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Raw meat and poultry:
Cut the food into pieces to fit the feed tube.
Boneless, skinned chicken breasts will usually
fit when cut in half crosswise. Wrap the pieces
in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer.
They are ready to slice when
they are easily
pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, although
semi-frozen and hard to the touch. Remove
plastic wrap. Stand them in the feed tube,
cut side down, and slice them against the
grain, using firm pressure on the pusher. Or
lay them flat in the feed tube, as many as
will fit, and slice with the grain, using firm
pressure.
Salami and other sausages:
If the sausage is soft, freeze it until hard to
the touch, but easily pierced with the tip
of a sharp knife. Hard sausages need not
be frozen. Use the small feed tube if the
sausage is thin enough to fit. Otherwise, cut
the sausage into pieces to fill the large feed
tube completely. Stand the pieces vertically,
packing them tightly so they cannot tilt
sideways.
Firm cheese like Swiss and Cheddar:
Cut the cheese into pieces to fit the feed
tube. Put it in the freezer until semi-frozen,
hard to the touch, but easily pierced with the
tip of a sharp knife. Stand the pieces in the
feed tube and apply light pressure to
the pusher.
IMPORTANT:
Never try to slice soft cheese like mozzarella
or hard cheese like Parmesan. You may
damage the slicing disc or the food
processor itself. You can successfully
shred most cheeses except soft ones.
The exception is mozzarella, which shreds
well if thoroughly chilled. Hard cheeses
like Parmesan shred well only at room
temperature. Therefore, only attempt to shred
mozzarella when well chilled, and Parmesan
when at room temperature.
SLICING AND SHREDDING CHEESE
TYPE OF CHEESE
CHOP/PURÉE
SHRED
SLICE
Soft
Brie, Camembert, room temperature
yes
no
no
Mozzarella, chilled 15–20 min. in freezer
no
yes
no
Ricotta, room temperature
yes
no
no
Cottage cheese, Cream cheese
yes
no
no
Semi-Soft
Blue, chilled
yes
yes
no
Fontina, chilled
yes
yes
no
Semi-Hard
Cheddar, chilled
yes
yes
yes
Monterey Jack, chilled
yes
yes
yes
Swiss, Jarlsberg, chilled
yes
yes
yes
Edam, Gouda, chilled
yes
yes
yes
Provolone, chilled
yes
yes
yes
Hard, at room temperature
Parmesan, Romano
yes
yes
no
Pecorino, Asiago
yes
yes
no
*Soft and semi-soft cheeses will purée; semi-hard and hard cheeses will chop.
