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See why.Apple Corers/Slicers
Which gadgets help most when you’re prepping apples for snacking or baking? We bought two types, crank style and push style; picked bushels of fruit; and got to work.
Top Picks
What You Need To Know
We tested two kinds of apple prep tools, crank style and push style, and found favorites in each category. We think both styles have a place in your kitchen, whether you’re snacking or baking. Our favorite crank-style apple peeler, corer, and slicer is the VKP Brands Johnny Apple Peeler, Suction Base, Stainless Steel Blades, Red. Cast iron and sturdy, it processed fruit in seconds. If you’re making a lot of apple pies or crisps, using this device is the fastest way to create piles of peeled, cored, and uniformly sliced apples that are ready to bake (and the slices are also great to snack on). We also have two recommended push-style apple corers/slicers, which don’t peel apples but do core and cut them into wedges that are ideal for snacking: the Norpro Grip EZ Fruit Wedger, 16 Slices with Base, which cores and slices apples into 16 narrow slices, and the OXO Good Grips Apple Divider, which cores and slices apples into eight chunky wedges. Both are sturdy and sharp and make it easy to core and cut apples into convenient pieces.
What You Need to Know
Tools that help cooks prepare apples, whether for snacking or baking, are wonderful time-savers, especially during the bounty of apple-picking season. We found two styles: crank style, which peels, cores, and/or slices fruit with the turn of a crank, and push style (shaped like a wagon wheel), which simply cores and slices fruit, leaving the peel on. Push-style devices can be used year-round on both firm and soft fruit (even on ripe pears and less-than-crisp supermarket apples), but the crank style requires crisp, firm apples that will stay anchored on prongs, or the machine won’t work.
Push-style models are best for prepping apple snacks, but our favorite model’s 16 slices are slim enough for pies and tarts, too. If you have room for only one small device that fits in a drawer, this is the most versatile model we tried. The crank models take up a bit more space but are ideal for bakers because you can peel, core, and slice an apple in about 15 seconds. A single cut through the finished apple from top to bottom gives you two stacks of uniform half-circles just right for pies.
What to Look For
Both Styles:
- Sharp Blades: It might seem obvious, but models with sharper blades worked more reliably and with less effort than those with duller blades.
- Easy to Use: On push-style models, we preferred large, raised, slightly grippy handles that made the tool easy to grab and push comfortably, without banging our knuckles on the cutting board after the blades got through the fruit. Our favorite crank-style models attached quickly and securely to counters and w...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup/Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
We loved this sturdy, classic cast-iron apple device and how easily we were able to peel, core, and slice with it. It made quick work of apples, whether they were perfectly round or lopsided, small or oversize. We timed it, and it took just about 15 seconds to put an apple on the prongs; peel, core, and slice it; and discard the core. The suction base, with a lever to apply it, was easy to use and held very firmly, whether placed on the counter or inside a rimmed baking sheet. You can adjust the blades so that the device can peel and core but not slice, slice and core but not peel, etc. We also successfully peeled (and spiral-cut) potatoes with this gadget. A caveat: It can’t process soft fruit such as pears, which can’t be anchored on the prongs. The manufacturer guarantees the device for five years and sells replacement blades and other parts.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup/Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
We loved the 16 slim, neatly cut apple slices that this gadget produced from a single fruit, perfect for baking or snacking. Its raised, grippy handles were comfortable to grab and push, and we loved its cleverly designed round coring blade at the center, which protrudes beyond the spoke-like cutting blades by a little less than ⅛ inch. This part makes the first cut, anchoring the device on the apple and breaking the resistance of the apple skin, so the cutting blades glide through more easily. After you press down through the apple, you lift it onto a plastic base and push down again, which makes the core and 16 perfect slices pop up and out—no struggling to free them from sharp blades. The device works well for pears, too, and is easy to clean by hand or in the dishwasher. Our only wish is that the base attached for storage so that it would be easier to keep track of its whereabouts.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup/Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
While it takes a firm push to start, this basic, classic apple corer/slicer produced eight mostly neat wedges, whether the apples were large or small, symmetrical or irregular; it also worked nicely on pears. It grips the apple firmly and starts the cut with precision because its round center blade for coring the apple protrudes very slightly (less than 1/16 inch) past the slicing blades. It breaks the resistance of the apple skin and makes the pass through the apple smoother and easier. Its large, raised, rubber-trimmed handles are gently grippy and comfortable to push. It’s easy to clean by hand or in the dishwasher. One quibble: Sometimes it doesn’t quite cut through the apple skin at the bottom, and you have to gently pull up on the core and tug a few slices to free them.
Recommended
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup/Durability: 2.5 stars out of 3.
We were initially puzzled by this model’s attached base, which hinges out from the round slicer body, but we eventually came to appreciate it. After you press the device down over an apple to cut and core the fruit, you swing the base under and press down again to make the final cut through the bottom of the apple to free the slices without the need to poke at the blades. However, the blades on this slicer were a bit blunt compared with other models and took much more force to cut. Cleanup was slightly awkward due to the attached piece.
Recommended with reservations
- Performance: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup/Durability: 2 stars out of 3.
This crank-style model was easy to set up and processed round apples almost effortlessly, but it struggled with anything less than uniformly round fruit, especially apples that were large or lopsided. Its peeling blade was prone to clogging and became slightly duller over the course of testing. Compared with our top-rated crank-style peeler, which is made of solid enameled cast iron, it is the same size but weighs nearly a pound less, with thinner, lighter parts, making us concerned about its durability.
- Performance: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup/Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
With fairly flat handles that are not very comfortable, and needing a strong push to cut through apples, this model is fine, but you could do better. It struggled to cut through the apple peel at the end of a cut, so we usually had to poke and rip apple wedges out of the blades.
- Performance: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup/Durability: 1.5 stars out of 3.
While we loved the idea of an adjustable slicer that would allow us to choose between eight big wedges or 16 narrow ones, in practice it didn’t work very well. The blades rotated to select the number of slices and didn’t align well when they were doubled up to make just eight slices. As a result, it was hard to push through apples, and the edges of the slices became shredded, making raggedy-looking slices and trapping bits of fruit in the blades, making them hard to clean. It only worked well when set for 16 slices. The plastic base helps free sliced fruit.
- Performance: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup/Durability: 1 stars out of 3.
This clever-looking gadget is OK, as far as it goes: All it does is peel—no coring, no slicing—which feels like a lot of production for one result. That said, it peels really well. While it looks like a child’s toy, it was a bit scary to set up because it peels with a razor blade poised on an adjustable arm. And when we pulled peeled apples off the prongs, we feared that our hands would hit the razor. Water became trapped inside the clear plastic body and took days to evaporate. The “bonus core slicer” was adequate, but its handles were puny, set too low, and uncomfortable, and the bottom of the core and slices got stuck in the blades.
Not Recommended
- Performance: 0.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 0.5 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup/Durability: 3 stars out of 3.
This device is identical to our top-ranked crank-style model, but with a clamp at the bottom instead of a suction attachment. We found the clamp terribly difficult to affix to any countertop or surface so that it held firmly. If the device isn’t securely anchored, it doesn’t work. In sum: Avoid the clamp style; get a suction model.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
Lisa McManus
Lisa is an executive editor for ATK Reviews, cohost of Gear Heads on YouTube, and gadget expert on TV's America's Test Kitchen.