Chopping Veggies and such

[BriggsBBQ]

Just bought a food processor. The Cuisinart Elemental from Costco with a bunch of accessories. Not sure if it is me not using the tool right or if the tool is not as good as I want. The issue is the chopped pieces are not consistent at all. I tried with both carrots, celery and potatoes.

I tried to cut of uniform chunks and then add the chopping blade and pulse. Also tried to cut a carrot in strips then use the slicer to get diced pieces. That did not work either as some of the pieces would get side ways and instead of a dice would end up with a slice.

Let me know what you guys do...just hoping to save some time by not doing everything with the old chef's knife.

[Keiferr]

I use a knife for consistent size cuts .

[RonB]

A really nice mandolin slicer might do what you want. All you would do is slice in one direction into slices with a knife leaving the end uncut to hold the pieces together. Then turn what you are slicing 90* and run through the appropriate mandolin blade to dice.

Cheap mandolins will flex and produce uneven cuts - been there, done that...

[EdF]

I don't remember the brand we have, but it works well. Agree with RonB . We also have an old Cuisinart processor. It works well enough, but you have to have your expectations aligned with what it can do.

[BriggsBBQ]

EdF Yeah I had high expectations of the food processor dicing in particular. Will see how it slices could be good for that. The Instant Pot on the other hand exceeded already high expectations.

[RonB]

We just sold the last mandolin at a yard sale. I can't justify the cost of a good mandolin with the limited amount of use it would get. I finally bought a nice Japanese laser knife and watched some youtube videos. Now I am faster slicing and dicing....

[Polarbear777]

I’ve given up on the mandolins also. With some practice you will can get better with a knife. It may seem slightly slower overall, but then there’s the set-up/tear down and wash time and the knife isn’t so slow compared to other options.

[JGo37]

I've got a book of slicing techniques, knife types and sharpening tips called 'the art of the knife' but I couldn't find it on the web. ?? Anyway I've always been disappointed with food processors. I use a small cheap one ($ 20.00?) to dice onions that does better than any expensive ones I've had.

I upgraded my knives instead.

[BriggsBBQ]

That knife looks awesome where did you get such a thing of beauty?

[JGo37]

BriggsBBQ getting a middle east Damascus knife is a hobby, requiring patience. I've learned which smithies to avoid, etc. Sometimes on eBay they mistakenly set an auction to end in the middle of the US night and I save a couple hundred over sets that expire during the day or weekend. Have ~ 10 in the kitchen now, another 10 for camping. VGOOD knives. Not Great knives. But I self maintain.

[FireMan]

I agree both with Polarbear777 & JGo37. Improve your knife skills. How, by using your knives. I do not like cleaning a mandolin (&set up) & cleaning the processor is a major pain. The more you use your knives the faster & better you’ll get. Get into it.
Something I borrowed from a rub applying technique, hum while you’re chopping/cutting. 🤠

[BriggsBBQ]

My knife skills are decent. I am not Bobby Flay. JGo37 I do like the idea of getting a book on how to attack various veggies. I have seen some cool tricks to dice onions fast. Also upping my knives would keep me from honing as often. Victorinox are great on rust. but the metal is soft so I fell I am constantly honing.

I think the main thing I was hopeful with the processor was really for my wife. She makes picadillo that requires chopped up pieces of carrot, and potato (small and uniform). Her knife skills suck and she refuses to work on them....she still uses a serrated steak knife like her mom lol. I was able to get her to try the food processor but I do not think I could get her to try and mandolin now that I think about it. Maybe if we do a class together she will work on it. Our local Central Market (HEB) does some knife skills classes.

Funny all the mention of knife skills. Last night I used my Instant Pot to make some soup. Slicing up carrot, zucchini, and onion. I was thinking to myself overall this was much faster than the food processor. Because you have to set it up, break down, clean, then setup and store.

[RonB]

Search "kinfe skills" on youtube and you will get a ton of hits. Most are just fun to watch because they are amazing, but you can get some good tips just by watching. Here is one of my favorite videos. What he does with an onion, (starting about 7:13), will probably make you stop and count your fingers...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ocKrSpWgrw

I have posted this before, but still watch it occasionally.

[BriggsBBQ]

Wow, that guy is amazing.

[Macktechie]

If you are focusing on veggies. I really like my nakiri. It can make thin slices and various precision cuts. I checked out a lot of videos on YouTube to improve my skills. It's also practice. My wife loves fresh Pico de Gallo so I would make it often to practice. Oh and brownie points.

[Frozen Smoke]

I've resisted a food processor for the reasons BriggsBBQ stated. I don't think it would meet my expectations and it's a big appliance that occupies a lot of coveted space in the cabinet. I've got a bug for a immersion blender though.

I belong to a online culinary school and they have some good lessons on knife skills. But my left handeness keeps holding me back! But I'm improving. Only problem is when I do large cooks and there is a lot of slicing to be done is the time that gets involved. Way too much time gets invested in this task.

What do the large wholesale processors use to dice all their veggies to perfect uniformity?

[BriggsBBQ]

I’m a lefty too and it’s a factor. Hardly any reverse D shaped handles. Just bought a miyabi sg2 and will see how that goes.