It’s not dishwasher safe, but, really, very little high quality kitchenware is. Multiple components are removable for easy washing, and no special soaps or solvents are required: just soap, water, and a damp rag or dish towel. The Red Line 250 is also relatively easy to clean. While for optimal consistency you’ll want your food to have a diameter of at least 7 inches, the Red Line 250 can slice fruit like apples and pineapple, various kinds of firm cheese, and I was even able to get it to slice whole dill pickles into thin sheets. The Red Line 250 is also capable of slicing more than just meat.

But, more practically, it also features a removable “meat table” (the part of the slicer that the product you’re slicing actually sits on), has a very well-designed blade guard system to help prevent accidents, and also has a built in sharpening system, meaning that you don’t have to remove the blade in order to service it. For one thing it’s gorgeous, so beautiful it’s literally distracting, and that sets it apart from the dull stainless steel models you’ll find in the back of a deli counter. Priced at $989.00, it’s also more easily attainable for those of us looking to showcase our discerning culinary expertise.ĭesigned for home use, the Berkel Red Line 250 has a number of advantages that you won’t find with other slicers. It’s also very specifically not a commercial meat slicer-this is a product designed and intended for home use, beautiful enough to proudly display, and versatile enough to be used on a daily basis. Like the Volano, it’s also capable of slicing meat in a wide range of thicknesses, which you can modify using a hand dial. Powered by an electric motor, the Red Line 250 is significantly smaller and sized for a countertop, while retaining the same styling as the Volano. And if the Volano is the King of the Meat Slicers, the Berkel Red Line 250 is its trusted advisor. But owning a meat slicer, particularly in Europe, is actually pretty common.

It’s also expensive, and is so large and impressive that it’s effectively a piece of installation art.Ī Volano is a statement piece and odds are pretty good you won’t run into one in the average home. It is the meat slicer other meat slicers kneel down and worship at the feet of, anointing it with crowns of gold and woven flowers as they shield their eyes from its rapturous gaze. It is the Ferrari of meat slicers the Alpha and the Omega The One True Ring of charcuterie appliances. Descended from royaltyĬhances are, at least once in your life, you’ve seen a Berkel Volano, the incredibly gorgeous flywheel-operated meat slicer which replicates hand slicing using an entirely mechanical system. That statement, in itself, gets at the biggest question you may be asking yourself: do I really need to own a meat slicer?Īs it turns out, more than you’d think. Not only were they impressed by the gleaming, cherry red meat slicer newly installed on our kitchen island, they commented on how they both have family members who own their own slicers in Europe, and how this one was much nicer than any of their European counterparts. That reaction came from our downstairs friends and neighbors, a couple who come, respectively, from Switzerland and Luxembourg, countries known for their consumption of sliced, cured meats.

Over the years I’ve had a lot of cookware and appliances land in my kitchen, but the Berkel Red Line 250 is the only piece of equipment which has actually made someone loudly exclaim “WOW!” when their eyes landed on this gleaming new kitchen appliance sitting on my New York City countertop. The dream of European hospitality, built for your kitchen.

Berkel meat slicer