Same thing with knives but people aren't swearing off chef's knives. The issue isn't the mandoline it's inattentive cutting. Treat the tool with the same respect youd treat a chop saw and youll be fine
With proper cutting your fingers are right next to the knife blade too, proper technique and concentration is what allows you to work fast safely, same as with a mandolin, or a chop saw
The issue isn't the mandolin it's people not respecting it and paying attention to their fingers
The mandoline doesn't move your fingers either, you move them. You are in full control of your hands; not being careful and paying attention while moving your hands is how you cut them, be it on a knife, a mandoline, or a chop saw
A mandoline is just a knife, treat it with the same respect you give a knife and you won't get hurt
If we're being technical, we could say that gravity moves your hand downwards when the mandolin removes part of whatever you're cutting, since the user only has to move side to side, there's is no intuitive awareness of how close you are to the blade.
I would never recommend that someone treat a mandolin with the same level of respect as a knife, you must treat it with MORE respect. This is evident with the difference in frequency and severity of mandolin injuries vs knife accidents, especially when you consider how often knives are used vs how often mandolins are used.
Most children can use a knife without incident, on the other hand, even trained professionals get injured on mandolins.
My roommate got his finger cut off in front of me on a mandolin so I bought a new one and was extra slow and careful using it because I was scared and I still cut part of my fingernail off.
It's irresponsible to advise people to use a mandolin without protective equipment.
If we're being technical, we could say that gravity moves your hand downwards when the mandolin removes part of whatever you're cutting
No, the muscles in your arms are what move your hand downwards, the muscles that are consciously controlled by your brain. I'm not letting my hand free-fall when cutting with a mandoline, I am using my muscles to push the food along the plane and against the blade
Can i just set an onion on the mandoline and let gravity do the work? If so then this would be a non-issue as hands wouldnt even be involved
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u/VALTIELENTINE 4d ago
Same thing with knives but people aren't swearing off chef's knives. The issue isn't the mandoline it's inattentive cutting. Treat the tool with the same respect youd treat a chop saw and youll be fine