I recently purchased the Bella Automatic Spiralizer and I do like it very much. I own six other spiralizers both manual and electric and was interested in the Bella because its operation is automatic, which is a very nice feature. On the plus side, it accommodates large, hard vegetables, is very fast, quiet, and produces beautiful spirals with less waste than many other spiralizers. Once the vegetables have been placed on the generously sized prongs, its operation is hands-free. The unit is also very inexpensive. There are quite a few manual spiralizers available that cost a whole lot more. So far, I've used the unit to spiralize Yukon gold potatoes, carrots, onions, zucchini, broccoli stalks and cucumber using the spaghetti blade and the noodles that were produced were beautiful. On the not-so-plus side, the unit is made of plastic that feels very light and brittle. To switch the blades, you have to remove the cutting mechanism completely and remove a back plate. You then turn a small plastic dial at the bottom to rotate the blades. All of these parts are made of very lightweight, brittle plastic. THE PLASTIC BLADE DIAL SEIZES UP AND WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO TURN THE DIAL TO SWITCH THE BLADES IF THE LITTLE GEARS INSIDE ARE WET, SO DON'T WASH THE BLADES IF YOU INTEND TO SPIRALIZE DIFFERENT VEGETABLE TYPES. USE THE BRUSH IF YOU HAVE TO CLEAN THE UNIT TO SWITCH VEGETABLES. DON'T TRY TO FORCE THE PLASTIC DIAL EITHER OR YOU WILL BREAK THE UNIT OR CUT YOURSELF. I'm going to try to put a little vegetable oil on the gears to see if this makes switching the blades easier. If you intend to spiralize different vegetables, start by spiralizing cucumber, white potatoes, or onions first, and then proceed to the harder or more deeply colored vegetables as you go along. That way you can spiralize without having color seep from a deeply colored vegetable like a red beet onto a paler vegetable like a white potato or zucchini. Also, the blade assembly is very wide. Unless your hands are large, removing the blade assembly unit will be a two-handed operation. You remove the assembly by pressing a plastic button at the back of the unit, and lifting upward. It is a little tricky at first but becomes easier with practice. I find putting the back plate back on the blade assembly to be the most annoying operation and have considered keeping the back plate off completely. I am reluctant to do that, however as that would leave all of the blades exposed and could present a hazard. If the back plate continues to be a hassle, I'll just keep it off and store the unit in a safe place. The unit also comes with a book of recipes that look rather interesting. I also checked the Bella Videos on YouTube and intend to make the vegetable lasagna tonight to serve with grilled steaks. Watching the videos, in particular, is very valuable and has given me a greater understanding of how to use spiralized vegetables to make interesting gluten-free dishes.
