I have had a few full-size food processors in the past -both expensive and cheap models -and the main complaints I had with them were: bulkiness, noise, and cleanup time. Over time, I realized that I was doing fewer and fewer things with the processor, and then finally, it got put away for good.
But lately, I found that I was chopping the same ingredients, in almost the same amounts, again and again.
So, on a whim, really, I decided to give the Kitchenaid 3-cup chopper a try. I own a number of Kitchenaid large appliances, and have always been satisfied. This food chopper is no exception, as it exceeds my expectations for handling my chopping drudgery. Be it onions, garlic, emulsifying dressing, making bread crumbs, chopping nuts, whatever.
This unit takes a very small amount of counter space, has a great look, stores its cord in the base, and its bowl and cover are dishwasher-safe.
This appliance is a nice time-saver, and that, in my opinion, makes it a great item.
When I starting searching for a mini-chopper I was surprised by the huge rating difference between the Cuisinart DLC2 and the KitchenAid KFC3100, so I bought both and did a side-by-side comparison. The only explanation I can give for the ratings difference is that Cuisinart buyers must have higher expectations. For most operations they have nearly identical performance and for some operations the Cuisinart is the clear winner.
Onions: Many Cuisinart reviewers panned its performance here, claiming it made onion purée, but most KitchenAid reviewers praised its onion chopping ability. I found almost no difference between the two. Maybe its an issue with the instructions for chopped onions you must use a few short pulses. A few more pulses and you get minced onion more than this and both give you onion puree. I wouldn't say either is great at chopping onions, but both are equally mediocre.
I also tested chopping nuts, and making breadcrumbs with similar results. Both performed about the same for a course chop, although the Cuisinart produced a more even chop on the nuts, but its when you want a really fine chop that the Cuisinart starts to shine. The first reason for this is the grind feature found only on the Cuisinart. This spins the blade in the opposite direction which allows the flat, back-side of the blade to impact the food. More importantly, it redistributes the food, so if you've got a couple of chunks that refuse to be chopped, a short pulse in the opposite direction helps it drop into the blade. For perfect, fine breadcrumbs I alternate between the normal chop mode for a few seconds, and grind for one second.
The other reason the Cuisinart gives a better fine chop is that it does a much better job of cycling the food through the blade. This is a real key when you're working with softer foods like spreads, pâtés or purees. When I made a cream cheese spread in both choppers the Cuisinart did a far quicker and better job of pulling the ingredients down the center and into the blade. The KitchenAid kept larger chunks bobbing on top. If you're making dips, spreads or baby food, the Cuisinart is the hands-down winner.
On the practical side, both choppers were equally easy to clean. Both have small holes in the lid for pouring in liquids on the fly, but only The KitchenAid has a slot for dry or thick ingredients if that's important to you. Overall, I found the Cuisinart easier to use for several reasons. First, the Cuisinart blade drops on easily, while the KitchenAid blade is keyed and I found myself turning it several times before it dropped in. Second, the KitchenAid lid must be removed first before you can lift off the bowl, but on the Cuisinart, the bowl and lid can be detached as an assembly. Finally, the Cuisinart blade has a "handle" that extends to the top of the bowl like a popsicle stick allowing you to remove the blade without getting your fingers in the food.
After all my testing, I really can't understand the large ratings difference between these two. Neither is perfect you'll never get a perfect, even, course chop with things like onions or chocolate, but they do come in handy. For many uses either one will give you pretty much the same results. Because of its advantage with softer foods and its ease of use, I recommend the Cuisinart.
Buy KitchenAid 3.5-Cup Food Chopper Now
I love almost everything about this chopper. It's reasonably priced, a nice size, and it does a good job with the chopping (my first experiment, chicken salad, was a success). It's easy to clean, the cord stores in the base, there's a slot in the top to add ingredients while mixing, and the little paddle is handy for scraping out the food from the bowl (it's a tight fit for one of those regular size rubber kitchen paddles). Another good feature: the chop button won't function unless the lid is locked in place.
The one thing I don't love: the noise. I expected some noise with a chopper, of course, but this thing is so loud and *shrill* that it's almost embarrassing to use. It sounds sort of like a dentist's drill, times ten.
So, we have four stars for this product. It does its job, it just makes a lot of noise doing so.
Read Best Reviews of KitchenAid 3.5-Cup Food Chopper Here
I've never really liked food processors. They are bulky, confusing to assemble, and a pain to clean. I also enjoy the feeling of cutting up my own vegetables the old fashioned way with a knife and board. But after throwing a dinner party where I spent HOURS chopping vegetables, I decided enough is enough and picked up this little buddy.
It works best as a chopper for things like onions, shallots, garlic, or nuts. I've also used it to make fine ground bread crumbs that would have taken forever using a mortar and pestle. Given how small it is, I always leave it on the counter so I can use it whenever I want. The best thing is that clean up has never been a problem. No scrubbing, picking food out of a funky blade, or any other real chores. The blades are as sharp as knife though, so treat that with caution in the sink.
My only real complaint with this chopper is that it is slightly awkard to put together. I always want to take the container, put the blade in, put the food in, put the top on, and put that on the chopper base. Doesn't work that way (but then no chopper or food processor probably does), though I wish it did. Instead, the container goes on the base, then the blade goes in, then the food, and finally the top.
The only other caveat is that you need to quarter or roughly cube your food to be processed. If you don't, then it can often end up stuck above the blade. This limitation is not particular to Kitchenaid's product but choppers in general. The small basin doesn't allow you to drop in big food items like a food processor can handle. Still, it saves you plenty of time.
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I had the Cuisinart DLC Miniprep first, and was not happy with it. I wanted a small food processor primarily to chop up an onion and some garlic cloves, and with the Cuisinart, I pretty much ended up doing almost all of the chopping before I put the food in the processor, otherwise large sections wouldn't get cut.
After reading the reviews here about how the Kitchenaid has the reverse sprial action which pulls down the food, I thought I'd try that one, and it's true!! The Kitchenaid KFC3100 is a superior product! Now I can just cut the onion into quarters and throw in whole garlic cloves and it cuts them all up perfectly. If your not sure which of the two products to buy, get the Kitchenaid KFC3100!
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I am apparently developing a bad Le Creuset habit (in multiple colors no less). I purchased a black rectangular dish (with a bonus mini dish that doesn't get used much because of the barbie-doll size) about 7 years ago. It got to the point where it was the only dish I wanted to use, so I went to a Le Creuset outlet a couple years back and found a purple set (one square, one oval) that was on a good clearance. When I finally had to pull out the Pyrex and Corning Ware and wipe the dust off before use (for a large Thanksgiving feast at my home last week), I decided it was time to get serious and have enough Le Creuset I can ditch the other stuff.
