Cuisinart FP-8GMP1 Elemental Food Processor & Chopper, 8-Cup

Unless you’re a professional chef, you probably don’t enjoy spending hours in the kitchen chopping vegetables. In a tech-driven era, it seems like there should be an easier way than simply slicing using a knife and cutting board.

Food choppers have been around for years, but previous iterations have produced soggy results. If you haven’t tried a food chopper in a while, you may not realize how far they’ve come. Today’s manufacturers use extra-sharp blades and sophisticated design to give your produce the same crisp cuts you’d get using a sharp knife.

Choosing the right food chopper can be a process. You’ll see several different design options, including those that confine all the food you’re chopping to a big bowl. Many choppers are made similar to a waffle or panini iron, with both the lid and base clamping together to chop the items between them.

Each design has its own benefits. A bowl design will contain everything in one place for easy cleanup, but a clamp design can be much more versatile. Instead of limiting yourself to only the items you can slip into the bowl, you’ll be able to slide large chunks of food inside. Some clamp-based choppers have a tray beneath to catch your chopped ingredients, keeping messes to a minimum.

• Capacity can vary greatly from one chopper to the next. If you’re typically prepping meals for one or two people, a 1.5-cup version may do the trick. However, for larger households or entertaining friends, you may need a chopper that can handle four cups of ingredients or more.
• The functionality of a chopper relies heavily on its blades. Many choppers use stainless steel blades due to their durability and rust-resistance. But it’s also important to ensure the blades are sharp from the start so they’ll be effective.
• Many modern food choppers include interchangeable blades. That means instead of being limited to chopping onions and tomatoes, you can also slice hard fruits and vegetables or spiral slice for decoration. Some choppers even let you juice.
• As always when working with blades, you’ll need to exercise extreme caution. Keep children away from it. You may also want to invest in gloves or finger guards if your chopper doesn’t come with them.
• Some choppers are dishwasher-safe, which makes cleanup easy. If your chopper comes with a bowl that promotes being dishwasher-safe, make sure you place it on the top shelf of the dishwasher.