Cutting machine for vegetables

D

Danny94

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Joined
23 Jul 2021
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6:51 AM
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Italy
Hi,
we practice a very unhealthy diet for years. We maybe eat vegetables twice per month, one of the main reasons is all members in our family coming home very tired and its hard to get vegetables prepared (so the fast and easiest things getting cooked).
If there would be an electrical machine which could cut every vegetable to small pieces like cubes that would be awesome and help to include daylie vegetables in our meals.

Do there exist a reliable and indestructable tool to get this done? I know about those manual tools but they usual break after 3-4 usages and dont cut harder vegetables like carrots.
We would be open to pay ~200€. Can you please recommand me anything ? Thanks a lot.
 
What you're describing is a food processor, more or less.

Food processors are great, especially because they can do a lot more than just chop veg (I use mine to make dough for pizza, for example), and because they can chop/slice a lot of veg (and fruit, etc) in a hurry...I mean, really fast, so if you're cooking for a family of six, or eight, or more, that's the way to go.

The downside is the upfront expense - a decent one isn't all that cheap, and if you have a small kitchen or limited storage space, they can be a problem that way. Also, if you're a family of just two or three... CookieMonster is right, you'd be better off honing your knife skills a bit, because with a smaller amount of food to prepare, you can just about do better with a knife.

One other bit of advice - menu plan. Plan what you're going to eat for the week, shop to the plan, and when you get home, take that time then to do your prep work, or at the very least, trim and clean your veg, so when it's time to cook, that bit's out of the way. You might be surprised at how much "cooking" is actually hands-on prep, and if you can get that knocked out ahead of time, then getting home on a weeknight a little grumpy and tired from the job isn't such a big deal, because you've already got the carrots diced, the onion chopped, the celery ready to go...soup's less than an hour away!
 
CookieMonster unluckily not for us. It took 20minutes - 2 people to cut vegetables for yesterdays meal (6 persons).
No one is fast with the knife (that wont change aswell) and no one want to cut vegetables for that long.
 
I think you will need to consider a food processor. I had to when I picked up a permanent injury to my left wrist. I did finally learn to chop with my right hand, but you will need to spend more money and you will need a touch of preparation because they need to be the correct shape to fit into the neck of the foot processor, for example potatoes. My food processor can chip or cube depending on which tool I use as well as 3 thicknesses of slicing. I can have 2 thicknesses of chip (fries or thicker) and 2 of cubes but that is it. you will need to accept the skins are on unless you want to spend serious money on the situation and the more you spend the better quality and more features your food processor will have. Mine comes with 3 sizes of bowls and several neck sizes as well.

One alternative and I know it is what my sister does, and will work out more expensive in the long run, is to purchase frozen or freshly prepared vegetables already cut/sliced/cubed from the supermarket. It's not for me, but it works out really well for her. That said, I will confess that most of my peas and beans are frozen but that is because garden peas are better from frozen unless you grow your own and here in Australia I can't get broad beans or sprouts in anything other than frozen format unless it is Christmas and the I can sometimes get fresh sprouts. I know for a fact (I'm from the UK) that many vegetables come frozen from supermarkets now worldwide and I am pretty certain that when my brother was in Italy (He lived in Milan for a while) that he purchased frozen veg from the supermarket.
 
Moderator Note:

The OP has specifically stated a "Cutting machine" and "electrical machine" so please do not be rude or inconsiderate and continue to suggest by hand or with a knife. If you do, I will have no option but to remove your comments and give you warning points or place you account in moderation. The OP has come here for help, not criticism. thank you.
 
My food processor has two cutting blades for veggies and such. It works decently. One blade does slices, and the other does shreds.

I also have a dicer that I use a lot. It makes very consistent diced veggies. It came from Williams Sanoma and looks like this...


Screen Shot 2021-07-23 at 7.56.59 PM.jpg


CD
 
Thanks a lot for recommanding "food processor", i was not comming across locally with one in italy and my research only lead to manual & spiral cutters.

Do they work reliable? Because i have seen they are nust similar like a mixer with 2 different heights for the blades (to cut cubes). Do i need to be very carefull it does not make " sauce" ? Or do you recommend me using the discs for slices and do some extra cuts ?
Do they alive a few years ?
How much should i spent ? Which brand ?
Have seen a few on amazon with very low prices.

SatNavSaysStraightOn can you cube with the discs aswell has not found a food processor so far which is able to ? That would be awesome.
Well the skin is really not a problem, we keep the skin on always even on carrots. Most likely healthier anyway. :wink:
 
Danny94 said:
Thanks a lot for recommanding "food processor", i was not comming across locally with one in italy and my research only lead to manual & spiral cutters.

Do they work reliable? Because i have seen they are nust similar like a mixer with 2 different heights for the blades (to cut cubes). Do i need to be very carefull it does not make " sauce" ? Or do you recommend me using the discs for slices and do some extra cuts ?
Do they alive a few years ?
How much should i spent ? Which brand ?
Have seen a few on amazon with very low prices.

SatNavSaysStraightOn can you cube with the discs aswell has not found a food processor so far which is able to ? That would be awesome.
Well the skin is really not a problem, we keep the skin on always even on carrots. Most likely healthier anyway. :wink:
Click to expand...
Mine is a top end on because I have had cheap ones in the past and I also wanted to combine my mixer with the food processor. Mine can dice as well as slice and chip and shred/grate. separate discs do each function and each thickness is also a separate disc.

I expect mine to last for life. It comes with a 10 year warranty on most parts and the motor has a lifetime original owner warranty. But I have had cheaper ones in the past that have lasted, just not been as useful. Mine is a top end Magimix Patisserie Multifunction with a few extra discs. Discs are above the food. Blades go in the food bowl, so discs will not blend anything full stop. They simply fill a bowl exactly the same was as a hand grater or similar and if you put too much in, the bowl overfills. That is why I bought one with multiple sized bowls as well. I'm not suggesting you spend this kind of money, but you do need to think about it carefully and research which devices allow for extra blades and attachments that will permit dicing as well as slicing. For mine, this is the device Dice & French Fry Kit that dices. It came free with the pack I purchased which was around Euro 600 I think. I don't mind that because I will have it for life and I know that the brand is excellent.

I'm glad you eat the skins. Over half of all nutrients in veg and fruit is found in the skins (not to mention flavour).
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Moderator Note:

The OP has specifically stated a "Cutting machine" and "electrical machine" so please do not be rude or inconsiderate and continue to suggest by hand or with a knife. If you do, I will have no option but to remove your comments and give you warning points or place you account in moderation. The OP has come here for help, not criticism. thank you.
Click to expand...
I apologize for the insensitive remarks. I somehow assumed everyone has basic knife skills from using a knife for the plethora of other kitchen duties that would require a knife. A big assumption on my part.
 
I bought this "processor" some time ago. It is a decent vegetable chopper (various blades) but I only use it for large quantities (which appears to be the OP's situation). It's also quite compact - we can now pack all the blades into the drawer. I cannot determine whether this particular model is still available but there appears to be other, newer, Tefal models.

It's still working by the way - no problems.

Review - Tefal Store’Inn D0250D40 Food Processor.
 
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