How To Use and Maintain The Meat slicer’s Most Trusted Advice
How to use and maintain the meat slicer most trusted advice. Follow these guidelines to securely and accurately slice deli meat, roast beef, lamb, and veggies for sandwiches, party platters, and more. Safety, blades, concerns, and cleaning will be covered.
Follow these guidelines to securely and accurately slice deli meat, roast beef, lamb, and veggies for sandwiches, party platters, and more. Safety, blades, concerns, and cleaning will be covered. The best meat slicer maintenance and usage suggestions.
Semi-automatic slicers often move somewhat due to the arm’s back-and-forth action and the weight of a large piece of meat. “The slicer had been switched on and the operator stepped away to undertake a separate duty,” Cone adds. Supervision and slicer brackets on the counter may have averted the harm.
This is only one example of what may go wrong in a busy deli or sandwich shop’s daily slicer usage, but other typical issues are just as straightforward to avoid. To maximize your slicer investment, take excellent care of it. We present the most trusted How to use and maintenance advice for meat slicers.
Cutting Meat using a Meat Slicer
Important information, such as how to operate a meat slicer properly, is provided in this article.
- Your meat cutter may also be used to cut what?
- Why shouldn’t frozen meat be used?
- Do you like raw or cooked meat?
- Do you think a serrated blade is preferable to a regular one?
- Can a meat cutter work on a potato?
We’ll go over all of that and more so you can learn how to operate a meat slicing and where to look for a high-quality, reasonably priced meat and food cutter.
First, we’ll discuss things you shouldn’t put through a slicer (both food and meat slicers are used interchangeably here):
Food Slicer Uses – Methods of Slicing Food
Learning how to utilize a meat slicer requires first knowing what kinds of meals and meats are appropriate for usage with it.
The list includes meats and veggies, but it’s not that straightforward. It’s important to know what you can and can’t do.
Knowing which foods should not be put through a slicer makes this task much simpler. Not only might you risk damaging your meat slicer if you try to use it on anything other than meat, but you also run the risk of injuring yourself.
Vegetables may be sliced using food slicers.
While they are most often used for that purpose, food slicers have many other applications in the kitchen.
Slicers are often used for crops like tomatoes and lettuce.
It’s best to avoid eating fruits and veggies that have hard seeds or pits.
Avoid using your food slicer on the pits and seeds of fruits like peaches, avocados, apples, etc. You should stay away from anything that has a seed or pit.
Meats may be sliced using food slicers.
Indeed, “food slicers” may be used to cut through the meat. The phrases “food slicer” and “meat slicer” are synonymous.
Never use a knife or meat slicer that has recently come into contact with raw meat to cut cooked meat. When switching from slicing raw meat to slicing cooked meat or raw veggies, always clean the machine and the blades.
Possible Misuses of a Meat Cutter
We just went through the foods that are safe to use, but there are others that you shouldn’t that might end up in your food slicer.
Meat slicers should not be used to sever bone.
Under no circumstances should you attempt to use your slicer to cut through bone. Slicer blades and machines may be damaged if used on meals that contain bone, thus avoid doing so. If you want to utilize a meat slicer, you’ll need to have the meat ready to slice ahead of time.
Meat slicers should not be used on frozen meats.
When putting meats in the freezer for long-term storage, one common question is whether or not they can be sliced with a meat cutter after they have been frozen.
The answer is no, frozen meat or other frozen foods like fish cannot be sliced using a meat slicer. If you plan on slicing frozen meat, take it out of the freezer at least an hour before you plan on using the slicer.
Do Not Slice Cooked Food Right After Using Raw Meat
Even though it belongs in the section on safety, I’ll say it again: always wear your seatbelt. Be careful to clean the blades and the machine thoroughly before and after slicing raw meat.
Never slice cooked food with a knife that has recently been used to chop raw meat unless you have completely cleaned and disinfected the slicer and the rest of the equipment.
This creates ideal conditions for the growth of pathogens like E. coli, which may have devastating effects on human health via contaminated food. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 5-10% of patients identified with STEC 0157 infection will go on to develop a potentially fatal consequence.
Meat Slicer Safety
I cannot discuss home food slicers without also discussing safe usage.
Cleansing
Following the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions helps slicers last longer. After each usage, clean the blade, baffle plate, and product tray to eliminate meat or cheese particles. Leftover food causes several issues. Food particles in sharpening stones cause problems. “The sharpening stones [on some models] are porous,” says Paul Pumputis, western regional manager of Duffy’s AIS, Sauquoit, N.Y.
Aluminum slicers may corrode if not cleaned. Tim Lochel, service manager, of Elmer Schultz Services, Philadelphia, explains that food moisture may damage the metal. “This causes objects to expand, causing safety guards and the sharpening stone set to sit improperly or move smoothly.” Food particles may carry microorganisms that might infect the next product ran through the slicer.
Every four hours, clean the slicer. Check local health codes. The machine is cleaned with warm water and sanitized. If instructed, wipe or air dry the solution. Dishwashers may rust and seize slicers.
Tracking Controls
Certain versions’ computerized controls and visual displays make cleaning schedules simpler than ever. The computerized controls may be adjusted to inform you to clean the machine every four hours by counting slices and machine time.
Workflow
Even a clean slicer might gum up over time. “The sliding valves on the meat table will tighten up after usage and make the table hard to move,” adds Lochel. “Oiling the valves and bushings fixes this issue quickly. Use mineral or manufacturer’s oil—never cooking oil.” Cooking spray and vegetable oil are not lubricants, therefore they will coagulate and make the valves worse. “We receive at least 10 to 15 calls a year when an operator has sprayed cooking oil on the components to the point where they won’t move,” Lochel adds.
Sharpening
To acquire the machine slices you want, watch the blade. A sharp blade cuts sticky provolone cheese and hard prosciutto into paper-thin slices every time. Manufacturers suggest cleaning and sharpening the blade in four hours. Sharpening wears the blade, affecting slice quality and safety. Lochel believes the indexer should be slightly above the blade when closed. “If it’s below the blade, ask for service to replace the blade and reseat the indexer.”
Maintenance Tips
- Clean the blade and plate after use.
- Every four hours, thoroughly clean and sharpen the slicer.
- Never clean the slicer in a dishwasher.
- Sharpen a clean blade.
- Use only manufacturer-recommended lubricants on moving components.
