Antique Meat Slicers

Antique meet slicers are nice to have for functionality and form. These whizz-bang little units definitely perk up a kitchen, and with cold cuts, a lunch. Finding antique meat slicers is not nearly as hard as one might think, however once you do find one, making sure everything is on the up and up is a good idea as well. We’re going to cover both aspects.

Where to find one of these fellas is never a hard quest. While running across them in estate sales and the like is not something that is likely to happen, it does at times. I don’t think I’d go to an estate sale specifically seeking one though… What are the odds?

Online of course is the usual answer. There are a few website dedicated to buying and selling antique meat slicers. They generally come in varying degrees of repute, reading the reviews posted on the site by satisfied customers will help quite a bit in deciding if the site delivers as promised. Running a search of the site by name will produce a decidedly more accurate description.

A lot of these sites will also offer to take your antique slicer off your hands to be restored and resold. The conditions associated with this type of transaction vary considerably from out and out sale of your slicer to a discount on a refurbished meat slicer. Really all of this depends on who you contact and what sort of deal you work out.

Some of these sites even offer to refurbish antique meat slicer for you, if you decide this is the route you are going to take there are a few things you should look for in the finished product. For one thing, the parts that are repainted should be completely repainted. Bubbles in the paint or any chips should be grounds for a complete repainting. When you consider that this is a tool that comes in direct contact with food, the reasoning is obvious. The steel portions of the slicer should be without pits and scrapes for sanitary reasons and there should be a goodly amount of metal left. This is important for keeping your fingers attached to your hand.

When looking at refurbished antique meat slicers, making sure that the crank moves at an easy to maintain pace is a good idea as well. There is a lot going on when you are slicing meat and making sure you can concentrate on the hand that is not cranking is a good idea.

Finally we’re down to the blade. Make sure your blade is as sharp as can be and does not rub on the guard at any time. If you are purchasing a “new” antique meat slicer, make sure if there are scrapes that it is the blade that is warped and that it is not the blade mount that is off. Replacing the blade with a good one and recranking is the best way to find this out. A blade that scrapes not only makes cranking harder, but also kills the life of your blade and will no doubt shred your meat instead of slicing it. Since we are not talking about antique meat grinders, this is an important difference.

Antique meat grinders look good, and if they are functioning properly will save you a little bit of money and are an incredibly green kitchen appliance. Nothing tastes as good as something you’ve has to work a bit for. And nothing is cheaper than meat bought whole and sliced at home.