Mini Choppers

Small choppers are handy for nuts, dried herbs

There are several mini choppers on the market that have a 3-cup capacity and are meant for smaller, simpler tasks, such as mincing garlic. The Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus DLC-2A (*Est. $40) leads the pack here: It's Bon Appétit magazine's favorite mini chopper and a top-rated model in another reliable professional test, where it does a good job pureeing peas and carrots and an even better job grating Parmesan cheese and chopping almonds, garlic, onions and beef. A very close runner-up in that test is the KitchenAid Chef's Chopper KFC3100, but the Cuisinart does a slightly better job with grating. The KFC3100 since has been replaced by the new KitchenAid 3.5 Cup Food Chopper KFC3511, which has a second speed and slightly larger capacity, but the KFC3100 can still be found at some retailers.

The tables get turned in another foodie magazine's test -- the KitchenAid KFC3100 comes out on top, although the Cuisinart DLC-2A performs just as well at turning curry ingredients into a paste and chopping almonds. The lighter Cuisinart loses points for being "jumpy"; it has to be held firmly during operation. No model chops parsley very well in that test. Owner reviews are pretty identical for these two mini choppers: With more than 200 reviews posted for each at Amazon.com, both average 4 stars out of 5. Most users report no problems, but some complain that both the Cuisinart and KitchenAid mini choppers leaked or broke.

Although most units have a 3-cup bowl that snaps into a base that houses the motor, the Black & Decker Ergo EHC650 (*Est. $25) has the motor in the lid. Some owners prefer this design, which doesn't require handling a sharp blade, while others find it more difficult to clean. But reliable expert testers aren't impressed: One specifically downgrades it for being hard to clean, and it fails to chop or grate as well as the Cuisinart DLC-2A or KitchenAid KFC3100 in two professional tests.

Another option is a manually operated mini chopper like the Slap Chop (*Est. $15), which operates without electricity. The bowl of this mini chopper is placed over small amounts of food, and then the blade is lowered and rotated by pressing (or "slapping") on the top. One advantage: it can easily chop some foods like onion or garlic without peeling them first; the skins remain intact, so they're easy to remove. However, this mini chopper gets the lowest possible score from more than half of the owners who post comments on Amazon.com. They complain it doesn't cut through tomato skin well, so the tomato ends up smashed rather than chopped. Additionally, one foodie magazine reports that the Slap Chop has trouble slicing through potatoes; testers complain of lodged pieces in the blades.