The Chef's Choice 667 slicer performs as advertised with its sturdy construction, powerful motor, large 10" belt-driven blade, and smooth quiet operation. This slicer does indeed produce deli-thin slices!
Out of the Box
The Chef's Choice 667 slicer comes out of the box with a 10" stainless-steel blade, blade sharpener, owner's manual, Allen wrench, small plastic serving tray, and temporary blade guard used for handling the sharp blade.
The plastic blade guard easily screws onto the blade using two large plastic knobs. This temporary guard covers the razor sharp edge of the blade and makes it easy to handle when it's removed from the slicer or during cleaning.
The plastic food tray is used to catch the food as it's being sliced, but it's too small and does not fit squarely under the blade.
The Allen wrench is used for removing the main blade guard during cleaning.
The blade sharpener is attached to the top of the unit and is held in place by a thumb screw. Simply loosen the screw, lift, and pivot the sharpener into place. A rear-mounted grinding wheel sharpens the blade while a front spring-loaded push-in grinding wheel removes any burrs.
The included non-serrated blade is excellent for slicing meats, vegetables, cheeses, etc., but is not well suited for breads. To slice bread you'll want to buy the optional serrated blade (~$90).
First Impressions
Operating the slicer is straightforward. Plug in the unit, load the carriage with the food to be sliced, flip the on/off switch to "on", and finally press the safety interlock switch. The interlock switch prevents the unit from starting up should the on/off switch be left on while plugging it in, a nice safety feature!
Once powered on, you must exert some pressure on the food pusher and slide the carriage forward and back while setting the thickness knob to your desired setting.
The slicer itself is very sturdy and appears to be well made. The main body is made of die-cast metal and the blade stainless steel. The carriage is smooth and rides on a single ball bearing. The motor/blade is powerful and is belt driven.
Some parts of the slicer utilize plastic screws, namely the friction adjustments for the sliding carriage and the thickness dial. There is also a small plastic piece which keeps the food pusher from scraping the carriage. This plastic piece fell out of its hole while I was operating the unit. I used SuperGlue to reattach.
The carriage is secured to the sliding arm with two bolts and small thumb nuts. These small nuts are awkward to remove and/or tighten and require the use of pliers. The bolt holes are slightly oversized and require lock washers, which I do not like. I would have preferred larger nuts (or knobs) and properly sized bolt holes to facilitate easy removal and reinstallation of the carriage tray.
The travel on the food pusher is somewhat limited and you may have to cut large roasts in half so they'll fit in the carriage. The bushings on the food pusher arm rod are made of plastic, I would have preferred brass or some other material.
Slice thickness is controlled by a large knob calibrated in millimeters. Maximum thickness is 0.6 inches. Once set, I didn't have to make any further adjustments. Friction is set by a plastic screw inside the base of the unit.
The bottom of the slicer is covered with a black plastic cover which seems a little flimsy for a "commercial quality" slicer. Four screws and four rubber feet secure the bottom cover to the unit.
The unit is moderately heavy, roughly 30 pounds, and it stays put on the counter.
First Experience
My first experience with this slicer was making thin sliced (almost shaved) roast beef sandwiches. I slow roasted a 10 pound Sirloin tip roast until it was rare and juicy. The slicer effortlessly sliced the meat to perfection. The motor showed no signs of stress and the carriage moved smoothly and easily.
This is my second food slicer. My first was an inexpensive Rival slicer which could not handle roast beef. It was noisy, flimsy, and downright dangerous to use. The cuts were uneven, thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom. I was worried that getting paper thin slices from a consumer-grade slicer was not possible. The 667 proved me wrong. It surpassed all of my expectations and performed similarly to the big Hobarts that I've used in the past.
Caveats
I do have some major complaints about this otherwise excellent slicer.
There are several joints in the housing of this slicer which allow meat juices drip inside the body of the unit. One such joint is located right where the motor housing attaches to the main base. This joint is located right where the sliced food falls as it's being cut, a very poor design. There is another joint where the blade thickness arm protrudes through the base. Juices from my roast beef dripped into the base of the slicer through these joints and started dripping out near one of the rubber feet on the opposite end of the unit. Yuk! The only way to clean up this mess was to remove the screws, rubber feet, and plastic cover from the bottom of the slicer. One shouldn't have to disassemble an appliance to properly clean it!
Also, to remove and clean the blade, you must use the Allen wrench to remove a single screw in the center of the front blade guard (poor design). Next you attach the plastic blade guard. Finally, using a screwdriver, you must remove three Phillips-head screws which secure the blade to the spindle. Not only is this inconvenient, but the screw heads will eventually wear and/or strip after repeated cleanings. Note: The blade should be removed to thoroughly clean the slicer since it's difficult to clean behind the blade. Another poor design.
In Summary
Overall, I am very happy with the performance of this slicer. It's sturdy, powerful, quiet, and slices exceptionally well. However, clean-up is another story.
This slicer is definitely "consumer grade" (not "commercial grade" as advertised) and will make a fine addition to any gourmet kitchen. When slicing juicy foods, I'd recommend using lots of paper towels placed strategically to catch the liquids before they can get inside the unit.
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Chef's Choice 667 International Professional Electric Food Slicer with 10 Inch Diameter BladeProduct Description: Includes Edgecraft 667 Edgecraft Chefs Choice Professional Electric Food Slicer Blade Sharpener Food Tray.
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This is an excellent slicer.I've used everything in it from carrots (when making my carrot version of thai papaya salad) julienned into matchstick thickness to wide thin slices of Korean radish.Never failed me.
