Tips for Using the Ultimate Mandoline?

[clshirk]

Does anyone have tips? I just hate mine. Everytime I use it at a show I make a fool of myself. And I really don't like it. I have the slice and grate from before and really like it. I know it's a finger cutter, but I keep my v-blade on there and when I need to slice potatoes or squash, I just throw it over the pan or bowl and go to town using my hand (I know, we're supposed to use the holder), but it's soooo quick and fast and I've had few mishaps.

With the Ultimate mandoline, you have to have the perfect size of vegetable or whatever for it to work. I grabbed a tomato from my kitchen and took it to a show to realize it was too fat to stick in the holder. So, I asked for a potato from the host- she gets me a longer skinnier one- well, we couldn't get the blade to work well- and a guest was trying to play with it, but all I was doing was showing how bad and hard it was. Any tips?

I mean, I know it's got a great safety feature, but if it's not the perfect size, it doesn't do a good job IMO. I prefer the old one and cut fingers to this thing.

 

[JAE]

I buy the tomatoes on the vine. They are perfect. Tennis ball size is the key. I cut my potatoes in half if they are too long. I cut up a zucchini into three even pieces. I poked all three parts into the holder at the same time. It worked great. I also cored an apple and sliced it with the mandoline. That was fun. Keep practicing at home.

 

[heather9892]

sorry cant help i hate mine as well
never even take it out any more

 

[clshirk]

I guess i feel like if I'm going to have this awesome tool, it should be able to do my fat and small tomatoes and potatoes without my having to cut them up and use yet, another tool.
Plus, I need to figure out what's up with my V-blade- it isn't popping out right.

 

[JAE]

You have a great tool, but don't show it if you don't want to feel foolish. Use the tips from this site and watch the training video. It really helped me a lot. My blades sometimes don't work and it's because I haven't put the holder on the thing correctly. Usually it's because one side isn't actually attached correctly so it isn't connecting right. The knives are great so it isn't a big deal to show those instead. They are high priced items that you and your customers can't go wrong with purchasing.

 

[jrny2001]

I didn't like it at first but now I love it.
I really don't care to grate cheese with it but if you pop the cheese in the freezer for about 10 minutes it works better.
You really have to play with it a lot to get the hang of it.

 

[HockeyLover]

I had never used it before, only saw it demoed once, so when I got my kit last month, it was the only tool that I really practiced. To be honest, it terrified me. I got the hang of it after a while. I messed up an orange at my second show (I tried to demo both the straight and V blades with the same orange - wouldn't recommend that). I just cut the orange to a straight edge again and it worked like a charm. All I can suggest is to practice - a lot. I love it now and try to pick recipes that showcase it. There are also the videos on Consultant's Corner, I watched all of those!

The host of that show told me that she had one but had only used it once because she couldn't figure it out. After seeing me demo it, she was excited to take it out of the garage and use it!

 

[sheilascooking]

when i received my mandoline, i couldn't use it for 6 months until 1 of the directors showed me how to use it. It's great!! make sure you use a tomato that is cold. the ones left out at room temp are harder for me to use.
p.s. i just want to say thanks for all the great tips!

 

[krzymomof4]

I have a love/hate relationship with mine. I love to use it, but I hate the shape of the holder. We have alot of gardens in the area and tomatoes don't work unless you cut them in half. Not too pretty, but they get sliced.

 

[pampermemelody]

I am glad someone else likes the S&G better! SO DID I!

Does anyone have tips? I just hate mine. Everytime I use it at a show I make a fool of myself. And I really don't like it. I have the slice and grate from before and really like it. I know it's a finger cutter, but I keep my v-blade on there and when I need to slice potatoes or squash, I just throw it over the pan or bowl and go to town using my hand (I know, we're supposed to use the holder), but it's soooo quick and fast and I've had few mishaps.

With the Ultimate mandoline, you have to have the perfect size of vegetable or whatever for it to work. I grabbed a tomato from my kitchen and took it to a show to realize it was too fat to stick in the holder. So, I asked for a potato from the host- she gets me a longer skinnier one- well, we couldn't get the blade to work well- and a guest was trying to play with it, but all I was doing was showing how bad and hard it was. Any tips?

I mean, I know it's got a great safety feature, but if it's not the perfect size, it doesn't do a good job IMO. I prefer the old one and cut fingers to this thing.

 

[missydivine]

All I have to say is practice. You'll get the hang of it. It's a great product.
I still love my US&G, but it's not in the line anymore.

 

[clshirk]

Yeah- I guess I'm going to have to watch the videos. I guess I'm just disappointed that the item you use to slice has to be perfect for it to work whereas with the S&G it could be various sizes.

 

[jrstephens]

I say practice, practice, practice. Go get a bad potatoes and slice them all. Put your old one OUT OF REACH then you will be forced to use the Um. That's how I came to like mine. I even finally go to the point where I sold the old one to a friend.

 

[ParishKitchen]

I'm too new to know about the Slice & Grate, but I will say that I definitely do not like the mandoline and try to avoid using it in demos. The main problem with it is that it completely lacks the ability to do two things that just about every other mandoline can do: waffle cuts and julienne/french fry cuts.

The latter would simply require an additional blade (I wonder if such an attachment might be in the pipeline), but the former is completely impossible because of the safety features in the mandoline's design. To make waffle cuts, you use a crinkle blade, but for every other pass, you turn the food you're cutting by 90 degrees, so that the lines from each cut are perpendicular to the lines from the next. Of course, you can't do this with the mandoline, because there's no way to turn food in the holder, and you can't just use your hand, because then the blades won't open.

For $70 at Williams-Sonoma (or even less elsewhere), you can get a mandoline by OXO that is made of black plastic and stainless steel, has a julienne and french fry cutter, allows waffle cutting, and has completely adjustable width settings, "from paper thin to 1-1/4" thick." Personally, I would not at all mind dropping an extra $10 for such a mandoline -- or even more for the all-stainless deBuyer model they sell.

Really, the only redeeming quality of the PC mandoline is the safety mechanism. Otherwise, there is little to justify spending so much money on it. In dealing with customers, I tend to play up the safety aspect, but I also point out that because of it, there are some things this mandoline can't do.

As for demo tips, I think the video is great (especially the part about testing your assembly by trying to lift the entire mandoline by the food holder). However, as I said, I still find it kind of awkward to use and try to avoid using it in demos.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope this info helps.

 

[chefjwr]

I sometimes have trouble with mine. One problem I may have solved at Conferece was that I was using a cutting board with the mandoline on it the long way. At Conference there was a video and the the cutting board was turned with the short length between the feet of the mandoline so that the feet of the mandoline were not on the cutting board at all and it seems it would slip less that way.

 

[Christ Follower]

I don't do my fajitas any other way! I love it for the onions and bell peppers! At first I didn't like it because I hadn't practiced on it enough. I still don't care for using it for tomatoes. I seem to be making salsa when I do them. Even with the V-shape blade. Don't like the cheese grater either unless I'm using it for potatos (hash browns). I sold quite a few when it was the host special.

 

[pamperedgirl3]

I sometimes have trouble with mine. One problem I may have solved at Conferece was that I was using a cutting board with the mandoline on it the long way. At Conference there was a video and the the cutting board was turned with the short length between the feet of the mandoline so that the feet of the mandoline were not on the cutting board at all and it seems it would slip less that way.

Great tip! Thanks!!

 

[chefjwr]

You are welcome.

 

[Bexamo]

My outcome...I made a few messes with mine too - but I have found a few tips through trial-and-error.

1. When my blade wasn't lifting properly, I popped it out and back in again. That totally fixed the problem. It needs to be put together correctly - not close enough...

2. Relax the pressure you are using on your "back stroke" - firmly (but gently) press down on the plunger as you move forward to slice, then relax as you slide the food holder back up the mandolin again.

I hope that helps!! Those were my mistakes anyhow - now I do love to use the mandolin - it's all in getting the right feel in your hand...

 

[schel]

For me, it is good and bad. I have gotten used to the UM, however no matter what anyone says, tomatoes are MUSH!!! Unless you like eating tomatoes which are hard and unripe....
I still use my USG for tomatoes and like the UM for most everything else.
So I have come from Hating it 100% to 60% OK with it to 40% HATE IT for tomatoes. Thats my blurp...

I just think that since we still have problems with it, what kind of results are customers having with it? Especially ones that do not cook?

Schel

 

[ljeffries]

I posted this on another thread before...
If you put your mandoline or blades in the dishwasher, make sure they are NOWHERE near the heating element. This will cause the mandoline and/or the blades to warp and you will not be able to get the blades into the body!
Just a heads up - several folks, including me, in my cluster have had theirs replaced already.

 

[JAE]

Used my UM today for cheddar cheese. I made chicken fajitas and didn't have any grated cheddar. I did have a block of cheese, so I thought I'd try out the UM with the grating blade. I pulled the cheese out of the frig and became distracted by cutting up chicken and veggies. The cheese was out for a few minutes, and I was afraid it would just turn to mush. It worked great! I don't know why I didn't slice up the onion, too. I'm just not used to using it for everything yet.

 

[peichef]

I love, love, love my ulitmate mandoline. I live in big time potoato country, and I agree that a french fry type blade would be spectacular. Other than that, the UM just takes some practice.
Many people shy away from mandolines b/c of the whole slicing a finger aspect. I think the safety feature is a great added bonus.

 

[Christ Follower]

I have a guest who bought the UM in Sept. and HATES it! She wants me to call HO and take care of the whole thing for her. I told her I would call to get a reference # for her but she'd have to send it in. Will they give her a credit for it? Does she need to call them herself to let them know what she wants?

 

[Christ Follower]

Oh ya, the reason she bought it wa because she thought it sliced cheese.

 

[AZPampered Chef]

I have to say that it's now official--I hate mine, too. I have practiced with it 4 times, the last time about 10 minutes ago. I am doing the Berry Lime Trifle at a party on Friday, and wanted to use the UM to make beautiful, uniform slices of lime.

Needless to say, there were no beautiful lime slices, just several small lime slivers. (Other things I have tried were tomato, cheese, and zucchini. Of those, I was only satisfied with the result of the zucchini on the crinkle cut blade, and I would prefer to do that with the crinkle cutter, anyway...it's one small tool right there in my drawer.)

This is the only tool in the PC line that doesn't make my life easier, just gets me irritated. I don't want to have to spend lots of time learning how to do it right. I would feel like a fraud if I did spend lots of time learning how to do it right, and then at shows demonstrated how easy it is to use.

 

[mbh06]

No tips, I can use it great at home w/o any trouble, but as soon as I take it to a show I have trouble, go figure.

 

[Christ Follower]

No tips, I can use it great at home w/o any trouble, but as soon as I take it to a show I have trouble, go figure.

Me too! I think I decided I wont take it to shows anymore!

 

[kmschroll2001]

I have the same problem. It works fine before a show (I have even sliced lemons for a lemonade that was served at a show) Then once I go to use it with the recipe I can't get it to work for the life of me.

I use it at home and like it. ALthough I can't figure out the onions, they never work for me. (I am getting better at the tomatoes.)

As of right now I have decided to leave it home for shows until I have mastered it.

 

[pamperedape]

Okay, glad I am not alone! HATE IT!! Ugh. I guess I should watch the training videos and such too.

BTW - where are you from in WV?? I grew up near Ripley, and went to college near Wheeling. I LOVE WV!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bethsbiz]

Are you trying different blades out? I have found that I love the v-shaped blade for citrus, onions and tomatoes. If I switch to the other straight type blade I have shreds of citrus and a mess of the tomatoe for sure.

Also, for tough skinned things, you might want to use a knife to slice just a bit off to help the food get started easily.

The safety feature of our mandoline is awesome and I sell many now (or get bookigns for it) for that reason alone. I would NOT sell the old one cause I had a deep seated fear of it (for good reason....).

Keep in mind that often if someone hates a product -- even US -- it may be that the product is not being used properly. For customers who have a product but don't like it at all, try to dig into how they are using it to see if you can provide advice. I do a lot of customer care 1 on 1's for things like the can opener, microplane and chef's tongs. Often this leads to a light bulb moment on a tool and the customer gets along fine with it after that.

At most shows, if I can, I will have customers trial a product before they go home (after they have purchased it from their order) if it is something I know can frustrate a new user. This has been very effective for things like showing how to open the microplane. I've had MUCH fewer calls to return things that seem hard to use. Part of my show spiel is "if you get an item home and you are having trouble with it, please do not hesitate to call me. I can usually walk you thru problems with use over the phone but I can also meet with you if needed. And, don't feel bad about calling...I used to have to ask my son who was 12 when I started my biz, to show me how to use something..."

 

[jenapc]

My only dislike is the "last bit" of produce or cheese that doesn't get sliced/grated and just makes a mess with itself and the mandoline. That's my only beef with it, otherwise I use it for grating all sorts of cheeses and slicing up veggies like tomatos (which, yes, they are berries/fruit).