UtenLid Apple and Potato Peeler, Corer, and Slicer With Suction Base Black

I was a bit skeptical on buying this because, quite frankly, it did not have the best reviews. The corer/peeler/slicer I really wanted to buy was out of stock though, and it is definitely apple season. The thought of doing it all by hand was too much, so I went ahead and ordered this.I would have given it 2 stars if I had never used one before. Since I knew the drill well enough, 4 starts for performance. I subtracted a star for the horrible directions and difficult assembly.First, Yes, the directions are terrible. If you have never used a device such as this before, you do not want to try learning with this one. The directions for use are not as bad as the directions for assembly. They are still bad though.Second, assembly was terrible too. The directions are bad, as noted above. Worse was the fact that the pieces didn't seem to fit together. Trust me, I was more than a little tempted to return it at this point. Instead I got out a hammer and gently nudged the handle on, as it did not want to comply. Once the handle was on, the rest is fairly simple if you know what the finished product should look like. The handle looks like it's threaded but mine was not. It was sort of grooved so that once it was pounded in, it would not come off. However, as I said, it did need some gentle persuasion to get it on correctly.Third, the suction cup is exactly that...a suck-tion cup. It really isn't that good unless you have a perfectly smooth surface to apply it to. We suffered with it the first day, then my roommate finally got the bright idea to apply it to our marble pastry board. Once it was applied to the pastry board, it stayed put just fine.My recommendations are as follows. If you don't want to spend the money and you are happy with something that works pretty well but may be a little hard to put together, this is definitely the item for you. Fast shipping, works well. It cores a little bigger than I am used to (approximately 1/2" diameter) but it works very well and is extremely fast. It has a quick release button to move it back to the starting position without having to crank it back. (My grandmother's old one had to be hand cranked back into the open position so this is a very nice feature.)If you are not so mechanically inclined, or have never used one of these before, I would recommend starting with a better model.

Didn't read the directions at all before i used it. Never needed to look at them after i played with it for a few minutes. Very simple to use.So far I have only used this for peeling apples and potatoes but I plan to use it for pears and cucumbers (the peels give me heartburn). I'm sure i will find other uses for it.I really like that you can just slice and core without peeling.If you make several passes over an apple you are left with a ton of "shredded" apple which is great when you want it cut very fine for making things like apple sauce and apple butter.It cuts an apple to the perfect thickness for dehydrating. Once your done spiral cutting and peeling you simply make one cut through and you have apple rings, a second cut gives you halves. 4 total cuts gives you quarters and so on...I was very impressed with how well the corer part works. Just make sure you line the core up straight when you put it on the prongs.Next time i need grated carrots i will just run them through without the corer and make strings. I hate grating anything.Normally i leave the skin on potatoes but when you can them the skin falls off and looks terrible. Next time i plan to save the peel to make fried potato skin strings with dinner. A side dish from scraps. "Waste not, Want not."I used the corer/slicer attachment to cut potatoes for home made chips and it was perfect. It cores the potato and rather than waste the centers, i chopped them into pennies and froze them for another meal. "Potato Pennies" would look really pretty in a canning jar or potato soup.Someone else mentioned hash browns, we don't eat them in my house but we love potato cakes and this would work well for that too.I read where some complained that it won't stick to their counters. It does stick to mine but the counter is very tiny and in a place that is extremely inconvenient. I laid a dish towel on my table and placed my heavy ceramic turkey platter face down onto the towel. Then i attached it to the plate. The plate was large enough so it didn't rock and the towel stopped it from sliding. A heavy dinner plate would probably work too but my Corelle plate was too light and kept lifting because I'm a little aggressive.There were a bunch of complaints about the quality but i am not disappointed. It is obviously less expensive than other models i have seen but it is of good enough quality to get the job done and well.The peeler i received came with a black plastic handle, the one pictured has a wooden handle. I wonder if this is a different model than the ones others have complained about since i am not having any of the same problems.

I just received this product this afternoon. My mom and dad had one of these puppies going back over 60 years ago. The construction material of that one was much sturdier and somewhat larger. That's not to say this was a "good bang for the buck" as it is. I would like to it 5 stars but prefer to wait to see how it holds up. I'll give it about six months and update this review. As for the directions , they're a waste of time. Prior to ordering, I read a lot of the reviews prior to moving forward. One of the negatives were it was hard to attach. That was easy to overcome......I have a tile counter. I simply wet the base prior to attaching. You just have to make sure you're between the grout lines. My first attempt was with an apple and just tried the peeling part......it worked great! Make sure you loosen the wing nut on the front and and move it out of the way. The second attempt was to use the part that cores the apple and also made the spiral cut. That worked great also. Please note: There is a brake at the handle end of this unit. You have to use that to make your adjustment, prior to peeling. Just slide the handle part back, attach your apple or potato, then move forward to the peeler, and you're off to the races. I also found the cutting blade for the peeler can be adjusted (see wing nut) should you have something with a thicker skin on it. I would not recommend this for oranges as I think the skin may be too thick and may cause the unit to break. It's easy to clean.......just run it under hot water at the sink and you'll be good to go. I can hardly wait until we make some potato salad as we always start with a 5 pound bag of potatoes. That should give it a real test as to how it holds up. As stated above, I believe the instructions are worthless. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out.