Kitchen mandoline and vegetable slicer

Why use a kitchen mandoline instead of a knife?

For thickness, above all. With a knife, potato slices are rarely all the same size, and it shows when cooking: the thin ones burn while the thick ones remain firm. A kitchen mandoline cuts each slice to the chosen thickness, from the first to the last pass. A gratin cooks evenly, vegetable chips brown all at the same time.

The time savings are real too. Sliced cucumber, two julienned carrots, or shredded cabbage for a salad can be prepared in a minute or two, without a cutting board and without the effort of precision.

What foods can be sliced on a mandoline?

Most firm vegetables, and some fruits.

• With no difficulty: potato, cucumber, carrot, zucchini, onion, cabbage, radish, apple
• With a little care: tomato and bell pepper, to be sliced with a very sharp blade and without pressing too hard
• On a fine grater: garlic, ginger, hard cheese, zest
• To avoid: very soft foods, which get crushed instead of sliced, and very small pieces without a pusher

The simple rule: cut a flat base on the vegetable before starting. It slides straight onto the blade and the slices remain even.

What type of mandoline to choose?

The collection includes adjustable mandolines, very lightweight hand models, and vegetable cutters with interchangeable blades. They are not used for the same purposes.

For daily use and small quantities, a hand mandoline is enough. If you often cook gratins or homemade fries, an adjustable mandoline with feet saves the most time. And if you are looking for cubes rather than slices, our vegetable choppers are more suitable.

To go further, our guide how to choose a kitchen mandoline details the blade, the adjustment, and safety, and the article mandoline or grater helps to choose according to the desired result.

How to use a mandoline without cutting yourself?

Three gestures are enough to keep your fingers safe.

1. Use the pusher as soon as it is provided. It holds the vegetable until the last piece, the hand remains away from the blade.
2. Slow down at the end of the vegetable. It is in the last few centimeters that most cuts happen.
3. Place the mandoline very stable, on its feet or propped up on the edge of a salad bowl, before starting.

How to maintain a mandoline?

Rinse the blade right after use, before the starch or fibers dry. A brush, provided with several models, removes stuck pieces without bringing fingers close to the cutting edge. Dry before storing, and keep the interchangeable blades in their box or under their support so they do not end up at the bottom of a drawer.

Frequently asked questions about the kitchen mandoline

Which mandoline to choose to start?

An adjustable hand mandoline: no assembly, a thickness selector, a pusher, and it stores in a drawer. If you also want julienne and grating, a 5 in 1 or 6 in 1 vegetable cutter with interchangeable blades covers more tasks with a single tool.

What thickness to choose for chips or a gratin?

Around 1 mm for vegetable chips, 3 mm for a potato gratin, 6 to 9 mm for fried potatoes. Adjustable mandolines allow you to go from one to another with a dial.

Can you make fries with a mandoline?

Yes, with the models that have a wide julienne comb or a stick function, like the adjustable 18-cut mandoline or the vertical mandoline. For large quantities of fries, a lever-action french fry cutter cuts a whole potato in one motion: see our collection of french fry cutters and spiralizers.

Mandoline or vegetable chopper: what is the difference?

The mandoline slices, grates, and cuts into julienne. The vegetable chopper cuts into small pieces or cubes. The two complement each other well: the mandoline for raw vegetables and gratins, the chopper for onions, garlic, and sauce bases.