Yep, lost my finger tip at 10:30pm. Used a rubberband to act as a tourniquet, get home after midnight. That's when I realized I lost the tip and that's why it was bleeding so much. I was soaking bandaids. My finger tip is all normal
Same here minus the stitches. Rotating the blade manually is where you fuck up, slip and cut yourself. Hold the blade cover screw in with your left hand to bypass the safety, then it'll turn on. Use your towel with your right hand to clean the blade.
Agreed but that’s a lot of work in this short staffed environment. Everyone in my area who is anyone is well taken care of after Covid and not leaving. That and I have no bus route at my one location. It’s bad out here.
Negative. One small chip in that blade will pull your towel and deli slice your thumb in just a second. Happened to me twice. Only once had to get a finger tip chemically caulderized. The other was a nice thin shaving of my thumb. The one I work with now wont let the blade spin when broken down for cleaning. Its safer and just as easy to clean to manually spin the blade.
I’ve done it before and sure, it’s mildly faster, and it should be safe because of the guard, but fuck if I’m playing around with it now. I saw some motherfucker use the corner of his thumbnail to “clean” the slicer while on and naw dawg. Naw.
Fuck no, I’ve had some possessed as kitchen appliances but I would never clean a slicer with it on. You’re rolling the d20 with negative modifiers and eventually you will lose.
As someone who nearly sliced their finger off during normal, careful operation? No.
However my reasoning is twofold, first the obvious mentioned above, but secondly it is not a great example. You never know who is watching you and copying you in a kitchen, and god forbid you have someone a few cents short of a dollar and they try cleaning with the machine on and they're gonna be a few fingers short of a hand next
Good point. I usually do clean with the blade spinning and never had an issue for the last 20 years, but I won’t now. I’ve seen the horrific and asinine and I certainly don’t want to contribute to that.
Think about it this way:
Close the knob to zero.
Gently run your hand over the slicer. You cant get cut. It's not possible.
So, what has changed if it is spinning?
Edit: After reading the comments, some people are stupid. Jeez.
When i clean the slicer, while it is on, i use 1 hand to hold a cloth on the slicer, (balled up or folded multiple times, my hand is no where near the blade) while the other squirts a spray bottle.
People using their bare hands to clean it, or, a finger nail etc, are just asking for trouble.
I always clean with the blade on. Used to do it with an old one that didn’t need the blade zeroed to take the guards off. Cleaned it like that for 10+ years. Never cut myself while it was running nor did anyone else who cleaned it like that. (This is anecdotal, doesn’t mean it was safe. Pretty sure it isn’t lol)
Did cut myself when it was off though.
Cut glove, unplug. I treat those things like I treat firearms. One mistake is all it takes. I'll never touch a spinning blade unless I'm moving it manually. I used to work with a guy who would use a screwdriver to get the inside edge with the blade on. Hard NO.
Mixers too. We don’t fuck with mixers unless they’re unplugged.
Slicers get turned off, zeroed out, unplugged, and then double checked to make sure you closed the blade.
Cut glove recommendations are generally bull, but the only time I'll always use one is with a slicer.
Enough in-person accidents witnessed and far too many stories heard for me to ever FAFO.
I do use a towel while it runs. Usually near the final wipe down. Nice clean wet sanni rag folded nicely pressed against the front and back face of blade. Make sure it it zero'd out as always. You don't have to push hard or get tricky with it. I recommend a glove.
Never encountered this or even thought about this in my three years using a 10+ old slicer and now (thankfully) brand new slicer but this is a fantastic file to add to my brain before starting the cleaning process.
Ya never know till you experience it or get a warning from someone who has, thank you chef
I luckily am repeating good sense given to me. After all, you know how it goes. Rules written in blood.
Something that’s always interesting to me is how bad humans are at reckoning circles. You ever do that party trick where you bet people the circumference of a cup is greater than it is tall? You can get to pretty tall cups and still not get close. We’re just bad at circles. And don’t get started on angular momentum or torque. The way I’ve seen people darting spatulas into a moving kitchenaid tells me not that they don’t give a shit, but that they’re just so unaware indifferent the machine is to the bits holding their fingers together
I do it. I know it's a bad idea, but I do it anyway. I tell everyone who sees me doing it not to do what I'm doing because it's stupid and dangerous. I am neither proud nor ashamed of my hypocrisy.
I used to flip my chef knives in the air until one day, my prep cook came up to me and said she said, you know every teenage boy who works here tries to do everything you do right...
You never know who is watching and you would be suprised what people think.
I am incredibly comfortable and confident with a knife and sometimes i cut things in a way that is quicker more effective and more accurate than what would be considered the norm or the safest. But after 35 years things change.
I was working a busy rush once walked by my co op student in the back trying to cut a carrot the way i do and if i hadn't needed something from the walk in you could tell by everything she would have been getting stiches at the very least that day. I didn't even realize she had ever seen me do it. The youth see everything true story.
Fuck no. Actually, nevermind. Do it. Go ahead and use your genitals to hold the towel and plug it into a sketchy socket while standing in ankle deep water. Also let a grizzly bear into the room.
I worked at a deli for 2 years and had to clean the slicer at least once per day. I was taught to clean the slicer blade with it spinning. Put it to zero and wear cut gloves. I only cut myself once and it was because I wasn't wearing cut gloves.
I did it pretty much hourly for three years when I owned my own deli. I didn't let the employees do it though. They did the day end break down and sanitize with the machine unplugged.
Semi related story, I fired two people over slicer behavior, one was an immediate walk out. The boring one got fired because they refused to clean it. When I said it's the job you signed up for they mocked getting cut to scare me. That was their last day at the end of shift. The one that was immediately dismissed practically begged for death. She would leave the blade open and on while reaching up and over with her left hand to swing the guard away and then reach back over left handed to grab the guard. The whole thing was so incredibly stupid and avoidable. It may be hard to visualize but imagine using your right hand to lift the guard up the slide tray and latch it at the top. No hands near the blade at all. This person would swing it across the open blade while it was on and rest it on the blade plate. Then reach back across to retrieve it with her left hand. The bottom of her left wrist was crossing over the blade with less than an inch of clearance. It was so egregious I pulled her off the slicer the first time and had a whole conversation about it. She immediately did it again and I just took my apron and paid her cash for her time. First and last day for that clown. That shit was going to turn into an anime blood spray situation eventually.
I remember my video training for slicer and it was a huge thing that you don't even start cleaning it until it's unplugged. Thus sounds incredibly dangerous.
a proper place would fire you for doing this, write up at least.
the cut glove will not save you. a chainmail glove might
you can use a plastic spoon to get hard gunk like cheese off it while it's running without destroying the blade
Yeah I do it.
The way I explain it to young people is "don't do what I do. It's not safe. I don't care about doing it, and I have scars on my hands. Take that as you will"
I only ever did that from the back. I cleaned the front of the blade while the machine was off and unplugged. I also used tongs or a cut glove if it was on and/or plugged in.
I go a step further and unplug the slicer before I clean in
I did work in a fine dining restaurant that made us literally take the blade off the machine and clean it in the sink every time. That was sketchy too just because the blade is so damn sharp and there really isn't a great way to carry it.
Luckily I don't work a job where I'm using a meat slicer all day long. I don't particularly like using them.
I do but only because that's how our chef showed us. Then one day our main boss seen me doing it and was like wtf are you doing? It's supposed to be unplugged while you're cleaning it. I was like idk it's how I was shown haha
Safest option is unplugging the slicer while cleaning.
There are ways to clean the blade faster of course by letting it spin, but if there's anything whatsoever wrong with the machine such as it not being properly aligned, or maybe a nick in the blade, if you get caught up in it, well those could be some expensive medical bills.
I've seen people clean them with them on and spinning, but I personally don't like that risk. I wouldn't want to roll the dice with it even if the chance is extremely small of having a mistake happen.
Just gonna put this here
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/line-cook-dies-in-meat-slicer-accident-in-pub-1.3349172#:~:text=The%20employee%20was%20using%20a,at%20a%20funeral%20on%20Thursday.
I used to do this until I sliced my thumb badly. Needed 8 stitches to fix it. Had nerve damage for a long time too. Cannot recommend. Although I’d probably still do it just *extra* safe
I done this my whole career. Never been cut once, just like using any dangerous piece of equipment. Pay attention to what you are doing and not anything else. Yes I’m crazy, I know I know. I don’t need to heard from anyone. And no, not a single person has ever said something about how I clean a slicer.
Family owned a deli for 42 years, I worked there for 14 years and in commercial kitchens for 28 years. I've always cleaned in this way and I've never had a slicer injury in my life. I do have the utmost respect for the slicer though. I'm never casual about its .
It's no biggie. Been fine for a decade, will be fine for a decade more. I also don't put on a helmet when I go up or down the stairs. I live dangerously.
I’ve seen some injuries because of that. Like yeah, it’s faster until you cut off your fingertip. Tongs are your friend.
Yep, lost my finger tip at 10:30pm. Used a rubberband to act as a tourniquet, get home after midnight. That's when I realized I lost the tip and that's why it was bleeding so much. I was soaking bandaids. My finger tip is all normal
As long as it’s zeroed out and in the safe position I am not sure how you could cut yourself.
Bonus points for turning the motor off, unplugging it, and using one hand to spin the blade from the back while wiping down the front.
That honestly sounds more dangerous lol.
This is how I ended up with 8 stitches in my finger. I do it turned on now.
Same here minus the stitches. Rotating the blade manually is where you fuck up, slip and cut yourself. Hold the blade cover screw in with your left hand to bypass the safety, then it'll turn on. Use your towel with your right hand to clean the blade.
Lmao
I can't believe they made the titty inspector clean the slicer.
Agreed but that’s a lot of work in this short staffed environment. Everyone in my area who is anyone is well taken care of after Covid and not leaving. That and I have no bus route at my one location. It’s bad out here.
No. Don’t do this.
[удалено]
Work with me for 15 minutes and you’ll understand how easy it is
Negative. One small chip in that blade will pull your towel and deli slice your thumb in just a second. Happened to me twice. Only once had to get a finger tip chemically caulderized. The other was a nice thin shaving of my thumb. The one I work with now wont let the blade spin when broken down for cleaning. Its safer and just as easy to clean to manually spin the blade.
If it's zeroed out and you come from the underside you can catch the edge. My only rule was to wipe from the center of the blade out towards the edge.
I’ve done it before and sure, it’s mildly faster, and it should be safe because of the guard, but fuck if I’m playing around with it now. I saw some motherfucker use the corner of his thumbnail to “clean” the slicer while on and naw dawg. Naw.
Thumbnail to whole thumb real fast
I use a spoon!
I've done all of these things. Had a Globe slicer once that wouldn't spin with the guard off. I was upset.
Nope. No, sir. I've seen what one of those fuckers can do with the guard on and I wouldn't ever again. Have I before? Yes. Will I again? NO.
I have before. No point in risk for one minute of that. I love you. Take care of your health.
Fuck no, I’ve had some possessed as kitchen appliances but I would never clean a slicer with it on. You’re rolling the d20 with negative modifiers and eventually you will lose.
20 years of cleaning the slicer with the blade spinning and the guard off. Stupid? Maybe. But I never got bit.
some of us have different stats ya feel me
That sounds monumentally lazy. No way would I put my fingers near that blade while it's plugged in.
As someone who nearly sliced their finger off during normal, careful operation? No. However my reasoning is twofold, first the obvious mentioned above, but secondly it is not a great example. You never know who is watching you and copying you in a kitchen, and god forbid you have someone a few cents short of a dollar and they try cleaning with the machine on and they're gonna be a few fingers short of a hand next
Good point. I usually do clean with the blade spinning and never had an issue for the last 20 years, but I won’t now. I’ve seen the horrific and asinine and I certainly don’t want to contribute to that.
Yea like you can totally do it safely, but the methed out line cook with 3 braincells left that tries to do it after you.. not as lucky
Fuuuuuuck no. Turn it off, unplug it, zero it out, check that it won't turn on, and then take it apart and clean it.
Think about it this way: Close the knob to zero. Gently run your hand over the slicer. You cant get cut. It's not possible. So, what has changed if it is spinning? Edit: After reading the comments, some people are stupid. Jeez. When i clean the slicer, while it is on, i use 1 hand to hold a cloth on the slicer, (balled up or folded multiple times, my hand is no where near the blade) while the other squirts a spray bottle. People using their bare hands to clean it, or, a finger nail etc, are just asking for trouble.
Hard to cook with stitches or missing a finger.
I used to, but I don't anymore. I like my fingertips too much
Do. Not. Do. That.
I always clean with the blade on. Used to do it with an old one that didn’t need the blade zeroed to take the guards off. Cleaned it like that for 10+ years. Never cut myself while it was running nor did anyone else who cleaned it like that. (This is anecdotal, doesn’t mean it was safe. Pretty sure it isn’t lol) Did cut myself when it was off though.
Cut glove, unplug. I treat those things like I treat firearms. One mistake is all it takes. I'll never touch a spinning blade unless I'm moving it manually. I used to work with a guy who would use a screwdriver to get the inside edge with the blade on. Hard NO.
Mixers too. We don’t fuck with mixers unless they’re unplugged. Slicers get turned off, zeroed out, unplugged, and then double checked to make sure you closed the blade.
Cut glove recommendations are generally bull, but the only time I'll always use one is with a slicer. Enough in-person accidents witnessed and far too many stories heard for me to ever FAFO.
Yes, and the only time I've cut myself on the slicer it was while it was off.
I’ve gotten stitches from a deli before. But never while cleaning it with the blade running. As long as it’s zeroed out you’re fine.
I do use a towel while it runs. Usually near the final wipe down. Nice clean wet sanni rag folded nicely pressed against the front and back face of blade. Make sure it it zero'd out as always. You don't have to push hard or get tricky with it. I recommend a glove.
This is the way. Heavy focus on making sure it’s zero’d out!
And that the blade doesn’t have a chip or burr that will grab at a thread in the rag before you can blink and let go of it
Never encountered this or even thought about this in my three years using a 10+ old slicer and now (thankfully) brand new slicer but this is a fantastic file to add to my brain before starting the cleaning process. Ya never know till you experience it or get a warning from someone who has, thank you chef
I luckily am repeating good sense given to me. After all, you know how it goes. Rules written in blood. Something that’s always interesting to me is how bad humans are at reckoning circles. You ever do that party trick where you bet people the circumference of a cup is greater than it is tall? You can get to pretty tall cups and still not get close. We’re just bad at circles. And don’t get started on angular momentum or torque. The way I’ve seen people darting spatulas into a moving kitchenaid tells me not that they don’t give a shit, but that they’re just so unaware indifferent the machine is to the bits holding their fingers together
Even without a chip my biggest worry is the towel getting yank into it. Good point to check that thing.
I do it. I know it's a bad idea, but I do it anyway. I tell everyone who sees me doing it not to do what I'm doing because it's stupid and dangerous. I am neither proud nor ashamed of my hypocrisy.
I used to flip my chef knives in the air until one day, my prep cook came up to me and said she said, you know every teenage boy who works here tries to do everything you do right...
No one looks up to me, I don't have to worry about that lol.
You never know who is watching and you would be suprised what people think. I am incredibly comfortable and confident with a knife and sometimes i cut things in a way that is quicker more effective and more accurate than what would be considered the norm or the safest. But after 35 years things change. I was working a busy rush once walked by my co op student in the back trying to cut a carrot the way i do and if i hadn't needed something from the walk in you could tell by everything she would have been getting stiches at the very least that day. I didn't even realize she had ever seen me do it. The youth see everything true story.
Fuck no. Actually, nevermind. Do it. Go ahead and use your genitals to hold the towel and plug it into a sketchy socket while standing in ankle deep water. Also let a grizzly bear into the room.
Everyday. Been on this slicer for 3 years and cut myself once. And it was off when i cut myself. Be smart and safe is all. “Knocks on wood”
Nope, because I'm not a fucking idiot...
One of my guys got the tip of his finger sliced off by one of those things. Bled everywhere, had to drive him to the ER. So, no, I don't recommend it.
Y’all clean the slicer?
I worked at a deli for 2 years and had to clean the slicer at least once per day. I was taught to clean the slicer blade with it spinning. Put it to zero and wear cut gloves. I only cut myself once and it was because I wasn't wearing cut gloves.
I did it pretty much hourly for three years when I owned my own deli. I didn't let the employees do it though. They did the day end break down and sanitize with the machine unplugged. Semi related story, I fired two people over slicer behavior, one was an immediate walk out. The boring one got fired because they refused to clean it. When I said it's the job you signed up for they mocked getting cut to scare me. That was their last day at the end of shift. The one that was immediately dismissed practically begged for death. She would leave the blade open and on while reaching up and over with her left hand to swing the guard away and then reach back over left handed to grab the guard. The whole thing was so incredibly stupid and avoidable. It may be hard to visualize but imagine using your right hand to lift the guard up the slide tray and latch it at the top. No hands near the blade at all. This person would swing it across the open blade while it was on and rest it on the blade plate. Then reach back across to retrieve it with her left hand. The bottom of her left wrist was crossing over the blade with less than an inch of clearance. It was so egregious I pulled her off the slicer the first time and had a whole conversation about it. She immediately did it again and I just took my apron and paid her cash for her time. First and last day for that clown. That shit was going to turn into an anime blood spray situation eventually.
I remember my video training for slicer and it was a huge thing that you don't even start cleaning it until it's unplugged. Thus sounds incredibly dangerous.
Fuck no. Some of the worst work place injuries are from rotating equipment. Turn that shit off and unplug it.
This, unplug it before you start cleaning it
Clean it per the manufacturer’s instructions. Take your time. Do it right. Even then you’re at risk. Be smart.
Not after "the incident"
I had a line cook who always insisted on doing this. Then one day he ended up with 53 stitches to reattach his thumb. Please don’t do this.
a proper place would fire you for doing this, write up at least. the cut glove will not save you. a chainmail glove might you can use a plastic spoon to get hard gunk like cheese off it while it's running without destroying the blade
Yeah I do it. The way I explain it to young people is "don't do what I do. It's not safe. I don't care about doing it, and I have scars on my hands. Take that as you will"
I only ever did that from the back. I cleaned the front of the blade while the machine was off and unplugged. I also used tongs or a cut glove if it was on and/or plugged in.
Cut gloves are not a save all. Especially with a deli slicer. Your fingers are still in that glove.
I go a step further and unplug the slicer before I clean in I did work in a fine dining restaurant that made us literally take the blade off the machine and clean it in the sink every time. That was sketchy too just because the blade is so damn sharp and there really isn't a great way to carry it. Luckily I don't work a job where I'm using a meat slicer all day long. I don't particularly like using them.
Nah I'm good on that
I split my pinky finger in two on one of those things turned off. No way I'm doing it powered on.
Hell yeah, just be attentive
Hell yeah brozzer i work fast not well 😎
Like powered on or rotated by hand?
i made the mistake of thinking it had already stopped spinning and now the tip of my middle finger is numb. be careful out here
I take it to the dishpit and hose it off there. It kills my back but I don't like bleeding.
Yeahhh. My one accident happened when it was turned off thankfully but I literally did it today.
That sounds insanely fucking stupid to me, but apparently it's more common than I thought?
I'll spin it by hand with a green scouring pad on the blade edge doubled up. That's it though.
That thing scares the shit out of me even when it’s off. Absolutely not.
I do but only because that's how our chef showed us. Then one day our main boss seen me doing it and was like wtf are you doing? It's supposed to be unplugged while you're cleaning it. I was like idk it's how I was shown haha
Naw
Done it thousands of times...still got my filangees
Not after I cut off the tip of my thumb on it!
Wear a cut glove while you clean it if you’re that shook up about it.
Leave it off, also disconnect the plug. No risk at all
This is how I almost lost my thumb, would post pics but I can’t in the comments lol
I do it all the time and yes it’s super unsafe
Safest option is unplugging the slicer while cleaning. There are ways to clean the blade faster of course by letting it spin, but if there's anything whatsoever wrong with the machine such as it not being properly aligned, or maybe a nick in the blade, if you get caught up in it, well those could be some expensive medical bills. I've seen people clean them with them on and spinning, but I personally don't like that risk. I wouldn't want to roll the dice with it even if the chance is extremely small of having a mistake happen.
Just gonna put this here https://bc.ctvnews.ca/line-cook-dies-in-meat-slicer-accident-in-pub-1.3349172#:~:text=The%20employee%20was%20using%20a,at%20a%20funeral%20on%20Thursday.
Yes
I used to do this until I sliced my thumb badly. Needed 8 stitches to fix it. Had nerve damage for a long time too. Cannot recommend. Although I’d probably still do it just *extra* safe
Have to say results were more divided than I thought. Just one wanted to get some pros opinions
I use tongs to hold the towel that I clean the spinning blade so I don't cut off my fingers.
Unsafe as fuck! Still do it though. I'm well aware I'm going to lose a finger at some point, but I got shit to do.
I done this my whole career. Never been cut once, just like using any dangerous piece of equipment. Pay attention to what you are doing and not anything else. Yes I’m crazy, I know I know. I don’t need to heard from anyone. And no, not a single person has ever said something about how I clean a slicer.
Family owned a deli for 42 years, I worked there for 14 years and in commercial kitchens for 28 years. I've always cleaned in this way and I've never had a slicer injury in my life. I do have the utmost respect for the slicer though. I'm never casual about its .
Sounds like a great idea.
3 times a day, blade on. Takes 3 towels. One of them always loses a corner. Been working a slicer for a decade. Only ever cut myself when it’s off.
I will kick any cook trying to do this out of my kitchen. I don’t give a fucking shit if it saves you ten minutes.
Its as safe as the amount of attention you apply. I’ve only ever cut myself on the slicer when it was off.
It's no biggie. Been fine for a decade, will be fine for a decade more. I also don't put on a helmet when I go up or down the stairs. I live dangerously.