Spiralizers – Perfect Strands, Spirals and Slices

Originally a Japanese invention, the spiralizer is a razor-sharp cutting devices that creates thin ribbons of vegetable – and they’re everywhere.

Championed by trendy health-food chefs such as Deliciously Ella and the Helmsley sisters, the spiralizer enables health-lovers to integrate guilt-free hearty ‘pasta’ and ‘noodle’ dishes into their diet.

Ella Woodward — otherwise known as 23-year-old foodie Deliciously Ella — is an advocate of courgetti – courgette spaghetti – ribbons of courgette boiled and used as a pasta substitute.

Here’s a guide to the various types there are, and the best on the market.

Different Types of Spiralizer

Handheld spiralizers

The cheapest option for about £15 or less are much like a large pencil sharpener. These hard work to use for all but very small quantities and will take only veg with a diameter of around 2”/5cm or less.

Horizontal hold spiralizers

For between £15 and £25 horizontal hold spiralizers can manage much larger diameter veg than the handheld devices. However, most hold the vegetable in place with a small metal ring, which cuts a core the size of a pencil from the centre as you turn the mechanism – a bit wasteful, especially for narrower veg. Infuriatingly, even with the help of the metal ring, the veg can slip out of place as you cut.

Vertical hold spiralizers

The best, but dearest, option are vertical hold spiralizers. These cost around £25 to £35. The vegetable sits on top of the blade so it’s a lot easier to use – there’s no risk of the veg falling out of position. Unlike the horizontal spiralizer its more natural to push downwards as you turn the handle. This means it works faster. A spike holds the veg in place, so there’s no core cut out, and no wastage. Vertical spiralizers generally take a slightly smaller diameter and shorter length of veg than the horizontal spiralizers.

The Best Spiralizers

Multifunction Cuisique Spiralizer (£30 from Amazon.co.uk)

No need to buy a separate slicer juicer, mandolin and grater. The Cruisique had 8 functions in one piece of equipment and that means more room in your kitchen cupboards. The collection bowl is a very handy feature making sure your spiralized veg don’t end up all over the worktop.  So easy to use and to clean.

Rating: *****

Hemsley and Hemsley Spiralizer (£30 from Amazon.co.uk)

Amazon has the best range of Spiralizers And when you browse through them you’ll see there are a dozen machines that look suspiciously like they come from the same factory production line. That said, the Hemsley and Hemsley version does come with a recipe card. Both have a neat stowaway system for the blades, but all the reservations about horizontal hold spiralizers hold true. And a caveat for left handers: the handle that is meant to help push the veg through may make the machine tricky for you.

The cut: Makes rather fat, 2mm ribbons, or noodles in either 3 or 5mm widths. Failed to make noodles from butternut squash, although it did a good job with courgettes.

Rating: ***