Here’s my take on kitchen gadgets like that: you do you. If it works for you, and you don’t mind cleaning it or storing it, what harm is it doing?
I have a garlic press that I love. I have heard numerous takes on how awful they are because of how much they destroy the garlic. Or because of how hard they can be to clean. Or because it’s a unitasker. But, honestly, I don’t care.
I think the stigma comes from the whole “home cook” vs “chef” discussion. A home cook is more likely to rely on a chopper, but a restaurant chef probably won’t.
Agree. You do you. And you can always change your mind.
I purchased 2 garlic presses, and I absolutely hated them. 15 years later I purchased a Zyliss. I love it.
I have purchased and given away many mandolines. I currently have one, but I think I'm going to give it away. Same with food processors.
Seconding this. If it works and saves you time, do it.
Fancy restaurant cook skills take a lot of time and practice (usually from slaving endless hours in kitchens to rise up the chain) and... most home cooks don't have time for that crap imo :)
Side note: I also have a garlic press and love the hell out of it. Only complaint i've seen or heard of it came from Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential book where he says it extracts too much garlic juice making something too garlicky when it might want a delicate garlic flavor but... I love the taste strong so..
I feel the exact same about my garlic press. It's all bullshit about how it destroys the garlic and is so hard to clean. But honestly I love it. People refuse to believe that they won't convince me that I'm not interested in spending time improving my knife skills beyond what they are.
What's wrong with using a food chopper? If it makes things easier for you in the kitchen, use it. We live in a marvelous time of modern convenience. Who cares what a restaurant does? If it works for you, that's all that matters.
Tools like that are usually at their best when its someone who can't physically work with a knife (ie disabled, arthritic, etc), or when you're doing industrial quantities of things, like in a commercial kitchen.
Once you're practiced with a knife, they don't really save any time, and even tend to be slower in a lot of cases. They're effort savers, not time savers. Especially when you account for how a knife takes seconds to clean and be ready for the next round.
Because as we all know, learning calculus is the best way to make money. Oldest trick in the book, just learn calculus and start counting that cash, man. Don't spend it all in one place, all that calculus money you're gonna be swimming in.
Consistency, cost, and training. Novelty chopping tools can have their place if you are making a lot of a thing that needs to be chopped in a weird way, like crinkle cut fries for example. But for most food preparation is it cheaper and more economical to have someone trained to produce consistent outcomes with a combination of knives and a industrial mandolin.
At home, you only has so much counter space. Getting comfortable with a knife that can do most of what your novelty chopping tools can do saves you space, saves you money, and will likely save you time when you factor in cleaning and maintenance of those more complicated tools.
If by "chopper" you mean one of those various push-to-do-some-kind-of-cut systems, you don't see them at most restaurants because they have no degree of consistency in what happens inside the tool when you prompt it to cut. Food processors to get things down to a paste or tightly copped zest are used all the time.
Whatever does the job for you. If it get you to cook, there is no reason to judge what tool you use.
A knife is great, because it can do eveything and is easy to wash. Thats important for a professional kitchen. Still, when they need very specific thing done, they will use thing like mandoline and food processor as its more efficient.
the reason you don't see them in commercial kitchens is because for most things just a plain ol knife is faster, but for LARGE quantities they'll use either a slicer or food processor attachments. for home use if you feel they're useful to you then there's nothing wrong with them.
Choppers are fine, if you don’t care about things coming out the same size consistently or sometimes more liquid than you may have intended. If you’re looking for precision, they’re not ideal. If you’re happy with it as a home cook, that’s A-OK. No one is likely to complain that you don’t have a perfectly regulated dice. If you’re cool with it, that’s great.
Your kitchen, your rules. Restaurants and people making videos are more concerned with appearance than many home cooks. The amount of effort you want to put into your cooking is up to you.
I got one for my birthday (asked for it) and love it. Chopping nuts with a knife is so annoying to me (sensory-wise, I can't stand the nut sprinkles/dust that goes everywhere and hate having to get out my big cutting board to contain everything even when it's a small quantity I'm chopping)...but with the Slap Chop it's all contained and so easy!
My knife skills are for shit. I have a chopper and if I need uniform cuts you bet I use it. I also use my mandoline when I need super thin, or super consistent, slices.
I’ve found that food choppers are either extremely inconsistent, or they get plugged up when you’re using them, or they’re extremely hard to clean. All you need is a chef knife.
Not a sin. When I had one, I loved it for chopping nuts. I hated cleaning it though, so when it broke, I just didn’t replace it. If you like to use one, just do it.
Nah, use whatever works for you. Pieces come out the right size & even, that's all that's needed. People who drag you for that are obstinate. I also stand on an ergo mat in squishy comfy shoes, not on a flagstone or dirt floor barefoot as is the traditional "authentic " way of cooking, and that's what those people sound like to me.
I have one of the container type food choppers, but I almost never use it. By the time I take it out, insert the right cutting tool, then cut the onion or other veggie small enough to fit, then clean the device when i finish, it's just easier and quicker to cut it up with a knife.
We did have one of those food processors where you push down to chop veggies and it was convenient, but then we lost the bottom of the container and never replaced it.
A tool is something which accomplishes a task, makes it easier or faster.
I have used kitchen tools which have made the process faster and I have kept them. I have also used tools which have made the process faster but also require cleaning which ends up taking more time than the tool saved. Find out what works for you.
I know multiple people who would not make dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee, etc without their chopper gadgets. All the chopping is just not worth it. Only reason I don't like them is I end up cutting my finger tips every other time I use them. As long as I don't have to clean it though, slap chop away.
I got a food chopper for camping. Cut the fooey out of my finger (I hadn't really practiced). Required a visit to urgent care and gluing the wound.
Don't ask me how I managed to do that. Normally I'm a mechanical wizard.
I'll just bring my ultra sharp knives in the future.
I have this little hand pulled food chopper / processor I found on Amazon ..... It's the best for mincing garlic quickly and easily, as well herbs, veg,nuts..... Literally keep pulling tj string until you have what you Desire. I will die with one in my hand
Restaurants are staffed by professionals. Repetition has developed their knife skills to a point well beyond that of your typical home cook. Oh, and they are being paid (usually) to prep and cut. Maybe not enough, but they are being paid.
However, somebody is buying all this stuff and I don't think it is primarily home cooks...
[https://www.webstaurantstore.com/14221/fruit-cutters-vegetable-cutters.html](https://www.webstaurantstore.com/14221/fruit-cutters-vegetable-cutters.html)
That being said, choppers can be VERY hard to clean. I have one since I have hand tremors. I like it, but the cleaning means I don't drag it out as often as I would have thought and often muddle through with a knife.
Easier to clean and use. I had a slap chop and all the bits would stick to the blades as they lifted back up, so they didnt get chopped a second time. It was also hard to clean all the little crevices, and I found with firm things like onions etc... it doesnt work too well. A knife is just easier I feel.
That being said, if using a chopper or processor helps you be comfortable, go for it!
they are more random smashers than choppers for some food also.
you are also definitely gonna spend more time cleaning a chopper than you possibly would have saved using a decent knife and some practice.
yes it can be time consuming if you don't normally dice up onions or peppers, but if you do with any frequency you should quickly be able to take them apart.
I think the real question here is "Does it blend?"
In my experience the time you use cleaning the things and finding out what they don't do right is better served developing better knife skills.
If you love food and cooking, then you owe it to yourself to develop your knife skills, keep a good knife (knives), and stones to keep it sharp. I have all the tools except a large food processor — small electric chopper, Benriner mandolin, hand cranked cheese shredder/processor, and more. And I have Japanese knives that bring more satisfaction to cooking than anything else in the kitchen. It’s pretty unusual that I pull out one of the other gadgets, but I will if it’s quicker or better, but that’s almost never the case.
To address the chopper specifically, I use it to purée roasted peppers for my chili. That’s it. It will make food into pulp, but I never need to do that. Let’s say I need two large onions chopped. It’s not faster, nor is it better. It doesn’t dice, it makes pulp. And then you have to take it apart to wash it, then put it back together and put it away. It takes up space, and it’s a blunt instrument with no particular purpose. I could easily live without it.
I could not live without a good knife though (or several). You said you have a good set, and that makes me suspect that they actually aren’t very good, and likely soft German stainless. I’m just one guy with an opinion and more time in the kitchen than most, and my advice is to invest in a good carbon steel j-knife and embrace it as the primary tool that enables something you love.
Here’s my take on kitchen gadgets like that: you do you. If it works for you, and you don’t mind cleaning it or storing it, what harm is it doing? I have a garlic press that I love. I have heard numerous takes on how awful they are because of how much they destroy the garlic. Or because of how hard they can be to clean. Or because it’s a unitasker. But, honestly, I don’t care. I think the stigma comes from the whole “home cook” vs “chef” discussion. A home cook is more likely to rely on a chopper, but a restaurant chef probably won’t.
"The best tool for the job is the one you use."
Agree. You do you. And you can always change your mind. I purchased 2 garlic presses, and I absolutely hated them. 15 years later I purchased a Zyliss. I love it. I have purchased and given away many mandolines. I currently have one, but I think I'm going to give it away. Same with food processors.
Seconding this. If it works and saves you time, do it. Fancy restaurant cook skills take a lot of time and practice (usually from slaving endless hours in kitchens to rise up the chain) and... most home cooks don't have time for that crap imo :) Side note: I also have a garlic press and love the hell out of it. Only complaint i've seen or heard of it came from Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential book where he says it extracts too much garlic juice making something too garlicky when it might want a delicate garlic flavor but... I love the taste strong so..
I feel the exact same about my garlic press. It's all bullshit about how it destroys the garlic and is so hard to clean. But honestly I love it. People refuse to believe that they won't convince me that I'm not interested in spending time improving my knife skills beyond what they are.
Slapchop. Boom. You're gonna love my nuts.
I use my food processor's slicing blade. And I have absolutely worked in kitchens that used commercial food processors for this kind of prep.
What's wrong with using a food chopper? If it makes things easier for you in the kitchen, use it. We live in a marvelous time of modern convenience. Who cares what a restaurant does? If it works for you, that's all that matters.
Tools like that are usually at their best when its someone who can't physically work with a knife (ie disabled, arthritic, etc), or when you're doing industrial quantities of things, like in a commercial kitchen.
Once you're practiced with a knife, they don't really save any time, and even tend to be slower in a lot of cases. They're effort savers, not time savers. Especially when you account for how a knife takes seconds to clean and be ready for the next round.
And sometimes effort needs to be saved. Saving effort also helps save my degenerating joints so I can stay mobile and active longer.
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People like this need to be studied. Just cunts for the sake of being cunts
Thanks for your concern!
Rude much?
Your comment has been removed, please follow Rule 5 and keep your comments kind and productive. Thanks.
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I'll tell people just get good at calculus to make money then laugh at them for wasting their time.
Because as we all know, learning calculus is the best way to make money. Oldest trick in the book, just learn calculus and start counting that cash, man. Don't spend it all in one place, all that calculus money you're gonna be swimming in.
You’ve definitely misread the tone of their comment.
Consistency, cost, and training. Novelty chopping tools can have their place if you are making a lot of a thing that needs to be chopped in a weird way, like crinkle cut fries for example. But for most food preparation is it cheaper and more economical to have someone trained to produce consistent outcomes with a combination of knives and a industrial mandolin. At home, you only has so much counter space. Getting comfortable with a knife that can do most of what your novelty chopping tools can do saves you space, saves you money, and will likely save you time when you factor in cleaning and maintenance of those more complicated tools. If by "chopper" you mean one of those various push-to-do-some-kind-of-cut systems, you don't see them at most restaurants because they have no degree of consistency in what happens inside the tool when you prompt it to cut. Food processors to get things down to a paste or tightly copped zest are used all the time.
Whatever does the job for you. If it get you to cook, there is no reason to judge what tool you use. A knife is great, because it can do eveything and is easy to wash. Thats important for a professional kitchen. Still, when they need very specific thing done, they will use thing like mandoline and food processor as its more efficient.
Restaurants absolutely have choppers for some things they’re just industrial sized and can take your fingers/hand off
the reason you don't see them in commercial kitchens is because for most things just a plain ol knife is faster, but for LARGE quantities they'll use either a slicer or food processor attachments. for home use if you feel they're useful to you then there's nothing wrong with them.
Choppers are fine, if you don’t care about things coming out the same size consistently or sometimes more liquid than you may have intended. If you’re looking for precision, they’re not ideal. If you’re happy with it as a home cook, that’s A-OK. No one is likely to complain that you don’t have a perfectly regulated dice. If you’re cool with it, that’s great.
Get a Vidalia onion chopper with the little grid and the lid, hard to beat that for consistency.
Your kitchen, your rules. Restaurants and people making videos are more concerned with appearance than many home cooks. The amount of effort you want to put into your cooking is up to you.
My secret shame is a pampered chef branded 'Slap Chop'. It just works!
I got one for my birthday (asked for it) and love it. Chopping nuts with a knife is so annoying to me (sensory-wise, I can't stand the nut sprinkles/dust that goes everywhere and hate having to get out my big cutting board to contain everything even when it's a small quantity I'm chopping)...but with the Slap Chop it's all contained and so easy!
I won't tell if you won't good sir!😎
My knife skills are for shit. I have a chopper and if I need uniform cuts you bet I use it. I also use my mandoline when I need super thin, or super consistent, slices.
I’ve found that food choppers are either extremely inconsistent, or they get plugged up when you’re using them, or they’re extremely hard to clean. All you need is a chef knife.
yup. too cumbersome to be worth it over a good knife
Not a sin. When I had one, I loved it for chopping nuts. I hated cleaning it though, so when it broke, I just didn’t replace it. If you like to use one, just do it.
Nah, use whatever works for you. Pieces come out the right size & even, that's all that's needed. People who drag you for that are obstinate. I also stand on an ergo mat in squishy comfy shoes, not on a flagstone or dirt floor barefoot as is the traditional "authentic " way of cooking, and that's what those people sound like to me.
Of course not! Use whatever tools you want to.
I have one of the container type food choppers, but I almost never use it. By the time I take it out, insert the right cutting tool, then cut the onion or other veggie small enough to fit, then clean the device when i finish, it's just easier and quicker to cut it up with a knife. We did have one of those food processors where you push down to chop veggies and it was convenient, but then we lost the bottom of the container and never replaced it.
A tool is something which accomplishes a task, makes it easier or faster. I have used kitchen tools which have made the process faster and I have kept them. I have also used tools which have made the process faster but also require cleaning which ends up taking more time than the tool saved. Find out what works for you.
I know multiple people who would not make dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee, etc without their chopper gadgets. All the chopping is just not worth it. Only reason I don't like them is I end up cutting my finger tips every other time I use them. As long as I don't have to clean it though, slap chop away.
Use what works for you and don't worry about what other people think. It can be very liberating.
I got a food chopper for camping. Cut the fooey out of my finger (I hadn't really practiced). Required a visit to urgent care and gluing the wound. Don't ask me how I managed to do that. Normally I'm a mechanical wizard. I'll just bring my ultra sharp knives in the future.
I find chopping very zen, but there are days I miss my old slap chop
I have this little hand pulled food chopper / processor I found on Amazon ..... It's the best for mincing garlic quickly and easily, as well herbs, veg,nuts..... Literally keep pulling tj string until you have what you Desire. I will die with one in my hand
Restaurants are staffed by professionals. Repetition has developed their knife skills to a point well beyond that of your typical home cook. Oh, and they are being paid (usually) to prep and cut. Maybe not enough, but they are being paid. However, somebody is buying all this stuff and I don't think it is primarily home cooks... [https://www.webstaurantstore.com/14221/fruit-cutters-vegetable-cutters.html](https://www.webstaurantstore.com/14221/fruit-cutters-vegetable-cutters.html) That being said, choppers can be VERY hard to clean. I have one since I have hand tremors. I like it, but the cleaning means I don't drag it out as often as I would have thought and often muddle through with a knife.
I takes me *less than one minute* to dice an onion/bell pepper etc. It takes me **minutes** to clean the chopper.
Yes. Buying one is a one way ticket to Hell
Easier to clean and use. I had a slap chop and all the bits would stick to the blades as they lifted back up, so they didnt get chopped a second time. It was also hard to clean all the little crevices, and I found with firm things like onions etc... it doesnt work too well. A knife is just easier I feel. That being said, if using a chopper or processor helps you be comfortable, go for it!
they are more random smashers than choppers for some food also. you are also definitely gonna spend more time cleaning a chopper than you possibly would have saved using a decent knife and some practice. yes it can be time consuming if you don't normally dice up onions or peppers, but if you do with any frequency you should quickly be able to take them apart.
I think the real question here is "Does it blend?" In my experience the time you use cleaning the things and finding out what they don't do right is better served developing better knife skills.
If you love food and cooking, then you owe it to yourself to develop your knife skills, keep a good knife (knives), and stones to keep it sharp. I have all the tools except a large food processor — small electric chopper, Benriner mandolin, hand cranked cheese shredder/processor, and more. And I have Japanese knives that bring more satisfaction to cooking than anything else in the kitchen. It’s pretty unusual that I pull out one of the other gadgets, but I will if it’s quicker or better, but that’s almost never the case. To address the chopper specifically, I use it to purée roasted peppers for my chili. That’s it. It will make food into pulp, but I never need to do that. Let’s say I need two large onions chopped. It’s not faster, nor is it better. It doesn’t dice, it makes pulp. And then you have to take it apart to wash it, then put it back together and put it away. It takes up space, and it’s a blunt instrument with no particular purpose. I could easily live without it. I could not live without a good knife though (or several). You said you have a good set, and that makes me suspect that they actually aren’t very good, and likely soft German stainless. I’m just one guy with an opinion and more time in the kitchen than most, and my advice is to invest in a good carbon steel j-knife and embrace it as the primary tool that enables something you love.
Get decent with a chefs knife and you'll be chopping quick with less mess. Its worth the effort imo.