Is there any cheese slicer worth buying?

[comestible]

Sometimes I get home late from an evening out and just need a light snack. I usually have a block of some hard cheese around like cheddar or manchego. But dragging a cold block of cheese from the fridge and using a kitchen knife on it is a disheartening experience -- even though I have good knives.. Maybe I just need better knife skills, but I would actually use something that slices hard cheese thinly and accurately.

I never thought I'd say that, because, historically, I generally hate cheese slicers. Maybe I've never had a good one.

The benefit of thin slicing, of course, is that it speeds up the warming process of the cheese, therefore making it tastier without having to leave it on the counter for an hour.

Any ideas?

[FishTales]

The absolutely *only* brand we've found worth buying is Presto. When we lived in the upper-midwest they were easy enough to find but that's been 10+ years. The last time we looked for them we checked stores in literally 5 states... & finally found them in Portland, ME. I say 'them' because yes, we bought all 4 they had. We once bought some of their replacement wires. Are they even still available? They weren't mentioned on the wrapper this time. They didn't fit tight enough to work well.

The very few adjustable slicers we've tried are... well, not worth it.

Cheers!

[tim irvine]

I like the look of this one. I'd risk the $2.95 on it.

http://www.fantes.com/images/97959che...

[Kagemusha]

Didn't they last use that on Luca Brazzi in the Godfather?

[cheesemaestro]

We cheesemongers have some pretty gruesome tools at our disposal. This one is also great for guillotining annoying customers:

http://www.boska-usa.com/view.cfm?tem...

:-)

[comestible]

I like this one from cheesemaestro's link...would be overkill for the home, though. (Remember Kramer on Seinfeld with his cherished slicer?)

http://www.boska-usa.com/view.cfm?web...

[JoanN]

I'm a big fan of the cheese plane:

http://salesrepstore.oxo.com/OA_HTML/...

I have a very nice one that came in a set with a cheese cleaver, which I never use, but there are a lot of different styles of planes available and I'd guess they all work equally well. I love it for just the purpose you mention--cut a couple of thin slices of cheese for a snack. Great, cheap little tool that doesn't take up a bunch of space.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Does it work well for hard cheese? I always worry I will slip and slice my hand with it.

[JoanN]

Yes, it does. And I've never had a mishap, not in years and years of using one. So I wouldn't be too concerned about it slipping. And although mine is certainly sharp enough to cut cheese, it's not razor sharp as is a mandoline, for instance. I don't think it's something you'd have to worry about.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Cool. I always had the impression that it only work for medium cheese. That is, it cannot cut through hard cheese and it rips soft cheese into a mess.

[JoanN]

Well, you certainly wouldn't want to use it with a triple creme. And frankly, I don't often need thin slices of Parmesan. If I need strips or curls of a hard cheese, I'll make them with a vegetable peeler. But I do use a cheese plane for nearly everything in between.

[ziggylu]

Our Norwegian exchange student had given us a cheese plane back when she was living with us. It was great. Somehow it got lost...and we were never able to find one here that worked well. Not sharp enough, the handles bent, etc.

When I was in Norway this past summer, I stocked up on a bunch of cheese planes and brought them home. Just inexpensive ones but for whatever reason they seem sturdier than anything we've ever found here. Maybe IKEA sells something similar?

I also have been known to use my vegetable peeler on hard cheese if the wedge isn't wider than the peeler.

[paulj]

The cheese plane is commonly used for gjetost, the firm, caramel Norwegian goat cheese. Consistency is more like a Gruyère. not as hard as an aged Parma.

[BobB]

There's also the roller-with-wire type, which works well on hard cheeses and can cut a broader slice than a cheese plane. Some like this one, even have an adjustable roller so you can control the thickness of the slice:

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-NP330-Ad...

[JoanN]

Always wondered about that type, but never tried one. Are you recommending this one specifically? It's certainly inexpensive enough. I really like the thinness of the slices I get from a plane, but adjustability obviously has it's advantages. I may just add that to my wish list and use it to pump some other Amazon order up to free shipping.

[BobB]

Not recommending this specific one, I was just looking for a photo of the general type. I've used this type on cheeses like cheddar, but not really hard stuff like aged romano.

Personally I don't use any fancy cheese widgets, just a good sharp knife, but the OP was looking for knife alternatives.

[paulj]

I don't know about this adjustable one, but one my parents had was mainly used for soft cheeses that tended to stick to a knife blade, specifically Velveeta.

[JoanN]

Ah. Velveeta. Not sure I need a dedicated implement for that.

[SanityRemoved]

I have one very similar but the adjustment is a little different. It works well with a variety of cheeses but the trade off is that as the hardness of the cheese increases so does the cutting time. The other thing that may not appeal to people is that it is as hands on as a cheese plane or more so.

[SanityRemoved]

I have a cheese knife with the holes and a serrated blade and a two pronged tip for picking up the cheese. It works well on all types of cheese except a spreading cheese like a port wine in a cup. The holes do make a difference, I was skeptical at first.

I like the wire cutters on blocks too but if you go that route make sure that you can get replacement wires as they do break at some point.

[Chemicalkinetics]

My understanding is that many cheese knives are designed for soft cheese

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/henckels-twin-collection/stainless-soft-cheese-knife-p112975

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/wusthof-culinar/soft-cheese-knife-p12205

The holes are supposed to reduced the interaction between the cheese and the blade, therefore reduce the tear and wear on the cheese.

Again they are designed for soft cheese.

For hard cheese, many people use tools more like a saw than a knife. For example, something like these:

http://www.mountainwoods.com/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID=114.htm

There are hard cheese knives like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Swissmar-Cheese-Knife-Stainless-Steel/dp/B00061N032

http://www.chefscatalog.com/product/23538-Henckels-Twin-Cheese-Knife.aspx

But they are more for cracking a cheese, then slicing the cheese.

Edit: Oh I just realized you asked for cheese slicers not cheese knives. Ok, cheese slicers like these do not look suitable for hard frozen cheese:

http://www.amazon.com/Prodyne-126-B-Bamboo-Cheese-12-Inch/dp/B000I6147Y

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000VZA2W/r...