Our testers also preferred the Cuisinart Custom 14’s 14-cup capacity over the Elite’s 12-cup capacity. We also like that you can remove the work bowl with the lid attached. TheCuisinart FP-12DCN Elite Collection Food Processor also has this handy feature, but most models require that you loosen the lid before removing the bowl. The only task the Cuisinart Custom 14 didn’t excel at was chopping nuts. Most were evenly chopped, but there were a handful of nuts that remained in large pieces.
“These choppers can be used wherever it’s convenient for your food prep, rather than you having to move close to an available outlet,” Casaregola says. Downsize from 4 full separate appliances to a single base with 4 attachments. It was one of the few models that didn’t leak at its maximum stated liquid capacity. It’s also easy to clean and store, because it comes with just a chopping blade and two disks for shredding and slicing. In spite of this malfunction, we were still able to explore the recipe database, which was easy to navigate. The preprogrammed recipes seemed straightforward, but there are only 201 total.
Here are the picks to make it happen, from big-ticket items like espresso machines to upgraded essentials like oven mitts. Some feed tubes were too wide, such as that on the Magimix by Robot-Coupe 14-Cup Food Processor , which caused carrots to fall sideways and cut unevenly. The narrow feed tube insert on the Cuisinart Custom 14 kept carrots upright while shredding.
Its strong motor blended hummus and pesto with minimal scraping, and its small feeding tube allowed us to slowly add oil for fantastic mayonnaise. Another drawback to the Sous Chef is that it made a slightly looser mayonnaise than the Cuisinart Custom 14 and the mini processors we tested. Also, its mini bowl insert did not chop almonds evenly, so we recommend using its 16-cup bowl for this task. 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. This means that, if you like to cook by ratio, you can put the bowl on a kitchen scale and measure ingredients into it with the blade attached, and then seamlessly connect the bowl to the motor base.
If the food processor comes with slicing attachments, we test the slicing blade using mushrooms and celery, and the shredding blade with cheddar. The Cuisinart EvolutionX Cordless Mini Chopper ($80) was the only cordless mini chopper we tested, which was intriguing. At full charge , the model can run for 20 minutes, and because you’re not tethered to an outlet, you can complete your ingredient prep anywhere in the kitchen. But it felt a little cuisinart choppers spooky not to have the final hurdle of the plug in place to keep the machine from randomly starting to spin—and because it has to run off a charge, it’s not very powerful either. This was the most expensive model we tested, and in our opinion, not worth the cost. So whether you have a big food processor you rarely use or you’re on the fence about whether or not you should get a food processor—you should consider this mini food chopper.
Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right . The Cuisinart doesn’t come with a storage case for its attachments. If you don’t want to store the attachments in the bowl, it would be worthwhile to purchase a case for about $30. The Cuisinart’s slicing disk isn’t adjustable like the Breville Sous Chef’s slicing disk, which has multiple settings, similar to a mandoline.
Versatile and durable, this kitchen essential provides the high performance today’s home chefs demand. Equipped with a 300-watt DC motor that delivers maximum power with minimum noise, the Smart Stick® Variable Speed Hand Blender switches from low to high speed at the turn of a dial. The long stainless steel shaft reaches deep to blend in bowls, pots and pitchers, while the mixing/measuring cup, chopper/grinder and chef’s whisk make short work of a wide variety of food prep tasks. From puréeing soup to emulsifying mayonnaise to whipping meringues, this hand blender consistently delivers chef-caliber results. 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.
The tool should be simple to pull out, plug in, operate, clean, and put away. We tracked how intuitive each model was to assemble and use right out of the box and to disassemble and clean. Like the Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus , this model runs only while you hold the “on” button down. To operate it, you squeeze a tab on the top of the handle, which we found more comfortable to do than holding down buttons on the base of the Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus.
A food chopper can run you anywhere from $10 to $50, so understanding what you want out of this appliance is crucial to making the right decision when shopping. Generally speaking, a manual food chopper will cost less than an electric version, so if you’re wanting something that’s more budget-friendly, go for the former. 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. While both models are fine for cooks of all levels, an electric food chopper definitely takes some of the labor out of the process.