Mandoline setting: Wavy blade, 3/16-inch to ¼-inch depending on preference Ever wanted to make crinkle cut pickles for burgers you’re grilling at home? Use the wavy blades on cucumbers and pickle the slices to pile on sandwiches or burgers (or eat right out of the jar).
What vegetables can you cut with a mandolin?
Uses. Mandolines can be used to prepare all manner of firm vegetables, for example, slicing potatoes for dauphinoise, cutting courgette ribbons and slicing ginger or garlic.
Which end of cucumber do you cut first?
blossom end
Start peeling at the blossom end of the fruit. Slice away one strip of the green peel toward the stem end and stop about one inch from the stem. Then wash off the knife blade and repeat peeling from blossom to stem end until the fruit is peeled. Rinse the knife again and cut up the cucumber as needed.
Is a mandoline slicer worth it?
Getting straight to the point: if you are serious about cooking, you should own a kitchen mandoline. This wonder tool has been around a long time and is a favorite of everyone in the Cooking Light Test Kitchen.
What can you cut with a mandolin?
A mandoline is typically used when making dishes that require uniformly sliced vegetables, such as a potato gratin or homemade potato chips. But it is also used to make french fries, vegetable slaws, and shredded or shaved vegetable dishes.
Do I need a mandoline slicer?
A mandoline—with an e at the end—is a kitchen tool no one should be without. The key benefits to using a mandoline are speed and uniformity in slicing, shredding and sometimes grating. Traditionally used to cut prep time to a minimum when making gratins, slaws and french fries, mandolines are tremendously versatile.
Can you slice tomatoes on a mandolin?
Mandoline setting: Straight blade, any thickness! Whether you’re looking for thick tomato slices for a burger or thin slices to top a salad, the mandoline can do it. Good tip: Tomatoes are more delicate and take less pressure, so it’s best to stay light on the food holder.
Do chefs use mandolins?
Most chefs can dazzle home cooks with their knife skills, but even they cannot perform such precision on yams and apples. Their secret, the tool that no chef would live without, is the mandoline. With this slicing tool, they can cut carrots on an angle into exactly one-sixteenth-inch slices.
How do you cut a cucumber so it is not bitter?
All you need to do is thinly cut off the last part of the stem or blossom end of the cucumber and with that piece rub the end of the cucumber in a circular motion. While you do this, a white foam-like substance will emerge from the inside of the cucumber. This is the cucuritacin, which causes bitterness in it.
Should you peel cucumbers for a salad?
Should you peel your cucumbers for cucumber salad? Again, it depends on the variety and maturity of the cucumber. English or Persian cucumbers have thin skins which you do not need to peel. Regular market cucumbers may have thicker peels that can be tough and bitter, so it’s best to peel those.
What is a slicing cucumber?
Slicing cucumbers are the best cucumbers for fresh eating. Slicing cucumbers generally grow about 8 inches long and have tender, non-bitter skins, a sweet flavor and small seed cavities. Pickling cucumbers are usually short and blocky.
What can I do with lots of cucumbers?
7 Different Ways to Eat Up Extra Cucumbers
- Find our Pickled Cucumbers recipe here.
- Tropical Cucumber Smoothie with Kale.
- Hydrating Cucumber Smoothie with Mango.
- Cucumber Mojito Mocktail.
- Mixed Berry & Cucumber Bellini Mocktail.
- Cucumber Melon Sangria Mocktail.
- Lemon Cucumber Virgin Cooler.
Why do people rub cucumbers before cutting?
The compound tends to be concentrated at the ends. Hence you rub the ends, sprinkling the salt helps in extracting the white milky fluid that contains the cucurbitacins. By cutting off the ends of the cucumber you reduce the likelihood of getting the cucurbitacins to spread to the rest of the cucumber.
Why should you milk a cucumber?
“Milking the cucumber actually brings out the bitterness leaving the cucumber with a fresh, clean taste,” Perkins explained to TODAY via email. But be prepared to see varying degrees of “milk” coming out of your cucumber, depending on what type it is.
Why is my cucumber salad bitter?
The actual cause of bitterness in cucumbers and other gourds, like zucchini, is due to a compound known as cucurbitacin. This compound is always present in cucumbers, but the levels change based on the growing process of the vegetables. The higher the level of cucurbitacin, the more bitter the cucumber.
What is the difference between a mandolin and a mandoline?
A mandolin is a musical instrument which is like a lute, with pairs of metal strings that are played using a plectrum. A mandoline (which can also be spelled mandolin, hooray!) is that vegetable slicer thing (a flat body with adjustable slicing blades) that always looks like it will take your finger off.
What kind of mandoline is best?
Our Top Mandoline Picks
- Best Overall: Mueller Multiblade Slicer.
- Best Handheld: Kyocera Adjustable Ceramic Slicer.
- Best for Beginners: Dash Safe Slice Mandoline Slicer.
- Best Budget: OXO Handheld Mandoline.
- Best Splurge: OXO Chef’s Mandoline Slicer 2.0.
How thin can a mandoline slice?
With the slicing blade, you can choose thin (1/32-inch), medium (1/16-inch) and thick (1/8-inch) slices. It’s slim enough to fit in a drawer, and the handle is designed to allow hanging storage as well. Urban Trend’s Mistral Mini Mandoline measures less than 9.5 inches and folds flat for storage.
What is a mandoline slicer good for?
Its sole purpose is to uniformly cut fruits and vegetables, either for presentation or so the pieces cook at the same rate. Mandolines are sharp blades attached to a platform that thinly slices food. Basic models only slice, while fancier ones also have attachments that julienne, dice, and waffle-cut.
What is a mandolin good for?
A mandoline is designed to cut vegetables and fruit into even, and often very thin, slices. You can choose either a simple handheld model for straight cuts or a mandoline with interchangeable blades that allow for julienne (matchstick), dicing, french-fry, and even waffle cuts.
Can cheese be sliced on a mandolin?
Cheese. A mandoline isn’t just for fruits and vegetables. You can use it to slice or grate any firm cheese.