Product Review: Pampered Chef Cutting Edge Food Chopper

My wife and I have bought a number of Pampered Chef products for all aspects of the kitchen. I'm no expert cook, but I do enjoy making lots of stir fry or pasta dishes full of chopped veggies. I've also become a fan of making lumpia, or Filipino spring rolls. Since I find blenders too impersonal for my cooking needs, I prefer to cut things up by hand, if possible. Yet this can be a tedious task, so we turned to Pampered Chef to find a product that could help speed things along. Their Cutting Edge Food Chopper, needless to say, is one of the best products for the job.

The Cutting Edge Food Chopper sells for about $30. That may seem a little steep for something not even 8 inches tall, but once you use it, the value of time you save and quality of cut you get are priceless. The Cutting Edge Food Chopper consists of a zig zag-shaped blade housed by a plastic guard when the blade is in the "up" position. The top of the Chopper has a knob that allows you to slap or firmly press the blades down. The blades rotate as they return from the "down" position, allowing for a more diverse cut. The guard is also covered with a clear plastic shield so you can watch your food get chopped.

When I first used the Chopper, I was a little skeptical. The blades didn't seem very thick, and the Chopper is mostly plastic. I questioned the durability of the product and was even a little iffy about applying any real force. I went a little easy on the Chopper and didn't find it very effective on bell peppers or onions. I stored it away in my cabinet for a few months.

Then I went to a friend's house and watched him use the Food Chopper. He smashed it like there was no tomorrow. I watched his onions quickly become diced into perfect little squares. I thought for sure he was going to break the Chopper, but he kept loading different ingredients and smashed away.

Needless to say, I went home and put a little more muscle into the Chopper myself. It was perfect. It didn't seem to matter what I put in the cup; the blades cut it up with ease. I've used bacon, Spam, garlic, carrots, and even steak pieces for my omelets. I've cut my stir fry dinner preparation time by a good 10 minutes, which is a lot when you are cooking after work for a starving family. My lumpia rolling time is cut by at least an hour; it normally takes at least 3 hours to roll and cook 100 pieces. This was truly a sharp product.

Five years later, my cutting edge is still working as advertised. I'm surprised it lasted this long, given the amount of stir fry and veggies I have cut up over the years. I don't have any broken pieces or mixing parts. The only hang-up I have with it is that it can be tough to get all the little chopped up veggie bits out of the blades. But even so, you can take it apart and stick it in the dishwasher. You don't need body builder hands to make it work, but if you have carpal tunnel syndrome or arthristis, this may not be the product for you. I would also recommend breaking up any bigger pieces into more manageable sizes for the chopper. Other than a little cleaning maintenance, this is by far one of the best kitchen products to have. Check with your local Pampered Chef dealer to find one.