Cheese Slicer: Wire vs Plane vs Knife — What Actually Works for Paneer

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What Is a Cheese Slicer?

Short answer: A cheese slicer is a tool that cuts even slices from a block of cheese. The two main kinds are the cheese plane and the wire slicer. A plane is a flat blade with a slot; a wire slicer is a thin wire pulled tight on a frame.

Picking a cheese slicer comes down to one question. How soft is the thing you want to cut?

Most guides answer that for European cheese. This one also answers it for paneer, the cheese most Indian homes actually cut.

Where the cheese plane came from

The cheese plane is Norwegian. Store norske leksikon, Norway's national encyclopedia, says Thor Bjørklund invented it and took a patent in 1925.

He started his company, Thor Bjørklund & Sønner, in 1927. Norway's patent office tells the same story.

Wisconsin Cheese, the cheese site of Wisconsin's milk marketing board, adds one detail. Bjørklund was a cabinetmaker, and he copied the carpenter's plane he used on wood.

The 4 Types of Cheese Slicer, and What Each One Cuts

Short answer: Wisconsin Cheese lists four slicer types: plane, wire, rolling, and wire-and-board. Planes suit firmer cheese. Wire tools suit softer cheese. A knife still wins for very soft cheese and for cubes.

Each tool is built around how firm the cheese is. Here is how the four compare, using Wisconsin Cheese's own guide.

📊 Wisconsin Cheese pairs the plane with semi-hard cheeses like emmental and gruyere. The wire goes with havarti and younger gouda. The rolling slicer suits cheddar, gouda and provolone.

A mandoline also cuts cheese. Wisconsin Cheese puts it with the hardest cheeses, like parmesan.

If you already own one for vegetables, read our mandoline slicer safety guide before you use it on cheese.

Why Does a Wire Cut Soft Cheese Cleaner Than a Knife?

Short answer: Because soft cheese sticks to whatever touches it. A wire touches far less cheese than a flat blade does, so there is less drag and less smearing.

Think about what a knife does in soft cheese. The whole flat face of the blade rubs against it on the way down.

Soft cheese grips that face. It drags, tears, and leaves a ragged slice.

Josh Donald is a knife expert. He co-owns Bernal Cutlery, a knife shop in San Francisco.

📊 He told The Cheese Professor: "There's a lot of friction and sticking when you cut cheese, so a tool with as little surface area as possible makes a big difference."

A wire has almost no face at all. It splits the cheese and moves on.

Knife makers know this too. Wisconsin Cheese notes that soft-cheese knives have holes in the blade to cut the surface down and stop sticking.

So the rule is simple. The softer the cheese, the less metal you want touching it.

Does a Cheese Slicer Work on Paneer?

Short answer: A wire slicer is the better fit for paneer. A cheese plane is not. Paneer is a soft, high-moisture cheese, and a plane is built for firm cheese. Chill the block first, and use a knife for the final cubes.

We could not find any published test of a cheese slicer on paneer. So this section works from what paneer is, by law.

What the standard says paneer is

📊 Under India's Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, paneer must have less than 70% moisture. Its fat must be more than 50% of the dry matter. The Bureau of Indian Standards (IS 10484:1983) sets a tighter moisture cap of 60%. Source: NIFTEM paneer guide.

That is a lot of water. It puts paneer on the soft side of the cheese table above.

Wisconsin Cheese matches soft and semi-soft cheese to wire tools. Firm cheese goes to the plane.

Why the plane fails on paneer

A plane shaves thin slices off the top of a firm block. Soft paneer gives under that blade instead of shaving cleanly.

Also, few paneer dishes want a paper-thin shaving. You want slabs and cubes.

The firming step dairies use

Here is the useful part. Paneer makers firm the block before they cut it.

📊 NIFTEM's paneer process presses the curd for 15 to 20 minutes. The blocks then sit in chilled water at 4 to 6 °C, or in brine, for 2 to 3 hours "to achieve firmness". Only then are they cut.

You can copy that at home. Put fresh paneer in cold water in the fridge before you slice it.

Then pull a wire through for even slabs. Finish the cubes with a sharp knife.

Even slabs also make portions easy to count. Our paneer protein chart lists grams per slice and per cube.

Cubes that hold their shape matter most in a gravy. See our paneer butter masala recipe for where they go next.

Should Cheese Be Cold or at Room Temperature When You Slice It?

Short answer: Cut it cool, serve it warmer. Wisconsin Cheese says to bring cheese to a cool temperature so slices do not buckle or break. Eat it after the chill has come off, when the flavour is fuller.

The sources look like they disagree here. They are really talking about two different jobs.

Josh Donald adds that temperature matters a lot with cheese. A soft cheese cuts very differently cold than warm.

For an Indian kitchen, the plan is easy. Slice paneer and block cheese cold, straight from the fridge.

Then slice only what you will use. Cut faces dry out, which Serious Eats warns about.

Do You Need a Cheese Slicer If You Buy Ready Slices?

Short answer: Not for ready slices. A slicer earns its place when you buy cheese or paneer as a block and want even slices of your own thickness.

📊 IMARC Group put India's cheese market at INR 88.9 billion in 2023. It projects INR 512.1 billion by 2032, a 20.9% yearly growth rate. Slices are the largest format, and processed cheese is the largest type.

So most Indian cheese already arrives cut. That is the honest case against buying a slicer.

The case for one is the block. A block lets you pick the thickness, which ready slices never do.

• Thin slices for a sandwich that melts evenly
• Thicker slabs for a grilled cheese or a toastie
• Even paneer slabs for tikka, bhurji prep or a tiffin

If your slices end up in a sandwich maker, our list of 20 sandwich maker recipes has ideas beyond plain toast.

How Do You Clean and Look After a Cheese Slicer?

Short answer: Wash it by hand in warm, soapy water. Clear any cheese stuck where the wire meets the frame, and dry it before you put it away.

Wisconsin Cheese gives three rules in its slicer FAQ.

• Warm, soapy water cleans most slicers
• On a wire slicer, make sure no cheese stays trapped between the wire and the frame
• Some slicers are dishwasher-safe, but handwashing makes them last longer

Josh Donald says the same about cheese knives. His first rule is to keep them out of the dishwasher.

Wire and board care

A wire can snap with use. Before you buy, check whether spare wires are sold for that model.

A knife goes dull in time, too. Our knife sharpener guide covers the fix.

Cut on the right surface as well. Our wooden vs plastic chopping board comparison explains which board suits which job.

Which Cheese Slicer Should You Buy in India?

Short answer: For paneer and soft block cheese, buy a wire slicer. For firm cheese like cheddar or gouda, a cheese plane or a rolling slicer. If you only ever cube paneer, a sharp knife and a cold block are enough.

Start from what you cut most often. Here is the short list.

• You mostly cut paneer: a handheld wire slicer. Wire cheese slicers on Amazon
• You want even paneer slabs every time: a wire-and-board slicer. Wire-and-board cheese slicers on Amazon
• You buy cheddar or gouda blocks: a cheese plane. Cheese planes on Amazon
• You want one thickness every slice: an adjustable rolling slicer. Adjustable rolling cheese slicers on Amazon
• You serve soft cheese on a board: a soft-cheese knife with holes. Cheese knife sets on Amazon

Check two things on any listing. Is the wire stainless steel, and are spare wires available?

InstaCuppa does not sell cheese slicers. So the links above go to Amazon, and we may earn a small commission.

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Some links here are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only point to products we would suggest to our own family.