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. Depending on your needs, you might choose one over the other, or you might want both. We have a guide to the best countertop blenders (as well as to the best handheld immersion blenders and the best personal blenders) if you’re interested in getting one.
This guide builds on work by Wirecutter deputy editor Christine Cyr Clisset. She’s also a prolific food blogger and the author of “Make Ahead Bread,” which is aimed at demystifying cuisinart toaster costco the art of bread making. Donna loves checking out new kitchen gadgets—she’s tested hundreds of products for The Spruce Eats, including eight food choppers for this roundup.
In our tests, the Cuisinart evenly chopped almost everything, including juicy tomatoes. (The only exception was almonds—more on that in the Flaws but not dealbreakers section, below.) The grating disk also shredded soft mozzarella cheese without getting gummed up. And we made a firmer, more stable mayonnaise in the Cuisinart than in any other full-size model we tested. 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.
They’re great for rough chopping, just like the manual choppers, but they can also be used for making small amounts 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. This little chopper has cuisinart choppers a 3.5-cup bowl that is big enough for serious food prep when a full-sized food processor is too big for the job. 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.
If the food processor comes with slicing attachments, we test the slicing blade using mushrooms and celery, and the shredding blade with cheddar. Downsize from 4 full separate appliances to a single base with 4 attachments. More convenient than ever, the Cuisinart Elemental Collection 4-Cup Chopper/Grinder effortlessly handles a variety of food Preparation tasks such as chopping, grinding, and pureing.
Like many choppers, it did less well with green peppers, but they were still acceptable for our recipe. When chopping is done, this is easy to disassemble, and it’s dishwasher-safe. Unfortunately, when we tested it and then washed it with dishes with tomato residue, the spoon and cap got stained by tomatoes.