Can You Slice Bread With a Meat Slicer?

The short answer, with two conditions

A meat slicer – the trade calls it a food slicer – has a round blade that spins past a carriage holding the food. Bread is no problem for that mechanism, as long as two conditions hold:

1. The blade is serrated. A wavy or toothed edge bites into a crust instead of pressing the loaf flat. The retailer Abt describes the Cuisinart Kitchen Pro FS-75 blade as a removable 7.5-inch undulated stainless blade. The Nutrichef listing names a “tooth blade”.
2. The maker lists bread. Abt lists the FS-75 for bread, roasts and firm cheeses, and the Nutrichef title calls it a meat, deli and bread slicer. If your manual names only meat and cheese, treat bread as outside its intended use.

The real limit is thickness

Half an inch (about 13 mm) is the upper end of a typical home food slicer. If your usual slice is thicker, a meat slicer will not get there, whatever the motor. The page on slice thickness lists typical thicknesses by bread type.

Our pick: electric slicing at homeCuisinart

Cuisinart Kitchen Pro FS-75

A home food slicer with a 7.5-inch serrated blade that the retailer lists for bread, roasts and firm cheese.

Why here: A home food slicer that the retailer explicitly lists for bread, with a serrated 7.5-inch blade and a dial from 1/32 to 1/2 inch.

Best for: Kitchens that want motor power for bread and cold cuts and slice no thicker than 1/2 inch.

Strengths

• 130 W motor, removable 7.5-inch undulated stainless blade
• Slice control from 1/32 to 1/2 inch
• Listed for bread, roasts and firm cheeses

Weaknesses

• Maximum 1/2 inch – no thick toast or French-toast slices
• 12 lb and about 14.5 × 9.25 in on the counter
• Needs an outlet and careful cleaning around the blade

Type

Electric food slicer, 130 W

Blade

7.5 in removable, undulated stainless steel

Slice thickness

1/32–1/2 in (about 1–13 mm)

Size

14.5 × 9.25 × 10.5 in

Weight

12 lb

Price class: Mid-range

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Loaf size: usually not stated

Abt gives the FS-75's footprint (14.5 × 9.25 × 10.5 inches, 12 lb) but not the largest loaf the carriage takes. A wide sourdough boule may need to be halved first. Without a stated limit, treat the fit of a big loaf as unknown and check the return policy.

Cleaning and safety: follow the manual

A food slicer is the one bread tool on this site where the blade is driven by a motor. OSHA's fact sheet on food slicers is written for grocery stores, restaurants and delis, but its main points explain the risks: never hand-feed the food against the blade, use the food holder or pusher, keep hands out of the area behind the blade where slices come out, set the blade to zero when the slicer is idle or being cleaned, and unplug it before cleaning. At home, the manual of your model is the rule to follow. More on fingers and blades is on the safety page.

Bread adds one practical point: King Arthur Baking's sandwich bread recipe says to let the loaf cool completely before slicing. That applies on a slicer just as with a knife.

When a meat slicer makes sense for bread

A combined bread and meat slicer pays off if you slice cold cuts or cheese as often as bread. If bread is the main job, a slicer without a motor is smaller and cuts thicker:

• A hand-crank bread slicer such as the Zassenhaus Classic weighs 5.3 lb and sets 1 to 18 mm.
• For bread plus cheese and cured meat without a cord, the Graef H9 has a carriage, a thumb guard and an end-piece holder, at 0 to 15 mm. Hand-cranked food slicers as a group are compared on manual food slicers.

The broader decision between motor and crank is laid out in manual vs electric bread slicer, and the electric options – including why bakery machines are not home appliances – on the page about the electric bread slicer. If you want a motor but no countertop machine, see the electric knife for bread. Whether any slicer is worth it next to a good knife is answered in are bread slicers worth it.