Slicing Questions Buyers Asked at the Dubai Show

The slicer on the floor at K9-41, not on a plinth.

Three days at a stand with a fresh meat slicer produces the same handful of questions in a different order. They are worth writing down, because they are the questions a buyer should ask before a machine is quoted rather than after it is installed.

These are the ones that came up most often at our stand in the Dubai halls.

"How thin will it go?"

The published cutting range on our fresh meat slicer is 2 to 50 mm in thickness, with a maximum cutting width of 130 mm. That is the machine's answer.

The buyer's answer is different, and more useful: how thin can you go on your product and still sell the slice? A 2 mm slice of firm, chilled meat and a 2 mm slice of meat that has warmed on the way to the machine are not the same product. The machine is not the constraint at that point — the temperature of the meat is.

Visitors at the feed end of the slicer.

"Why do my slices tear at the edge?"

Almost always one of three things, and none of them is the blade angle.

Temperature. The colder and firmer the product, the cleaner the cut. Meat that has been sitting in a warm room tears rather than cuts, and no amount of blade tension fixes it.

Feed continuity. A slicer wants a continuous, evenly fed product. Stopping and starting the feed mid-cut leaves a ragged entry, and operators often read that as a blade problem.

Blade condition. A blade that has done a lot of product is no longer sharp in the way that matters at thin settings. The symptom appears at the thin end first, which is why buyers who only test at 20 mm never see it.

"How do I change thickness?"

By changing the blade carrier or the blade sleeve, depending on the model. The carrier is detachable, which is the part that matters in a plant running more than one product: cleaning between products is a changeover, not a shutdown.

Two practical notes that come up at the stand every time:

• keep the second carrier stored where it can be reached without moving the machine;

• write the thickness on the carrier itself, because the carrier in the machine is the only reliable indicator of what the machine is set to.

"How fast does it run?"

The conveying speed on our slicer runs from 3 to 18 metres per minute. That figure describes the belt, not the output — output also depends on the product, the slice thickness and how evenly the line is fed. A buyer who fixes the output per shift and the slice thickness will get a more honest answer than one who asks for the maximum speed.

"Does the meat stick to the blade?"

It can, particularly with warm or high-fat product. Our machines use a floating unloading system to keep the slice moving off the blade rather than riding on it. The question is worth asking of any slicer, because a slice that sticks is a slice that has to be handled, and handling is where a line loses labour savings.

What to Ask Instead

The question that separates a useful quotation from a brochure is not "how thin does it cut". It is: what is the changeover time between the three products I make most, and which parts wear in that cycle?

That answer tells you the real cost per shift, and it is the answer the post-show page follows into a sample test. The full slicer specification is on the fresh meat slicer page, and the 2023 edition itself is recorded on the Gulfood 2023 page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What thickness range does the slicer cover?

2 to 50 mm, with a maximum cutting width of 130 mm.

Why do thin slices tear?

Usually product temperature, uneven feed, or a blade that is past its best at thin settings — not the blade angle.

How is thickness changed?

By changing the blade carrier or the blade sleeve. The carrier is detachable, so cleaning between products is a changeover rather than a shutdown.