Cheese Slicers and Accessories

Kitchen Classic Cheese Slicer

2006-09-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of fancy cheese slicing gadgets out there, but sometimes its good to get back to the basics. The hand-held chome-plated cheese slicer is a must for any cheese lover. It's compact and relatively lightweight, easy to use and adjustable. "Cookin Stuff" says about it,

"Slices cheese like its butter. heavy duty and a real must for you cheese lovers! Chrome-plated, die cast zinc alloy is heavyweight and durable 7" overall length." Cookinstuff.com offers it for $8.95.... BUT...

If you're looking for a bargain, check out CheeseSlicing.com, where it normally sells for $7.95, but is currently on sale for only $6.45! This is exactly the same product, made by the same manufacturer (RSVP International), but for 28% less! So grab some of these classic hand-held slicers while they're on sale, and give them to the cheese lovers in your life.

Your cheese will cut evenly and easily every time with this cheese sloicer. Designed to cut semi-soft to firm cheeses. The adjustable roller adds in the thickness of slices and easily tightened or loosened depending on the cheese.

Happy cheese slicing!

Zyliss Dial N Slice

2006-09-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a great new twist on an old idea in the cheese slicing world...the Zyliss Dial-N-Slice cheese slicer! The basic design is very similar to the original plane-style cheese slicer invented by Thor Bjorklund, but it has a great new feature: it offers an innovative adjustable wheel that allows lets you change how thick it cuts the cheese! It can cut paper thin, or up to about a quarter of an inch thick. The Dial-N-Slice works very well with medium cheeses, and quite well with hard cheeses. For soft cheeses, I'd rather use a wire type of cheese slicer, because it makes cleaner slices than the plane/blade type.

If you'd like to try it for yourself, they're available from CheeseSlicing, LLC here.

Happy slicing!

Pewter Handle Cheese Knives with Grape Design

2006-06-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

I just love these elegant, unique, and durable cheese spreaders. They're great for late night snacking with my favorite cheese (Merkt's Swiss Almond), crackers and cocktail. They have nice heavy weight pewter handles and stainless blades, so they are very easy to clean. Not only do they work great for spreading cheese, they also work for butter, jams, pate, cream cheese, and and other stuff...

Cheese Slicer Serving Trays

2006-06-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

One pretty popular kind of cheese slicer is the cheese slicer serving tray. It's a combination of a wire cheese slicer board, with a larger tray area to put more cheese, crackers, fruit, or whatever you may want to serve with the cheese. There are a couple different kinds of these.

The first is a pretty convenient cheese slicer. Made of beechwood, it has a built-in recessed tray for serving crackers or fruit along with sliced cheese. That certainly cuts down on dishes when entertaining. Using it as a serving tray and cheese slicer in one, you can slice the cheese as it is eaten. Each slice can be as thick or thin as you or your guests want, and the cheese stays fresher.

When using this cheese slicer, I sometimes find that the crackers or fruit get in the way of the cheese being sliced, so you can't overload it. Also, the slicing arm is shorter than most models, so you can't cut as large a block of cheese with it.

There's also a cheese slicer serving tray that has a round piece of green marble in the center. That has the advantage of keeping the cheese cool so it doesn't get oily-looking, and it's a bit more elegant. The cutting arm is still short, though, and, without the cracker well, the crackers or fruit tend to slide around if the tray is moved.

If you've tried either or both of these, I would love to hear what your experiences with them are. Would you recommend that someone buy one like either of these? Would you give them as a gift?

Looking forward to reading your comments...

Original Cheese Slicer

2006-06-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

The original cheese slicer was invented and patented in 1925 by Norwegian carpenter Thor Bjørklund. It was known as an Ostehøvel (Norwegian for "cheese slicer"). The design was based on the carpenter's plane, and looked similar to the cheese plane shown in the photograph. The original cheese slicer was entirely made of metal, and had a more slender metal handle. Two years after its invention, mass production started in Norway.

Since then, this design has been modified to add an easy-grip handle. A number of other types of hand-held cheese slicers not resembling planes have also been invented and patented. But this design shown here is the original.

Choosing a Cheese Slicer

2006-06-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

How to Choose a Cheese Slicer

You have decided to buy a cheese slicer for yourself, or for someone you know as a gift. But there are so many kinds of cheese slicers; which is the best kind to get? Below are some ideas regarding convenience, ease of use, price, ease of cleaning, and size, that may help you decide which cheese slicer is right for you.

Cheese slicers are available in several basic types:

Hand-held slicers
Cheese knives
Cutting boards with blade
Cutting boards with wire

Hand-held slicers are small, quick, inexpensive, and convenient. They fit easily in a kitchen drawer, can usually be immersed in water and are dishwasher safe. While not as elegant-looking as most cutting board models, there are upscale hand-held models like the porcelain handle cheese slicer.

Cheese knives are more often used for entertaining than hand-held cheese slicers, and are available with inexpensive wood handles or more upscale marble or pewter handles. Cheese knives are often used in conjunction with decorative cutting boards or cheese and cracker serving trays.

Cutting boards with blade are larger than hand-held slicers, but easier to use and faster for slicing a lot of cheese. They typically do slice thinly as well as the cheese slicer boards with wires. However, the blade tends to be more sturdy and does not break as the wires can. Most cheese slicers with blade are dishwasher safe and can be immersed in water.

Cutting boards with wire are quite popular, and are available in many different varieties. They are the most stable and easy to use, and allow the most control over the cutting of the cheese. A high-quality cheese slicer board with slicing wire allows the thinnest, most even slicing of cheese possible with a manual (non-commercial) slicer. The slicing wires can be replaced easily, and many companies offer a lifetime warranty on the wire. The most common varieties of cheese slicer boards with wires are:

Wooden rectangular (beechwood, bamboo, and others)
Wooden serving trays (with cracker well or marble inlay)
Stainless steel
Marble (white, black, gray, and green are the most common colors)

Which style of cheese slicer board you choose depends the kitchen decor, price, and ease of cleaning.

The wooden boards, while they are not dishwasher safe and cannot be immersed, can be easily cleaned with a damp sponge. Wooden cheese slicer boards tend to be more economical than the marble models.

Stainless steel models offer the easiest cleanup, because they are dishwasher safe and can be immersed in water. The clean look of stainless steel complements many modern homes.

Marble cheese slicer boards are preferred by many as durable, attractive, and elegant. A major advantage of marble is that it keeps the cheese cool, so that it slices cleanly and does not take on an oily appearance. Marble cheese slicers are available in more economical compact varieties (usually 5 x 8 inches), including white and green marble. If you have room for a larger, more sturdy piece, choose an elegant premium gourmet cheese slicers in white, black, gray, and green marble.

To summarize, which cheese slicer you choose depends on size, convenience, ease of use, price and, of course, the decor of your home. As a general rule,

If price is a major factor, choose a hand-held cheese slicer, wood or compact cheese slicer board, or check for sale prices.
If size matters most, choose a hand-held cheese slicer. If you want the efficiency of a slicer board on a budget, choose a compact cheese slicer board.
If ease of use is most important to you, select a cheese slicer board with a wire. For entertaining, consider a serving tray with cracker well or marble inlay
If ease of cleaning is most important, stick to a hand-held or stainless steel cheese slicer
If appearance and elegance are most important, choose a gourmet cheese slicer in white, black, gray, or green marble

Happy slicing!