In the right hands, the right equipment can produce innovative creations. Johnny Iuzzini of Jean Georges and Dave Arnold of the French Culinary Institute proved that when they showed how they use Hobart’s 3000 Series Slicer combined with master techniques to create some amazing fare.
On StarChefs.com, Iuzzini demonstrated his method for producing a Carrot Cake with Carrot Crisps and Crispy Brown Butter Gel (recipe available here). He used the Hobart 3000 to slice carrots lengthwise at the thinnest possible setting. He then combined the slices with carrot juice and simple syrup and compressed them in a Cryovac machine. After drying the carrot slices, he molded them over a cone.
“Up to this point, I’ve never been able to use this technique, because I’ve never been able to slice the carrot thin enough. Not even on a mandolin slicer could I get it this fine,” says Iuzzini. “This dish would not be possible without the Hobart 3000.”
He also used the slicer to prepare the crispy brown butter gel. After mixing the ingredients for the gel and compressing it in a Cryovac machine, he thinly sliced the gel and draped it over a mold.
“What’s really great about the slicer is how smooth the slide is from front to back,” he says. “I’m able to get a great yield on anything I slice. Being in the kitchen, everything is about consistency. To have a piece of equipment that is so precise makes all the difference at our level,” adds Iuzzini.
Not to be outdone, Arnold demonstrated his technique for Mokume-Gane (recipe available here), a Japanese metal-working method applied to two kinds of fish to create a woodgrain appearance. He began by slicing apples and fennel into paper-thin strips for a curried apple and fennel salad. He also sliced onions on the Hobart 3000 for a pickled onion garnish.
“It’s difficult to cut fennel this thin without it tearing, but the Hobart 3000 makes it easy,” says Arnold.
He then sliced halibut and salmon into 1- to 2-millimeter-thick pieces and assembled them by repeatedly alternating and layering the fish over a mold until it was 2 inches thick. After removing the air from the fish and refrigerating it for several hours, Arnold sliced the combined halibut and salmon into thin strips to serve.
The technique creates an impressive woodgrain appearance that Arnold believes wouldn’t be possible with any other slicer.
He garnishes the dish with dill crème fraîche, mustard seeds, pickled onions, celery leaves and thin slices of pumpernickel that are also prepared with the slicer.
“Slicing pumpernickel bread will turn most slicers into a gummy pumpernickel mess because it is so sticky, but the Hobart 3000 cuts it perfectly every time,” he says. “The pumpernickel just peels off the blade with no mess. You can’t get that with other slicers.”
In addition to producing fare not possible with other slicers, both chefs agreed the machine’s ease of cleaning sets it apart from other slicers on the market.
“One of my favorite things about this machine is how easy it is to break it down to clean it,” says Arnold. “This really is a machine that’s built to stay clean.”
Cleaning the Hobart 3000 Slicer is a breeze. The profile design makes it easier to wipe down, and a gas-piston lift assist makes lifting the unit easier for cleaning. The 3000 Series also has a new ring guard cover that fits over the ring guard and catches most of the food debris during slicing so it doesn’t reach the internal parts of the unit. The entire ring guard cover is removed during cleaning, minimizing residue left behind on the ring guard.
An optional knife-removal system enables users to remove the slicer’s blade without exposure to the knife’s edge. Removing the knife not only provides greater access for cleaning the slicer, but it also reduces the time required for a complete wipe-down.
One of the reasons chefs have responded so well to the Hobart 3000 is because Hobart’s design team worked closely with end-users in restaurants, grocery stores, delicatessens, institutional and education foodservice, as well as industry consultants to identify the core features users need most in a new slicer.
The result can be seen in the 3000 Series’s simplified controls, improved slicing performance, enhanced carriage design and several other innovations that make the slicer easier to use, quicker to clean and deliver improved slice quality to every phase of operation.