Best meat slicer for home use Buffalo v.s Trespade

What's the best meat slicer for frequent home use? Comparing an entry level Buffalo meat slicer, v.s a Trespade.

Since I'm always introducing new projects to the curing chamber, I pretty much always have something ready to come out for tasting too. I'll likely use my slicer once a week, and over the last 5 years if moved from a hand slicer, through basic electric ones, to the ones you can see on this page, suitable for light commercial use and certainly enough for home use.

I've settled on what i think is the most suitable, versatile and cost effective model for home use. If you are in the market for a homer slicer, have a read!

What's important for me?

The following is important for me, and how i've compared the two slicers:

• Cost
• Ease of cleaning
• Ease of blade sharpening
• Does it have a tray long enough to do bacon!
• Blade size
• Safety
• Weight

Take a look at the contenders below, the Trespade on the left and the Buffalo on the right.

Trespade D-250 Pro vs Buffalo 250 CD278 - How do they compare?

At £320 Ex VAT the Trespade D-250 is the cheaper of the two models. The Buffalo 250 CD 278 weighs in at £419.99 Ex VAT. It's not as easy to clean as the Buffalo, as taking it apart requires a little more work- but its a minor niggle. The blade sharpener is not integrated with the chassis like the Buffalo, again meaning more work but it's no biggie. Given you may be moving this round the kitchen or in an out of a cupboard it's a fair bit lighter than the Buffalo - which is a beast.

The Buffalo feels safer to use, as it has an attached handle behind the guard and the position of the on and off switch is located at the side of the machine rather than behind it with the Trespade. This shouldn't be a problem as you should be taking the utmost care when operating these machines regardless but it's worth mentioning.

Whilst the Trespade has more power, I haven't been in a situation as yet where this made a difference.

Finally, you've spent a couple of hundred pounds and you'd like to slice some of your home made bacon - It's kind of a must have right? The Buffalo 250 CD278 is a beast of a machine, but the tray is not long enough to slice bacon without folding it (something that is tricky with semi frozen or anything but belly). The Trespade D-250 however has a tray that is 5 cm longer, making it just able to slice bacon.

Whilst the Buffalo is probably more suited to commercial operations, for home use, I'd go for the Trespade D-250. It's value for money, won't break your back and it can slice bacon! 

Where did I buy the Trespade?: https://www.weschenfelder.co.uk/d-250-electric-slicing-machine.html

Where did I buy the Buffalo?: https://www.nisbets.co.uk/buffalo-meat-slicer/cd278

What should i not be using these meat slicers for?

The meat slicers above, and indeed most meat slicers, are not designed for slicing cheese. This requires a lot more power and will likely damage equipment that is not designed to do so - check the manufacturers product details to be sure!