The Basic Mandoline

• It takes a good eye and a steady hand to get perfectly even slices with a knife. A mandoline removes that difficulty by mounting the blade to a flat platform, which holds it at a consistent angle. Basic models have a single blade in a fixed position, producing just one type of slice. More advanced mandolines have interchangeable or adjustable blades, and can cut slices or strips in varying sizes. The blades are often V-shaped or angled at a long diagonal, improving their cutting ability. Once you've mastered using one, you can slice a whole bag of apples in just minutes.

Playing Your Instrument

• Using the mandoline is simple enough. First, decide how thick you want your apple slices and choose the corresponding blade or setting. Once that's attached, locate the safety hand guard that's designed to hold the foods you cut and keep your fingers out of harm's way. Most have prongs of some sort on the bottom, to hold the food in place. Stand the mandoline over a cutting board or sheet of wax paper to catch your apple slices, or hold it over a mixing bowl. Press an apple to the hand guard, then place it on the flat upper side of the mandoline. Slide the apple downward across the blade, and a neat slice falls from the mandoline each time.

An Apple a Day

• Slicing apples on your mandoline is a bit different from slicing carrots or other dense vegetables. For one thing, they vary widely in sharpness and cutting quality. A good mandoline can make clean slices from almost any apple, but an older or lower-cost model might do best with firm-textured apples such as Delicious or Granny Smith. Core the apples first, and peel them if you don't want peel on your slices. Most apples brown pretty quickly once they're peeled and cut, so fill a large mixing bowl with water and lemon juice. As you cut the apples, drop them into the acidulated water to keep them fresh-looking.

A Few Quick Pointers

• If you're intimidated by the idea of whisking your hand back and forth across a razor-sharp blade at high speed, that's just good sense. Be diligent in using the hand guard. If you accumulate a few inexpensive mandolines, as many cooks do, choose the best handguard and use it on all of them. Unfortunately, some hand guards are clumsy to the point of unusability, and even with a good one it's possible to cut yourself through a moment's carelessness. A better solution is a cutproof glove, available from most kitchenware, hardware and sporting-goods stores. They're made of lightweight but tough mesh, and will prevent any unfortunate incidents.