A device for an amateur cook to cut up vegetables very small.

[blissful]

My wife uses something like this, especially with onions. She has issues with onions and her eyes.

I use It sometimes, like you said, If I have piles of stuff to do, or if I want extreme consistency.

Exactly, why cry over onions if you can peel them and then slap chop them into a container and the hotness won't wreck your eyes?

Sometimes peeling is a crying time but I find that rinsing them helps stop it. But if I'm crying due to the onion, I just rinse and then hand them over to the professional slap chopper.


I sometimes slap chop myself but I rarely take it out if there is a small amount of food to chop.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Onions never make me cry, as my chef's knife is razor sharp. I simply cut off the bud end, make a lit from top to bottom and remove the first layer. I then start the tip of my knife near the root end, and slice down, and to the cut end, repeating in the size slices to make the dice i''m looking for. Finally, i turn the onion 90 degrees and slice into a fine or coarse dice, as needed. Your knife has to be very sharp. A dull edge will crush the tiny onion cells, releasing the vapor droplets into the air. That's what irritates the eyes.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[larry_stewart]

Onions never make me cry, as my chef's knife is razor sharp. I simply cut off the bud end, make a lit from top to bottom and remove the first layer. I then start the tip of my knife near the root end, and slice down, and to the cut end, repeating in the size slices to make the dice i''m looking for. Finally, i turn the onion 90 degrees and slice into a fine or coarse dice, as needed. Your knife has to be very sharp. A dull edge will crush the tiny onion cells, releasing the vapor droplets into the air. That's what irritates the eyes.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

I never have issues either, but my wife evacuates the kitchen when Im cutting them up.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I never have issues either, but my wife evacuates the kitchen when Im cutting them up.

Hmmmmm. That could come in handy.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[taxlady]

...

Mine does too. But I'm not gonna break out the food processor as it then needs to be washed. Just adds more work in most every instance.
In fact I bought a very good food possessor and expected to use it a lot. I have had it 3 or more years and its only been used about 3 times.
My wife asks me why I buy these things just to take up valuable counter space. So I moved it to the pantry where the front door does not close because of it. If I were to move it downstairs, it would sit with all the other kitchen stuff I have bought over the years.
So I see it all the time, but rarely have the gumption to use it.



Its all about clean up. Its all about clean up. For me.

I don't use my food processor as often as I would like to, because of the clean up. I made sure I bought one that was dishwasher safe. But, they didn't say that it was only dishwasher safe on the top rack. It has 3 different sized bowls. The two larger ones are too tall to fit on the top rack of my dishwasher and so is the lid.

 

[dragnlaw]

I have 4 ways of fine chopping vegies -

A#1.) by hand with my chef's knife (and I have found that repeated rinsing of the blade reduces the crying up to I'd say 90%).

2.) mini-FP that attaches to my stick blender - it's great! for smallish amounts and easy to clean.

3.) Full size FP with 3 sized bowls, but like everyone else, don't use it as much as I thought I would. 2 reasons, clean-up and simply don't prep large amounts any more.

4.) A 40 year old hand chopper, which is like a salad spinner with blades. (not the slap chop thingy which came out 15 yrs later?) not as fine a chop as I can do by hand but great for soups, sauces, etc.

 

[obillo]

I have just started to learn how to cook Spaghetti Bolognese but would like to find a device that would help me in cutting up carrots and the like into small pieces as advised by the recipe. Can anyone help?

Almost everyone below says 'use your chef's knife'--and I agree. Your knife can and should be your best friend; it will be if you use if often and care for it well. As a man, I naturally am hard-wired to acquire gadgets, but in the end I always go back to my 8" Zwilling Pro Line, which gives me great pleasure. You can get a damn good knife for well under $50 (try Victorinox) and spend an equal sum on a good 12" honing steel. STEEL--not ceramic, not diamond-coated. STEEL. Your butcher will teach how to use it and YouTube will help too. It won't sharpen your knife but will keep it sharp so you don't have to use a stone very often.

 

[dcSaute]

peel, or not peel, the carrot.
cut the carrot in half long-wise
big carrots, cut the halves into quarters, longwise

then simple cut the quarters into a small dice.

 

[blissful]

I use my large food processor a lot. I made carrot/apple/pineapple slaw tonight, 2 qts, mostly for me. I use it for 9x13 pan of black bean brownies. I use it when I need qts of garlic minced to freeze after the garlic harvest. I used to use it to shred many pounds of cheese, then toss it with corn starch in small amounts, and freeze the cheese. (when we ate cheese) I use it to shred cabbage for making sauerkraut, usually outside to avoid the flying cabbage pieces. I make a pumpkin pie from dehydrated squash which fits better in the food processor than in the blender. I use the food processor to make a vegan no-cheeze sauce that is too thick for the blender. If my electricity goes out, I use a knife.

 

[jennyema]

Use a sharp knife.

 

[Texmex]

I bought the Mueller chopper with the least amount of blade inserts because I really only use the dice one. I use the food processor for everything else or a knife.

I absolutely love mine for onion chopping or peppers and even garlic, apples. You just skin and quarter and onion and put quarter on the blade unit, pull the top down, and it's great because the chopped vegetable is contained in the bottom of it instead of going all over your kitchen counter and floors.

The dice is not as small as I would like, but it will do for almost everything. If I want sliced I put it in the processor or if I want onion mush for meatloaf, I put it in the processor.

Just bought my friend one for her birthday and gave it to her today. Sure saves a lot of cleanup. The bottom storage holds quite a bit. Easy clean with a sprayer and comes with a little brush for stubborn bits.

Mueller Onion Chopper 4 Blade Pro... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SVBY6BH?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[Kathleen]

I bought the Mueller chopper with the least amount of blade inserts because I really only use the dice one. I use the food processor for everything else or a knife.

I absolutely love mine for onion chopping or peppers and even garlic, apples. You just skin and quarter and onion and put quarter on the blade unit, pull the top down, and it's great because the chopped vegetable is contained in the bottom of it instead of going all over your kitchen counter and floors.

The dice is not as small as I would like, but it will do for almost everything. If I want sliced I put it in the processor or if I want onion mush for meatloaf, I put it in the processor.

Just bought my friend one for her birthday and gave it to her today. Sure saves a lot of cleanup. The bottom storage holds quite a bit. Easy clean with a sprayer and comes with a little brush for stubborn bits.

Mueller Onion Chopper 4 Blade Pro... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SVBY6BH?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Prime Day purchase? I don't normally get sucked into such things, but I went oddly off my rocker this year.

 

[Texmex]

Prime Day purchase? I don't normally get sucked into such things, but I went oddly off my rocker this year.

I've had my chopper for several months.

 

[obillo]

This is the sort of thing that would tempt me in the past because I'm a man and Man is the gadget accumulating animal. But since then I've (a) improved my knife skill to the point of actually enjoying dicing and slicing, and (b) achieved sufficient equilibrium to ask myself "When was the last time you diced more than one onion?"

In the end, I've concluded that inefficiency is the price of changing tools in mid-task. Peel a carrot or ginger? I flip my knife and use the sharp edge of the spine to scrape them clean. Use a bench scraper to shift stuff from board to pot? No--my Zwilling Pro Line 8" has a 2"-wide blade that is made for the purpose. Slowly (SO slowly) I'm learning mastery of my tools. As for the actual cooking--the jury's still out.

On the other hand, I can see its value for anyone having to feed, say, a troop of ravening Cub Scouts.

 

[KatyCooks]

Well said Obillo! I agree. Mostly just chopping for a small number? Then chop slowly and surely with a properly sharp knife.

 

[obillo]

Yes, Katy—‘chop slowly and surely with a properly sharp knife.’ So many people envy ‘machinegun chopping,’ but let’s face it: we’re home cooks who may take out the Big Knife maybe once a day; we are not Benihana cooks who go through a steak-whacking routine a dozen times a day five days a week. So, in my opinion, the rules are: 1. Don’t CHOP, slide-cut. 2. Use the ‘claw’ hand as a guide, letting the blade ride on the knuckles of the food-holding hand (another compelling reason to use a wide blade). 3. Work close to the body, using mostly the rear half of the blade, not the front half (gives greater control, I think). 4. Use an 8” knife. The 6” (f)utility knife is an inefficient joke; the 12” Chef’s Knife is too large for most people and most kitchen counters. Yes, it IS the standard for professionals, but for home cooks it’s really aspirational. 5. The knife should have only a half-bolster, so the back corner of the blade is sharp. A menace to fingers and death to dish towels, that sharp little naked heel is your best friend when smooth and slippery skins cause your knife to slip and skid. Remedy: just sink the heel into the skin and pull straight back. 6. Keep the knife sharp by steeling it almost every time you use it. A real steel (made of steel; not ceramic, not diamond-coated) is the gold standard. The working part should be at least foot long and very fine-grained. Pay $50-$60, and do so willingly. Later, you’ll be glad you did. 7. The Forbidden Zone: NEVER in the dishwasher. NEVER casually slung into a drawer. NEVER subjected to one of those filthy little “works like magic,” “changed my life forever” $20-or-less pull-through knife abusers that “our editors are all obsessed with” and are “taking the world by storm.” That goes for electric ones as well. You paid good money for a fine instrument. Show it some respect.

 

[dragnlaw]

8. if you do have a wood block for holding your sharp knives - slide them in UPSIDE DOWN.

9. do NOT put them point down in the drying rack.
hey! it is your household and you warn people that that is how it is done. I have never stabbed or cut myself nor has anyone else in my kitchen. I warn any visitors/helpers that I rack them point up.
If I have any doubts about helpers I just remove the pointy knives and tell them I'll do them myself later, please don't touch.
alternatively, put a dish towel on the counter and place sharp knives flat on that.
I go a little ballistic when I see bent tips on knives.

 

[taxlady]

I do dry good knives point up. But, I have to put them at the far end of the dish rack. DH has strabismus, so he doesn't have any depth perception. It makes that sort of thing more dangerous to him.

 

[Andy M.]

I always hand wash my knives then hand dry them and hone them. Then the go to the magnetic knife holder on the wall.

 

[obillo]

Yes, Katy—‘chop slowly and surely with a properly sharp knife.’ So many people envy ‘machinegun chopping,’ but let’s face it: we’re home cooks who may take out the Big Knife maybe once a day; we are not Benihana cooks who go through a steak-whacking routine a dozen times a day five days a week. So, in my opinion, the rules are: 1. Don’t CHOP, slide-cut. 2. Use the ‘claw’ hand as a guide, letting the blade ride on the knuckles of the food-holding hand (another compelling reason to use a wide blade). 3. Work close to the body, using mostly the rear half of the blade, not the front half (gives greater control, I think). 4. Use an 8” knife. The 6” (f)utility knife is an inefficient joke; the 12” Chef’s Knife is too large for most people and most kitchen counters. Yes, it IS the standard for professionals, but for home cooks it’s really aspirational. 5. The knife should have only a half-bolster, so the back corner of the blade is sharp. A menace to fingers and death to dish towels, that sharp little naked heel is your best friend when smooth and slippery skins cause your knife to slip and skid. Remedy: just sink the heel into the skin and pull straight back. 6. Keep the knife sharp by steeling it almost every time you use it. A real steel (made of steel; not ceramic, not diamond-coated) is the gold standard. The working part should be at least foot long and very fine-grained. Pay $50-$60, and do so willingly. Later, you’ll be glad you did. 7. The Forbidden Zone: NEVER in the dishwasher. NEVER casually slung into a drawer. NEVER subjected to one of those filthy little “works like magic,” “changed my life forever” $20-or-less pull-through knife abusers that “our editors are all obsessed with” and are “taking the world by storm.” That goes for electric ones as well. You paid good money for a fine instrument. Show it some respect.

I always hand wash my knives then hand dry them and hone them. Then the go to the magnetic knife holder on the wall.

Absolutely. I wouldn't ever consider putting good blades in the dishwasher. Hand wash, hand dry, rack on a magnet strip or store in a block. As I said, show them some respect.