The included slicing disk makes approximately 5-millimeter slices, which is fine for most tasks, but you’ll probably want the 2-millimeter slicing disk for making homemade potato chips. Most were evenly chopped, but there were a handful of nuts that remained in large pieces. Since the Cuisinart mastered every other task, we don’t think this is a dealbreaker. This is one of Cuisinart’s most basic models, but it consistently chops, slices, and kneads better than any other food processor we’ve found for under $250. Ham has a great texture for easy chopping, with either a manual chopper or an electric one.
In the case of manual food choppers, you will need to cut down food so that it is small enough to fit in the chopper. If you’re not confident in your chopping skills, both manual and electric choppers are easy ways to avoid spending too much time with your knife. 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. This machine is a good supplement to a full-size model, or it’s a great alternative, if you don’t want to spend a lot.
It has two speeds and operates when the top is pressed down at the handle, so it’s easy to pulse or to run continuously. The work bowl is tall rather than wide, so in testing it did a good job chopping small amounts of garlic. It also did well chopping onions, nuts, tomatoes, carrots, and mushrooms.
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 anything to chop the food. The ease of use of a food chopper essentially boils down to whether it is manual or electric.
Finally, the Cuisinart Custom 14’s work bowl was easier to clean than the bowls of most of the other models we tested. We cleaned each model eight times, so we were achingly familiar with the gunk that can get trapped in more-complicated lids. We also appreciate the Cuisinart’s hollow handle, which doesn’t trap food particles and moisture as much as the Breville Sous Chef’s enclosed handle. The Cuisinart has a strong motor and a heavy base (roughly 18 pounds with the bowl on) that keeps it stable.
This mini, 3.5-cup processor is too small for making bread dough or coleslaw, but it’s the ideal size for chopping one onion or making small batches of mayo or vinaigrette. 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. 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. Even better, there’s a cover for the cup, so foods can be prepped ahead and stored in the same container. A little spoon hangs on the side of the chopper, so you can use it to scoop out a little of the chopped item or to scrape all of it out and into your pot or bowl.
The Cuisinart Complete Chef chops, slices, and cooks food all in one 18-cup stainless steel bowl (it comes with attachments and built-in recipes for cooking things like risotto or beef stew). 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.
To start, we tested how evenly each food processor could chop a variety of ingredients, including onions, fibrous carrots, soft tomatoes, delicate parsley, and whole almonds. We also made a 1-cup batch of mayonnaise in the processors to see how quickly and evenly they could produce a stable emulsification. We made pizza dough in each full-size processor to see if the motor could withstand the rigors of kneading.
They’re useful for rough chopping nuts or vegetables, and particularly good for making salsa. They’re great for rough chopping, just like the manual choppers, but they can also be used for making small amounts cuisinart air fryer oven of purees. They’re easier to use than manual choppers, since you just press a button to pulse or puree. With all choppers, the results are best if larger foods, like onions, are first cut into pieces.
Another staffer (who admitted to being a little rough on her machine) replaced her Cuisinart with a new one after 11 years of use. Meanwhile, senior kitchen and appliance editor Marguerite Preston still uses a decades-old Cuisinart Custom 14 that she inherited from her parents. The Cuisinart’s slicing disk isn’t adjustable like the Breville Sous Chef’s slicing disk, which has multiple settings, similar to a mandoline. But you can buy additional slicing disks through Cuisinart if you want them.