The KitchenAid Chef's Chopper KFC3100CR is an impressive-looking machine with equally impressive performance.

This unit comes styled in red, black, white or gleaming chrome and black. It comes with a compact power base, clear 25-ounce (3-cup) work bowl, lid with opening for pouring or adding ingredients, an ultra sharp stainless-steel mini chopping blade and a mini plastic spatula for scraping the work bowl. Four rubber feet on the base help keep the unit stationary during use.

We loved the way this unit efficiently powered through its chores. While we would not characterize it as "quiet," it was not overly noisy either. In any case, we figure a little noise is a fair tradeoff for quick, consistent results. Onions were perfectly chopped in about 8 pulses. Garlic and herbs were minced in record time. We noticed that wet ingredients tended to scatter and cling to the work bowl, requiring more scraping.

The controls consist of a single Pulse button, which is sufficient to achieve excellent results. For all chopping tasks, a quick touch and release starts and stops the blade and allows the foods to settle between pulses. The cutting blade is equipped with "Reverse Spiral Action," which pulls foods down into the path of the blade for uniform chopping, mincing and pureeing. Fresh or cooked vegetables, nuts, meats and cheese are all processed quickly and efficiently.

The 3-cup work bowl is larger than many others in this class. That is good news when it comes to preparing small batches of mayonnaise, pesto sauce, dips or baby food. For best results, you should not crowd the work bowl. Even so, using the recommended 2/3-cup capacity gives you two full cups of usable room.

As with other mini choppers, some initial prep work is required before processing. Any inedible peels should be removed, as well as seeds and pits. Larger foods should be cut into 1-inch pieces. Garlic, nuts and herbs can be processed whole. The chopper should not be used for extremely hard items, such as coffee beans.

We loved the domed lid, which let us drop garlic cloves through the opening or pour oil through a drip hole while making mayonnaise or pesto. For these tasks, we wished there was an "On" button since it is best to leave the machine running.


Pros: Large 3-cup work bowl, powerful 240-watt motor
Cons: No "on" button

Warranty
1 year, hassle-free replacement