works, it straddles the blade, one stone on each side. If they’re grungy you’ll have to clean them up so they revolve while in contact with the blade. If the blade ISNT worn out it will still be “very close” to the guide. Hard to explain but when it’s worn out you’ll see it. Don’t buy worn out ones as they won’t sharpen properly with the sharpening attachment… some really good commercial sharpeners can thin the blade but I don’t think it’s worth buying a machine that needs that.

You’ll pay $800.00 at least.

Buy it, use it for years then sell it for more than you paid.

[pavilion]

Got the valley one from P auto for 50$ on sale years back, no complaints really but as it says above just keep your skin's peeled for a proper one, got this globe GC 12 in a lot at an auction with with two jack all's for the same 50$, much nicer machine

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[Savage Bacon]

We have a basic Red Head slicer. I wish we had something a bit more industrial. But it does the job. We slice a lot of jerky, and pork belly/pork loins into bacon.

One thing to look for if possible is a ring style blade that doesn't have a center. Like pictured above. Not a complete disk type blade.

On ours, the uncut meat portion sometimes sticks to the center of the blade. Pulling it off of the tray and spinning it.

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[calgarychef]

There’s a “globe” slicer on fb marketplace right now. $350.00… snap it up if it’s still available!

[Dean2]

Had a few. There is a big difference in how hard various ones are to take apart and clean. Commercial grade means it cuts well but is not necessarily easy to take apart and clean. Also, some are made of dishwasher cleanable parts, many others are not. Sold our last one quite a few years ago. Thus, no idea what the current best is as far as easy cleaning, but that to me is a far bigger consideration than most other things, as you MUST clean it thoroughly after every use.

[Eagle Trapper]

Great advice on used slicers found on Kijiji/marketplace. I picked up a 9"omcan new on marketplace 4 years ago or so for $300. Works great for jerky, ham, roast. Haven't had a task unfulfilled by it yet.

Like others said investigate how it is disassembled to be cleaned. Some are easy, some unnecessarily difficult.

I strongly dislike the Cabela's models I have tried while processing with friends and family, but maybe they have a higher end model worth using.

[Puma]

I bought mine from a Deli that was closing down. A nice commercial unit. Bit of a pain to clean but has the self sharpener and infinite settings from almost transparent to a half inch. A couple hundred bucks cash. Watch the paper for closeouts and receivership sales.

[amosfella]

There were a couple of commercial slicers available for offers at Reid's Auction in Calgary.

[omega50]

Beware the cheap home slicers that have overly wide gaps between the blade face and the sliding carriage.Some are so egregious that the blade pulls your product into the gap and cuts wedges. Leaving you to hand cut the heel pieces that would slice cleanly on commercial machines.