Zyliss Smart Guard Mandoline

This review is for an older version of this product

I bought this mandoline to take away with me on a prolonged stay in Italy and thought it would be just perfect for travelling. It's great for slicing and making julienne of soft vegetable like courgette but totally useless with carrot or raw beetroot as I found out today at home. The action is not as smooth as the video suggests, the vegetables get stuck on the grating blades and only scores half way through leaving it in chunks. If you are looking for a slicer for griddling courgette, aubergine or potato it's excellent but forget it for making julienne of harder vegetables.

Not as easy to use as the instructions (or other reviewers) say. I wanted to do cole slaw straight into the bowl (not on a board or work top) but this could not be done and by doing it on the work top made a mess as the cabbage flicked everywhere.

The only use I have for a mandoline is to cut julienne strips. Although this model sliced very efficiently the julienne cutter left me with vegetable slices that were scored but not cut through. My husband did manage to produce some cut strips but only after exerting great pressure. I have exchanged the Smart Guard for the more expensive Zyliss model.

I have a mandoline and more often than I care to recount I have lost the tops of my fingernails and have come to losing most of finger too, but not with this mandoline. I used it as soon as I received it and it works a treat, and more to the point, totally safe and hazard free

I like the design of this mandoline and it slices vegetables beautifully. However, it does not cut Julienne properly. Vegetables are not cut through and stick together. Then, I have to separate them with hands, which is frustrating and it might have been quicker to cut with a knife in the end. I am wondering whether it is fault on mine or all do the same.