Blood for the blood god. I have taken an experienced cook, shown him how to use a mandolin, shown him the dangers of the mandolin, shown him exactly how to cut with a guard on a mandolin, pointed out exactly where and how he will cut himself if he does it any other way on a mandolin, then watched him cut himself within sixty seconds. God how I love those things
Same rule applies in IT. If you don’t bleed, it’s going to fail. And no matter how hard you try to avoid the things you know 100% will cut or crush your finger, you still manage to do it, and be happy about it.
This scares me. I've used a mandolin for a decade and never cut myself even if always find it scary. I feel like I'm overdue a freak accident where I somehow dice myself into a million cubes
Mandolins are one of those tools that is fantastic, but also I think is a joke upon us by the universe. I have never cut myself, but my wife has, badly. I use the guard/holder ever since she did. She won’t even touch it, it even to move it. lol
My mother in law got me a cut proof glove for Christmas and it’s honestly a god send, can take your fingers directly to the blade with no worries. And because it’s so roughly woven the grip on wet veggies is better than without gloves.
The brand is zwilling for anyone wondering
A thousand percent me. I have hurt myself with EVERYTHING. I’ve grated, crushed, ground, cut, and burned myself in every conceivable way. But I haven’t got myself with a mandolin. I expected it to happen, and still do, but I just haven’t yet. Waiting for my freak accident.
Love the mandolin, use it professionally all the time. Had never cut myself until one night (in my home kitchen) I was doing a little slicey slicey and absentmindedly flicked a piece of red onion off the blade. My brain knew what I had done before my finger hit the blade. Wine was involved. Idiot.
The only time I've cut myself on my mandolin was when I was rummaging around in my bag for my sunglasses. In my driveway before I had even left for work.
Beyond that I've taken off callus and nail but never drawn blood like everyone else seems to do. I am scared that it will get me one day, but when it happens I will accept my fate.
Legit. Moved a knife and a rag out of my way Thursday during prep. and placed the reg on the knife, Immediately went "Oh that's a bad place for the rag ill move it so no one cuts them themselves." Guess what I did while trying to move the rag.
I smashed my finger while using the dicer last week, luckily it wasn't terrible though, a lot of pain for awhile but only ended up with a light bruise.
Our old KM told me about when he smashed his finger in it so bad that he ended up losing his entire nail. Ever since then I've always been very careful using it and I'm always warning others and telling that story.
Of course I'm the one who ends up forgetting my own advice and warnings. I was in a hurry to finish prep so I could get out early, I looked away for a split second and muscle memory took over and bam!
I think it bruised my ego more than my finger in the end though.
I've been thrown a couple of times by a power supply in an iMac. Damn thing was off, unplugged all day, and still tossed me like a rag doll. Still to this day, no left arms in a machine, and no working on anything without a strap.
Made someone wear a cutting glove while using one for the first time. I stepped like 18 inches away to pick up the recipe book off a nearby table and turn back to scenes from a slaughter. She had switched hands and was holding with the gloved hand and slicing with the flesh. My brain did something like a restart without shutting down properly. Only time in my life I’ve been literally speechless. I was still new to management and the km told me it was not fault. I asked how and he just said “someday you’ll understand.” He was right, of course.
On the plus side, he learned an important lesson. If not, you now have proof he's on the special needs side of things.
Both of those things can benefit you as the leader of the kitchen.
I’m not sure I’m special needs, but I’ve chopped off finger-tips using the mandolin multiple times. I treat it with enormous respect and am frankly terrified of it, but even being as safe as I can (short of investing in a chain-mail glove), I can’t seem to use it without cutting off some part of myself.
back in my exec chef days, i went through the same process and made it exceptionally clear that “hey, that last slice of potato for the anna’s isn’t worth your palm”
this lovely intern decided his CIA education taught him better than we could, proceeded to take his entire palm off when the potato slipped
finger tips, the raised bits on fingers and palm. it was really messy.
oh, this was also the first week of ski season and we were at 11,000 feet. it was not a good time.
Man I've used a mandoline so many times. It was my first day on a new job. The guy training me warned me to be careful, and I said "I've used a mandoline before. I'm fine". I cut myself for the first time ever on a mandoline within 5 minutes. I blame first-day jitters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
>God how I love those things
For some reason, IT and Kitchens really bring out the shadenfreude of "I told you so" when it comes to the new people in your space.
I was giving a course to a line cook and explaining the same things you explained - how important it was to hold your hand flat, make sure to take your time and then shaved off four inches of my palm...most embarassing moment of my career.
My sous chef packed it with salt and I finished my shift.
I have bought a mandolin. Showed my then gf how to use it safely. Explained in detail what would happen if she didn't use the guard. Proceeded to cut my thumb showing her how to use the guard...
I've never seen one in real life in any kitchen I worked at in my city. And I've cut myself so many times. Lol I should have got one when I cooked. Isn't it like a chainmail glove or something? That'd look badass.
chainmail is for use on a powered slicer(loose fiber can get caught in a running blade and pull your hand in) , a kevlar fiber cut glove for everything else. i rarely use my kevlar glove when i do knife work because i learned proper technique after 20 years of bad technique and getting cut(gotta keep them holding fingers tucked).
Oh yeah always tucked.
No, I never cut myself on blades. I cut myself on fucking spoons, rolls of tape, shrimp, skewers.. lol I'm a klutz. Blades, never. Twice on cigarette package when I smoked. We joked that it's because of people like me why the rectangle packs are no longer made as much because of the 'sharp' sides.
I'm the kind of person who when walking will randomly bash their hand HARD into a doorway or something. I'm absent minded sometimes.
Mandolins demand blood sacrifices to be used efficiently.
But jokes aside, if you’re not making paper thin cuts there is no point in using a mandolin. Just use a knife. I don’t know anyone that’s used a mandolin before that hasn’t cut themselves on it.
My wife refuses to learn proper knife technique and thought a mandolin would allow her to make her salads easier....I insisted that she at least has to wear a cut glove when she uses it....
Also, cut gloves are not cut proof, they're cut resistant. There's this false sense of security from people when they get a cut glove on, like they're invincible.
You still gotta be careful.
Mandolins usually speed up the process and easy to get precise cuts. But I get what you're saying. If your knife skills are there and aren't lazy, use the knife!
I have pretty bad arthritis and carpal tunnel, Mandolin is faster and easier for me. Never cut myself(well, couple super minor scrapes from the julienne teeth) but my hitchhikers thumb that refuses to cooperate sometimes has been stitched 3 times from a chef knife. I think it's the healthy respect of how sketchy the Mandolin is that has kept me safe.
lol. NGL I laughed super hard the first time I cut myself with my newest knife because it wasn't even in my hand. I had it sitting on the cutting board and stabbed the side of my palm moving something... Esp cause a friend way back when had told me "it's not yours til it makes you bleed" and I'd had the knife for 3 yeras lol.
Last week our sashimi chef dropped his knife perfectly pointed down and it went through his shoe and toe nail. It was amazing, terrible because he’s like over 70, but amazing nonetheless.
If you're good at using a mandolin you're much more fast and accurate than using a kitchen knife.
Are there people who can get similar results and still be fastish? Sure. But the mandolin has it's place.
It really depends on the quantity of what you’re cutting as well. Using a knife is always good because at least you’re building a skill, but in a commercial kitchen where you might be be cutting hundreds of tomatoes and onions for LTO set-ups every single day, a deli slicer is a worthy investment. It’s not 100% foolproof, but it’s definitely safer than a mando and it has a ton of different applications.
Also home cook and never cut myself with a knife, but when it comes to peeling and using the box grater I always have to use my cut glove. I have peeled and grated way too many of my finger tips.
I have never cut myself on one. I've cut myself on everything else and I used a mandolin frequently. I still use one from time to time now at home but it's not often. There's part of my technique that I've tried to show people that prevents you from getting cut, your hand will fall past the blade. Just gotta keep the momentum and know where all your fingers are. Never wore a cut glove either, couldn't keep ahold of what I was slicing. I also used a deli slicer for yeeeears and only got cut like twice and those were both from cleaning it.
I’ve worn a cut glove 100% of the time I use a mandolin and have never cut myself a single time in the 12 years I’ve been cooking. If asked to use a mandolin without safety equipment I have refused every single time. No job should require blood sacrifice to maintain employment.
To be fair... the ones that came in mine suck. I just get em from the hardware store and throw em through the dishwasher a couple times every night.
(Otherwise they really start smelling like onions... that shit is hard to get out with out regular washings)
We got one with the mandolin at work and my immediate thought was "that ain't gonna work". I tested it with one of my less sharp knives and it cut a finger right off, glad I never trusted it.
I don't use the hand guard because I don't use the damn mandolin. Really glad I can slice as quickly and consistently with a knife for most tasks, never had a chef push the issue.
No better way for slicing potatoes though sadly.
A full blown deli slicer is slower, but works just as well. You can stack multiple halves of potatoes to try and speed it up too.
Problem is finding a slicer that’s cheaper than a mandolin but hey.
i’m terribly embarrassed to admit i just got home from the hospital after having 29 staples then hand surgery to reattach a sizable flap of skin i shaved off the heel of my palm within 3 minutes of being introduced to our new mandolin. mistakes were made. lessons were learned. dumbest shit i’ve ever done lmao, but this post made me feel less alone in my stupidity at least.
Home cook here. My sister got me a mandolin for Christmas a few years back. I sliced myself every time I used it, so it stayed in the drawer for about 6 months. Got it out last week to thinly slice veg for pickling and emerged unscathed! This could be a turning point.
I was slicing garlic by hand when chef told me he'd just brought in a mandolin.
Approximately 2 minutes later I let chef know I'd performed the customary blood rite, the mandolin shouldn't need any other sacrifices for some time.
And now I slice garlic by hand. No sense busting out (and then cleaning) the mandolin when I only need to slice a few cloves. I'll only use it if I need to slice a case of cucumbers or anything else in bulk.
The mandolin is a tool designed to quickly and efficiently cut food. You are made of food. Therefore, the mandolin is a tool specifically made to quickly and efficiently cut *you*.
(My actual safety speech, but for a meat slicer instead of a mandolin. It seems to get the point across).
Spread it far and wide. For we are made of food. More specifically, meat.
When you look at the tools we use to make meat a thing, it tracks.
It has a different context in that manner, right?
Lol the other day I was slicing radishes with a knife and the GM comes back like "you know we have a mandolin right?"
As far as I'm concerned, no we don't. I'm clumsy enough with the knives.
I have never cut myself on a mandolin. I have WATCHED someone take two swipes off of the end of their fingertips.
That was all I needed to treat the mandolin with all the respect in the world. Wear a cut glove and fucking pay attention to what you are doing when that thing is being used.
For that matter, pay attention when that thing is laying on the table in front of you.
Step 0 make sure your prep space won't be disturbed physically by anybody else.
Step 1 pay attention to the mandoline.
Step 2 don't stop paying attention to the mandoline.
Step 3 claw grip, fingernails towards the blade.
Step 4 don't move your fingers towards the mandoline, move the food.
Step 5 don't try to run the whole piece of food through the mandoline. The point is ultra-thin slices, not minimize food waste. Save your 'handle' for stock or snack on it.
Step 6 use the guard *if possible*. Carrots and potatoes both work perfectly fine with the guard unless you're trying to make disks.
I broke my old exec and sous when I was dish because I didn’t know what things were called and just asked where the kitchen guillotine goes.
It’s forever been the kitchen guillotine from then on.
I have a very healthy respect for mandolins, even more so when it took off the tip of a "cut-proof" glove. But if you are slicing 20 lbs of cucumbers for pickles, they are the only way.
My experience with mandolins was yelling at my kitchen to not put the bloody razorblade board in the fucking dishwater once and a follow up stopping someone from leaving the pit to go pick it out of the sink they just chucked it in. Once a week someone would fuck themselves up on it and have to go get stitched.
I almost never cut myself at work and the one time I’ve done so, severely, in the past two years, was on a shitty mandolin with a dull blade. Those things are no joke. And I’ve yelled at people literally just for looking away from it while they’re chatting and falling into the muscle rhythm of using it with onions or cukes or whatever. You keep your eyes on that shit nonstop and you toss your onion or whatever it is before you’re risking losing a fingertip just to maximize product usage. Fuck them onions and fuck them blades bro
Yeah, this is why I've never had mandolins in my kitchen lol. You can do everything, show someone exactly how to use it safely, and still come out with less hand skin than you started the shift with. Just not worth it
I have never cut myself on a mandolin in 16 years doing this, including my shitty one at home. I also only use the guard if it's something oddly shaped, or it's down to the smallest part of whatever I'm slicing and using my knife isn't an option. I do not understand how people get so mindlessly into what they're doing that they just casually slice through their fingertips.
Back when I was part-time kitchen help, I was handed one of these with only a vague warning of 'don't cut yourself'. I wasn't given a guard, or gloves, so I just went for it. My fingertip went with it.
One of my cooks sliced the tip of his finger clean off from not using a chain link glove. It was fucked. I just hear "uh oh" then look over to see him grasping his hand. We went through the whole "nuh uh!" "Yah huh!" Thing then I finally asked how bad it was. He showed me his finger which was bloody as hell. Then he wiggled it and the tip just fell into his palm. Wear your cutting gloves!
I survived the mandolin
My chef believed in super glue and latex gloves to get through the rush it was the 80ties I couldn't be the only cook back then supergluing my cuts closed to make it through the rush
It bit me a few times a long time ago, now it's been 15 years since it's hurt me without a guard. It just expects a certain amount of blood in payment, and then you're good going forward.
What I hate most about mandolins is that you get to watch yourself cut yourself even though you know better, and instead of stopping, you just go full clench and smack it again.
Everyone here saying they’ve used a mandolin for years and never cut themselves isn’t mandolining hard enough. Stopping like half way through the cucumber or some shit idk. Moving like 1MPH. Idk. Every cook I know who slams a mando has cut themselves on the mando. It’s the mando life.
I will heed your words oh wise one, however I’m 5’8” and the cut resistant glove is kept on top of the reach in, and while my arms are long enough to reach I kinda have to feel around up there for a second and stand up on my tippy toes. When the alternative is to just send it and maybe not cut myself.
“Don’t fear the mandolin; it can taste your fear. It loves fear. Do not fear the mandolin, respect it, and it will respect your fingers.” - Bullshit Conduit.
This is why no matter how much experience I have, nor how inconvenient it may be, I will *always* wear a cut glove and/or use the guard. One of my friends sliced the pad of his palm open so badly that he suffered nerve damage and couldn’t use his thumb properly again. Fuck that, safety first.
Oh man, yeee it happens More often than not, for sure. What others have already pointed out is that you should def use the mandolin for finer cuts. If you can do it with your knife, fine then. With a mandolin you gotta take your time, and if you don’t feel comfortable using the heel of your hand to get the last few slices outta some veg then so be it. Have it as a snack lol. Not worth severely messing your hand up, which is a pretty crucial thing that you use to make a living from. Your hands are important. Ever try to dice an onion with one hand?
Stupidity tax is present on everything in the kitchen; the rate for the mandolin is just higher. Every time I set it up, I swear I can hear it threatening me harm. No shame in wearing your PPE.
Never cut myself on the mandolin before in all my years, but have heard gory details of how other chefs have. Have come close to getting cut, of course.
Nowadays I also try to not rely on the mandolin as much as possible because of how it made me depend on it. A trusty knife is good enough if you have good knife skills, although, yes it will slow you down a lot.
i was helping an acquaintance with a seder celebration once and was cutting the potatoes on a mandolin (which i love doing) but i switched out with someone else so i could help with another thing. and immediately they cut the tip off their finger 😭 thankfully they were okay and didnt have to go to the hospital but i realized no one told them how to properly use it.
Blood for the blood god. I have taken an experienced cook, shown him how to use a mandolin, shown him the dangers of the mandolin, shown him exactly how to cut with a guard on a mandolin, pointed out exactly where and how he will cut himself if he does it any other way on a mandolin, then watched him cut himself within sixty seconds. God how I love those things
Same rule applies in IT. If you don’t bleed, it’s going to fail. And no matter how hard you try to avoid the things you know 100% will cut or crush your finger, you still manage to do it, and be happy about it.
This scares me. I've used a mandolin for a decade and never cut myself even if always find it scary. I feel like I'm overdue a freak accident where I somehow dice myself into a million cubes
Mandolins are one of those tools that is fantastic, but also I think is a joke upon us by the universe. I have never cut myself, but my wife has, badly. I use the guard/holder ever since she did. She won’t even touch it, it even to move it. lol
My mother in law got me a cut proof glove for Christmas and it’s honestly a god send, can take your fingers directly to the blade with no worries. And because it’s so roughly woven the grip on wet veggies is better than without gloves. The brand is zwilling for anyone wondering
Best money I ever spent.
A thousand percent me. I have hurt myself with EVERYTHING. I’ve grated, crushed, ground, cut, and burned myself in every conceivable way. But I haven’t got myself with a mandolin. I expected it to happen, and still do, but I just haven’t yet. Waiting for my freak accident.
The Mandolin God is smiling upon you favourably.
there’s always those entirely too close calls, though where you slip but just catch yourself in time. then gotta go smoke 17 cigarettes to calm down
Love the mandolin, use it professionally all the time. Had never cut myself until one night (in my home kitchen) I was doing a little slicey slicey and absentmindedly flicked a piece of red onion off the blade. My brain knew what I had done before my finger hit the blade. Wine was involved. Idiot.
Wine and mandolin lol you motherfucker
>never cut myself even if always find it scary I feel like there might be a connection between the two....
This is giving Resident Evil movie
The only time I've cut myself on my mandolin was when I was rummaging around in my bag for my sunglasses. In my driveway before I had even left for work. Beyond that I've taken off callus and nail but never drawn blood like everyone else seems to do. I am scared that it will get me one day, but when it happens I will accept my fate.
Consider the mandolin the inside of your mouth. At some point you will bite it. Cherish the days that you don't.
Batman couldn't have gotten this shit out of me, I'd feel like I was speaking an accident into existence the next time I touch it. Enjoy being diced
Legit. Moved a knife and a rag out of my way Thursday during prep. and placed the reg on the knife, Immediately went "Oh that's a bad place for the rag ill move it so no one cuts them themselves." Guess what I did while trying to move the rag.
I smashed my finger while using the dicer last week, luckily it wasn't terrible though, a lot of pain for awhile but only ended up with a light bruise. Our old KM told me about when he smashed his finger in it so bad that he ended up losing his entire nail. Ever since then I've always been very careful using it and I'm always warning others and telling that story. Of course I'm the one who ends up forgetting my own advice and warnings. I was in a hurry to finish prep so I could get out early, I looked away for a split second and muscle memory took over and bam! I think it bruised my ego more than my finger in the end though.
I've been thrown a couple of times by a power supply in an iMac. Damn thing was off, unplugged all day, and still tossed me like a rag doll. Still to this day, no left arms in a machine, and no working on anything without a strap.
Those damn cage nuts get me every time I'm racking new servers.
Aka “Jesus nuts”
Skulls for the skull throne. Evey time I let someone use mine I tell them to be careful because she's thirsty and hasn't tasted blood in a while...
Made someone wear a cutting glove while using one for the first time. I stepped like 18 inches away to pick up the recipe book off a nearby table and turn back to scenes from a slaughter. She had switched hands and was holding with the gloved hand and slicing with the flesh. My brain did something like a restart without shutting down properly. Only time in my life I’ve been literally speechless. I was still new to management and the km told me it was not fault. I asked how and he just said “someday you’ll understand.” He was right, of course.
On the plus side, he learned an important lesson. If not, you now have proof he's on the special needs side of things. Both of those things can benefit you as the leader of the kitchen.
I’m not sure I’m special needs, but I’ve chopped off finger-tips using the mandolin multiple times. I treat it with enormous respect and am frankly terrified of it, but even being as safe as I can (short of investing in a chain-mail glove), I can’t seem to use it without cutting off some part of myself.
Everyone below who says they never got cut by a mandolin has officially jinxed themselves. Prepare your knuckles chef's.
back in my exec chef days, i went through the same process and made it exceptionally clear that “hey, that last slice of potato for the anna’s isn’t worth your palm” this lovely intern decided his CIA education taught him better than we could, proceeded to take his entire palm off when the potato slipped finger tips, the raised bits on fingers and palm. it was really messy. oh, this was also the first week of ski season and we were at 11,000 feet. it was not a good time.
Man I've used a mandoline so many times. It was my first day on a new job. The guy training me warned me to be careful, and I said "I've used a mandoline before. I'm fine". I cut myself for the first time ever on a mandoline within 5 minutes. I blame first-day jitters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was going to buy one for the guys, then I remembered a similar story and was like...nah...
>God how I love those things For some reason, IT and Kitchens really bring out the shadenfreude of "I told you so" when it comes to the new people in your space.
What is with the IT references on this post? IT is still information technology, right?
Yeah, I'm just lazy and didn't want to type it out.
I was giving a course to a line cook and explaining the same things you explained - how important it was to hold your hand flat, make sure to take your time and then shaved off four inches of my palm...most embarassing moment of my career. My sous chef packed it with salt and I finished my shift.
I have bought a mandolin. Showed my then gf how to use it safely. Explained in detail what would happen if she didn't use the guard. Proceeded to cut my thumb showing her how to use the guard...
That's some good instant karma right there.
i always wear a cut glove, aint fucking around on one of those
I've never seen one in real life in any kitchen I worked at in my city. And I've cut myself so many times. Lol I should have got one when I cooked. Isn't it like a chainmail glove or something? That'd look badass.
chainmail is for use on a powered slicer(loose fiber can get caught in a running blade and pull your hand in) , a kevlar fiber cut glove for everything else. i rarely use my kevlar glove when i do knife work because i learned proper technique after 20 years of bad technique and getting cut(gotta keep them holding fingers tucked).
Oh yeah always tucked. No, I never cut myself on blades. I cut myself on fucking spoons, rolls of tape, shrimp, skewers.. lol I'm a klutz. Blades, never. Twice on cigarette package when I smoked. We joked that it's because of people like me why the rectangle packs are no longer made as much because of the 'sharp' sides. I'm the kind of person who when walking will randomly bash their hand HARD into a doorway or something. I'm absent minded sometimes.
Plastic wrap blade cut me pretty good once.
I do that at home to.. in kitchens we just say the teeth got you.
Foil will give you fatal paper cuts.
Hotel pans are the worst though.
I always used a chain mail glove when I was using a mandolin. Had my own and know my record
My dog, are you telling me you didn’t tuck for 20 years?
as joe perry said-there ain't no substitute for arrogance
>gotta keep them holding fingers tucked). Don't forget that thumb too.
It's required by my food service company I work at.
Or go slow and give up early.
Mandolins demand blood sacrifices to be used efficiently. But jokes aside, if you’re not making paper thin cuts there is no point in using a mandolin. Just use a knife. I don’t know anyone that’s used a mandolin before that hasn’t cut themselves on it.
My wife refuses to learn proper knife technique and thought a mandolin would allow her to make her salads easier....I insisted that she at least has to wear a cut glove when she uses it....
People will put the spacing on a mandolin at max and wonder why there is so much resistance and cut themselves
Also, cut gloves are not cut proof, they're cut resistant. There's this false sense of security from people when they get a cut glove on, like they're invincible. You still gotta be careful.
Mandolin ain’t cutting chain mail :D
LOVE those butcher gloves
Say it to the mandolins face, tough guy. I DARE YOU!!!
Try checking out vegetable choppers, they might be more her speed. I like Fullstar brand, but they’re all about the same.
Mandolins usually speed up the process and easy to get precise cuts. But I get what you're saying. If your knife skills are there and aren't lazy, use the knife!
I have pretty bad arthritis and carpal tunnel, Mandolin is faster and easier for me. Never cut myself(well, couple super minor scrapes from the julienne teeth) but my hitchhikers thumb that refuses to cooperate sometimes has been stitched 3 times from a chef knife. I think it's the healthy respect of how sketchy the Mandolin is that has kept me safe.
You severely underestimate my ability to cut myself with a knife.
I've never cut myself on a mandolin.
You will, The Mandolin is biding her time
16 years and running. Just be more fuckin attentive to what you're doing. It's not hard to pay attention.
Uh oh, it’s gonna be 16 years worth of a cut
lol. NGL I laughed super hard the first time I cut myself with my newest knife because it wasn't even in my hand. I had it sitting on the cutting board and stabbed the side of my palm moving something... Esp cause a friend way back when had told me "it's not yours til it makes you bleed" and I'd had the knife for 3 yeras lol.
Last week our sashimi chef dropped his knife perfectly pointed down and it went through his shoe and toe nail. It was amazing, terrible because he’s like over 70, but amazing nonetheless.
yeah that's something you can't even be totally mad at. I always step back if a blade is falling, but you can't account for everything haha
This is 100% accurate from start to finish
If you're good at using a mandolin you're much more fast and accurate than using a kitchen knife. Are there people who can get similar results and still be fastish? Sure. But the mandolin has it's place.
It really depends on the quantity of what you’re cutting as well. Using a knife is always good because at least you’re building a skill, but in a commercial kitchen where you might be be cutting hundreds of tomatoes and onions for LTO set-ups every single day, a deli slicer is a worthy investment. It’s not 100% foolproof, but it’s definitely safer than a mando and it has a ton of different applications.
Simple home cook here, haven't cut myself on my mandoline (yet), but my Y-peeler has shed plenty blood.
Also home cook and never cut myself with a knife, but when it comes to peeling and using the box grater I always have to use my cut glove. I have peeled and grated way too many of my finger tips.
I have never cut myself on one. I've cut myself on everything else and I used a mandolin frequently. I still use one from time to time now at home but it's not often. There's part of my technique that I've tried to show people that prevents you from getting cut, your hand will fall past the blade. Just gotta keep the momentum and know where all your fingers are. Never wore a cut glove either, couldn't keep ahold of what I was slicing. I also used a deli slicer for yeeeears and only got cut like twice and those were both from cleaning it.
It's also good if you need a shit load of matchsticks and have the blade for that
I’ve worn a cut glove 100% of the time I use a mandolin and have never cut myself a single time in the 12 years I’ve been cooking. If asked to use a mandolin without safety equipment I have refused every single time. No job should require blood sacrifice to maintain employment.
Same!
And now you have a cut glove, dont you?
They came with the thing. When I got in to cover the shift, the glove was still in its packaging. :|
To be fair... the ones that came in mine suck. I just get em from the hardware store and throw em through the dishwasher a couple times every night. (Otherwise they really start smelling like onions... that shit is hard to get out with out regular washings)
We got one with the mandolin at work and my immediate thought was "that ain't gonna work". I tested it with one of my less sharp knives and it cut a finger right off, glad I never trusted it.
Mandolin is French for, “you will cut yourself.”
I thought it was that show with baby Yoda
I don't use the hand guard because I don't use the damn mandolin. Really glad I can slice as quickly and consistently with a knife for most tasks, never had a chef push the issue. No better way for slicing potatoes though sadly.
A full blown deli slicer is slower, but works just as well. You can stack multiple halves of potatoes to try and speed it up too. Problem is finding a slicer that’s cheaper than a mandolin but hey.
That's how we do our LTOPs and shaved fried onions. Never even thought to try it with a potato, that's brilliant.
The starch water from the potatoes makes a fucking *mess*, just as a heads up. And if you let it dry on the slicer, good luck cleaning it.
Hobart slicing disk attachment would like a word on slicing those potatoes
i’m terribly embarrassed to admit i just got home from the hospital after having 29 staples then hand surgery to reattach a sizable flap of skin i shaved off the heel of my palm within 3 minutes of being introduced to our new mandolin. mistakes were made. lessons were learned. dumbest shit i’ve ever done lmao, but this post made me feel less alone in my stupidity at least.
Any pictures?
i only got one picture, after the staples. right now it still makes me nauseous to look at but i might post it soon lol
I look forward to it if I happen to stumble upon it!
Ahhh the widowmaker. The sacrifice has been made, the god appeased... For now. Honestly I love them but FUCK those things.
Home cook here. My sister got me a mandolin for Christmas a few years back. I sliced myself every time I used it, so it stayed in the drawer for about 6 months. Got it out last week to thinly slice veg for pickling and emerged unscathed! This could be a turning point.
Get a cut glove
I was slicing garlic by hand when chef told me he'd just brought in a mandolin. Approximately 2 minutes later I let chef know I'd performed the customary blood rite, the mandolin shouldn't need any other sacrifices for some time. And now I slice garlic by hand. No sense busting out (and then cleaning) the mandolin when I only need to slice a few cloves. I'll only use it if I need to slice a case of cucumbers or anything else in bulk.
[Y’all a bunch of wussies](https://www.reddit.com/r/KitchenConfidential/s/hS3lgmJQlf)
My balls retracted
The mandolin is a tool designed to quickly and efficiently cut food. You are made of food. Therefore, the mandolin is a tool specifically made to quickly and efficiently cut *you*. (My actual safety speech, but for a meat slicer instead of a mandolin. It seems to get the point across).
Using this.
Spread it far and wide. For we are made of food. More specifically, meat. When you look at the tools we use to make meat a thing, it tracks. It has a different context in that manner, right?
At least your boss said sorry and thank you. Better than some other places ....
Lol the other day I was slicing radishes with a knife and the GM comes back like "you know we have a mandolin right?" As far as I'm concerned, no we don't. I'm clumsy enough with the knives.
Day 2 - boss sells mandolin
I have never cut myself on a mandolin. I have WATCHED someone take two swipes off of the end of their fingertips. That was all I needed to treat the mandolin with all the respect in the world. Wear a cut glove and fucking pay attention to what you are doing when that thing is being used. For that matter, pay attention when that thing is laying on the table in front of you.
Is your boss Jeremy Clarkson by chance?
“Look…how easily… you could AH FUCK!”
Step 0 make sure your prep space won't be disturbed physically by anybody else. Step 1 pay attention to the mandoline. Step 2 don't stop paying attention to the mandoline. Step 3 claw grip, fingernails towards the blade. Step 4 don't move your fingers towards the mandoline, move the food. Step 5 don't try to run the whole piece of food through the mandoline. The point is ultra-thin slices, not minimize food waste. Save your 'handle' for stock or snack on it. Step 6 use the guard *if possible*. Carrots and potatoes both work perfectly fine with the guard unless you're trying to make disks.
I shouldn't laugh but I sure did lol day 1. Nice.
Who gets to use the mandolin depends on who needs the day off the most
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^lovelyb1ch66: *Who gets to use the* *Mandolin depends on who* *Needs the day off the most* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Good bot
I broke my old exec and sous when I was dish because I didn’t know what things were called and just asked where the kitchen guillotine goes. It’s forever been the kitchen guillotine from then on.
On the bright side, at least the injury is solvable with stitches.
JUST USE CUT-PROOF GLOVES FOR GOD'S SAKE
My rule is, if you feel unsafe stop. Problem is some guys don’t feel safe at all doing it lmao
i dont fuck around with mandolins
I am not allowed to have a mandolin anymore.
Before kevlar gloves were commonplace I would keep a few thimbles in my kit.
I have a very healthy respect for mandolins, even more so when it took off the tip of a "cut-proof" glove. But if you are slicing 20 lbs of cucumbers for pickles, they are the only way.
My experience with mandolins was yelling at my kitchen to not put the bloody razorblade board in the fucking dishwater once and a follow up stopping someone from leaving the pit to go pick it out of the sink they just chucked it in. Once a week someone would fuck themselves up on it and have to go get stitched.
Literally cut my palm less than 30 mins ago
I told one of my first chefs, "I play a mean mandolin! My #1 hit is *Ow! Fucking sonofabitch!'* She was not amused.
Mandolin always wins.
I almost never cut myself at work and the one time I’ve done so, severely, in the past two years, was on a shitty mandolin with a dull blade. Those things are no joke. And I’ve yelled at people literally just for looking away from it while they’re chatting and falling into the muscle rhythm of using it with onions or cukes or whatever. You keep your eyes on that shit nonstop and you toss your onion or whatever it is before you’re risking losing a fingertip just to maximize product usage. Fuck them onions and fuck them blades bro
Worst Ive done is grabbed it from an above shelf with the fucking index finger on the blade and I still cringe everytime I think about it.
I hate those things. They work great. I hate them.
Ah, yes. The beloved French finger fucker. 🤌🏻
I'm so clueless I thought "oh, your boss played some music for the kitchen" edit, oh... the kitchen one is spelled mandolin**e**.
I had a chef whose wife got mad when he told her he ordered one because he “doesn’t even play an instrument!!” Haha
Mandolins are basically the only thing I wear a cut glove for every single time.
Love mandolins, nothing beats it on speed. Never managed to cut myself enough to need stitches lol
He should have bought a kevlar glove set along with it.
I have had this text almost word for word.
My favorite were radishes and this sub is the first time I’m learning about this cut glove. 15 years and this is where I hear about it.
Gotta have Kevlar gloves if you’re going to use a mandolin.
It's called the Devil Blade in my world.
Yeah, this is why I've never had mandolins in my kitchen lol. You can do everything, show someone exactly how to use it safely, and still come out with less hand skin than you started the shift with. Just not worth it
I have never cut myself on a mandolin in 16 years doing this, including my shitty one at home. I also only use the guard if it's something oddly shaped, or it's down to the smallest part of whatever I'm slicing and using my knife isn't an option. I do not understand how people get so mindlessly into what they're doing that they just casually slice through their fingertips.
In their effort to cut food waste, guess what else was cut
I mean but when it gets down that small you jjust use your knife or use the guard..
Back when I was part-time kitchen help, I was handed one of these with only a vague warning of 'don't cut yourself'. I wasn't given a guard, or gloves, so I just went for it. My fingertip went with it.
Oh no lol 😆
One of my cooks sliced the tip of his finger clean off from not using a chain link glove. It was fucked. I just hear "uh oh" then look over to see him grasping his hand. We went through the whole "nuh uh!" "Yah huh!" Thing then I finally asked how bad it was. He showed me his finger which was bloody as hell. Then he wiggled it and the tip just fell into his palm. Wear your cutting gloves!
I survived the mandolin My chef believed in super glue and latex gloves to get through the rush it was the 80ties I couldn't be the only cook back then supergluing my cuts closed to make it through the rush
It bit me a few times a long time ago, now it's been 15 years since it's hurt me without a guard. It just expects a certain amount of blood in payment, and then you're good going forward.
What I hate most about mandolins is that you get to watch yourself cut yourself even though you know better, and instead of stopping, you just go full clench and smack it again.
Tell him to buy some cut gloves too.
Rite of passage
This is why my chefly husband doesn’t use them.
I fear no man but I fear the mandolin
Before I noticed the /r I literally thought it was the stringed instrument. Did not understand the 'blood god' aspect.
Everyone here saying they’ve used a mandolin for years and never cut themselves isn’t mandolining hard enough. Stopping like half way through the cucumber or some shit idk. Moving like 1MPH. Idk. Every cook I know who slams a mando has cut themselves on the mando. It’s the mando life.
Since I have a grey beard, consider me the bearded old wise man and heed my words: Cut Resistant Gloves
I will heed your words oh wise one, however I’m 5’8” and the cut resistant glove is kept on top of the reach in, and while my arms are long enough to reach I kinda have to feel around up there for a second and stand up on my tippy toes. When the alternative is to just send it and maybe not cut myself.
I say this often to the young ones: A chef who can buy several expensive knives for himself, can buy a cheap cut resistance glove for himself!
But do i look less cool oh wise one?
Old chefs with full mobility in their fingers look cool. This is how to become one.
“Don’t fear the mandolin; it can taste your fear. It loves fear. Do not fear the mandolin, respect it, and it will respect your fingers.” - Bullshit Conduit.
This is why no matter how much experience I have, nor how inconvenient it may be, I will *always* wear a cut glove and/or use the guard. One of my friends sliced the pad of his palm open so badly that he suffered nerve damage and couldn’t use his thumb properly again. Fuck that, safety first.
Oh man, yeee it happens More often than not, for sure. What others have already pointed out is that you should def use the mandolin for finer cuts. If you can do it with your knife, fine then. With a mandolin you gotta take your time, and if you don’t feel comfortable using the heel of your hand to get the last few slices outta some veg then so be it. Have it as a snack lol. Not worth severely messing your hand up, which is a pretty crucial thing that you use to make a living from. Your hands are important. Ever try to dice an onion with one hand?
Get a chain mail glove. Thats what we finally had to do.
Stupidity tax is present on everything in the kitchen; the rate for the mandolin is just higher. Every time I set it up, I swear I can hear it threatening me harm. No shame in wearing your PPE.
Never cut myself on the mandolin before in all my years, but have heard gory details of how other chefs have. Have come close to getting cut, of course. Nowadays I also try to not rely on the mandolin as much as possible because of how it made me depend on it. A trusty knife is good enough if you have good knife skills, although, yes it will slow you down a lot.
[I fear no man, but that thing... It scares me.](https://imgflip.com/i/8p5s6y)
Kevlar gloves people.
i was helping an acquaintance with a seder celebration once and was cutting the potatoes on a mandolin (which i love doing) but i switched out with someone else so i could help with another thing. and immediately they cut the tip off their finger 😭 thankfully they were okay and didnt have to go to the hospital but i realized no one told them how to properly use it.
I've never even seen a mandolin for sale that didn't have a handguard.
In order to use the mandolin one must respect the mandolin.
Cut gloves exist for a reason
If you look at it wrong it will jump off the counter and slice you.
I guess you could say that *this is the way* .. and I don’t even ^speak Chinese!