Slicer recommendations

[bellaru]

I am considering the chefs choice 610 or 615 for home use. Anyone have experience with these, pros/cons? I have used restaurant grade Hobarts for a long time and am having a hard time thinking a home model can stand the test of time. I'd rather not spend a lot of money but is it worth upgrading to a better model?

 

[tropics]

I am considering the chefs choice 610 or 615 for home use. Anyone have experience with these, pros/cons? I have used restaurant grade Hobarts for a long time and am having a hard time thinking a home model can stand the test of time. I'd rather not spend a lot of money but is it worth upgrading to a better model?

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/256349/meat-slicer-review

I think it is a great choice

Richie

 

[bellaru]

Great link, thanks

 

[muddydogs]

I just purchased the 615, when I was looking at them I came up with the 610 and 615 have the same guts and design but the 610 has more plastic pieces. Not sure if it really matters as most of the moving parts on the 615 are plastic.

I will say that the 615 makes short work of block cheese, salami and chunks of ham as well as vegetables and I'm completely happy with my purchase for the cost of the unit. If you have been reading posts about the slicer you will see that some guys recommend getting the non serrated blade when purchasing the 615, I am not sure why as the serrated blade that comes with the slicer slices just great.

I would pick up some food safe grease if you don't already have some with the purchase of the grinder. Since all the gears are plastic its imperative that there kept lubed after a cleaning to keep the unit running smooth.

 

[SmokinAl]

I have the 645. It'a a very well built home unit.

I also have a Commercial s/s 12" Torrey.

But I end up using the Chef's Choice most of the time.

The big one is just too hard to move around & clean.

I'm not familiar with the 610 & 615, but if they are built anything like the 645, you will be very happy with it.

Al

 

[bellaru]

Any thoughts on the Lem?

 

[parrot-head]

Also looking at either the 609 or the 615.  Both have great reviews and seem to work well.

I'm not going to pony up several hundred bucks for a used commercial slicer, nor do I have the room for it.

 

[bellaru]

I ended up getting the Chefs choice 615. It's pretty nice for small job home use. I haven't pulled the trigger on the straight blade yet. The serrated works ok but it'll loose its edge soon and be to hard to sharpen.

 

[bregent]

I ended up getting the Chefs choice 615. It's pretty nice for small job home use. I haven't pulled the trigger on the straight blade yet. The serrated works ok but it'll loose its edge soon and be to hard to sharpen.

Get their sharpener. Works on straight and serrated blades. 

 

[parrot-head]

Just ordered the 615 from Bed Bath & Beyond for $119.00.

Can't wait to try her out.

 

[bellaru]

That's a great deal on it. I just ordered the straight blade and sharpener. This sight is nothing but trouble. Haha

 

[parrot-head]

I'm going to wait and see how the serrated blade does before deciding about the non serrated one.

 

[bellaru]

I'm going to wait and see how the serrated blade does before deciding about the non serrated one.

I did the same. It actually does a pretty good job. Not paper thin but definitely thin with meat. I am not a big fan of any serrated knife except a good bread knife. Straight blades hold edge better and slice in one fluid motion instead of sawing like an edged blade. Coming from the service industry you never see serrated blades on slicers. I believe there are two reasons they put the serrated blade on. One is to make it more universal for home use and two to make you come back and buy the straight blade. I hope you enjoy your new slicer I'm certainly putting mine to good use.

 

[canuhover]

Thanks for the post.  I bought the 615 in 2013 but had never sharpened it.  I now have a new sharpener from Amazon.  Thanks again.

 

[parrot-head]

I did the same. It actually does a pretty good job. Not paper thin but definitely thin with meat. I am not a big fan of any serrated knife except a good bread knife. Straight blades hold edge better and slice in one fluid motion instead of sawing like an edged blade. Coming from the service industry you never see serrated blades on slicers. I believe there are two reasons they put the serrated blade on. One is to make it more universal for home use and two to make you come back and buy the straight blade. I hope you enjoy your new slicer I'm certainly putting mine to good use.

What is the sharpener?

***edit** Found it. 

 

[johnmeyer]

I wonder if I can use my new Work Sharp to sharpen these blades??

 

[bellaru]

I wonder if I can use my new Work Sharp[/COLOR] to sharpen these blades??

I don't see why not as long as you could rotate the blade as you push it through.
I just Google searched that machine, that's pretty cool.

 

[johnmeyer]

I don't see why not as long as you could rotate the blade as you push it through.
I just Google searched that machine, that's pretty cool.

Yeah, it is actually amazing. I've been sharpening knives since I was a boy, using a whetstone, steel, etc. I've also used all sorts of specialized sharpeners, like the overrated (IMHO) "Chef's Choice" that my wife got for me twenty years ago.

Then, my future son-in-law brought over his Work Sharp, Ken Onion Edition. He has a huge knife collection, and sharpens them obsessively. I spent an evening sharpening all my kitchen knives, and the difference was not subtle at all: every knife had a substantially better edge than it had when new, and cutting was suddenly a completely different experience.

I am totally blown away by this tool and cannot recommend it enough. The only downside is that, like many tools, it does have a learning curve, but there are dozens of YouTube videos that will help you figure it out. In my case, I had my son-in-law-to-be.

 

[parrot-head]

First slicing with the new 615.  Had a small 1.5# top round roast so I threw it in the oven so I could try the slicer out.

Think I'm going to have a lot of fun with this thing.

0202172043a~2.jpg

• parrot-head
• Feb 3, 2017

 

[bellaru]

Absolutely. Looks good