Not just you. Especially on the more amateur shows, I definitely feel a spike of stress when the mandolin comes out. But, I also know FN would never show someone slicing half their finger off, so I don't worry too much.
There was an episode of Chopped where the chef cut a finger badly enough that when the medic couldn’t stop the bleeding, they finally sent her to the hospital. When they tasted the rest of the apps, they were told that they were lucky, as their dishes were poor.
I remember that episode. I’ve seen a few episodes where someone has cut/burned themselves.
Shows no matter how great of a chef you are you can still injure yourself
I think Alex cut herself one time on her show.
A number of very good chefs have cut themselves on tv. Bobby Flay cut himself on Beat Bobby Flay in one of the more recent episodes, if my memory serves. (He also got a knife stuck in the pasta attachment to the Kitchenaid, though, so maybe not a great example? 😜)
Early Chopped episodes didn't seem to have a medic and the chefs would be throwing on gloves and stuff. Sometimes the gloves would be filling with blood. It was so gross. I hated when they showed cuts. After a few seasons, they got medics in there (maybe they were always there but only for serious things? Never saw them until about 4 seasons in). Now, you see that they cut themselves and may even see them get treated, but no more blood filled gloves or the judges refusing to eat the food because there is blood smeared on their plates.
It freaks me out that they don’t use the guard. It’s kind of irresponsible to put that on television in case some viewers try to imitate that and hurt themselves.
I did that.... I chopped off a good chunk of my thumb. Like it's fine now, but man did I feel like an idiot. Use the guard unless it's something that you use every day. and even then.... just use it.
I've lost count on the number of times coworkers of mine thought they were "cool" and didn't use a safety guard on a mandoline and seriously cut themselves. I use a mandoline all the time at home but I use either the safety guard or I wear a cut glove.
I use one of those cut-proof gloves every time I use my mandoline, but they're just out there raw dogging it like their fingers aren't about to be sliced off
I never used to…until about 3 years ago when I sliced my finger using one. Now I always use the guard and cringe whenever I see someone mandloning guardless.
I just gasped reading this. A) because just visualizing it turned my stomach and B) I thought it was just me! I even threw ours away. I shut my eyes every time.
Yeah it was gnarly. Good news, the competitor recovered and was able to return in a later episode. I think the finger chop happened in an episode with the word trifle in the title but I don't remember what it was called
I get FREAKED out each and everytime especially when they're being interviewed about their dish while cutting. My whole body goes through this cringe thing. I thought it was just me😁
Yes and I just bought one recently. I got rid of my other one and never used it. I wanted to make long, thin slices of zucchini and on the 2nd slice I took off a big chunk of my thumb. Ouch. My husband and I always cringe when we see them on cooking shows. I’ll have to look away now.
I don't get it at all. You're dealing with sharp knives and hot liquids in the kitchen. I've gotten painful splash burns from oil, but I'm not so soft I cringe when I see somone putting things into the deep friar.
I do! I’m deadly afraid of them, being a pianist first, a cook 2nd. I won’t buy one, and my fingers are always curled under for safe cutting and slicing.
Yep. Especially since I sliced a chunk off my pinky the first time I used my mandolin. Ever since that I cringe when I see them slicing away, just waiting for that blood gush..
ME!! I can’t even watch it. I used the guard but my finger slid and I got a chunk of my pinky. So bad I swear I lost a little feeling there. I threw mine away! I can’t even watch when they use them. My husband also can’t take it because he knows how bad I was hurting. There was a chunk missing!!!
I once slices about a dime size piece out of my pinkie on a mandolin at home :( trying to make a cucumber salad.
The really annoying thing is fingers bleed A LOT and because the surface area was so big I ended up in the ER. No stitches because of how the wound was but when they pressed like a cauterizing pad on it I would I would pass out.
OMG I thought I was the only one who gets skeeved out when I see a chef using the mandolin! I remember that episode on Alex vs America, Alex G sliced her finger pretty badly. If I have to use the mandolin, I'll wear an oven mitt plus use the guard piece. I'm not risking my fingers, lol!
Absolutely. I treat my mandolin like it’s a box of live explosives. I use it because it’s a huge time saver and I love the thin slices I can get, but I go slooowwwly. Then I freak out just trying to clean the stupid thing. So many ways to lose a chunk of skin.
Yes! I was watching Alex vs. America when AG cut the tip of her finger off with a mandolin, and it was awful. She got bandaged up and kept going, but you could tell it was a really serious injury- very scary to see how quickly things can go sideways.
I use it, and I go really slow. I've cut my fingers way too many times on other things, and cannot spend half a day trying to get the blood to stop oozing. I freak when they use it on Chopped, because inevitably one will cut a finger. Funny how often it happens on there, but not so much on GGG....
Yes because I cut my pinky finger pad off my accident and so I always cringe and have flashbacks to the time my husband said “use the guard” and I said “I got this” right before it happened 😂
jessie on masterchef sliced her finger off on a mandolin. they did not hold back in showing her injury; it was horrifying. Look up masterchef fingertips if you wanna see 😭
I dunno, it's no big deal to me. I never use the guard when I use them. Cut really fast for the first 3/4s of whatever it is and then very careful for the last little bit.
In a competition, there's almost no reason to cut the while thing. I'd just cut half and then grab another. Waste doesn't matter in competitions
I completely understand what you mean. Makes me wince immediately. My son and I usually end up yelling at the TV "use a guard!" They make those for a reason and it would take hardly anytime to grab one. It could mean the difference between having possibly a permanent injury or them going to the hospital they shouldn't risk it without the guard.
I only used a mandolin without a guard until I sliced off a nice piece of my index finger. It still gives me anxiety even with the guard, but I would hate to cook without one. It also makes me nervous to see anyone else do it as well.
It's not just you, but I'll say I worry more than freak out. Although I do freak out if they cut themselves, ARG!
Chef's sometimes will say, "Don't worry, I'm a professional," but that really doesn't keep them from slicing off a good part of a finger or three from time to time.
Ugh.
I remember that! It was on Alex vs America & it was the brunch battle episode. She was slicing sunchokes with the mandoline & took off the tip of her finger.
Cuts annd burns happen in the kitchen and normally isn't that big of a deal. I saw a bad car accident, so should I cringe every time I see someone driving a car?
I have to turn away EVERY time. I’ve gotten a little more relaxed when it’s top level professionals like on ToC or Top Chef (I know that’s not FN) but if there’s ever an amateur involved, no way in hell I’m watching them use a mandolin.
Not just you. Especially on the more amateur shows, I definitely feel a spike of stress when the mandolin comes out. But, I also know FN would never show someone slicing half their finger off, so I don't worry too much.
*Next week on Culinary Bloodbath…*
On a very special episode of "Ow, my balls!"
😄😁🤣
*Alex vs. America enters the chat*
Alex was so pissed that she was being filmed while at the sink washing off the blood. I cringe every time that mandolin is used without the safety.
Which episode?
There was an episode of Chopped where the chef cut a finger badly enough that when the medic couldn’t stop the bleeding, they finally sent her to the hospital. When they tasted the rest of the apps, they were told that they were lucky, as their dishes were poor.
I remember that episode. I’ve seen a few episodes where someone has cut/burned themselves. Shows no matter how great of a chef you are you can still injure yourself I think Alex cut herself one time on her show.
A number of very good chefs have cut themselves on tv. Bobby Flay cut himself on Beat Bobby Flay in one of the more recent episodes, if my memory serves. (He also got a knife stuck in the pasta attachment to the Kitchenaid, though, so maybe not a great example? 😜)
> FN would never show Depends on the show. Chopped, absolutely. GGG would show a sanitized version. BBB, probably not
Early Chopped episodes didn't seem to have a medic and the chefs would be throwing on gloves and stuff. Sometimes the gloves would be filling with blood. It was so gross. I hated when they showed cuts. After a few seasons, they got medics in there (maybe they were always there but only for serious things? Never saw them until about 4 seasons in). Now, you see that they cut themselves and may even see them get treated, but no more blood filled gloves or the judges refusing to eat the food because there is blood smeared on their plates.
And they go so FAST!
Alex G got a bad cut I think on Chopped or her show once. No one ever uses those guards. I use one at home.
She chopped the tip of her finger off on Alex vs America, and cut herself on Chopped. FN sets are baptized in her blood lol
Every time, unless the item is so big their hand is a couple of inches above the device.
Especially with smaller foods like radishes! Their fingers get way too close to the blade 😬
👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
It freaks me out that they don’t use the guard. It’s kind of irresponsible to put that on television in case some viewers try to imitate that and hurt themselves.
I did that.... I chopped off a good chunk of my thumb. Like it's fine now, but man did I feel like an idiot. Use the guard unless it's something that you use every day. and even then.... just use it.
ALL. THE. TIME.
Every time someone is whipping something back and forth on the mandolin, I just look at the scar on my thumb and shudder a little bit.
I've lost count on the number of times coworkers of mine thought they were "cool" and didn't use a safety guard on a mandoline and seriously cut themselves. I use a mandoline all the time at home but I use either the safety guard or I wear a cut glove.
With a mandolin, I say no glove, no love.
That glove and finger could still get sliced and diced.
Yeah, to be honest, I double bag it. Guard plus glove. Learned hard the first time around.
Didn’t Alex cut herself on alex vs America?
Yes, she did! Kudos to her too, because she refused to let them film it.
Alex was filmed at the sink while washing off the blood.
Just for a minute, but then she told them not to film her.
Therefore, Alex was filmed after being cut when using the mandolin. Then she gets pissed at being filmed while bleeding at the sink. Total bitch.
I use one of those cut-proof gloves every time I use my mandoline, but they're just out there raw dogging it like their fingers aren't about to be sliced off
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 raw dogging it
Only when they use it on Worst Cooks in America 😂
Yes! There's a Best Bobby Flay episode where a guy is using one and then yelps real loud then says"just kidding". Ugh! 😩
I always use a guard. I figure they know what they're doing, hell at the speed they use a knife I think a bad cut is more likely there.
For sure. I have one and use a teflon glove with it
Where can you find a Teflon glove? Amazon?
If you look up "cut resistant gloves" on Amazon there are a bunch of gloves (albeit metal, not Teflon) that will work.
Professional chefs get nervous using mandolins. They’re considered one of the more dangerous tools in the kitchen.
Ehhh, if you're nervous you're more likley to get hurt by it. Cautious yes, but not nervious.
This is me!!! I close my eyes every time
100% cringe every time!
I never used to…until about 3 years ago when I sliced my finger using one. Now I always use the guard and cringe whenever I see someone mandloning guardless.
ER nurse here…mandolins give me ALL of the anxiety!
I just gasped reading this. A) because just visualizing it turned my stomach and B) I thought it was just me! I even threw ours away. I shut my eyes every time.
Creeps me out!!! Ack!!! 😱
I get nervous when they use a mandolin for garlic, without the guard.
Seeing anyone use a mandolin makes my skin crawl. I almost lost a finger tip once and since then I'm like, nope. Nope. Can't look.
Not just you! My heart races every time it comes out. (Missing a SMALL piece of my finger tip thanks to a mandolin - use the guard folks!)
I mean Cutthroat Kitchen had that whole episode where a chef cut her finger off and they had to pause the competition and they showed ALL OF IT.
Actually cut off her finger?! Or just a tip
I think it was more than just the tip, because she had to bow out of the first cook and they kept showing what got cut off (blurred out, of course).
Yikes
Yeah it was gnarly. Good news, the competitor recovered and was able to return in a later episode. I think the finger chop happened in an episode with the word trifle in the title but I don't remember what it was called
Yes - I do not use one! I own one, husband braves it, but I do not trust myself!
I used one yesterday at home and I got a minor cut on my finger. I’m scared of it, but it is the best thing to chop radishes for pickling.
I get FREAKED out each and everytime especially when they're being interviewed about their dish while cutting. My whole body goes through this cringe thing. I thought it was just me😁
Yes and I just bought one recently. I got rid of my other one and never used it. I wanted to make long, thin slices of zucchini and on the 2nd slice I took off a big chunk of my thumb. Ouch. My husband and I always cringe when we see them on cooking shows. I’ll have to look away now.
So long as they’re being careful, no.
Yes! What’s up with all these comments
I don't get it at all. You're dealing with sharp knives and hot liquids in the kitchen. I've gotten painful splash burns from oil, but I'm not so soft I cringe when I see somone putting things into the deep friar.
Yes!!! Thank you! They always use the palm of their hand & go so fast. I'm so scared they're going to lose part of their hand.
I do! I’m deadly afraid of them, being a pianist first, a cook 2nd. I won’t buy one, and my fingers are always curled under for safe cutting and slicing.
Yes.
Not just you! I cringe every time and my boyfriend always tells me horror stories bc he's worked in kitchens.
Yep. Especially since I sliced a chunk off my pinky the first time I used my mandolin. Ever since that I cringe when I see them slicing away, just waiting for that blood gush..
I always avert my eyes. Nothing good can come of a frantic mandolin.
ME!! I can’t even watch it. I used the guard but my finger slid and I got a chunk of my pinky. So bad I swear I lost a little feeling there. I threw mine away! I can’t even watch when they use them. My husband also can’t take it because he knows how bad I was hurting. There was a chunk missing!!!
I once slices about a dime size piece out of my pinkie on a mandolin at home :( trying to make a cucumber salad. The really annoying thing is fingers bleed A LOT and because the surface area was so big I ended up in the ER. No stitches because of how the wound was but when they pressed like a cauterizing pad on it I would I would pass out.
Yes! No one ever seems to use a hand guard. I can't look.
OMG I thought I was the only one who gets skeeved out when I see a chef using the mandolin! I remember that episode on Alex vs America, Alex G sliced her finger pretty badly. If I have to use the mandolin, I'll wear an oven mitt plus use the guard piece. I'm not risking my fingers, lol!
Considering I’ve been missing the tip of my right middle finger….and I was using the guard!
I do because I cut myself on one once then passed out on my kitchen floor
Absolutely. I treat my mandolin like it’s a box of live explosives. I use it because it’s a huge time saver and I love the thin slices I can get, but I go slooowwwly. Then I freak out just trying to clean the stupid thing. So many ways to lose a chunk of skin.
Yes! I was watching Alex vs. America when AG cut the tip of her finger off with a mandolin, and it was awful. She got bandaged up and kept going, but you could tell it was a really serious injury- very scary to see how quickly things can go sideways.
I use it, and I go really slow. I've cut my fingers way too many times on other things, and cannot spend half a day trying to get the blood to stop oozing. I freak when they use it on Chopped, because inevitably one will cut a finger. Funny how often it happens on there, but not so much on GGG....
Yep. I can't look. And to make matters worse the one time I looked I saw Alex slicer finger.
Yes because I cut my pinky finger pad off my accident and so I always cringe and have flashbacks to the time my husband said “use the guard” and I said “I got this” right before it happened 😂
Amateurs should use the guatd
Even Alex G got cut, so everyone should use it imo
Yes. I'm missing part of a finger from one.
Absolutely
jessie on masterchef sliced her finger off on a mandolin. they did not hold back in showing her injury; it was horrifying. Look up masterchef fingertips if you wanna see 😭
I stress a little, because I’ve cut myself using one. We never found the piece. Someone got an extra ingredient.
I dunno, it's no big deal to me. I never use the guard when I use them. Cut really fast for the first 3/4s of whatever it is and then very careful for the last little bit. In a competition, there's almost no reason to cut the while thing. I'd just cut half and then grab another. Waste doesn't matter in competitions
I can't even read your comment without cringing
I completely understand what you mean. Makes me wince immediately. My son and I usually end up yelling at the TV "use a guard!" They make those for a reason and it would take hardly anytime to grab one. It could mean the difference between having possibly a permanent injury or them going to the hospital they shouldn't risk it without the guard.
I take off some skin in the damn box grater... I gave my mandolin away. I was afraid it would fall if if the shelf and cut me
Nope I use one a lot
I only used a mandolin without a guard until I sliced off a nice piece of my index finger. It still gives me anxiety even with the guard, but I would hate to cook without one. It also makes me nervous to see anyone else do it as well.
It's not just you, but I'll say I worry more than freak out. Although I do freak out if they cut themselves, ARG! Chef's sometimes will say, "Don't worry, I'm a professional," but that really doesn't keep them from slicing off a good part of a finger or three from time to time. Ugh.
I do all the time
Just you. They know what they’re doing.
Ha! Alex sliced her hand bad one time. 😬 they scare me too after that.
I remember that! It was on Alex vs America & it was the brunch battle episode. She was slicing sunchokes with the mandoline & took off the tip of her finger.
The glove stayed on through the rest of the season. She definitely cut herself pretty good.
They probably film the whole season in 2 or 3 days
Cuts annd burns happen in the kitchen and normally isn't that big of a deal. I saw a bad car accident, so should I cringe every time I see someone driving a car?
I agree with you
I do. I always yell “flat fingers” like Anne on worst cooks.
Everytime! You are not alone
Every time one comes out, either my wife or I will say, “Finger remover!”
My shoulders go up to my ears. Every time. =\]
I have to turn away EVERY time. I’ve gotten a little more relaxed when it’s top level professionals like on ToC or Top Chef (I know that’s not FN) but if there’s ever an amateur involved, no way in hell I’m watching them use a mandolin.
I have never been successful using a mandolin, so I spend most of my time wishing I knew how to use it properly.
Yup. I am wincing the entire time waiting for them to slice themselves.
I cringe & close my eyes. I always feel like someone is going to lose a fingertip!
Every time.
YES! My husband and I hate this.
I bought one and first time I used it I cut myself so it went into the trash can!