SCI Enameled Cast Aluminum Stainless Steel Blades Heavy Duty Manual Hand Crank Rotary String Bean Frencher/Slicer/Cutter with Clamp

Works great

I got this with high hopes, as we grow beans in our garden and I love them frenched. My mom had a bean frencher, when I was growing up, that was metal and we attached it to the edge of our butcher block table and it worked great! So I was excited to get this. However, it ended up being pretty frustrating. The attachment part only expands to something like 1.5 inches, so it was very hard to find a way to attach it firmly enough so it worked. I ended up clamping a wooden cutting board to the counter by our sink, then attaching the bean frencher to that. It wasn't the greatest solution though, as the torque of frenching the beans pulled the attachment off pretty regularly, so I'd have to stop and readjust the whole setup. It frenched the beans well, though. It takes probably 3 beans at a time, depending on the age and size of the bean. I like to french beans that are too big for normal snapping, so I only did 2 at a time. Otherwise it got stuck. It does reverse easily. I really didn't like that there isn't much of a safety guide on this - it would be pretty easy, if you weren't paying attention, to get your fingers sliced. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there's much else out there; certainly nothing like what my mom's frencher is like. Ah well, since this works we'll use it...

I've always loved french cut beans. I don't know why, I just do. I think it has to do with the fact that more of the bean flesh is exposed to the steam or hot water and more of the bean flavor comes through. When I tried this bean frencher it was a little tough getting the beans to feed into it but once they got started they fed through very nicely.I think the feed problem may have been because the beans were a little beyond ripe and were a little on the tough side. The clean up was very easy and quick. The sink sprayer did a nice job of getting any of the residual bean flesh out of the slicing blades, then air dry and your done. I am very satisfied with this product.

Love it! Canned french green beans all summer with this. It worked out great. Clamped it to the end of the table, put a bowl on the seat of the chair and just kept cranking. It is a little difficult to clean and may take an extra couple of minutes, but over all it is still much faster than chopping by hand.

Although its made of Cast Aluminum, the adjustable clamp didnt fit my standard countertop, a tv Tray, nor my kitchen Table. I really did like the sturdiness of the product however was disappointed by the clamp.

Returning. We were aware that we had to use a board to clamp the unit to since it will not clamp onto a counter top. We could deal with that. When we tried to run the beans through, it would only process one bean at a time and only beans that were 1/4" or thinner. Not what we were looking for. The unit must have been defective since other people seem to have used larger beans, and maybe even two or three at a time.

I have seen the identical product for years in traditional seed catalogues for nearly $30. At $13.70. this was a real bargain. More importantly - it really works! I have read some concerns about having it jam or not feed properly. It appears to me that is a result of putting to many beans in the feeder at one time. I've used various hand frenchers and find that many bean pods are too limp to feed easily as you push them through. This device pulls the beans through. Problem solved! I do wish the clamp were wider than 1.25 inches, since that requires that I attach it to a cutting board, not our counter top. But the device works so efficiently, that is a minor inconvenience.

It works OK you get french beans. You can not put multiple beans in only one at a time, but it still goes pretty fast once you get use to it. It does ok for us I only do 8-10 pints at a time.