The rotor slicer/shredder attachment comes with 4 large, sturdy cones - 2 slicing cones (thin & thick) and 2 shredding cones (fine & coarse), a durable plastic "housing" unit and a shaft. After taking everything out of the box my first reaction was, "WOW! This is a LOT bigger than I imagined." That's the problem with basic online pictures - it's really hard to get an idea of just how big (or small) things are.
I planned to make sautéed shaved brussels sprouts for lunch and figured I'd give my new kitchen "toy" a test drive. While I would strongly recommend reading the instruction manual first, figuring out how to assemble the unit and attach it to the stand mixer was fairly simple without the instructions. I was up and running in less than 2 minutes...
I started with the thin slicing cone because I wanted super thin slices of brussels sprouts (think shaved chocolate). I put in a handful of my washed and trimmed brussels sprouts into the generously sized food hopper (or food chute), turned the stand mixer on low and pushed down on the food pusher levers.
Thankfully, the food doesn't come shooting out all over the place. I had my bowl on the counter, just below the opening for the rotor slicer and everything came out nicely. Then things started getting a little hairy...
I had to really put a lot of weight into pulling down on the food pusher handles - and even then I wasn't getting very far. I ended up loosening the entire rotor slicer unit from the stand mixer; it tilted sideways and a few of my brussels sprouts came tumbling out onto the counter.
I stopped, removed the the unit, disassembled it, rinsed it, and put it back together with the thick slicing cone instead. I made sure the fastening screw was super snug and gave it another try... YES! I had 2 pounds of brussels sprouts sliced in no time.
The best part is, cleaning up the rotor slicer/shredder unit is significantly faster than cleaning up my food processor (which inevitably always gets food stuck in the lid's seal). I can't wait to try it out with cheese and other veggies!
My main gripe is that the food pusher handles don't go all the way back - so you can only lift them so far out of the way to put food in. Also, some food gets stuck between the housing unit and the cone - not a big deal, but if the stuck pieces are too big then you'll have to stop, remove the cone and reassemble.
Overall, it was definitely worth the $48 I spent! I think I'm going to buy the KitchenAid can opener attachment now too, since my {Cuisinart - seem to be having issues with their products lately} can opener has been another kitchen headache I'd like to solve.
Ps. Stay tuned for the brussels sprouts recipe!
I don't know if it was the late hour I read your blog but up to the part where the machine actually works I was about to crack up in my bed from laughter !! you know it was like one of these stories where it just keeps getting worse and worse and you just can't stop laughing ... but then you had a happy ending after all haha, good for you !! it looks nice, that's for sure <3
ReplyDeleteYou know - I will sheepishly admit this to you (well, and anyone else who happens to read these comments)... When I read the review again the next day - it just sounded so "dirty" to me. I used words like "shaft" and "large, sturdy cones" (thick/thin and fine/coarse). Then I said, "WOW! This is a lot bigger than I imagined."
DeleteLOL - I couldn't help but wonder if anyone else out there had a twisted enough mind to read it like that - but I felt slightly embarrassed. :D