I have used many different slicers (V-type, diagonal) and this stainless steel Bron which I also own is my favorite by far. The Borner V slicer I own does not have legs and is thus unstable, it is okay for quick non-uniform shredding and slicing. This model has it's own legs so your two hands can focus on the cutting. If you simply pay attention to where the blades are (put the cell phone down), you shouldn't cut yourself. It has a sliding guard for the food to rest in which attaches to the mandoline (which in the picture of the item is shown attached upside-down) and I believe to be safer than the free floating guards of the others. One plus of the steel construction is absolutely true uniform slices which are produced, which has not been experienced with plastic slicers. If you have the money, it is a great investment that should last you your lifetime.
Realy happy with the perfomance of this mandoline so far. Had it for about 2 weeks now and it is way better than the last mandoline I owned. Of course it was a bit more expensive than the last one but well worth it to me. I saw one in local store at nearly double the price ($280.00) so $150.00 was a great deal.
The safety gaurd is easy to use and solid stainless construction. The last one I owned had a cheap plastic gaurd and it was not guided on rails like this one. The guided safety gaurd prevents slipping when cutting hard root vegetables and damaging the blade (or myself).
The blades for this one are all self contained on the madonline and rotate and lock into position. The straight blade is very sharp so be sure to raise the upper sliding surface above the blade to avoid cutting yourself when haddling/storing the item.
Storage Really happy that all of the blades and the gaurd can store together on the machine. It looks good left out in the open as well. It hangs a little funny off the rack when hung by the support leg since it swivels out, but I may drill a hole near the top to get it to hang straight up and down.
Be sure to read and understand the instruction booklet provided with it.
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After much research this was my first choice until actually using the de Buyer dicing mandoline form William and Sonoma. I knew I wanted a quality and versatile mandoline that would last for years to come as well as do the job with consistent results. I've used two other mandolines, the OXO mandoline and de Buyer dicing mandoline, this is the only one that will give consistent slicing thickness at 1mm or less thickness between slices as well as from one end to the other end of the slice (where most failed continually)
It's not made clear on amazon.com but this particular Bron mandoline come with the 10mm and 3mm julienne blades. 2mm blades would be nice sometimes but cutting 3mm x 1mm yields a similar cut that is nice in its own right. You can always purchase the blade set with the 2mm and (8mm / 4.5mm) blades separately. This brings me to a fantastic attribute to this mandoline. If you somehow break something you can purchase every single part separately!
The Good and great: It cuts perfectly at any thickness. The blades are super sharp. The guard a bit odd at first compared to the deBuyer but in the end superior in my opinion as the guard really transmits pushing power and isn't a hindrance at all. Blades are riveted in for strength. Its stainless steel where it counts. It doesn't need a non stick surface for the food to slide down because the polished SS is slicker than anything else. Julienne blades are fixed to the mandoline. All one piece so no cheap plastic blade holders to fall off as in the de Buyer dicing model. Separate blades fro crinkle and straight. Collapsible feet that fold neatly out of sight. It looks beautiful leaned against the wall on your countertop!
The slightly less fortunate: The rubber on the feet slide more on some countertops than other models (either hold at the cross bar on the legs or sit on large wood cutting board) The guard doesn't work for the crinkle blade (buy the Microplane Cut-Resistant Glove for $10-15). Only comes with two julienne blades.
Nothing is perfect generally but I do with the guard worked for the crinkle blade. I would have paid the extra for the additional SS required but the quality of the product out weights the few negative things.
In the end if you are looking to spend more than fifty bucks on a mandoline spend the extra and get this. You will be able to give it to your grand kids some day!
Note about Photo. The Amazon photo of this is slightly wrong. Guard is backward and the legs also fold out with the vertical support from the base of the legs to the top as pictured on many other websites.
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First of all, I want to say that my Bron mandoline came razor sharp out of the box. Anyone that says that their's is dull must have gotten a defective unit, or else they have it set up backwards, but I don't think that anyone would do that. Those who say it's unsteady must definitely have it set up wrong, because the Bron mandoline is very steady and heavy duty, so that you can concentrate on cutting instead of having to hold it with one hand like most of the cheaper ones.
Mine is sharp enough to cut sweet potatoes into thin slices. But, this is not the kind of mandoline to use on tomatoes. A V blade mandoline is better for that. I hate mandolines that you have to hold with one hand, and the v blade mandolines I've used in the past were a pain to use compared with this one. I use a chef's knife to cut tomatoes with, and if it is sharp enough you can cut paper thin slices of even the ripest tomatoes. There are dedicated tomato slicers that don't cost much more than this mandoline if you really need something to cut tomatoes with.
I would recommend getting a braided stainless steel or kevlar butcher's glove to protect your fingers and hand. The first time I used my mandoline, I knicked my finger while cutting a cucumber. At first, I saw no blood, but a few minutes later the wound started bleeding profusely, and I started to use the guard when the vegetable gets down to a couple of inches. You can't really use the guard until the vegetable is that small as the handle of the guard pivots on a hinge and a large piece just will not fit. You could cut the vegetable into smaller pieces and then use the guard, but I think that kind of defeats the purpose of saving time and getting uniform slices by using a mandoline like this one.
I watched Jacques Pepin use this same mandoline on "Julia & Jacques Cooking At Home" and learned to use the palm of your hand to hold the vegetable down, and I cut 5 pounds of potatoes into thin slices in less than 5 minutes with no guard, and better yet, no cuts. You just have to slow down on the last couple of cuts on each vegetable. You should take it slow at first and then go faster as you develop your technique, kind of like when using a knife.
You can make juliennes of 3 and 10 mm with the blades that come with the straight cutting blade. You could always use the straight blade to get the proper thickness, and then julienne by hand if you need other thicknesses than those. There's also another size of julienne blades that you can find online. There is a ruffled blade as well, that can make waffle cuts and the like. Now I don't use that blade as much, but it's fun to make homemade waffle fries for people and then they always want to know how it's done. There are videos on you-tube on how to set up and use this fine mandoline. The video from Bron-Coucke even shows basic maintenance for the mandoline, including sharpening the straight blade on a stone. I highly recommend watching that video before using the mandoline, and I wish that I had. You can even buy spare parts for it if you do an internet search.
I have to say again, that anybody whose Bron mandoline is dull, is defective and should return it if they can, because mine and almost all of the other ones purchased are very sharp and very steady. If you want to cut vegetables and fruits (but not tomatoes) quickly and uniformly, then the Bron-Coucke mandoline will do the job very efficiently, and for a very long time.
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This mandoline is a sturdy and well-made tool, excellent for making even and precise slices, shoestring potatoes (pommes allumettes), waffle-cut potatoes, ordinary French fries, and so on. I have had mine for about 15 years, and it works like new.
The main problem with it is that it's expensive. There are inexpensive plastic slicer/shredders available, such as Benriner (often sold in Japanese and Korean grocery stores), which work just as well. In fact, they're actually better for very fine slices and shredding. If you only want to make French fries, you're probably better off getting a French-fry cutter, which is faster, but it's hard to get blades fine enough for true shoestrings.
The Benriner plus a French-fry cutter together will cost about half as much as the mandoline, and work as well or better; of course, they are nowhere near as heavy-duty, but that won't matter for most home users.
The Bron mandoline has a couple of minor disadvantages. On older models, the feet would scratch countertops, but I believe this has been fixed now. Although most parts are stainless, the rivets and screws do rust a little; this has not been a problem.
The pusher does not work very well. On the other hand, this is a dangerous tool used without the pusher -it produces especially ugly cuts if you're julienning. My solution is to use a cut-resistant fillet glove (also good for the Benriner). This gives you far better control and thus less waste.
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A friend posted a picture of his Ulu that he got in Alaska. I was very intrigued by it and so I came to Amazon.com and ordered this one.
