Benriner Mandoline Super Slicer Review: The Pro-Kitchen Pick That Outlives Fancy Rivals
If you've ever watched a line cook turn out paper-thin radishes in seconds, odds are they were standing over a Benriner. The Super Slicer is the larger sibling of the original Benriner — a no-frills Japanese mandoline that has quietly outlasted a generation of glossier, gadgetier competitors. It's not pretty, and the safety story takes a bit of work, but as a sharpness-and-precision tool, it punches well above its price.
What you're actually buying
The Benriner Super Slicer is a hand-held Japanese mandoline measuring roughly 14.5 by 5.25 inches, with a 3.25-inch slicing surface — about an inch wider than the original Benriner, which matters more than it sounds when you're working a big squash or a head of cabbage. The body is BPA-free plastic, the blades are Japanese stainless steel, and the kit ships with four blades total: a fixed straight blade plus three interchangeable julienne blades (coarse, medium, and fine tooth).
A turn-dial under the unit adjusts thickness from a near-translucent half-millimeter up to about 8 millimeters, so it covers everything from carpaccio-thin fennel to thick potato planks for gratin. The end stop has a rubberized non-skid base, and the handle is large enough to brace one-handed while the other hand works the food. A simple plastic finger guard is included.
One detail worth flagging up front: this is the model with replaceable blades. When the blade finally dulls — and it will, eventually — you can swap it rather than buy a new mandoline. Among popular mandolines, that's an unusually long-tail design choice.
Performance and real-world use
In practice, the appeal is the edge. The Benriner blade is sharp out of the box in a way that cheaper mandolines aren't, and it holds that edge for a long time under home use. Slicing radishes, cucumbers, potatoes, and apples produces uniform, almost glassy slices with very little pressure. America's Test Kitchen has historically singled it out, and the long tail of professional kitchen use is hard to argue with.
The Super model's wider deck is the real upgrade over the standard Benriner. On a regular-size Benriner, a large russet potato is annoyingly close to the edges of the slicing path; on the Super, there's room to settle the food and ride it cleanly through the blade. For julienne work — matchstick carrots, daikon for salads, potatoes for hash — the toothed blades cut quickly without dragging.
The catch is the safety guard. The included plastic hand guard works, but it's basic and slightly fiddly with round or oddly shaped produce, which is the same complaint pro cooks have had for decades. Most experienced users default to a cut-resistant glove, which I'd recommend for anyone using this regularly. The blade is genuinely sharp; a moment of inattention and you will know.
Cleanup is quick — the unit comes apart, rinses under the tap, and air-dries fast. Long-term, the plastic body is durable but not indestructible; it's a tool meant to live in a drawer, not get thrown around.
- Genuinely sharp Japanese stainless blades that produce uniform, very thin slices
- Wider 3.25-inch slicing surface comfortably handles larger produce
- Replaceable blades extend the useful life well beyond cheaper mandolines
- Four blades cover slicing plus three julienne thicknesses out of the box
- Adjustable thickness from very thin to roughly 8 mm
- Comparatively affordable for a tool with this much pro-kitchen pedigree
- Included safety guard is basic; many users will want a cut-resistant glove
- All-plastic body looks and feels utilitarian, not premium
- The thickness dial is functional but not particularly precise — small adjustments take a feel
- No dedicated waffle/crinkle cut blade
- Storage footprint is awkward; it doesn't nest neatly into most drawer organizers
This is the right mandoline for cooks who actually use a mandoline often enough that blade sharpness matters more than ergonomics. If you make slaws, gratins, pickles, salads with raw fennel or radish, or anything that benefits from uniform thin slices, the Benriner will earn its drawer space quickly and stay sharp longer than most alternatives in its price range.
If you only reach for a mandoline twice a year, a plusher, safer model with a built-in food holder and a more rigid guard will feel more reassuring even if the blade is mediocre. And if you cannot make yourself use a glove or guard consistently, skip every mandoline, not just this one — the Benriner's sharpness is the whole point, and an unguarded hand is how that goes wrong.
The Benriner Super Slicer isn't the safest or the prettiest mandoline on the market, but it's one of the most useful. Sharpness, simplicity, replaceable blades, and a wider deck add up to a tool that's still recommended in pro kitchens decades after the design first appeared. Pair it with a cut-resistant glove and it'll outlast a stack of fancier rivals. Rating: 4.5 / 5.
