With a Cuisinart food processor, you can quickly and effortlessly chop, grind or mix your favorite foods. When this innovative appliance first debuted in 1973, chefs and home cooks across the country quickly realized that Cuisinart food processors could drastically speed up food preparation. Today, thanks to new technology and added functions, Cuisinart choppers are even more efficient at making food for your favorite dishes.
There’s no need to worry about any shards of steel ending up in your food and you won’t have to replace your blade for a long time because they can really withstand the test of time. 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. In testing, we found that this tool was efficient at cutting onions, and unlike cutters with moving blades, this one made neat, even cuts.
We were eager to see how it would compare to the Thermomix (a wildly expensive blender that cooks, and which has something of a cult following outside of the US), but we weren’t able to get it to work. We probably just got a lemon, but that doesn’t bode well for a $700 appliance (at the time of this publishing). An error consistently appeared on the screen each time we attempted to run it, even when the correct lid and blade attachment were in place. The customer service representative we spoke to wasn’t able to offer much guidance since they weren’t familiar with the model (they even confessed it doesn’t sell often). In terms of pure performance, the Breville Sous Chef 16 Pro was hands down the best food processor we tested.
A manual processor is only ideal if you don’t want to deal with cords or batteries or will be using it in a place where there isn’t electricity. For standard everyday usage, an electric model with motors between 200 and 400 watts is your best option. Featuring a drizzle basin and pour spout, this mini food processor’s design exceeded our expectations. It doesn’t get more straightforward than the Hamilton Beach Mini Processor, which is why we named it our favorite pick for beginners. Simply place your ingredients inside and press the single button to take them anywhere from a rough chop to thoroughly pureed. The drizzle basin will slowly incorporate liquids, and the tall base keeps the contents of the basin closer to eye level than many other mini processors.
While standard food processors have between 8 and 14 cups of capacity, mini food processors offer 2 to 5 cups for small jobs, such as preparing homemade dressings and dips. Though they don’t have grating or slicing attachments, they can chop an onion or whip up a batch of salad dressing in seconds. Plus, they save you the headache of cleaning a large machine without sacrificing too much power. That said, we also looked at mini food processors (also called mini choppers). 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.
Its smaller, 12-cup capacity was also more limiting than the Cuisinart’s 14-cup bowl. After testing models with storage boxes, we found that such boxes are convenient for keeping attachments organized, and they’re worth investing in if your model doesn’t come with one. You can also organize blades and disks in a designated Tupperware-style container, basket, or other receptacle. We store the Cuisinart Custom 14’s extra blades and disks inside the processor’s work bowl, but be advised that this can scratch the bowl. The Sous Chef’s thoughtful design was what really sold us on this machine. Other machines require you to fit the bowl over a shank on the base, but the Sous Chef has a flat attachment, with the shank attached to the inside of the work bowl.
With this method, the mayonnaise comes together without your having to control the flow of oil. Between your food chopper and your bench scraper, you will save a lot of time with ingredient prep, and you won’t have to worry about chopped food scattered all over your kitchen. These choppers are usually operated by a cutting grid, and the food is chopped into a plastic lid or container. They are ideal for cutting vegetables like onions, peppers, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. If the food item is on the bigger side, it will need to be cut down enough to fit in the chopper before it can be chopped. That’s worth keeping in mind when removing the contents and hand-washing.
It also did well chopping onions, nuts, tomatoes, carrots, and mushrooms. It wasn’t perfect at chopping green peppers, but it was acceptable for recipes. Besides chopping, we used it to make a tomato puree cuisinart toa60 and peanut butter, and it performed well with those tasks. For small chopping tasks, the inexpensive KitchenAid 3.5 Cup Food Chopper offers the best value and performance we’ve found in a mini processor.