KitchenAid KSM1APC Spiralizer Attachment, Stainless Steel, Silver

Product Information

We tested the four-blade model, which has the same design without the versatility of three extra blades. The thinnest angel hair blade had trouble with softer produce during our tests, though the other blades cut equally well on all the produce. Since this is a hand-crank unit, it takes a little bit of effort and a little practice to get the right rhythm to produce uniform noodles, but it’s not strenuous work. This unit is dishwasher-safe, but also easy to clean by hand.

To prepare your fruit or vegetables before spiralizing, wash them first, then remove stems, cut the ends off squarely, and remove any eyes, if applicable. There are two main versions in the realm of manual spiralizers. First, there are compact handheld spiralizers. These are typically dishwasher-safe and come with a few blade options that you can switch out. They require the most elbow grease of any model, so they’re best for a person that is going to be spiralizing a small amount of food pretty infrequently. They are also not very forgiving when it comes to the size of the vegetable, so you may need to trim it before you can send it through the blade. A crank spiralizer would also be a great way to take some of the strain out of your hands, but would still not be as efficient as motorized. That said, regardless of the model, pretty much all spiralizers require vigorous and diligent cleaning. Even though some are dishwasher-safe, you’ll likely still need to get into the blade with a brush.

Spiralizer Beginner’s Guide

Since it’s powered by the mixer, there’s not much effort required aside from putting fruits and vegetables onto the unit. Longer foods, like larger zucchini, had to be trimmed or cut in half to fit the machine during testing, but we still found it super simple to use. Keep in mind also that a small “core” of the fruit or vegetable is left uncut at the end, as well. The blades are dishwasher-safe; the body should be wiped down by hand. The blades are stored in a separate case, which attaches to the spiralizer for storage. These blades are also different bright colors for ease in telling them apart, and let’s face it, it’s just more fun than an all-white gadget. For stable cutting, this has one large suction cup on the bottom that attaches firmly to smooth countertops. This unit is dishwasher-safe but also easy to clean by hand; use a small brush to clean the blades. Whether you use green or red cabbage, you can slice an entire cabbage for coleslaw or braised cabbage in mere seconds. If your cabbage is extra-large you may need to cut it in half, but if it’s average-size just pop on the straight blade and twirl away. The most important piece of any spiralizer is, of course, the blade. You want to make sure that the blade is super sharp, easy to clean, and durable. If having a wide variety of blade options is important to you, then make sure you’re seeking out a model that offers several blades you can switch out, depending on what shape you’re going for.

Many spiralized vegetables can be frozen to use later, with a few exceptions. For the most part, the denser a vegetable is, the easier it is to freeze. This includes vegetables like carrots, potatoes, beets, turnips, butternut squash, and radishes. Vegetables with a higher water content aren’t going to fare quite as well in the freezer. These include zucchini, cucumbers, apples, and onions. When thawing, many of these water-heavy vegetables tend to get soggy and should instead be spiralized fresh.We were curious about what the spiralizer would do with an onion and its concentric rings. We removed the papery peel from the onion, then speared the root end. We chose a slicing blade and ended up with a spiralized onion as it separated at its rings. Then we did the same thing with the large spiralizer blade and we ended up with short curved pieces. Just for amusement, we tried an onion speared at the equator rather than the root. While the onion was cut successfully, the results weren’t culinarily useful. To install the blades, slide them into the blade carrier from above. It’s simple and easy—as is installing the peeler, which slides in from below. The peeler has a release lever and comes out without a problem, but the blades were much harder to remove; we had to pull them so hard that leftover food flew out of them. Of course, you don’t want a blade to come out accidentally while the spiralizer is running, but we think the removal mechanism could be improved.

Zucchini is the go-to vegetable when it comes to spiralizing and that’s for good reason – it’s soft and easy to spiralize with a neutral flavor that adapts well to many traditional pasta dishes. I leave the peel on for added nutrition (after giving it a good wash), but don’t forget to include yellow squash in your zoodle repetoire as well.Spiralized carrots are a great alternative to shredding or slicing for salads or stir fry and let’s be honest, they look way fancier. Grab the largest carrots you can find for easier spiralizing and use a fine or medium spiral slicing blade.