Vidalia Chop Wizard
|
Our Price: $27.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
|---|
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Vidalia Chop Wizard
Customer Review: I m impressed
Summary: 4 Stars
I did not buy this product from amazon, but I wanted to write a review about this product because I wanted people to read and understand the better ways to use it.
Onions : There are times when you need not cut onions smaller and for those times, knife works out better. But if you have more than half an onion to cut, then my advice is that you use this wizard. I have been using it for now 2 weeks and have done more than 6 experiments on better ways to cut onions. The only solution is it requires pressure if you do not place onion properly. If you can adjust the position of onion so that it is on the right side (where you actually put more pressure to close the lid), it gets easier and you have to apply little less pressure than regular, because it is simple science - you are putting more pressure on the right side to close the lid and thus you should have onion more inclined to the right side. Plus, press it hard till you hear a bang of a sound. Otherwise it will not cut, it would just have pushed the onions through, without cutting it fully. Also, I am not sure if you are careful about the fact or not, but place the flat cut side of the onion on the bottom. I am sure, sometimes in hurry, one might not observe it and place it the other way round, and you end up putting more pressure. I used both the blades to cut onions for specific purposes and I am very impressed with the end results.
Rest : It can cut anything, I have tried cutting many veggies and fruits and I only want to add that, make sure to remove anything from the blades before you start out to cut the second batch. That is - if you just cut a tomato, clear it off from the blades before you set out to cut second tomato. This is actually true for any vegetable because otherwise, there might be a little skin or pulp left on the blades and you will end up trying to cut the vegetable with a blade covered with skin, and the end results will be that nothing gets cut and the chopper gets the blame.
The (comb like) brush that accompanies it is very effective in removing any traces stuck in the cover or the blades. Cleaning is easy.
My verdict - Easy and clean to use chop wizard. Requires little pressure when you are cutting stiff items, but the end results are good. I recommend it to every one. Use it wisely, you will not be disappointed. Before judging it bad, try out different styles and positions of vegetables and you will learn better.
Why did I give only 4 stars - Because, I felt the plastic they use to make it could have been better. My extensive use twisted one blade in the center a bit or it could have been that I did not place the onion properly. But then, thats why I bought it from Target, so that I could return it easily.
Customer Review: Nice Kitchen Aid, but has its Limitations
Summary: 3 Stars
Kitchen gadgets are great for reducing the time it takes to prepare food and the Vidalia Chop Wizard Food Processor is one of many time- saving devices that make it easier to slice and dice food. Cutting onions into hundreds of small squares is easy with the Vidalia Chop Wizard Food Processor and it is also very useful for certain other foods such as pears, potatoes, and more. The sharp, stainless steel blades chop food into uniform pieces, saving much time and effort.
The Vidalia Chop Wizard Food Processor doubles as a quick measuring tool and this fact adds convenience. Once you have pressed the food through the blades, all you need to do is lift the device and turn it upright. You can then view the amount of food by looking at the cup and milliliter markings on the sides of the base. This eliminates the extra step of measuring the chopped food in a measuring cup.
Probably the greatest disadvantage with the Vidalia Chop Wizard Food Processor is the fact that it comes with only two blade inserts. For more experienced and more creative chefs, this isn't going to be nearly enough and it greatly limits the chopper's usefulness. Also, one needs to remember that certain foods require a much harder push than others, to pass them through the blades. Often, it will be necessary to cut up food into smaller pieces first, making the device less convenient than it would otherwise be.
Vidalia Chop Wizard Food Processor is dishwasher safe and it does come with a special cleaning device to make it easy to help with the process. Unfortunately, the claw- like cleaning aid is quite limited in its usefulness. It is better than nothing, but I find that I often need to reach for a butter knife to dislodge the bits of food.
So how does the Vidalia Chop Wizard Food Processor stack up overall? Well, it is a decent kitchen aid and a tool that I find fairly useful for simple chopping jobs. It is completely manual and it takes a good push to chop certain foods, but it is still better than no assistance at all. It makes a good choice for the casual cook who needs a little bit of help from time to time and doesn't mind having the limitations that come with such a basic device.
Customer Review: DID A WHOLE BABY SHOWER SALAD BAR WITH THIS
Summary: 5 Stars
I LOVE THIS TOOL... a year ago, I threw a big baby shower for a friend...I am NOT a party planning person at all, and NOT a good cook...so I thought, what would be healthy, fun, and fresh that people would really enjoy...answer: SALAD BAR! I highly recommend doing a salad bar to anyone throwing a shower.
I really only needed three things to complete the task: 1)This Vidalia Chop 2) Lots of two-compartment clear rectangular trays from Dollar Tree, and Zip Lock bags to store all the GORGEOUS, perfectly chopped veggies in overnight.
I used this chopper on just about everything. I cut cucumbers into thirds then put them through the chopper to julienne them into perfect strips, of course did gorgeous red onions, chopped peppers, celery, etc. SO beautiful.
I also used a round tray from Dollar Tree to hold the dressings and did simple tent labels next to each side to mark the kinds of dressing. I had a lot of items that I didn't put through the chopper but the uniformity of the perfect chopped veggies is what made the display so beautiful.
Everyone thought I was some master party planner...but I can tell you right now, I would have never gotten through that formidable mountain of fresh veggies without this chopper.
I use the product still all the time. It's super easy to clean (I'd never use it if it took more than a few seconds). And I love how it chops the veggies into it's little container underneath. This is good for two reasons. 1) it allows you to get really good leverage for harder items. I read reviews of other choppers and it seems like people have a hard time getting certain things through...but since this thing is flat, you can put your whole body weight in if needed and slam it through...very easy! 2) It has a built in measuring cup so you can stop EXACTLY when you get to the amount needed for a recipe.
Enjoy!
Customer Review: Its ok, but its not as good as on the commercial.
Summary: 3 Stars
I like this product because I do a lot of chopping and dicing in my cooking. So for what my needs are this product functions well. Note that I say "functions well" and not performs well. There is room for improvement. For what I do in my kitchen I would be willing to buy two "Vidalia Chop Wizards" before I would buy one electric food processor. Despite all of the cons listed below I do like this product and until something better comes out the "Vidalia Chop Wizard" will have a place and use in my kitchen.
Pros:
This product works faster than chopping and dicing by hand... for me anyway.
The price is adequate, but I would not be willing to spend much more. It is way less expensive than those electric food processors with spinning blades that claim to chop and dice.
Cons:
It is more work to clean this product than it is to clean a knife and cutting board.
When cutting soft things like mushrooms it looks just like the commercial. When cutting harder things like onions the "Vidalia Chop Wizard" struggles unless you cut the item to be chopped into smaller pieces.
Unless the pieces you are cutting are very small or soft there will be a fairly loud bang when you cut all the way through. Even things like bell peppers are a 50/50 shot if the chopper will have difficulty or not. If you have a child that is a light sleeper this is not the product for you.
The other reviews that mention the hinge breaking are true. This is the second "Vidalia Chop Wizard" that I have purchased. My first one broke after about 18 months of at least weekly use. I am not sure if that is a design flaw or just part of normal equipment breakdown.
The dicing cutter is a bit bigger than what I would prefer. It is more like a fine chop. However, this did not keep me from buying a second Chop Wizard.
Customer Review: I must confess...I broke it....
Summary: 5 Stars
I did! I broke it. Vidalia chop wizard met its enemy and its name is butternut squash. I had a recipe that called for a butternut squash. Strangely, it said to peel it then chop it into small pieces. Peel it? How the heck does one peel a butternut squash?????? (Without cooking it first in any way) So (feeling silly and at a complete loss) I broke out the potato peeler and "peeled" the outside skin of the squash, which took FOREVER since the outside is very hard. I put the pieces on the slicer tray and banged the lid with my fist over and over and then...
Well, the corner attached to the lid splintered and flew across the kitchen into the dining room!
Gawd, I was heart broken because I killed my beloved chop wizard! And I had quite a lot of chopping left to do.
Dispite this inconvience, I loved the chop wizard and in fact I'm online right now to buy another with all the other attachments. I bought the first one at Walmart for $10 on sale around Christmas 2006. It chopped everything I asked it to beautifully and really made my new fresh vegetable diet a lot easier to tolerate because I HATE handling onions (I no longer wear my sunglasses while chopping them) and I hate slicing carrots and I hate messing with all the small tedious veggies that just take forever and a day to get into a recipe. I've cut myself with a knife so many times. It does require more effort to crush the lid on the tougher veggies like carrots than let's say onions but I'll tell you, it's not so bad especially when I'm so incredibly frustated at having to eat my veggies when all I want is a cheese burger and fries. I can take my frustrations out on the veggies as I smash them through the blades. And it's somewhat satisfying. Cleaning the lid is kind of a witch, even with the handy little comb thing they provide. But I would recommed it to anyone! And I have...