It’s amazing how hard it is to find people who do not like french fries. And rightfully so, as french fries are one of Belgium’s / France’s best inventions. Making them yourself can be fun if you have the right tools. Cutting all the required potatoes manually can be a lot of work. Luckily for us, using a potato slicer makes this a lot easier. It’s a must-have tool if you make french fries often or have to cook for a larger group of people. In this article we will help you find the best potato slicers.
Looking for a way to improve your paninis too?
We explored this topic in-depth for you.
Types of Potato Slicers
Regular Potato Slicers
When doing a Google search these are probably the first ones you will find. As they may look “good enough” at first glance, you may want to hold off on your decision just yet. Here are the key takeaways of regular potato slicers:
- Basic lever-style or push-through cutters
- Made from plastic and other weak materials
- Doesn’t work with large potatoes (so still requires some cutting)
- Needs to be held in place while using them.
These potato slicers will still save you time compared to slicing your french fries manually. We only state the cons of this type because they tend to be around the same price as the next solution on this list.
Restaurant-grade Potato Slicers
These potato slicers offer a lot more bang for your buck. Finding a good one in this category could mean that you have a tool that will last a lifetime. But even if they don’t last a lifetime it will still be a lot longer than the regular household-marketed ones. This is what to expect from these potato slicers:
- Basic lever-style cutters
- Heavy-duty. Stainless steel, sometimes even cast iron options
- Fits all sizes of potatoes
- Can be mounted to table or wall (easier handling)
- Made for bulk
- Reinforced blades
As you can see it’s not that hard to spot the winner among these two. Although, of course, it isn’t surprising to learn that restaurant owners know which tools to pick for a job they perform every day.
Other Considerations
Electric Potato Slicers
If you want to step it up even further with the ease-of-use and efficiency then electric potato slicers are what you need. These devices no longer have a lever, but push the potato through the blades automatically. The price tag is significantly higher though. Generally, you would not use these machines in a household kitchen. Even small restaurants don’t always use these potato slicers.
Mandoline Slicers
Mandoline slicers aren’t made specifically for potatoes. These tools assist you with cutting and slicing all sorts of food. They usually have the following functions:
- Straight Slicing
- Julienne Cutting
- Waffle or Crinkle Cuts
- French Fry Cutting
- Dice and Cubing
- Adjustable Thickness
- Grating & Shredding
Moreover, they tend to have different types of blades that allow you to adjust the outcome even further, like wavy, or crinkly, to name a few. Thus, improving your speed and efficiency for any form of slicing.
There is a downside though. You still do the slicing mostly manually, as you have to move the food along the blade for every slice. Because of this, they are known to cause accidents while using them. So be wary when using one. Any distraction may cause you serious harm.
Some brands offer protective gloves to prevent the mandoline cutter from causing you harm. So make sure to pick one of those!
Specialty Potato Cutters
Finally, it is worth noting that there are a lot of shapes we can cut potatoes in. Some potato cutters offer changeable blades to allow you to pick the shape you want, but some don’t. So keep an eye out for that if that is something you care about. Furthermore, some shapes require a different cutter altogether. Here are some shapes that cannot be achieved with most regular potato slicers:
- Curly Fries
- Potato Ribbons
- Potato Chips
Sweet Potatoes
Aside from the shapes, it is important to note that sweet potatoes generally are not suitable for your potato cutter, unless otherwise specified. Raw sweet potatoes are a lot tougher than regular potatoes and the blades in the potato cutter won’t last long if you try to cut sweet potatoes with them. If you want to make sweet potato fries you will need a dedicated sweet potato slicer or a slicer that is specifically designed to handle both.
Final Recommendations
So to make the decision for the right potato slicer easy for you, we can narrow it down very quickly by following these steps:
- Don’t choose a regular plastic potato slicer. Raw potatoes are tough and these potato slicers will break within a short timeframe.
- Consider how often you want to make fries.
- If the answer is “a lot”, then you should have a look at the restaurant-grade potato slicers.
- If the answer is “more than I’d like to admit”, you should check out the electric potato slicers. (or perhaps still the regular ones considering the price)
- If the answer is “I’m not sure if I even need one”, a mandoline slicer might be of interest to you.
- If you want specially formed fries or sweet potato fries then you may need a separate device, but it is worth checking if there is a multifunctional one that fits your needs.
Conclusion
If you want the right potato slicer you will need to know how much you expect to be using it. The more convenient and efficient, the higher the price will be. With the only exception being the regular potato slicers. Having said that, let me remind you that any potato slicer will be an improvement from cutting manually in any case. So pick one that suits you best and enjoy perfectly cut fries as much as you want.
