Tools for baked sliced almonds for sprinkling on food

[gtr]

My wife buys expensive sliced almonds (that is, they are twice as expensive than whole almonds are) to bake at 450F for five or so minutes until browned which we use for sprinkling on salads and on yogurts and the like.

I'm a DIY type person when it comes to simply slicing an almond. Or so I had thought.

I _tried_ to slice them in the hand held food slicer but it's impossible. I tried to chop them using a meat tenderizer hammer but it's too brutal. I tried to grind them using a coffee grinder but they turn into flour. (And don't suggest grind them less because you can't control almonds.) (Been there. Done that. At least with _my_ hand-held coffee grinder tool.) (You can control coffee beans, but coffee beans are not almond seeds.) (You either mostly get half flour and half whole almonds, or all flour.)

What common homeowner kitchen tool will slice or evenly chop whole almonds?

[Wade Garrett]

Vegamatic!

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I googled it and found stuff like this:

[Cindy Hamilton]

How much money are we really talking, per week?

Walmart's website indicates a price of 43.6 cents per ounce for sliced almonds and 48.0 cents per ounce for whole almonds (a 1-pound package of each).

Perhaps more skillful shopping would solve the entire problem. Where does your wife shop?

Slicing is probably a losing proposition. You might try chopping, using something like this:

I see that commercial almond processors heat them to about 160 F so they'll be somewhat pliable.

[Jim Joyce]

Vince says to get a Slap Chop. (As seen on TV)

[Dean Hoffman]

No motor??????

[hubops]

Vince knows nuts - "Slap my nuts !"

John T.

[Scott Lurndal]

And now you understand _why_ they're more expensive than whole almonds.

[trader_4]

A food processor will chop them. The blade type coffee grinder should too if you just briefly pulse it. But with both of those, you will get a variety of size pieces and usually some that are very large, so you have to pour it out, pick out the pieces that are too big, then put them in with more new ones and continue. And the result is still almond pieces, not slices, so it's not going to be ideal for some recipes. For typical home cooking, given the volume used, it's not that much savings and easier to just buy them sliced.

[Thomas]

How about a bread lame if you have time.

[Peter Flynn]

Or indeed to fry in butter and serve with trout or salmon :-)

I tried it once.

None for slicing. That needs a major piece of machinery. Chopping is easy, just use a knife, or a hand chopper like a Zyliss Zick-Zick, or even a mini blender on low power. But chopped is not sliced. Not is it slivered, which is cutting lengthwise but not into slices.

P