Manual Turning Vegetable Slicer

I love this thing. Very simple to use. Just face the blade so you can see the arrow pointing to the place you put the veggie. I tried on a hard root vegetable: carrot (the skinny long american carrots) and a softer more watery vegetable: Japanese cucumber (I assume it is smilar enough to zucchini). Did not try on a super mushy vegetable/fruit Both cut very well on all 3 noodle settings. The flat setting is just without any of the three noodle blades, and is part of the noodle cutting process, so I didn't test that one individually. All noodles were individual strands, and although I got some short strands, I got mostly long curly strands. Even though you cut the veggie to about 4 inches, since you're going around and round you can get very long noodles. You have to understand a couple things: 1. Japanese cuisine aesthetics is about delicacy and fine use cutlery. Thus these "noodles" will be on the thinner and finer end. Understand that it is probably designed to be mainly used for finely cut "bedding" that Japanese dishes call for such as the julienned daikon radish used as a bedding for sashimi. The Japanese cooks pride themselves on being to cut mm thin. So this machine won't produce spaghetti looking noodles. That's too clunky and not aesthetically pleasing, and wouldn't be as marketable to Japanese moms that just want to cheat a little on their fine cutting skills. 2. The blades are extremely sharp. Lives up to Japanese standards for sharp knives. These blades won't be found at the dollar store. The money you are spending is for the high quality blades. It's like the difference between a Japanese kitchen knife and a cheap one from ikea. You can't cut mm thin julienned carrots with a dull knife. I know it may seem strange but Japanese people put a lot of concern in areas that don't really matter to us in the US (how finely you can cut veggies- us Americans think it's all going in our stomach so it doesn't matter). Anyway, the price you pay for the blades, is the price they cut out from the rest of the minimal design. Pay for the blade, sacrifice the make of the frame. But I've tried a Paderno spirilizer and it did sometime give me a chunks of connected strands. This benriner gives all individual strands. It could be the blade difference, or it could be the fact that you can't put as much even pressure pushing horizontally as when you push vertically. TL;DR. I love it. Cuts extremely well and creates long noodles. You need to understand who this was originally marketed to (Japanese moms who need to cut thinly) so noodles will be fine and thin. Noodles are more flat, not round. However it is an excellent blade (hence $$). Source: born and raised Japanese American with very traditional family, so I understand the quirks and strange things that Japanese care about so much (and Americans might not think is very practical). There's even a Japanese word for this "caring so much about certain things" that I don't think there's a perfect translation for in English.

I was searching for a spirilizer for my new raw food diet for weeks. I planned on using the Benriner to substitute all of our pasta with veggie noodles. I liked the idea that I could make angel hair, spaghetti and linguini size noodles all from the same cutter. When you remove the blades there is still one blade left over that makes curly cuts. I think the curly cuts will be perfect for making veggie chips in my Weston vegikiln 10 tray food dehydrator (also an excellent value). Don't be put off by the machine being plastic. It seems strong- even when using your weight to push down on the veggie. The blades are good quality and very sharp. I recommend that you watch some youtube videos before buying your veggies or using the machine so you don't make some of the common first use mistakes. Healthy eating with your new veggie noodle maker!

Effortless and fun. I do a lot of veggie/fruit juicing but miss pasta. This slicer solves the problem. Easy to use and easy to clean. I've made sweet potato "noodles" and zucchini "noodles". If you have kids who don't like vegetables this may solve that problem. I'll make in a pan with a little olive oil and spices, give these noodles a quick stir and dinner. I don't believe you can go wrong with this slicer I also like the fact that it has small footprint .vs the horizontal spiralzers that take up a lot of space and a little more difficult to arrange your veggie in it for slicing. A great buy.

This is the only spiral cutter I've tried so I have none to compare to. I bought this because it's small compact and takes up far less space in my small kitchen. Also I thought it made more sense to use gravity and a downward pressure when cutting the vegetable rather than those horizontal turners. Also, given how much the Japanese are into garnishing their meals and food presentation, I figured they would make spiral slicers that worked! This works very well and the blades are sharp. I also liked that new blades can be bought. I have not been disappointed with the slicer. I've cut cucumber, carrots, beets, radishes, jicama, fennel, zucchini, yellow squash and, kohlrabi. Great for making mixed veggie slaws and of course zucchini noodles. My goal was to cut back on pasta noodles and to eat more salads and this gadget is very helpful for improving my diet. Addressing the haters: yes, at first unpacking it seems flimsy. But it's not. The box says nylon - not plastic. There is "give" in this material. What's going to break first- rigid thin plastic that snaps from stress placed on it, or a material that has a little flexibility? The two curving pieces that go from the handle to the platform are where you hold it with your other hand to support it. Downward pressure as you turn it, stops slipping and helps ensure smooth slicing. The vegetable piece must be trimmed so the cut face is level for best results. Some have complained they didn't know how to put the blades in - each blade has an arrow on one side. You insert the blade so the arrow is facing you and pointing to the spike where the piece of vegetable is anchored. Some have complained there's no place to store the blades. Really? I wrapped the blades in a piece of foil and keep that in a small Ziploc bag in the box with the slicer. Due to limited cupboard space, I keep the slicer in it's box horizontally on top of something else. I really like how compact it is. To be honest, I've not needed the 3rd blade and so this is why I'm giving it 4 stars. I usually use the 1st blade and sometimes the 2nd blade. Oh and the permanent blade for ribbons. The 3rd blade would only cut hard root vegetables. It should be obvious that the blades work best on hard and firm vegetables. Softer ones like cucumber are best with the permanent blade in place to make wide ribbons. I've yet to try something like cabbage. With any spiraling slicer, there's always going to be a nub of vegetable that's wasted. So, use common sense and minimize this by not cutting the top of the carrot etc. Some have complained the slices were too short... I've had no trouble turning out long noodles. I don't know what they were hoping for - jump rope lengths? This gadget works well for singles, couples or families who don't mind putting in a little food prep time to shred enough for a larger serving. You can prep ahead and have your zucchini noodles in the fridge ready to make a quick weeknight meal. If you're pressed for time and need to make enough noodles for a large family AND want to do this daily. Or you're doing catering etc. then look for a larger one. Benriner does make a larger slicer that's horizontal. Otherwise it takes no longer to spiral slice a carrot then it does to grate one - and your knuckles will be saved from being cut on the grater.

I bought one may years ago and was happy to discover its being sold on Amazon so I bought one for my daughter. This being made in Japan you know it will be the best that it can be. It sure is, you get the most bang for your buck with this spralizer, don't even consider getting else.