A product slicer, comprising: a housing; a knife mounted to the housing and rotatable about a central knife axis, the knife having a knife cutting edge defining a knife cutting plane; a carriage assembly mounted to the housing, the carriage assembly including a carriage table configured for reciprocating motion past the knife cutting edge; a drive system mounted to the housing and including at least one motor to drive a belt; an automatic slicer engagement mechanism attached to the carriage assembly and configured for releasable engagement with the belt, wherein the automatic slicer engagement mechanism includes: (a) a base; (b) a fixed jaw connected to the base and having a belt engagement surface; (c) a moving jaw movably connected to the base, wherein the moving jaw comprises the at least one moving jaw tooth and at least one arm; and (d) a slide in slidable cooperation with the base and in cooperating with the at least one arm, wherein the slide is configured to move from a first position to a second position thereby displacing the at least one arm and the moving jaw from a disengaged state to an engaged state, wherein in the disengaged state the fixed jaw and the moving jaw do not engage the belt and the carriage assembly is manually movable, and in the engaged state the at least one moving jaw tooth is substantially parallel with the belt engagement surface and the belt is securely engaged between the fixed jaw and the moving jaw so that powered movement of the belt produces powered movement of the carriage assembly, characterised in that: the fixed jaw includes a belt recess such that the belt engagement surface is a recess base surface at a recess depth, and at least one moving jaw tooth is configured so that it cannot enter the belt recess. a carriage assembly mounted to the housing, the carriage assembly including a carriage table configured for reciprocating motion past the knife cutting edge; a drive system mounted to the housing and including at least one motor to drive a belt; an automatic slicer engagement mechanism attached to the carriage assembly and configured for releasable engagement with the belt, wherein the automatic slicer engagement mechanism includes: (a) a base; (b) a fixed jaw connected to the base and having a belt engagement surface; (c) a moving jaw movably connected to the base, wherein the moving jaw comprises the at least one moving jaw tooth and at least one arm; and (d) a slide in slidable cooperation with the base and in cooperating with the at least one arm, wherein the slide is configured to move from a first position to a second position thereby displacing the at least one arm and the moving jaw from a disengaged state to an engaged state, wherein in the disengaged state the fixed jaw and the moving jaw do not engage the belt and the carriage assembly is manually movable, and in the engaged state the at least one moving jaw tooth is substantially parallel with the belt engagement surface and the belt is securely engaged between the fixed jaw and the moving jaw so that powered movement of the belt produces powered movement of the carriage assembly, (a) a base; (b) a fixed jaw connected to the base and having a belt engagement surface; (c) a moving jaw movably connected to the base, wherein the moving jaw comprises the at least one moving jaw tooth and at least one arm; and (d) a slide in slidable cooperation with the base and in cooperating with the at least one arm, wherein the slide is configured to move from a first position to a second position thereby displacing the at least one arm and the moving jaw from a disengaged state to an engaged state, wherein in the disengaged state the fixed jaw and the moving jaw do not engage the belt and the carriage assembly is manually movable, and in the engaged state the at least one moving jaw tooth is substantially parallel with the belt engagement surface and the belt is securely engaged between the fixed jaw and the moving jaw so that powered movement of the belt produces powered movement of the carriage assembly, characterised in that: the fixed jaw includes a belt recess such that the belt engagement surface is a recess base surface at a recess depth, and at least one moving jaw tooth is configured so that it cannot enter the belt recess.