What can I use as a manual hard cheese slicer?
I used to have an electric deli slicer (with the motorized rotary cutter) like they have in the supermarkets, though not so fancy for home use. But not any more, and now I do not have the counter space or budget to justify getting another one. Also cleaning given infrequent use does not make a lot of sense.
Where I usually have a problem is thin slicing hard cheeses (like a block of cheddar cheese) with a knife. Because of the force required to slice the cheese, the slice usually ends up too thick or only a partial slice.
I have tried using generic band type cheese slicers that are fine for soft cheese but would seem to break for hard cheeses.
So I would like to know what kind of utensil I could use. Ideally I would like to keep it in the realm of a manual-operation utensil that is easy to clean and store.
--EDIT--
After doing some more searching, I came across these two that seem like possibilities:
Norpro 330 Heavy Duty Adjustable Cheese Slicer
Norpro 349 Marble Cheese Slicer-MARBLE CHEESE SLICER
The 330 has replaceable wire which seems like a good feature. I would appreciate any comment regarding whether these might be suitable.
Best Answer
A Scandinavian cheese slicer, like this one should do the trick. It's small, cheap, machine washable, and they last basically forever.
Pictures about "What can I use as a manual hard cheese slicer?"
How do you cut hard cheese?
Use Water. One simple way to help keep the cheese from sticking to your knife is to use water! Specifically, using water to get the knife to a different temperature makes cutting a bit easier. For the best result, you should use cold cheese and warm to hot water.How to use a cheese wire.
More answers regarding what can I use as a manual hard cheese slicer?
Answer 2
Cheddar is generally not a problem for a wire to slice - not sure if that's what you mean by "band-type slicer" as I've never heard the term. Most images that come up for it seem to be of the rolling hand-held sort many of which would probably be too wimpy.
What I use when I don't use a knife is a board with a wire supported on a frame and a lever arm attached to a base/board. I've never gone after parmesan or other "seriously hard" cheeses with mine, but cheddar certainly poses no problem for it. An alternate version uses a board with slot to hold a more traditional cheese wire with handles.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Klaus Nielsen, Klaus Nielsen, Pixabay, Karolina Grabowska