There’s a handy pouring spout for dispensing liquids, and a drizzle hole in the lid that’s handy for making emulsified sauces or for slowly adding liquid to purees. A whipping blade is included, which stores easily in the mixer bowl so it won’t get lost in the gadget drawer. All of the parts that contact food are dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. Chopping onions is one of the most grueling kitchen tasks, particularly for people who tend to get watery eyes while chopping—not to mention the annoying scent that clings to fingers.
There are buttons to choose either chopping or grinding, which spins the blade to chop through food with the sharp edge or bash with the flat edge. The bowl holds three cups, so it’s enough for a batch of salsa or onions for a recipe. If you’re a cook who needs to get dinner on the table quickly, a food processor can feel like an additional pair of hands in the kitchen. It will allow you to prep a range of food—whether you’re grating cheese, chopping nuts, slicing vegetables, or kneading dough—at lightning speed. We’ve been testing food processors since 2013, and we remain convinced that the simple, sturdy, and powerful Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor is the best choice for most home cooks.
It wasn’t perfect at chopping green peppers, but it was acceptable for recipes. Besides chopping, we used it to make a tomato puree and peanut butter, and it performed well with those tasks. It’s worth investing in the best mini food processor even if you already have a full-size model in your kitchen. The small versions are a home cook’s best friend, cuisinart choppers making the time-consuming process of finely chopping vegetables a breeze and blitzing together just the right amount of blended sauce or dressing. They’re small enough that you don’t have to dedicate any prized counter space to them and can instead pull yours out of the drawer or cabinet whenever you want to make your dinner prep a little easier.
Its versatility lies in the special Auto Reversing Smart Blade, which makes it easier to process both soft and hard foods. Designed in Italy, the Mini-Prep Plus’ sleek touch pad controls afford easy cleaning and an elegant look. And despite its space-saving size, it’s more powerful than other choppers. So now you can prepare small quantities of food faster and more efficiently than ever before. Some full-size models come with an extra, smaller bowl that essentially acts as a mini food processor, but in most cases, we found that a dedicated mini processor did a better job.
This unit holds about two cups, so it’s plenty for making a bowl of salsa or prepping onions for a recipe. The lid lifts off easily, so emptying it and reloading with more vegetables is a breeze. The lid is not dishwasher safe, and should not be immersed in water when washing by hand.
That said, if you only use a food processor occasionally, the Breville’s high cost probably outweighs its benefits. And given that this processor is huge—more than 18 inches tall and nearly 20 pounds—you’ll need a big counter to keep it on. We took note of any special features on the various mini food processors we tested, but overall they had to prove more than just a kitchen one-trick pony.