Rapid Slicer Review

I recently received a Rapid-Slicer vegetable and fruit slicer for review [although it was provided free, my review is 100% objective and not influenced by receiving a sample version]. After spending some time with it on a Sunday morning I thought I’d give you my assessment of this new kitchen tool. Would it save time in the kitchen slicing tomatoes and other foods? I wanted to know.

First, while I didn’t have the time to do a formal “unboxing” video, I will say the Rapid Slicer was attractively packaged and easy to open and remove for use. As indicated on the package, it is made in the USA out of BPA free plastic, and is dishwasher safe. This is good, since my wife and I throw everything in the dishwasher and really hate hand washing utensils!

The instructions are clearly printed on the back of the package, although I’d be surprised if you ever need to refer to them after your first use. The general concept of the slicer is to put a large number of small fruits or vegetables (or almost anything including fish, poultry, etc) on the bottom tray, and then you cover them with the lid and gently apply pressure to hold them in place.

You then take a decent sized knife and basically slice in-between the top and bottom lids – slicing in half whatever you have sandwiched between the lid and the base. Make sense?

A simple concept, but there are some innovative features built into this “simple” utensil that make the entire process seamless:

  1. Non-stick rubber feet on the base ensure it stays in place while slicing.
  2. Slight oval indentions on the inside of the base and the lid are genius – they securely hold virtual anything in place as the knife slices through.
  3. The integrated handle is just the right size for holding and applying pressure.
  4. The food-grade, BPA free material is sturdy and very easy to clean.

inside view of indented ovals on rapid slicer

 

 

 

 

 

So – how did it stack up? Did work as advertised? Would I spend $12.95 on this?

slicing tomatoes and grapes

 

 

For my test, I purchased a collection of cherry tomatoes and green grapes – two items that we frequently slice for fruit and vegetable salads. Note, however, that this can be used for any small food items, as well as large single cut items like chicken, bagels, etc. that need to be cut in half. I planned on testing it as a tomato sliver as well as a grape slicer – would it pass muster?

 

 

For the rapid slicer to be a useful kitchen utensil, it needs to satisfy just a few criteria:

  • Easy to set up and use
  • Not take up a lot of storage in my kitchen
  • Save me time in the kitchen and result in a better outcome
  • Easy to clean

Rapid Slicer Setup

Ok – not even sure if I should have a section for this, as setup consisted of taking it out o the packaging, washing it briefly by hand, then loading it up with tomatoes on pass 1, and grapes on pass 2. So definitely passes the setup test.

It is also easy to clean – the plastic is almost glossy and I can’t imagine anything sticking to it. Everything rinsed right off without any residue left behind.

As for storage, the lid snaps into the base and it fits quite nicely into several of our kitchen drawers, so this is not an issue at all.

Rapid Slicer Performance – Tomato Cutter

slicing tomatoes with a knife

To test the performance, I wanted to time how long it took to slice 10 cherry tomatoes and 10 grapes by hand, then with the rapid slicer, and see it if does save me time. I also would “eyeball” the results of hand slicing and rapid slicing to see if there were noticeable visual differences. I’ve included a link to a video that shows you exactly how this is done with the Rapid Slicer.

Slicing Tomatoes Results:

By Knife:                    47.47 seconds

By Rapid Slicer:        22.38 seconds

The rapid slicer was over 50% faster than by knife. I can also say the end result was cleaner and contained to the base of the slicer, while my knife work ended up with some odd shaped half tomatoes and more of a mess on the cutting board.

sliced tomatoes using rapid slicer

Rapid Slicer As a Grape Cutter

cutting grapes with rapid slicer tool

 

Slicing Grape Results:

By Knife:                    25.26 seconds

By Rapid Slicer:        14.30 seconds

The times were a lot less for grapes due to me starting the timer after I placed them either on the cutting board or in the base of the slicer. For the tomatoes I included this placement in the time, but then determined there was no difference in the end result across the two methods.

The grapes were definitely more cleanly sliced using the rapid slicer versus my skills with a knife. It also was almost 50% faster than by knife.

The other benefit I observed is dumping the cut fruit into a bowl – much faster to do with the slicer base versus scraping them off the cutting board.

Rapid Slicer Review Conclusions

While I haven’t yet tried shrimp, chicken, olives, etc., I do feel my experiences with tomatoes and grapes will be identical with other food items.

Bottom line is I think this is a nifty little kitchen gadget, and definitely would be worth the money. It resulted in a kitchen time savings of 50% when cutting small fruits, is easy to take out, use, and store in any drawer. There is more to the design of it then you would think, given the indented ovals to hold items in place, to the over-sized handle to avoid getting near the knife, to the non-skid rubber feet.

One thing I did notice when slicing tomatoes and slicing grapes was this – I had to have the rapid slicer near the edge of a counter so I could get my knife flat to go between the lid and the base [i.e. my arm and hand tended to go slightly below the counter to get the right angle]. Not an issue at all, but simply something I learned while slicing!

 

bottom of rapid slicer showing non skid feet

 

 

The only thing I found wrong with the Rapid Slicer concerned the non-skid feet. When I took it out of the package mine was missing one of the feet, as you can see in the picture. I looked all around my counter to make sure I hadn’t knocked it loose taking the packaging off, but didn’t find it. It did not affect the performance at all, and the rapid slicer did not slide around on me.

 

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much time you can save, and get more consistent cuts, with this kitchen tool!

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