DU cooks! I need a *paper thin* mandoline

[Ratty]

I need a mandoline that slices lemons tissue-paper thin. So if you hold a slice up to the light you can hardly even see it, just a slight hint of yellow hovering in the air like a lemony wisp. I've been looking online but most mandoline descriptions don't seem to say exactly how thin the thinnest setting is. I'm looking at the Bron mandoline:

http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp?id=4603&pv=1098302380011

It's thinnest setting is 1/16th of an inch but when I check that on my ruler, that doesn't look very thin at all, not paper-thin (let alone tissue paper thing).

I want to make me a Shaker lemon pie.

[mr_hat]

1. You won't get a resonant tone. And how

will you get any tension on the strings?

[Ratty]

3. Silly. THAT mandoline is for hardboiled eggs

Push the egg down on the strings and they come out perfectly sliced everytime. I find egg residue enhances the sound markedly. Sadly, it doesn't do so well with lemons.

[nottabubba]

5. I think that's egg slices you're thinking of. nt

[nottabubba]

2. lemon pie

Ratty, I don't know how similar a Shaker lemon pie is to an Amish lemon pie, but if you add lots of sugar and let the slices and the sugar sit in the refrig overnight here are my thoughts. Just use the sharpest knife you've got and slice'em thin. Even if some are slightly thicker at one end, or if you wind up with cutting some ver,very thin wedges instead, it all becomes not so important after sitting in the refrig all night.

I've also made this with Meyer lemons instead of regular lemons too.

[Ratty]

9. Yes meyer lemons definitely

It's the same kind of pie alright. Just lemons and sugar. I read a very Zen-like article once on preparing a Shaker pie. All about becoming one with the knife, how your consciousness expands beyond your body after the first hour of slicing just like some kind of very tart and sour acid trip. How you emerge from the experience a profoundly changed person. It all scared me too much. I want to try the easy way.

So you think 1/16" is thin enough?

[librechik]

4. I think that's thin enough--otherwise the sections will fall apart

you might be able to get it a little thinner with a hand peeler (hard to do) or an electric slicer. The slicer would make the slices very uniform as well.

[HereSince1628]

6. I can't imagine a lemon sliced as thin as a sheet of paper

A lemon sliced as thin as the LA Time, YES, _that_ I can imagine...

Actually, I imagine any slicer adjusted thin would work...but keep you fingers away from the blade, or you will have Shaker lemon with erythrocytes pie.

Seriously I think a sharp knife and the courage to use it would be ok.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. Call a deli and ask of you can pay them to run them through

You're going to spend about 250.00 for a decent one that won't make you crazy...deli's have those professional dial-up slicers...ask if they'll do it for you for a fee

[tridim]

8. You get what you pay for

Those "As seen on TV" $19.95 plastic mandolins are worthless, but maybe that's because I'm spoiled from using high quality mandolins at restaurants. You might be able to do the job with a food processor set up to slice, or a meat slicer. Otherwise you're going to have to pay to get a good stainless steel mandolin at a restaurant supply store.

[nosmokes]

10. sharp knife.

take a little bit off of one side to give you a flat surface - just a little sliver of the rind. and then you wanna *shave* the lemon more than slice it. it's labor intensive fer sure, but that's how to get the thinnest slices that i know of.