#Which are the Best Inexpensive Mandoline Slicers?

You don't have to spend a lot to get a good vegetable slicer. [Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

There's a saying I've heard from photographers that goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. The idea is that you can have the fanciest camera kit in the world, but if it's so cumbersome that you never end up carrying it around, it'll do you less good than the camera built into the cellphone that's actually in your pocket.

That idea reminds me of how I feel about vegetable slicers. At home, I own three. I have a full-fledged professional mandoline ; I also own a Japanese Benriner slicer that I've had since my restaurant-cooking days; and then a cheapo ceramic slicer that I didn't buy and can't recall how I got, but remember thinking I'd never actually use given the two other slicers in my collection. What's funny is that whenever I now need thin, even slices of something, I find myself always reaching for the cheap ceramic one. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've used my professional mandoline in more than a decade and can't really say when I last used the Benriner either.

It's just like the camera: even though I own pro-level stuff, it often feels like too much of a hassle to get that gear out and set it up. Instead, I grab the much less impressive tool, because it requires no setup and very little cleanup. And frankly, for most of the tasks I need a slicer for at home, it does just fine.

That got me wondering if there are other even more worthy mandolines and slicers out there on the cheaper end of the spectrum, so I ordered every mandoline-style slicer sold through Amazon for $50 or less* and put them to the test.

*I also grabbed one that came in just slightly higher at $52.