As Seen On TV Vidalia Slice Wizard Review

My luck with As Seen On TV products is hit-or-miss. The Vidalia Slice Wizard is a definite hit, the out-of-the-park kind. This makes slicing, dicing, and julienne cutting of vegetables easy and quick!

The Vidalia Slice Wizard is a plastic ramp with a non-skid leg that folds out and holds the slicer at a 45 degree angle. There are two metal cutting blades that come together and form a deep "V" in the middle of the ramp. The slicer comes with five different inserts for the cutting blade: thin julienne, thick julienne, thick slicing, thin slicing, and medium slicing. It also comes with a safety insert to place in the blades for storage, comes with a safety holder to hold the item being sliced, and a storage rack to hold all of the different slicing inserts.

The safety holder is bell shaped and has a plunger with sharp prongs on it. You stick the fruit or vegetable onto the prongs and your hands are protected from the sharp slicing blades. There are arrows on the safety holder to show you how to use it properly (the safety holder needs to be held so that it is wider than the Slice Wizard). Press down on the plunger to make the item contact the the blades, and with a sweeping motion, slide the item back and forth over the slicing blade. The vegetable is quickly dispatched in the thickness you have chosen. It really IS that easy!

If you want something diced, push it onto the prongs of the safety holder, and cut across the food item parallel to the holder. Then if you use a julienne slicer blade, sweeping across it will dice the item.

While the Vidalia Slice Wizard does make my cooking life easier, it does have its drawbacks. It's only wide enough for a big onion or bell pepper. You'd have to cut a head of lettuce or cabbage in fourths to use the Vidalia Slice Wizard on it. Also, the safety holder isn't the greatest for all fruits and vegetables. Long, skinny vegetables like celery and carrots don't fit in it. Mushrooms are too soft for the prongs, too. Instead of pushing the mushroom against the blade, they get skewered higher up on the safety holder.

You can slice those vegetables by just using your hand to hold them. It's not recommended, and when the vegetable you are holding gets closer to the blade, it's pretty dangerous. The blades of the Vidalia Slice Wizard are extremely sharp (this goes for the little blades sticking up on the julienne inserts, too)! If you are julienne cutting or dicing a fruit or vegetable, I wouldn't do it without using the safety holder for that reason.

The Vidalia Slice Wizard cleans up quickly, but is not dishwasher safe. You really need to be careful when washing it, too. Don't use a sponge on it, or you'll end up with sponge pieces stuck in the cutting blades. I use a soft (thick) cloth and gently wipe in the direction of the cutting blades, never against them. As far as the julienne blades go, I just spray water on them until they are clean. You can't touch those blades at all safely. Be sure to place the safety insert in the cutter before storage to avoid accidental cutting.

I love my Vidalia Slice Wizard. When used carefully, and washed according to the directions, it really makes life easier for those home cooking their meals.