Can A Meat Slicer Cut Through Bone?

  • By: Brendan

If you’ve got a meat slicer recently or planning to buy one, there must be many questions in your mind surrounding the types of meat you can use it on. The truth is, even though a meat slicer is a versatile appliance, it does come with some limitations.

While you’re slicing through chunks of meat, there must’ve been a few instances where you went— “hey, can this thing cut through bone?”

Can a Meat Slicer Cut through Bone

The answer is NO! DO NOT TRY IT! Even if you have the most premium versions of the meat slicers mentioned above, don’t try to cut through bone as it will damage the blade. And it also doesn’t matter if your blade edge is fine or serrated as none of these are made to be used on bone.

So, do yourself a favor and stick to a boning saw if you love your meat slicer.

Today, you’re going to learn if your meat slicer is meant to cut through bone and the different kinds of meat slicers.


Types of meat slicers—which one do you have?

1. Manual meat slicer

Most manual meat slicers are electric-powered and use a powerful motor to spin the blade at high speed. You have to accurately slide the meat from side to side to cut it in your desired thickness. Electric manual slicers are fast and cut with high precision, ensuring that all the slices are of equal thickness.

Most of these types of slicers come with a built-in sharpening system that keeps the blades razor-sharp.

2. Automatic meat slicer

Similar to manual meat slicers, this type also looks very similar but offers one significant advantage—the carriage mechanism is fitted with a motor that allows the slicing to be automated! So, no need to create every slice by hand; just load the machine with meat and let it do its thing.

You can program an automatic slicer to produce a set number of slices in your desired thickness.

3. Flywheel meat slicer

This is a traditional meat slicing device in the truest sense. You operate it by a hand-cranked wheel, which gives you both the feel and look of being an old school butcher. But just because you have a hand-cranked wheel doesn’t mean getting absolute precision is not possible.

You can even get fine mortadella and thin prosciutto using these machines. Some of these even come with auto slicing!


Safety Tips for using a Meat Slicer

Every meat slicer has its own set of quirks, so it’s crucial that you read all the instructions in the user manual carefully before use. Don’t forget to securely position the meat before slicing, always wear your safety guards and never be tempted to feed the meat using your hands. Lastly, always keep the blade sharp and clean.

And that’s about it for this guide. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I liked writing it.

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