Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer

As someone who loves to cook, I am always looking for new gadgets that will make some tasks easier, quicker, or more fun and so when I was offered this product, I jumped at the chance to use it. I ultimately decided to give it a three star rating because it does what it says it will do (i.e. it is a spiral vegetable slicer) but it has some significant drawbacks that make it less useful to me than I had hoped.For a start, this device is made of pretty sturdy plastic and is equipped with suction cups on each of the four legs that allow you to attach it to a kitchen counter so that it does not slide around. Being suction cups, permeable surfaces will not work, so do not try this on wood cutting boards, or if you have a butcher block surface. Assembly of the device was to attach the handle to its slide carriage, select and install a blade, and you are ready for the veggies. The device comes with three different slicing disks that you can choose amongst. There are slots in the base to store the two blades that you are not using and that is very convenient and well thought out. Once you pushed a vegetable (like a potato) on to the rotating handle, and the core device, all you have to do is rotate the one handle while pushing the carriage forward with your other. It sounds simple and it is.For whatever reason, my unit did not come with any instruction sheets so I first tried it with some potatoes to make a dish that required thin slices of potato. I placed the potato in place: cranked the handle, and pushed it forward and got ... a very wide curly fry shape! Not at all what I was expecting! I then contacted the company and they emailed me the instruction sheet which states that to get slices, you must first cut a groove in the vegetable. I did as instructed and the results were much better. What happened was that without that groove, the potato got cut in a long spiral, but with the groove, each slice separated out. This was much better, but still not what I had hoped for, for two reasons: 1. The core was taken out and so I had a rather substantial circle missing out of each slice of potato; and 2. The slices are very thin, and I needed something thicker. I went back to the company and asked if there is any way to adjust the thickness of the cut and was told that there is not, these are fixed widths, and that's that.By the way, because of the core function, and the fact that the carriage does not go up all the way to the slicing disk, you will end up with a funny looking piece of your vegetable that has to be removed. To me, they looked like mushrooms! I am trying to come up with some fancy uses for these pieces as they really look cute, but one could complain, I suppose, about the waste.The other two blades do the same spiral cut, but have another set of teeth set at an angle to the first so that you can get shreds that are either wider or narrower depending on which blade you use. The difference in width was noticeable, but not significant enough to prove of much use to me, so I concluded that this tool has essentially two cutting modes and no more.One of the more successful uses that I found was to create slivered onions. The very thin nature of the cuts was a blessing here, and the speed at which you can reduce an onion to its slivers really helped eliminate much of the tears from this work. The threads were uniform in thickness and width which really helped when I used them in a salad and other dishes that called for them.Other problems that I had with the device included the fact that it would not cut soft vegetables properly. The mess it made of tomatoes was amazing! I can also see that the blades will eventually get dull and so I asked the company about sharpening only to be told that they blades are permanently mounted and there is no way to remove them short of breaking the holding disk. Hmmm. This led me to ask about replacement parts or additional disks that can be purchased separately, and again, I was told that what you get is all there is. Somewhat disappointing.So, to summarize, this device is a limited tool with limited applicability and uses. I doubt that I will pull it out of the pantry with any regularity, which is a shame. The company can improve its usefulness by offering some ways to: Adjust thickness of cuts; sharpen blades; offer replacement blades; and offer some other blades that can perhaps add to the usefulness of this tool.Note: I received the tool for free in return for this review.

When I unpacked this, I thought, "Oh, my gosh, what a monstrosity." I soon found out it was easy to assemble & easy to use. There are no instructions in the package; the instructions are on the outside of the box so if you're like me, you might want to cut the instructions & illustrations off the box, or take a photo of them.I haven't tried the slicer with too many veggies yet, but I love the way it slices potatoes. I made some fantastic fried potatoes the other evening & left the peel on them too. Using the slicer seemed odd at first. The veggie, potato, etc. is held higher than the cutting blade. At least it seems so to me. After checking the illustrations on the box, I knew I had the potato positioned properly. I positioned my cutting board under the 'spout' to catch the potato slices. After assuring the suction cups are firmly attached, the veggie is pushed onto a spiky circular disc which holds it in place. Then you push & turn at the same time. Sounds complicated, but it isn't. There is some waste, I had about 1/4" in diameter potato core left & and about 1/4" of the potato wasn't fully sliced. It was no problem for me, "waste not, want not," I simply sliced those pieces by hand.It comes with 3 cutting blades. One is stored on the machine, the other two are stored under it.I'm anxious to slice cabbage with this slicer. I think it's going to work wonderfully for that. In the past, I've either chopped it by hand or grated it. This slicer will make cutting cabbage neater & much easier.I really like this slicer. It is easy to clean, dishwasher safe too, and works great. The only thing is...it is large, approx. measurements: 12" L x 6 /34" W x 9 1/2" H.Hubby keeps wanting to put a tomato thru it. I'm reluctant to try. If we do, I'll update my review with the results.review sample provided

I received this item in exchange for a fair and honest review.With that said, I have to admit when I received this item I was afraid it would just be another dust catcher in the cabinet. But after having tried it out this weekend, I can honestly say that despite a few little quirks, I will definitely be using this item often!I'm sure you'll read all the reviews that are posted, so I'll only touch on a few things that they mentioned. The suction cups, they worked great on my normal formica counter, and even better on my enameled metal top "island". I like that they made the item sturdy enough for me to use and I didn't have to worry about holding the unit down while trying to spiralize the veggies.The waste... I have used three different spiralizer's other than this one and there is ALWAYS some degree of waste with use. You either end up with a nub of a carrot that you can't get to finish off, or in this case, there is the core. I didn't mind the waste with this unit, in fact I think there is less waste than with the handheld spiralizers. I was able to get more out of each vegetable with this one than any other item.Ease of use: As I stated previously, this unit was a lot easier to use than I thought it would be. Not at all cumbersome, it doesn't tire out my hands, wrists or arms while using it, as other hand held units have.Clean up: As with any spiral slicer, the key to getting a good clean is to rinse and clean IMMEDIATELY after use. The blades cleaned up easy for me and I didn't even have to whip out my handy dandy bottle brush to get all the veggies out of the blades. The sprayer on my sink was enough to dislodge the vegetables.Not only did I like the results of this Spiral slicer, I enjoyed using it. I found it much easier to use than the hand held units I've tried in the past and I will continue to use this as my go to slicer!