Progressive International Heavy Duty Nut Chopper
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Our Price: $7.89 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Progressive International Heavy Duty Nut Chopper
Customer Review: Granny's rules for using a nutchopper
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, I used my mother's nut chopper for many years, and she used it for many years before that. It was made out of thin galvanized steel, with a glass base. Unfortunately, I broke the glass part and can't find anything that the screw top fits. So, I bought this. I haven't had my new one long enough to have any problems, but these are the "rules" my mother had for using hers:
1) Don't fill the hopper too full. There's a reason it's called a "hopper". Leave room for the nuts to jump around.
2) If it sticks, or is hard to turn, Do Not Force It. Wind it backward a little bit to redistribute the nuts, and try again.
3) If that doesn't work, try shaking it.
4) If *that* doesn't work, a blade is probably stuck in a big piece of nut... usually this happens only with whole almonds because of their size, shape, and relative hardness, but I've known it to happen with hazelnuts, too. In that case, remove that nut from the blade and try again.
An engineer or a physicist could probably tell me exactly why the shape and hardness of almonds tend to make them stick. All I know is that if you force it, it will weaken the blades and/or deform the plate with the slots.
Frankly, I tend to prechop whole almonds into fairly big, irregular chunks because it's frustrating when the blades are stuck. It's still easier to use the nutchopper than to chop them fine by hand... and a whole lot tidier.
The working part of this looks exactly like Mom's. It should last pretty much forever if I respect what it is, and don't expect a blender or a food processor.
These are the things I love about this one: Even the working part goes in the dishwasher (galvanized steel doesn't). It has a huge hopper. I can actually *see* when a blade is stuck in a nut. The base doesn't skate all over the counter. The base has measurements. It isn't as noisy as my slap chopper. And, the handle is comfortable.
ETA: I've had this for a while now and used it for Christmas cookies. Love it, love it, love it.
Customer Review: Old Concept Much Improved!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this thing! My mother had one all the years that I was growing up, so when I decided to buy one, I shopped Amazon and there it was! I was shocked; I did not think I would find one. Only this is so much better than the one that Mother had. The rubber seal on the bottom keeps the item steady. If you have extra nuts left over, you can simply put on the cap and put the jar in the refrigerator, where it will remain stable. The cap fits snuggly. The rubber end to the handle has a great feel to it, and it turns very easily. The bottom portion is a measuring cup, which is really handy for all those cookie recipes. It chops up the nuts just like I remember from when Mom made fudge and brownies, etc. Everything is dishwasher safe. Great. A word to the wise: instructions indicate to turn the jar upside down and turn the handle again for finely chopped nuts. However, it chops nuts just right for most recipes, and I would think that there might be more nut "powder" than necessary. I didn't try the fine chop because my pecans had already been chopped ok. I highly recommend this chopper. PS: I own the Ultimate Chopper, but I plan to use this nut chopper to chop nuts instead. Nicer cut, no guess work, easier clean up.Customer Review: Outright dangerous
Summary: 1 Stars
This toy has multiple weaknesses. The worst one took a few weeks of use to discover: Metal teeth were breaking off the grinding mechanism as I used it to chop almonds. I was lucky to feel those pieces of metal in my mouth with my tongue before swallowing and choking on them. This product is definitely not "heavy duty". It may be acceptable for very soft nuts, but seriously I wouldn't risk my life on it for any use.
Before that I had noticed the following annoying but less dangerous weaknesses:
- The metal grid in the grinding mechanism easily deforms so that the grinding teeth hit it and you can no longer turn the crank. With a pair of needle-nose pliers you can bend the grid back into shape though, but expect to have to do this regularly.
- The less than one full turn of threads that hold the top to the bottom are not enough: they separate all the time if you don't make a real effort to keep them together when you turn the crank.
- The grinding mechanism fell out of the top after a few uses. I fixed that with glue.
- The metal and rubber parts of the lid separated after the first dish washer cycle. Could also be fixed with glue.
Customer Review: Awesome Nut Chopper
Summary: 5 Stars
I had for the longest time an OLD nut chopper that my great grand mother had. Worked good but when it came to almonds they stopped it cold. I then decided to look for another nut chopper that would be able to do almonds and put my old chopper to rest. I looked on Amazon.com as I've done a lot of orders and research for products here and came across the Progressive International Heavy Duty Nut Chopper. I read the reviews. Some better than others and then decided, "what the heck", I'll order it. My other one was made of glass and metal so was kinda wondering about the plastic on this one. Boy, to my amazement this worked GREAT on almonds. The teeth are metal which is good and the measuring cup (so to speak) for the bottom is great. They go through the almonds like a hot knife through butter. I would certainly recommend this to anyone and the price is very very reasonable. I'm sure I'll to have it for many years to come. If it does break, I'll just order another one just like it.Customer Review: metal teeth broke off on two grinders
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this nut grinder because it looked comfortable and competent. The second time I used it, two of the metal chopping teeth broke off and I discovered them while eating (luckily I discovered them with my tongue before I broke one of my own teeth). Progressive sent me a new one and again the second time I used it a metal tooth broke off (this time I checked for missing chopper teeth before mixing into the cranberry salad). The nuts were Haselnuts, which admittedly are not soft, but it's supposed to be a NUT Chopper. I can't recommend this chopper for anything other than chopping very soft nuts, and even then I'd feel nervous. Heavy Duty it most certainly is not.