In 8000 BC, the shepherds used the leak-proof stomachs and other bladder-like organs of sheep, goats, cows, and buffalo to store and transport milk. Milk is naturally curdled when stored this way due to the presence of the enzyme rennet in the warm environment of animals’ stomachs. These milk curds were strained and further preserved by the addition of salt. That’s how the “cheese” we now know reportedly evolved.
It’s uncertain where cheese production was first discovered although pieces of evidence of early cheesemaking were found in the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. But the mass production of cheese is known to have occurred in Switzerland when the first cheese factory was built in 1815. Soon after scientists learned how to mass-produce the enzyme rennet the era of industrial cheese production spread worldwide. Consequently, the first known modern cheese slicing tool emerged from the advancement in cheese consumption. It notably played an important role in Swedish cheese history although a Norwegian invented it.
The Norwegian carpenter Thor Bjørklund (1889-1975) reportedly got irritated when he repeatedly couldn’t make good cheese slices with a normal knife. Thor had tried different tools in his shop to cut the cheese slices the way he liked it; he eventually found that the carpenter’s planer enables him to cut his cheese bars into the thickness he desired. Thus, Thor Bjørklund eventually invented in Norway the Ostehyvel, the modern cheese slicer or cheese plane in 1925.
The mass production of the Osthyvel cheese slicer started in 1927 in Lillehammer, Norway. The tool’s adapted design was based on the carpenter’s planer, the carpentry tool used to make rough wood surfaces even and smooth. This cheese-cutting tool uses stainless steel blade to slice hard cheese slabs. It’s commonplace in the Nordic countries, and in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
The other type of modern cheese slicer that came into existence is the original Prodyne Gourmet Cheese Slicer; it was patented in 1971. This type of Cheese cutter was designed to cut soft, sticky, moist, and oily cheese slabs. The patented design features a wooden board and a stainless steel wire that extends between the two ends of the cutting arm. One end of the wire loops is set around the steel cutting arm in the slot and the other passes around a metal pin through a plastic handle on the other end of the cutting arm. You rotate upward the plastic handle to tighten the wire.
The more handy and user-friendly new models of cheese slices were patterned from the said forerunners of the cheese slicer. The board-style cheese slicer has introduced the use of marble, stainless steel, and plastic as cutting boards. Multiple designs of handles, wire holders, and cheese parts had been invented to make the cheese slicing tools more efficient and user-friendly.
The modern cheese slicers now allow you to cut with ease and precision soft, semi-hard, and hard cheeses. They could produce uniformly the desired thickness and number of slices. Today, different styles of cheese slicers, designed for cheeses of varying hardness and costs exist. Certain cheese slicers can now be even used for slicing cold butter, zucchini, cucumber, or cabbage, or peeling large beets.
Let’s be clear about what chees cuttters ar meant to be
We understand that the term tool could loosely apply to many things that serve as means to achieve an end (e.g., a spoon as an eating tool, a knife as a cutting tool, a phone as a communications tool, prisons as state coercive tools). Under the taxonomic category implement, the tool falls under the same taxonomic rank as instrument, utensil, device, or ware. Thus, we are now sure that the “cheese slicer” is a kitchen tool; in certain terms, it is a cutting tool intended to be used for the cutting of cheese into pieces.
Strictly speaking, a knife dedicated to cheese-cutting is different from the “Cheese slicer” we are talking about. It’s the knife’s slicing weaknesses that led to the invention of the earliest “cheese slicers” prototypes – “Ostehyvel or cheese plane” and the “Prodyne Gourmet Cheese Slicer”.
Look into what later cheese lovers say about the “cheese knife” and the ” cheese slicer”:
“The cheese gadget encounters lesser resistance than a knife when its blade passes through the cheese…”This happens because the knife’s blade length, width, and thickness are greater than the cheese planes’ or mounted-cheese wires’ cutter. “You’ll find that the cheese knife’s blade has holes in it to reduce the drag.”
“A cheese wire is invaluable in cutting through large wheels of semi-hard cheddar and small rounds of soft Camembert. We’ve found that it could cut smooth slices of creamy cheesecake and chocolate mousse cake. Using the cheese wire eliminates your effort in running a knife through hot water before every slice.”
“Soft cheese sticks to the blade of a knife, causing the cheese to squish and then crumble.”
“The edge of a cutting tool needs to be harder than the material being cut. But any blade becomes dull with repeated use. Even resilient knife blades require periodic sharpening to remove deformation from the edge. It’s more convenient and faster to directly replace worn-out plane slicer blade or wire slicer wires.”
It appears that the comments essentially agree with what the original cheese slicer inventors/patent holders wanted the original tools to become:
1. The tools would minimize time, effort, and procedure in cutting the cheese.
2. The tools would allow users to be able to adjust the thickness of cheese slices as desired.
3. The tools would be user-friendly, handy, easy to clean, and keep as much as possible.
4. The main parts of the tools could be repaired or replaced when worn out thereby prolonging the useful life of the tools and allowing the user to master the tool by using it long enough.
5. To create alternative tools whose functionalities and costs would cater to as many users as possible.
Let’s gain some insight into how the cheese slicer precursors transformed into the various derivative cheese slicing tools available today. Here are the basic prototypes:
Contemporary Planer type Cheese Slicer
- It creates attractive multi-functional slices of hard and soft cheeses, truffles, vegetable sandwiches, and more.it could double as a garlic slicer, a chocolate truffle shaver.
- It has an adjustable blade. You twist the screw to control the thickness of your cheese slices. The razor-sharp serrated blade adjusts from paper-thin to .13 inches.
- It’s made of the best quality stainless steel to make sure that it will never rust, corrode or lose its shine – and it is dishwasher safe.
Contemporary Roller-type / Westmark Germany Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Wire Cheese Slicer
- It’s made of high-quality stainless steel wire and high-quality cast aluminum.
- This product slices soft and semi-hard cheeses.
- You can adjust the thickness of your slices by modifying the angle at which you hold the product.
- It’s efficient and comfortable to use.
- You can use soap and water to clean the product.
Contemporary wire type
Huanyu commercial cheese slicer
- It has two blade sizes- 1 cm and 2 cm stainless steel wires cutting board. It has interchangeable cut size arms (3 / 4-inch & 3 / 8-inch).
- It’s Stable and efficient. Each slice is even and uniform. You can divide one piece of cheese in one operation. It’s suitable for restaurants and other places where cheese needs to be sliced in bulk repeatedly.
- It’s made of high-quality corrosion-resistant and rust-proof materials. It’s tidily painted. It meets food safety and hygiene requirements. It’s easy to clean and keep.
- Scientifically designed. It has four non-slip mats and easy to operate.
What do the contemporary cheese slicer reviews reveal?
You shouldn’t expect cheese slicer reviewers to guide you on which cheese slicer tool is best for you; they don’t know who you are, much less do they know what you want. The reviewers would try to convince you to buy the best among the models they are pushing forward; however, what is best for you may not be among their bests. That’s what reviewing a product is all about. At most, doing a review is like randomly sowing seeds on the ground and hoping certain seeds may sprout someday.
At most, prevailing product reviews would reveal who prefers which products and why they do so. Knowing these data would enable you to identify yourself with a buyer you know or a group of buyers you’re familiar with; the data may give you a hint on what cheese slicer to look for and where to find them.
Now, let’s present the salient points of this review: “5 Best Cheese Slicers Of 2021 – Cheese Cutters Reviews”. This shows what factors the reviewers discuss; knowing what factors to consider is more important than the reviewers’ opinions. After all, should any point of view arouse your interest, you can follow the outbound links and find out for yourself what to believe in.
Bellemain Adjustable Thickness Cheese Slicer
This cheese slicer is a product of thorough research by Bellemain manufacturers. The tool has a mechanism that allows you to adjust the blades to yield different thicknesses of the cheese slices. It’s said to be made of heavy-duty zinc and stainless steel wires. You can wash it in a dishwasher or by hand.
Pros
- It has a 1-year warranty
- It has a mechanism that allows you to adjust slice thickness
- It can handle cheese blocks of any cheese thickness
- The seller provides extra replaceable wires
Cons
- The wire was found to be not durable
- The wires are difficult to replace
- The handle is loosely placed.
Westmark Germany Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Wire Cheese Slicer
The Westmark cheese slicer comes with a beautiful chopping board. It could slice cheese and other food items like sausages, lettuce, and similar foodstuffs. It uses a stainless steel blade that could cut hard and soft cheeses. It has a scale to adjust the desired thickness of cheese or meat.
Pros
- You could clean it in a dishwasher or by hand.
- The seller provides an extra board
- It’s easy and comfortable to use
- The seller maintains a return policy and provides 5 years warranty
Cons
- It’s expensive
- Its blade is light and vibrates as you slice
- It’s unsuitable for softer cheese varieties
Fox Run Marble Cheese Slicer
The Fox run cheese slicer has a white marble board; this is meant to keep the cheese cool. Its base has a rubber pad to promote stability, prevent the board from slipping, and reduces vibration that drives the cheese to slip and scatter. Its durable, stainless steel wire could cut hard cases and prevent soft cheese from sticking.
Pros
- It’s considered to be affordable
- The seller provides 2 extra wires
- Its cool marble board prevents the cheese from melting
- It’s easy to use, clean, and keep.
Cons
- Its wires aren’t durable
- It’s too small and unstable
OXO Cheese Slicer
The OXO cheese slicer has soft non-slip handles. Its stainless steel cutting wire is connected to a tension wheel that controls its tautness. It’s easy to use in cutting through hard and soft cheese.
Pros
- You can maintain the fairness of cutting wire through its tension wheel
- You find comfort in holding on to its soft handle
- The seller provides an additional wire
- You can clean it in a dishwasher or by hand
- Its price is affordable
Cons
- It’s not easy for us
- It’s not durable
Barmix Cheese Slicer, Heavy Duty and Durable Stainless Steel Cheese Plane Cutter
This multi-purpose 8-inch premium heavy-duty cheese slicer can cut soft and hard cheese. It has a stainless steel blade and rubber handle. Its seller provides a lifelong guarantee.
Pros
- The seller provides a more back guarantee
- It’s easy to use, clean, and keep
Cons
- It’s not as durable as it is said to be.
Find the right chees slicer for yourself
The inventors and patentees of the existing cheese slicers in the market had you in mind. Knowing this, after viewing what factors the reviewers talked about, would give you enough basis to determine which among your needs the various contemporary cheese cutters could satisfy.
If you’re a plain cheese lover, you could find yourself in any of the following situations:
1. You may want to make it easy to shape and trim your cheese slices. You may select one of the “mounted-wire cheese slicers”. These can make the slices as thin as possible and even allow you to trim the slices to fit into your sandwich’s shape.
2. You may prefer to use soft types of cheese. Slicing them with a knife would be messy. Selecting one of the “Best Cheese slicers designed to cut both soft and hard cheese” would be a good idea. Doing this would assure that you always make neat-looking and presentable sandwiches.
3. You may be aiming to save time. Getting one of the models with multiple wire cutters would be wise. When using even the sharpest knife, you’ll need to run the knife’s blade under running water to clean it from time to time. When your knife turns dull, it takes time to sharpen it. But when your cheese cleaner’s wires wear out, you could immediately replace them.
If supplying or making cheese sandwiches is your business, you’ll find using the heavy-duty commercial cheese slicer useful. By using this type of slicer, you may find yourself in any of the following situations:
1. By being able to cut cheese slices uniformly, you can readily compute how much cost should be attributed to each slice in a single sandwich. Hence, you can readily set your profit margin.
2. You can save time and effort in making uniform sandwich slices thereby allowing you to do your other tasks cheerfully.
3. You can deliberately prepare your sandwiches thereby allowing you to present clean, desirable, and saleable products.
References:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-history-of-cheese-1328765
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Bj%C3%B8rklund
