The Texas BBQ Forum

Looking at buying a new meat slicer? We do a lot of bacon, cheese, and hams. What do you recommend?
Thanks

I have a 10", what ever you get make sure it is at least 12". You won't be sorry. Check out your used restaurant supply. I would rather have a name brand used than a new one from china.CF

Depends on how big your wallet is. You can spend $7,000+ for a slicer. Globe, Hobart, and Berkel are usually considered the top three. I have the Berkel 827A-PLUS 12". I absolutely agree with ChileFarmer. Get a 12".

Cheese is your nemesis. Most entry level slicers say no cheese slicing. You need to get up to the mid-tier level. You can save quite a bit of money going with an Avantco SL512 12", about half the price of a Berkel, and it is a solid slicer.

Thanks guys, going to check the local used restaurant supply. I like the look of this one Okie Avantco SL512 12, man that is a lot of money. What I have come to the conclusion is that meat slicers and most things you get what you pay for. We do about 100lbs of bacon a year, and lots of hams and deli meats. We had a small china slicers and could not handel it.

Thanks

I also needed a slicer, because after every use of mine, everything was sliced very ugly. So I followed your advice and bought Avantco SL512 12". I can say that it is worth every penny!

clnserviceatlanta wrote:I also needed a slicer, because after every use of mine, everything was sliced very ugly. So I followed your advice and bought Avantco SL512 12". I can say that it is worth every penny!

It is a great slicer for the money. Glad you're happy with it.

For people still looking, I was in the same jam a couple of years ago. I had an MTN 10" that just wasn't up to the task of slicing my bacon correctly. The carriage was too small for the bacon I was doing.
I began checking out Craigslist and about a month later found a used Hobart 1612 slicer that was made in the 70's. For $150 drive out. It was in fairly decent condition but the gauge plate was frozen which happens a lot to these slicers. People use Pam for lubricants and sooner or later the stuff dries to a hard plastic substance. I had to use my propane torch and a dead blow rubber hammer to free up the guide rods. After cleaning everything and sanitizing everything it works like a champ. It even still had the original sharpener. About 90 pounds of cast aluminum, but it's not going anywhere.

If you slice meat, deli and cheese every day in great quantity, I strongly suggest you to buy a professional machine. I work in a grocery with a meat slicer form an Italian brand called Manconi (I can't find my model on their website, but it's similar to this one: https://www.manconi.com/en/slicers/line ... vk-bv-dual). I think this kind of slicers - not necessarily Manconi' ones, but professional models like Hobart's, Berkel's etc... are the best if you have to slice stuff on a daily basis. Cheaper machines tend to wear over time and rapidly lose their precision, smoothness and quality, until you have to get rid of them. On the other hand, professional slicers could last for years. Good luck!

I'm a big fan of the OSTBA Meat Slicer! Just compare it with other similar slicers: https://www.justinscafe.com/best-meat-slicer/ First off, the price is beyond reasonable. If you need super thin meat or cheese, this is absolutely the way to go. I like to make dried fruits and usually take a lot of time and effort into slicing thin even slices. This machine is a lot quicker and easier to use than a knife. It has different thickness options for the slices and is able to cut very thin slices. This slicer is perfect for our needs.