Making pizza dough was our most motor-intensive test, and the Custom 14 kneaded it effortlessly, without wiggling across the counter like some other processors we tried. Michael Sullivan is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter and has covered food processors since 2016. He’s spent dozens of hours shredding cheese, chopping vegetables, mixing doughs, and whipping up mayonnaise for this guide.
We like its slightly retro, sleek design, and the base is also available in several colors (each of which has a different model number). Finally, the Cuisinart Custom 14’s work bowl was easier to clean than the bowls of most of the other models we tested. We cleaned each model eight times, so we were achingly familiar with the gunk that can get trapped in more-complicated lids. We also appreciate the Cuisinart’s hollow handle, which doesn’t trap food particles and moisture as much as the Breville Sous Chef’s enclosed handle. The Cuisinart has a strong motor and a heavy base (roughly 18 pounds with the bowl on) that keeps it stable.
Large dice and small dice blades allow for uniform cuts of onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, cheese and much more. You can operate this chopper with one-hand and the blades store safely in the unit. Contributor Ariane Resnick is a special diet chef, certified nutritionist, bestselling author, and lifelong devotee of her Cuisinart mini food processor. She used market research and her expertise to determine the best mini food processors for every home cook. Most food processors are electric, however, there are some quality manual models on the market, such as the Zyliss Easy Pull Food Processor.
To help you find the best food choppers for all your kitchen prep, we sent top-rated choppers to our experienced product tester. Each one was carefully assessed during hours of home kitchen testing cuisinart toaster costco and used to chop nuts, garlic, and various vegetables. Then, the food choppers were all rated on design, ease of use, size, ease of cleaning, convenience, overall effectiveness, and overall value.
Michael Sullivan has been a staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter since 2016. Previously, he was an editor at the International Culinary Center in New York. He has worked in various facets of the food and restaurant industry for over a decade. Not having a beat allows her to work on whatever’s trending—from parasite cleanses to pickleball paddles.
Mini food processors have bowls ranging in capacity from about 1½ cups to 6 cups, but we focused on those with a capacity of about three cups. Models smaller than that are too limited, and if you think you need one that’s larger than three cups, you’re probably better off with a full-size model. Although there’s some overlap in what they can do, food processors and blenders aren’t interchangeable appliances.