*how* you slice your toppings makes a big difference in taste !

[canadianbacon]

Hi guys,

My mother-in-law always uses her Salton brand meat slicer to slice her Sunday night roast beef.  We for years here
at home were hand cutting our roast beef.  Then a few years ago we bought a meat slicer simular to hers and our roast beef
tastes so so much better.  The texture is just that much better.  I like a very thinly cut roast beef slice, like one would get at the deli
counter.  I am positive this is not in my head ... but I would swear that the roast beef is more juicy cut with our meat machine.  I just
asked my wife in fact and she agrees with me, and she also said " I wonder why that is " , referring to why the slice of roast beef would
be more juicy.

Now, bringing this to the pizza world, I had a friend who owned a resturaunt many years ago, and he made subs, hot dogs, pizzas etc.
Anyway, I can still remember him cutting a huge bag of mushrooms ( maybe 10 pounds worth ) on his very large professional meat
slicer.  It had a special attachment for veggies.  He did his mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and even green peppers.

He told me that they loved this machine because for smoked meat subs they could slice the meat VERY thinly, and make it look like
more meat was in the submarine sandwich than there actually was. ( all the places here do this )

Anyway, whenever I go and get a pizza anywhere, the mushrooms and green peppers are VERY thinly sliced. 

I have tried to slice mushrooms and green peppers, as thin as I can, ( and I do have a lot of experience using a chef's knife, etc )
but I just cannot compete with one of these commercials machines.

Anyway, I really DO believe that the muchrooms they slice at the pizza place taste better because they are so thin, and that goes
for the green peppers also.  I find they just taste better.

Now, tonight, while I was thinking of posting this, I was looking thru my kitchen drawer, and came across a garlic slicer......

Then the light went off in my head ! --- hey ! let me try this out with a fresh mushroom !  So I get a mushroom out of the new package
my wife bought tonight for me, and try it !

WOW ! --- amazing ! .... the slices are PIZZA PARLOUR quality ! ( slicing I am talking about ) !! 

Anyway, I got so excited, I pulled out the ol' digital camera, and shot some video of me slicing a muchroom !

The slices rival that of those made on a nice mandoline ( something I have wanted for years )

Anyway, I am very excited about this new discovery and just had to share it with you all !

Click here to see some video shot about 30 mins ago or so of me slicing a mushroom, and see
just how paper thin these slices are ! 

Both videos below are the same, the larger one is just bigger/ better quality.

Videos are here: ( click a link to view the one you want to )
www.detroitgrillking.com/frosty/grater/grater-small.wmv ( 4.9 megs )
www.detroitgrillking.com/frosty/grater/grater-large.wmv ( 9.5 megs )

[tamitall]

Your video made me pause and think..  My cheese plane does a very similar job to blocks of cheese.  I ran a mushroom through it, and came up with some very slim slices.

Thanks for the inspiration!

[lilbuddypizza]

I believe Cosmo Kramer praised the beauty of the x-tra thin deli slice. The taste is there because of all the "surface area" .

[iceman06]

Ah, just as I thought. More surface area. Makes sense to me.

[SemperFi]

The slices rival that of those made on a nice mandoline ( something I have wanted for years )

The Japanese mandolines  are rather inexpensive compared to the french variety.  A French one is $100+, but the Japanese is around 30.  I have used both professionally, and the Japanese is superior.  Easier to use, easier to clean, lighter, fits over a bowl or work surface easier, blades are sharper (after repeated use) and less expensive to replace.  But that is just in my opinion.

[canadianbacon]

Hi there SemperFi,

do you happen to have a link to any Japanese mandoline ?

I'd be interested in seeing how it differs in shape etc than the French mandoline.

( My wife bought one about 2 weeks ago from Wal-Mart, and it's a piece of junk, however it was only $19.99 ( about $15 American )
made by a company called "StarFrit " )

It did not cut veggies very thinly either ( there was no way to even adjust it )

Thanks in advance for any info.

The Japanese mandolines  are rather inexpensive compared to the french variety.  A French one is $100+, but the Japanese is around 30.  I have used both professionally, and the Japanese is superior.  Easier to use, easier to clean, lighter, fits over a bowl or work surface easier, blades are sharper (after repeated use) and less expensive to replace.  But that is just in my opinion.

[SemperFi]

OK, I am looking at the box mine came in, and the only English on it is "New Benriner". 
Here it is on EBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-JAPANESE-BENRINER-MANDOLINE-CUTTER-SLICER_W0QQitemZ250070337602QQihZ015QQcategoryZ20641QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

But it should come with 3 blades, a worthless blade guard, and the actual mandoline.  Yes, its plastic, but you aren't culling Acorn squash on it.  I used mine for 3 years at the Ritz Carlton, and never had a single problem.  The french style really is too bulky, with large legs that kinda tripod out. Pain in the butt once you associate it with the money spent on it. I actually picked mine up for 30 bills at a local Asian supermarket.  By the way, it is now over 5 years old, still have the same blades that it came with, and they will still take your finger tip off if you don't respect the machine.  I hope this helps.

[SemperFi]

Canadian Bacon,

here is a link to see the French style mandoline.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/asiana-west_1928_10553305

This one goes for $144.  Boy they have gone up in price!  Sorry, last time I checked it was only $100.  IMHO, the Japanese style works just a well if not better.

Adam

[chewie]

Hi there SemperFi,

do you happen to have a link to any Japanese mandoline ?

I'd be interested in seeing how it differs in shape etc than the French mandoline.

( My wife bought one about 2 weeks ago from Wal-Mart, and it's a piece of junk, however it was only $19.99 ( about $15 American )
made by a company called "StarFrit " )

It did not cut veggies very thinly either ( there was no way to even adjust it )

Thanks in advance for any info.

I recommend checking amazon.com for mandolins and reading the comments.  You don't have to buy from amazon, but you can see what a lot of others have to say about some of them.

I spent an evening reading comments and reviews there before finally settling on a borner v-slicer.

http://www.amazon.com/Borner-V-1001-Swissmar-V-Slicer-Plus/dp/B0000632QE/sr=8-1/qid=1169227623/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0719003-7276840?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden

It's coming up at $22 right now for me.  I bought mine on black friday for $25, and it had been $30 the day before and the day after.  Silly season pricing I guess.

So far I've had good luck with it.

[Art]

I bought this same Borner slicer more than 15 years ago and it still serves me well. Although mine came with a few more accessories, it cost almost $40 back then. For this price, I highly recommend it!    Art

[icemncmth]

Actually I think most resturants slice their vegi's for two reasons...one it makes your product go further...the other is it cooks quicker.

So on a pizza if it is thin then it will cook more even. And the shrooms will soak up less fluid..

[Bryan S]

I also have the Borner V-Slicer, didn't use it yet though. If you go to Amazon on Fridays they usually have it for $19.99. I bought mine a few weeks ago, i think it was the 1st week of Jan for $19.99 on a Friday.