Today I’m taking you down the long and desolate road that is finding a great vegetable spiralizer.
I jest, but really, how frustrating can this process be?!
I purchased my first spiralizer in 2013 and have since owned a total of 5. (Yep.)
The good news is I’ve recently purchased one that I actually love. Proof of which is that I have used it at least 10 times in the month since buying. A number that may be close to the total number of times I used the previous 4 models…
So to save you the heartache of overly-thick, uneven spiralized veggies of death, here’s a rundown of the models I’ve owned. Included is why they gathered dust on the shelf (then subsequently were sold on ebay) and potential reasons you may want to invest in and/or avoid them! Listed from oldest to current favorite.
The Models I’ve Tried
Paderno: affordable and one of the most popular models out there, likely because it was one of the first to the scene. Has decent blade sizes but can yield uneven spirals thanks to sideway spiralizing motion (requires a lot of arm strength, esp for dense veggies/roots). Plastic prongs to hold veggies cause veggies to slip out easily. Grippers on the legs do not grip the counter well but do provide some nonslip action.
Veggetti: an As Seen on TV nightmare. Only buy this if you are obsessed with zucchini noodles and have no desire to spiralize anything else, as it is awkward to fit anything else into the spiral-shaped crevice effectively.
Inspiralizer: the branded spiralizer by Ali Maffucci, of the website Inspiralized. I give her props for improving upon the Paderno model. But only slightly. It comes with rubber locking grips, which work much better than the weak legs of the Paderno. It also has a 4th blade size, where the Paderno only has three.
Kitchenaid Spiralizing Attachment: I only have experience with the 4-blade attachment option (there is also a 6-blade), which at the smallest setting yielded the most giant “noodles” ever. I could’ve spent another $30 to add the 2 smaller blades but given the poor functionality of the “peel” blade, I didn’t have the patience. It seemed to only connect with the food enough to effectively peel if it was the perfect radius, which remained a hit-or-miss situation. It also takes up a surprising amount of space for an attachment, since the pieces are all stored separately.
Pampered Chef: (pictured below) a new release to the PC line, with a downward spiralizing motion that I am in love with. It requires a fraction of the arm strength of the sideways models listed above. And in turn, produces much more evenly shaped noodles. The downward motion also allows for smaller radius veggies (carrots!) to remain intact. The Paderno and Inspiralizer were the only others I managed carrots with but you had to find super fat daddy ones and even then, they came out a bit funky.
The PC model has a baby-sized blade that is much like “angel hair” and I’ve found this is perfect for delicate veggies. It comes at a higher price point than all but the Kitchenaid and I would say it’s worth it due to the metal blades that hold the food in place. No slipping or fuss, just crank ’em out!
