I recently outgrew my decades old Rival Slicer. It had a 6 inch blade. My quest for something larger took me from the obscenely large and heavy commercial units to the more reasonable home style units. I looked at units with a bad diameter of 8 to 10 inches and finally settled on the Chef's Choice 665. I own a Lem Big Bite #8 grinder and the LEM MaxVac. For whatever reason, I could not justify getting a slicer from LEM even though the quality of their products is first rate. The CC 665 is a major step up and to date has sliced turkey and a roast and even raw beef for use in philly cheese steak sandwiches. I am very pleased with it. If I get into bacon, it should do well in slicing it down.
Congrats! I'd like to have a slicer. I have the big bite also, along with a vertical sausage stuffer.
The food carriage is actually quite large. I used the following chart plus various specs on other slicers, especially the carriage size and distance from carriage back plate to blade to help me choose what would work best for me. Of all places to shop for slicers, I found really good prices at Home Depot. Just googles meat slicers home depot and all manner of processing pops up on the site. I was surprised!
Nice slicer! What is the blade diameter? I was all set to order the Beswood 9" slicer when they discontinued it and I don't want one as big and heavy as the Beswood 10". How much does yours weigh? (I'd have to keep it either in a lower cabinet or another room from the kitchen).
Jay - Blade is 8 1/2 inches. Weight 15 lbs. If the web page I attached opens it covers that. Now there is something mighty strange about the description of the slicers power. The web site description says peak power is 1/4 horse power which would require 186 watts of power. The chart says the motor is 120 watts. Yet the data plate claims 0.5 amps at 120 volts. Amps times (X) volts equals watts. Using that formula the 665 slicer is only 60 watts. I have inquired numerous times via email and voice message as to what is the truth about the power and CC has yet to respond. Either they do not know or they do not care as long as the machines sell and they receive no complaints. But for me, I would like to know even though I have experienced no problems. There is a conversion table that allows one to figure hp if you know voltage and amps or watts etc. Easy to find on google.
I belong to several forums and the CC 615/615A is really popular; it has a 7 inch blade and an optional smooth, non-serrated blade is available for it. The 665 is limited to a serrated blade only,and I am good with that. Lots of good slicers out there that won't break the bank and light enough to move around easily: LEM Mighty Bite (comes with 2 blades), NESCO, etc. Hope this helps!
Thanks Sarge, I suspect the error is in the 0.5 amps. That's a very low current draw for such a powerful machine. Most electric motor small appliances (blenders, food processors, paper shredders) are in the 200 - 600W range. The 10" slicer I mentioned is rated at 240W. I'm guessing the 0.5 amp rating is for the motor running at lowest speed with no load (nothing being sliced). Probably draws 1.5 amps or better under load. So wattage rating is probably for load while motor amps are for no load. Just guessing.
That is what I suspected as well. But I had my doubts when seeing the wattage listed . So I used a handy calculator. Pretty handy but left me baffled. I eve sent this to someone at the parent company of CC. Hopefully she is working on it.
I have a CC 615. This a 7" blade, and think it is 1/4 HP. These are great for small jobs. These are gear driven slicers and the gears are plastic. I was having problems slicing Briskets, and belly bacon. The slide wasn't long enough even when you figure out how to cheat the length of the meat it will slice. The thickness gauge tends to wonder between thickness. The motor tends to heat up after about 15 minuets of slicing meat. This is not good for the plastic gears, and the heat gets transferred to the blade. I finally got tired of the of slice 15 minutes, and let it cool down 15 minutes. I finally bought a commercial grade 8.5" slicer. This is belt driven, but I still have to fold my belly bacon in half to get full length slices. I don't worry about it heating up. Just one hint, stick the meat in the freezer until it is almost frozen. The meat slices better.
Every slicer has it's limitations. Some more limited than others. Belt driven slicers have a good reputation for sure.
I talked with CC regarding lube. The manual says to use baseline. I questioned this as the lube present is white. CC said it is PetroGel. So I bought 2 tubes. I also asked why PetroGel is not recommended if that is what the manufacturer uses. No idea.