Vegetable slicer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adjustable vegetable slicer made of plastic
A cabbage slicer in which the cabbage is cut while turning

The vegetable slicer (also known as a Hachel in Austria ) is a kitchen appliance for cutting vegetables into slices . Vegetable slicers consist of a rectangular wooden board or a plastic plate with a handle and a guide bar on the left and right, with one or slightly stepped blades attached over a slot. Modern vegetable slicers often have interchangeable sets of blades for different thicknesses and shapes.

Mode of action

Wooden vegetable slicer, ca.1920

The clippings are pushed back and forth over the blades , cutting off thin slices. In order to avoid injuries to the fingers, the cut material is usually moved with a holder, a handle, on the underside of which several spikes hold the piece of vegetable. The holders often used today are based on an invention by Alfred Börner.

Special forms

Particularly high-quality kitchen slicers are also referred to as “mandolin” in French cuisine. The cutting strengths of the mandolin are infinitely adjustable. These vegetable slicers are usually made of stainless steel and have different blade attachments with which particularly fine to coarse slices, Julienne strips or special cutting patterns are produced. Such mandolins are mainly used in professional kitchens.

In earlier times, larger mechanical vegetable slicers (also known as “cabbage slicers”) were used, in which a rotating cutting unit chopped the vegetables. This was mostly done by hand, in rare cases also electrically.

Another special form is the so-called V-plane , the blades of which are arranged in a V-shape in order to cut the cut material from both sides at the same time. This should result in a simpler and cleaner cutting result. The principle of the V-plane was also developed and patented by Alfred Börner.

See also

Web links

Commons : Cole slaw boards  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Börner Distribution International GmbH , company database on www.technologieatlas.eu ; accessed on April 26, 2019
  2. ↑ When golden vegetable slicers conquer the world , online article from www.volksfreund.de (the Trierischer Volksfreund online edition) from September 20, 2013; accessed on April 26, 2019