I see slightly used Rival meat slicers on Craig'slist fot $50. Any have one of these? Are they any good? Or am I better off with a good electric knife? Looking to slice beef, pork and turkey for sandwiches.
I have what I would call an entry level meat slicer. I'm at work so can't check the brand, but I'd bet it something similar to Rival. Comparable cost anyways. This is the kind with the metal blade but the plastic housing. A button on the top you have to hold for power, and a plastic tray and 'meat pusher' to keep the meat going against the blade. I bet I got it for $50 or so 12-15 years ago.
I only use it a couple of times a year, likely because it is put away and its a moderate clean up job. I've used it to slice big boneless hams sliced into 8ths. Beef roasts for sandwiches, etc. It does a fine job. Says it will also slice bread....ummm...no. Cheese...never tried it, but I think it would waste a lot of cheese.
So my long winded answer is that mine works and does what it says it will do. It slices meat thinly or thickly. But it also occasionally jumps its track (1-2 times slicing a whole ham). And you have to take it apart fully to clean. (I imagine you do this with any meat slicer, but there may be ones with a better design for it). So since it does what it is supposed to do I have not bothered to replace it with a more expensive model.
When I do replace it, I suspect I will not buy a $300+ model. But I do think I will fork out the extra $50 or so to get one where all the parts are metal. Maybe it won't be any more secure than my plastic one, but I am hoping it will be.
If I lived in the U.S. and was buying one today, I think I might look at one like this.
Yes, its $105 and not $50 (but maybe you could find one used), but its also not $300+. Obviously you get what you pay for, and a pricey model might be way better. But for my occasional home use, a lower end one is just fine. The thing about this one is that it seems to have almost all metal parts. The housing is metal, the food pusher is, and the tray the meat sits on is as well. And I like that bar system that it glides on. You see the kind where it just sits in a groove on a flat deck, but that's what I have and it slips out. But that round bar seems better.
Good luck and let me know what you end up going with. I'll be interested to see how whatever you get works out, so that I can make my decision in a year or two. :)