Slice O Matic - "Does it Work?" - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

Slice your prep time in half!  Slicing those veggies may have gotten just a bit easier.    That's the promise of the Slice O Matic.  It's a hand powered gadget designed to slice with the push of a lever.

The unit comes mostly assembled and has a clear basin for catching whatever you're slicing.  The top part does all the work.  A chute attaches to the top to help guide the veggies to the blade.  The top secures to the base with two locks on each side.  The handle is plastic and is a bit flimsy.

Inside a sharp blade locks into place, but can be removed for cleaning.  Underneath the hood, a clasp slides to adjust slicing thickness.  Also, this is where you can insert the julienne attachment, which locks into place too.

The Slice O Matic is designed to be used with harder fruits and vegetables.  Something like a banana wouldn't be a good idea but fruits and veggies like potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and zucchini should be no trouble for the Slice O Matic.

We start with the blade on its thickest setting.  It takes some pressure on the handle, but it slices through the tough sweet potato, jamming up a time or two.  Carrots give me a bit of a run around, but it does cut them pretty quickly.  When using the push tool to get the rest of the carrot into the chute, in becomes wedged near the blade.  Cucumbers are by far the easiest to slice without jamming.

With the blade set to the thinnest setting, I slice up some radishes without much trouble.  I like how the celery cuts up too with the Slice O Matic.  But it all ends there.  I find the chute too small to handle the potato, onion, and apple.  I have to precut and waste some good parts just to get them to fit.  Forget about the lemon and the red bell pepper.  These both lodge in the blade, jamming the lever because they are too soft.

The julienne tool works great on the cucumbers, but French fries or sweet potato fries are not an option.  Even on the thickest setting, they cut too small when they actually make the full cut.

Unless you're a cucumber and celery only household, I suggest you spend your hard earned cash on a good knife.  It looks like this tool should be dubbed the "Slice NO Matic".  It cuts to a NO for this week's "Does it Work?" test.

The Slice O Matic cost us $20 at a local business.

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