Aldi Review: Kitchen Living Mandoline Slicer

I picked up a Kitchen Living Mandoline Slicer at Aldi last week, and while it's not perfect, I think it's useful enough to keep around the kitchen. If you've never used a mandoline before and wondered if it would useful to you, this is a great time to find out - it's priced at only $4.99. I should point out that previously, the least inexpensive mandoline I've found near me was in the $15 to $20 range - that's too much to spend on something I wasn't even sure that I would use. But only $5? Sure, I'm willing to risk the 5 bucks.

So, here's the lowdown...

Kitchen Living Mandoline Slicer

Kitchen Living Mandoline Slicer - back of the box

Kitchen Living Mandoline Slicer - box contents

Kitchen Living Mandoline Slicer - blade assortment

As you can see - what is pictured on the box is exactly what you get, and there is also a little instruction book included to help you get started. 

The included blades are (pictured L to R): a fine grater, a thick slicer, a julienne blade, a thin slicer and a coarse grater. The fine grater would be most useful for harder cheeses like Parmesean and Romano, while the coarse grater is better for cheeses like cheddar. The thick blade gives you about a slice about one-eighth of an inch thick, and the thinner one about one-sixteenth. The julienne blade is used for cutting strips.

Below is a photo of the included finger protector - the blades of the mandoline are SHARP, and it would be very easy to slice off the tip of your finger if you didn't use it!

Vegetable holder - finger guard

Ready for action - let's slice some onions - SAFELY!

Here's the setup for dicing onions

And here's the result!

As you can tell from the picture, my onions didn't come out uniformly diced - there's some thin onion strips in there. But even so, I was quite impressed with how easy and quick it was. I still need to experiment a bit to figure out how to get a more consistent dice. Not perfect, but so far, I'm satisfied. 

Now, let's grate some cheese! If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that taco night is a big favorite at my house, and that's exactly what I'm doing tonight.

Let's open up the Happy Farms Sharp Cheddar!

The grater blade installed - just slide the cheese block over the surface of the mandoline.

And PRESTO! You've got grated cheese!

Now, you'll probably notice that I didn't use the finger guard with the cheese. There just isn't a good way to use the finger guard with a block of cheese that size - but I was able to use it once I got about half the block done. EXTREME caution is in order here. Respect the blade, and you shouldn't have any trouble.

After I was done, clean-up was fairly simple - a quick, but careful wipe down with a soapy sponge and a cold water rinse was all I had to do. There are a few nooks and crannies where bits of food could get stuck, so you'll want to be aware and careful of that, but all-in-all, it's pretty easy to clean. 

The Kitchen Living Mandoline Slicer is a handy tool to have around the kitchen, and I find myself using it more and more often as I experiment with it. It's quick and easy to slice things like onions, carrots and potatoes, and evenly sliced tomatoes are a snap. 

This mandoline lacks some of the features that you'd find on much more expensive models - things like adjustable (and replaceable) blades, and a storage case, but for the price I paid, I'm very happy with how it performs. I feel I got more than my money's worth!

This one gets an enthusiastic "thumbs-up"!

-Jeff the Aldi Shopper