Food Processor & Chopper Buying Guide

In CR’s labs, we rate food processors and choppers on how well they perform in a number of tasks.

For choppers, we test models on chopping onions and almonds, puréeing peas and carrots, and grating Parmesan cheese. We test food processors on grating Parmesan cheese, slicing celery and mushrooms, and shredding carrots and cheddar cheese. We also assess how noisy each model is when operating on its highest speed.

If you regularly cook for a crowd or like to prepare multiple batches of a recipe, you might appreciate a bigger processor—with a capacity of, say, 11 to 16 cups. But they tend to cost more, sometimes weigh more, and hog counter space. A capacity of 7 cups or so is fine for most tasks.

Choppers make more sense for small jobs, such as dicing half an onion or mincing a handful of parsley. Plus they’re easier to clean.

When Should You Pay More?
Lower-priced models we test tend to deliver subpar performance in at least one processing task. They also make quite a racket, whereas most higher-end models we test are quiet.

What About Capacity?
Claimed food processor capacities typically range from about 7 to 16 cups, although actual volumes often vary by 1 or 2 cups. Choppers hold only about 1 to 5 cups. They can be noisy, but you probably won’t be using them for long periods of time.