I found it works well at least on a cold beef roast. Someone complained it wouldn't cut frozen meat–the handbook says it won't so be advised. And yes, a bit noisy but not awfully noisy. Why four and not five? Someone wrote \"If you use it, you better have a lot to slice or the clean up isn’t worth it.\". That's what I wanted to say. Cleaning the blade is easy as it removes (and no need to remove any screws, just clean it as it comes out), but cleaning everything else is a bit of a nuisance as nothing detaches.