So, my wife refuses store bought bacon these days since I introduced her to home made bacon. That's a win already. I also enjoy smoked turkey quite a bit… you see where this is going.
While I have a Mercer slicing knife, slicing up a whole belly is a PITA, and I have to make half slices (which is fine, I freeze a ton and use it for bacon cheese burgers and the likes)
But I'm ready to graduate to a slicer. Not looking for the absolute best, but I don't want to replace it every other year either.
Budget probably $3-400? What says the hive mind? 10"? 12"? Find one on marketplace from a closed down grocery store meat dept that I just replace blades on?
by ThatHikingDude
30 Comments
I usually just cut into 1.5-pound(ish) chunks and slice them as we use them. Getting a slicer would be amazing but we don’t have the space and I’m certain my children would kill themselves with it.
Anyway interested to see what people say so I can dream about getting one as well. 😉
im not going to recommend a particular slicer. i bought a “cheaper” commercial style one, clearly meant for a small resturant. i will say it works amazing and one of the reasons i liked it was because the blade can be sharpened, i just sliced 2 pork loins thin for jerky like a week ago, very consistent and easy to use.
all that being said its a real PITA to clean, it involves an allan key to take the blade off to clean it thoroughly and because of that i hardly use it, i end up cutting chunks of bacon, freezing it, and cutting slices off a chunk when i want some.
No specific brand recommendation for you, but if you’re going to do big things like turkey breasts or long stuff like bacon, then you need a larger slicer. It may be a challenge at that price point
Talk to me like you’re Osama Bin Laden
I took my time (6months or so) and browsed Craig’s List and bought a 12 in Hobart from a meat market that closed down. It’s great to have the option. Don’t forget you can slice up cabbage for New Years or for making Cole slaw…… lots of uses for a slicer.
I bought a cheap one off of Amazon. I make our own bacon as well, also use it to slice deli meats. Cheaper means smaller and I either have to cut the bellies in half, or, somewhat unsafely angle half the belly and lowering it down as it slices.
I did look at larger ones and weight, size and price points steered me away.
Works great though and it easily stores. 2 blades that are turnkey to install. Earlier to clear with that feature but cleaning does take some time and attention to all the corners.
[Amazon](https://a.co/d/hbUFJqQ)
Cabelas or bass pro shops commerical grade series. I use it to slice everything.
I just bought a slicer and have a bit of info.
It seems anything in the 70-120 dollar range is the exact same model with slight changes to nonessential design elements. This is what I ended up going with and I still have to cut my bacon in half to slice it on there and am not too happy with it. It does the job, did decent with turkey breasts and corned beef. Couldn’t get my pastrami as thin as I like it. And even when you partially freeze the meat to keep it rigid the blade still pulls the meat down into the gap between the deck and blade causing wonky cuts from time to time and needing to re-square up the piece. Cleaning isn’t that bad since the surface area of it is pretty small. And they have a easy to release blade lock so thats a plus when it comes time to wash up.
Then they jump to around 275+ for a bigger deck and blade. These are where the customization options could come in, different decks and blades and such. I should have gotten one of these and just figured it out. I was worried about size and where to set it for slicing. But my grinder and stuffer is also a big guy and I make that work. Hindsight 20/20
And then there are the full commercial ones which can be like $800+ or well into the thousands of dollars for super fancy stuff. Never even bothered looking too much at those
Honest question for bacon
Can you chill/freeze it for a bit and use a mandoline slicer, or is it too tough?
I am sensitive to nitrates/nitrites and would punch the pope in the throat to have a single bacon cheese burger one more time. If I can figure out slicing, smoking, and salt curing bacon without the BS, I’m sold.
I remember being a little too tired to be running one during rush and felt the blade spinning inside my fingertip before pulling away. Now that I think of it shouldn’t I have had a cut glove?
Tell me more about homemade bacon
I have a [10” Beswood](https://a.co/d/1ZdpbeV) for DIY use. I really like it. Small enough to store. Built well enough to do a good job (example: [roast beef](https://www.reddit.com/r/sousvide/s/SuPrWlQM7W)). Easy to clean up and parts fit in the dishwasher. Includes a sharpening attachment. Only limiting factor is slicing length is ~8 inches so you can’t do long bacon strips. That doesn’t appear to be important in your case though. I’m not the only fan … 4.6 stars on more than 3k reviews. I’ve had cheaper units before and this one far exceeds them.
If space is not an issue sometimes you can find commercial units on marketplace. I’m a little leery about those though.
I know you are sold, but most of the time I see this discussed in Reddit people look at the cost as a barrier to getting one. For those reading this… a family can quickly recover the investment cost on a slicer either making your own deli/sandwich meat or buying in bulk at a restaurant supply store and slicing it yourself. Same for cheese.
I also use the slicer for jerky, sandwich toppings, smoked cheese, potato chips/ scalloped potatoes, and occasionally French bread.
That bacon looks killer. Can you share the recipe? I’m looking to make my first batch over the holidays.
Happy hunting!
But where does the meat go?
Wife bought me the 10” KWS 320w slicer and I love love it. I’ve only done turkey as pastrami on it, but intend on doing bacon and venison prosciutto this winter
I would go used. The newer home versions are usually cheap as hell. (not in price, in construction) I bought mine from my church when they moved. It had been sitting unused in the kitchen for 24 years. I slipped them a $100 and took it home. It’s 1940s vintage and doesn’t have all the safety guards a modern one has (and I have scars to prove) but it’s a tank. About 130 lbs, I can’t move it by myself. But these modern ones are just going to disappoint. I am by profession an engineer and a slicer needs angular momentum and torque. Neither of which you get in a home model slicer.
But I can kill at Italian beef.
I paid about 100 bucks for mine on Amazon and it hasn’t let me down
I too refuse store bought bacon. I’ve never made my own, but I may have to try. The local butcher shop makes an excellent bacon so I’ve been buying that for nearly 20 years.
Don’t go cheap whatever you do, and I mean $150 cheap…
Had one that lasted 3 uses of slicing medium rare smoked roast beef roasts for sandwiches. In the middle of the fourth there was a strong burning plastic smell and then it stopped. The gears in the motor were plastic and were overheating to the point the teeth melted and that was the end of the motor.
I’m thinking when I can afford it again I’m going at least $500 and making sure it’s all metal parts.
Marketplace is your friend if you’re looking for a slicer. I picked up a lightly used Beswood slicer which was a massive upgrade from the cheap one I pocket up at Cabelas years earlier. Agree with thr comments of effort to clean but it is a phenomenal machine
Vevor has a decent selection of meat slicers I got a 12” and it’s been great for me. Go through about 15-20lbs of meat every other week for jerky
Okay so I browsed your profile to do my own “how does he make his bacon” without bugging. I went back a ways and fail, so please will you share your “homemade bacon” recipe with the class?
10″ 240w model 8 years running strong.
[Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Commercial-Meat-Slicer-Semi-Auto/dp/B08R7JJF3R?th=1)
After working in a deli I don’t think I would want to purchase a “consumer grade” slicer though I don’t have experiance with one to be honest.
Where I live there is commercial kitchen stores that have new and used unit with everything from freezers ovens and slicers. If you can find a spot like that a used Hobart or something could be in your budget from what I have seen.
I’ve had the [VEVOR 10” Slicer](https://a.co/d/deTBSn8) for 2 years. Works great, I even let friends borrow it. Built in blade sharpener works well. Cleaning any slicer is a chore but this one has a handle that attaches to the blade. I definitely recommend buying a cut resistant glove for cleanup, the blade is extremely sharp to say the least.
As a teen many decades ago I worked a deli counter.
This sweet old lady would come in every few weeks with a fresh roast beef. She’d ask us to slice it, and in exchange let us have a few slices, still warm. It was so damn good.
Anyway, I suggest you make friends with your local deli, and barter a couple of slices of your meat in exchange for their services.
Doing exactly the same as you and bought Beswood 10″ slicer off Amazon currently $358.00. It’s big it’s bulky it’s almost a pro model it’s a pain to clean but it works like a charm.
Use my slicer for jerky, easy to tear down and clean up. $379 on amazon. Stainless steel blade.
KWS MS-10NS 320W Motor Electric Meat Slicer 10-Inch with 304 Stainless Steel Blade, Frozen Meat/Cheese/Food Slicer Low Noise Commercial and Home Use [ ETL, NSF Certified ]
My daughter bought me a cheaper one off of Amazon for Christmas last year. It has done bacon, Canadian bacon, lots of jerky and has had no issues.
Get a heavy slicer that is restaurant grade. Cheap ones 100-200, won’t slice meat unless partially frozen and fall apart easily. You want a nice heavy one, they are all a bitch to clean and move but heavy is key.
I bought this manual slicer about two years ago on Amazon: https://www.starfrit.com/en/deli-slicer?srsltid=AfmBOoqnctwxIBElwZbIK27G8rKKnYurhg5ks1kcnX-MHRvehpMkL3Tw
My thinking at the time was I wasn’t sure if I would actually use a slicer enough to justify the cost and space it would take up.
It works really well for home-smoked bacon, brisket, etc. I also use it to slice cheese and loaves of bread. It’s really easy to take apart and clean, and it’s collapsible so it doesn’t take up a lot of space.
The downsides are that it’s a relatively small blade, and you have to manually turn the crank, but I actually love this thing. When something ends up breaking on it, or the blade gets too dull (serrated blade so I don’t even know how I would sharpen it), I’ll upgrade to a “big boy” slicer, but this worked to see if I liked having one enough to get a proper one.
Side note: I also ended up getting a starfrit manual meat grinder with a similar justification (how much do I like making sausage?) And the end result has been pretty much the same – enjoy using it and will upgrade when something stops working.