Most mini choppers don’t have hefty bases like full-size processors do, and the Food Chopper is no exception. However, at just under 2 pounds, it has a slightly heavier base than other mini models, which helps keep it stable. And we didn’t notice any straining or stuttering of this model’s 240-watt motor, even when it was chopping a fibrous jumbo carrot. As long as you don’t try to use the Food Chopper for heavy tasks, such as making nut butter, we don’t think there’s much risk of burning out the motor.
The Sous Chef is the only model we tested that had an LCD timer (which counts up and down), and this model also has retractable cord storage. We didn’t try the machine’s french fry disk, julienne disk, or emulsifying disk attachments, but we did use the handy cleaning brush, which did a great job of getting trapped bits out of the slicing disk. The obvious drawback to all of these attachments cuisinart air fryer oven is that they take up a lot of space, and they may not get much use (how often do you make fries, for example?). We appreciate that Breville provides a storage case for the attachments, but the box takes up almost as much cupboard space as the machine itself. The Breville Sous Chef diced tomatoes and onions evenly, and it chopped nuts to a more consistent texture than the Cuisinart.
If you plan to use it a lot, you may want to spend a few extra dollars for an electric version. Not only can it process more food at once, it’s also as easy to use as the push of a button, so there’s no need to crank or press down on cuisinart toa60 anything to chop the food. Great for prepping ahead, this compact chopper has a 3/4-cup capacity, although the chopper cup has measurement marks up to one cup so you can measure ingredients without needing a separate measuring cup.
It wasn’t able to chop as evenly as the KitchenAid 3.5 Cup Food Chopper, and it moved across the counter as it struggled to chop a tough jumbo carrot. The Cuisinart FP-12DCN Elite Collection Food Processor also has this handy feature, but most models (including the Cuisinart Custom 14) require that you loosen the lid before removing the bowl. We recommend this large, 16-cup processor only if you’re cooking for a crowd multiple times a week. The Sous Chef is more than twice the price of the Cuisinart Custom 14, and it’s more powerful (and much bigger) than most people need.
Large dice and small dice blades allow for uniform cuts of onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, cheese and much more. You can operate this chopper with one-hand and the blades store safely in the unit. Contributor Ariane Resnick is a special diet chef, certified nutritionist, bestselling author, and lifelong cuisinart choppers devotee of her Cuisinart mini food processor. She used market research and her expertise to determine the best mini food processors for every home cook. Most food processors are electric, however, there are some quality manual models on the market, such as the Zyliss Easy Pull Food Processor.
Mini food processors have bowls ranging in capacity from about 1½ cups to 6 cups, but we focused on those with a capacity of about three cups. Models smaller than that are too limited, and if you think you need one that’s larger than three cups, you’re probably better off with a full-size model. Although there’s some overlap in what they can do, food processors and blenders aren’t interchangeable appliances.