How Thick can a Meat Slicer Cut?

Author : Efrain E. Silva

What kind of meat you get, in thickness, all depends on what kind of meat slicer you have used, to begin with. This question is one that is asked a lot in the meat community and I guess I would have to just say that one of the hardest parts in answering it is the very fact that there is no “clear - cut” (or should I say “meat - sliced”? He he heh) answer to it. If you want a nice slab of meat that’s been cut .98 inch thick, then your very, very, very best choice will be — 90 % of the time — going with something like a commercial - grade product. Now, if you want to get somewhere around a max of 1 slice per second (pretty darn fast), done by a machine, in addition to 25 mm in thickness, by the way, then an auto slicer should be for you. This is used in most instances in large commercial places like Costco or Sam’s Club, or even grocers that sell whole - sale (or, heck, buffet establishments and larger, serious food businesses, as well, which have a reputation to uphold and feed dozens of dozens of people every single day).

Now I say this : You can also get up to nearly 4 mm in thickness if you go with the right type of flywheel slicer, so that is something to think hard about as well. Is it something you really need, desperately?

Now, on another note similar to what I mentioned about cutting 1 meat slice per second (aka 60 in a single minute), you can also go manual and save some money. A basic manual slicer can do that and even get you a basic minimum thickness of .6 mm (or like a maximum of .17 mm). But like I said, it depends on which model you want, what you need to use it for, and how you use it.

Try not, as best avoidance as you can make it, to use frozen meat when running any of these slicers (even sharp - edged automatic ones, at very best) as these will wear down the machine and dull the blade. It makes its job a whole lot harder, and over time, you may find yourself needing to get a new meat slicer. So just let that meat thaw, instead, and save money as well as effort (on the part of your machine, of course).

If the blade goes counter - clockwise, you know the slicer is running properly and ready to cut. Don’t forget that. Sometimes, people don’t get the thickness they want (or even any at all, for that matter, or any true cutting done) because they do not pay attention to little, minute details like this. It all makes a difference. Make sure to reset your slicing amounts and get it all back to the initial ‘0’ setting, if you are using an auto meat slicer (something else people have been known to occasionally forget to do).

Try different slicers. Study their thickness settings. Choose what’s best for you.