meat slicing woes

[netspyder]

so... last year i bought a beswood 10" slicer based on reviews from several sources online... $350 seemed like a bit much for something that i'd use occasionally, but i wanted something better quality than the garage sale ones i had in the past. turns out i actually use the thing enough that it lives on my counter now that i'm smoking more large meats, making my own sauerkraut, etc, etc, etc.

anyway, it works great... except for meats... which, is the whole reason i bought the thing. nevermind that i now use it for veggies and cheese as well. when i'm slicing meat, it doesn't cut to the bottom of the piece i'm working with, which means every few passes i have to flip the piece or i end up with a giant flap between the blade and the sled. there's a 3/8" gap between the sled and the blade... and i've thought about fabricating something to take that up out of an aluminum or steel plate and screwing or bolting that to the sled... but i don't have a ton of experience with that sort of thing. i also don't have a ton of experience with slicers... is this kind-of a normal thing? should i be dropping my meat into the freezer for a bit before slicing?

i wouldn't worry about it that much, because in the grand scheme, that little flap is a fraction of the total weight of the meat, except that most of the time it's pastrami that i'm slicing, and there's so much flavor in the rub that gets lost there.

 

[old sarge]

A lot of slicers will leave a 'tail' because of the gap between the carriage tray and the blade. I found that applying just a wee tad more pressure at the bottom of the meat when slicing will minimize the tail; for a while. Then flip the meat bottom to top and continue. There is a thread somewhere demonstrating such a mod as you mentioned but done on a 3D printer. And someone else made one out of metal. Good luck.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

It helps if you put the meat in the freezer for a while, not enough to freeze it solid but just enough to stiffen it up a bit. That way it won't hang down as it gets to the blade.

 

[gmc2003]

There was a guy here a couple of years ago that made something to remedy that little meat flap issue. I can't remember his user name, but his avatar pic looked like he just ate a whole lemon. That pucker face look.

I'll do a search and see if I can find the thread.

Chris

 

[SmokinEdge]

Be sure to look under the carriage and see how it mounts, my 10” slicer from LEM is adjustable.

 

[Winterrider]

This may be what gmc2003 was referring too

3D Printed Chef's Choice slicer "flap killer" modification

[edit] This thread was pulled out and broken off from a similar thread started by Dave Omak after I unintentionally somewhat hijacked his thread. Making this a separate thread was probably a good move by the moderators. Here is a link to Dave's thread: Chef's Choice meat slicer...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[gmc2003]

Yup that's the one.

Chris

 

[johnmeyer]

There was a guy here a couple of years ago that made something to remedy that little meat flap issue. I can't remember his user name, but his avatar pic looked like he just ate a whole lemon. That pucker face look.

I'll do a search and see if I can find the thread.

Chris

That was me. I designed a 3D-printed part for the Chef's Choice slicer I own. I have since also designed and printed the locating pin part which tends to break on these slicers and for which Chef's Choice's replacement stock is used up.

Here is the:

Flap Killer

and here is the

Locating pin

 

[smokin peachey]

That was me. I designed a 3D-printed part for the Chef's Choice slicer I own. I have since also designed and printed the locating pin part which tends to break on these slicers and for which Chef's Choice's replacement stock is used up.

Here is the:

Flap Killer

and here is the

Locating pin

Hey John how have you been?

 

[GaryHibbert]

I have an el-cheapo $100 slicer, but the only thing I slice is bacon, so its good enough. I always put the meat in the freezer for an hour before slicing. A lot of people put it in for 2 hours.
Gary

 

[johnmeyer]

Hey John how have you been?

Nice of you to ask. Haven't had the smoker fired up since last fall so I haven't been visiting this forum at all. Too many hobbies, not enough time.

Restored a bunch of tube amps last summer and still do occasional movie transfers and restorations. Someone gave me a big air fryer, so I've been working on perfecting several recipes for that. I have a fantastic spiced pecan recipe and I think I'm closing in on a reasonable french fry recipe. Air fryer french fries will never replace the traditional 2-fry recipe using hot oil, but its not bad.

 

[smokin peachey]

Nice of you to ask. Haven't had the smoker fired up since last fall so I haven't been visiting this forum at all. Too many hobbies, not enough time.

Restored a bunch of tube amps last summer and still do occasional movie transfers and restorations. Someone gave me a big air fryer, so I've been working on perfecting several recipes for that. I have a fantastic spiced pecan recipe and I think I'm closing in on a reasonable french fry recipe. Air fryer french fries will never replace the traditional 2-fry recipe using hot oil, but its not bad.

Sounds good. Good seeing you around