Black & Decker Handy Chopper Plus Food Processor
- Dishwasher Safe: Dishwasher Safe
- Bowl Capacity: 1.5 Cups
- Speeds: 1 Speed
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1402
Uh Oh! Looks Like Another Kid Got into the Cheap Self-Tanning Lotion
Pros
Inexpensive, easy to use, makes smooth baby food
Cons
Doesn't really chop
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
An inexpensive way to make your own baby food or to chop fresh herbs but it isn't for vegetables
I did it again. I turned another one of my kids as orange as an Oompa-Loompa from all of the vitamin A in jarred baby food. While not dangerous, The Little Guy was glowing a bit. It was time to start making my own baby food again. Unfortunately parts to my mini chopper as well as my baby food maker were missing, no doubt at the bottom of some toy box somewhere. So my mother generously offered to pick one up for me at the day after Thanksgiving sale. She brought me a Black & Decker Handy Chopper Plus.
The Basics
The Handy Chopper Plus is a small 4 piece food processor. Included in the box is the base, 1 1/2 cup work bowl, bowl cover and blade. The unit has a single button operation, you can pulse the large button or hold it down for continuous chopping. The bowl, cover and blade are all top rack dishwasher safe and the base unit can be wiped down to keep it clean.
My Experience
This was purchased with the expectation that I needed it only for making baby food. Almost any blender or food processor can do that, but this mini chopped is the right size to completely obliterate adult food into a single baby meal. For making larger, multi-serving meals a regular sized appliance works fine, but for 1/2 a cup of food I've found that the full size appliances often don't even touch half the food.
Although the box claims that the Handy Copper Plus has a 1 1/2 cup bowl it really only holds about 1 cup of food comfortably. That is more than enough to make a meal for my 9 month old son. This mini chopper turns meat, vegetables and fruit into mush in about 30 seconds. I sometimes have to add some water to get the proper consistency but otherwise the machine does all of the rest. By pulsing the motor I can also make semi chunky baby food, which he now seems to prefer to the completely smooth. If the food is every too watery I find that a little baby cereal thickens it right up.
I've also found this mini chopper to be excellent for chopping fresh herbs. That is something I hate to do when cooking. I never seem to be able to get the pieces small enough no matter how carefully I follow the instructions on all of the cooking shows I watch. I can fill the work bowl with leaves and in less than a minute I've pulsed my way to finely chopped fresh herbs.
As expected, the Handy Chopper Plus does not fare as well with common chopping ingredients such as onions or bell peppers. If you want a fine mince this chopped does a good job, much better than my old Cuisinart. But since you have to cut any vegetables to fit them into the bowl you are probably only a few more knife strokes away from having any vegetables cut by hand anyway.
Clean up is easy enough. I rinse everything off and put the bowl, cover and blade on the top rack of the dishwasher and everything comes out clean. I use it at least once a day and I find ti so much easier than trying to mash up food with a fork.
My only complaint is minor. It takes a little practice to set the bowl and cover onto the unit properly so the motor will run. There are tabs on the base of the bowl that must line up with notches in the base. You then have to rotate the bowl to lock it into position. With most larger food processing units you can pretty much put the bowl down on the base in any direction and twist to lock it in place. The Handy Chopper Plus take an extra few second to line up the bowl properly. The cover is a little more lenient in how it needs to be aligned. The dot on the cover must match up with the dot on the unit locking the cover in place.
Do You Need the Black & Decker Handy Chopper?
For $10, this mini food processor is not going to break the bank. If you cook with a lot of fresh herbs, and like me, can't quite get down the technique for chopping them then the Handy Chopper Plus might be worth it. If your plan is to ditch jarred baby food and make your own from the meals you cook anyway then this chopper will pay for itself in about 3 days!
The Basics
The Handy Chopper Plus is a small 4 piece food processor. Included in the box is the base, 1 1/2 cup work bowl, bowl cover and blade. The unit has a single button operation, you can pulse the large button or hold it down for continuous chopping. The bowl, cover and blade are all top rack dishwasher safe and the base unit can be wiped down to keep it clean.
My Experience
This was purchased with the expectation that I needed it only for making baby food. Almost any blender or food processor can do that, but this mini chopped is the right size to completely obliterate adult food into a single baby meal. For making larger, multi-serving meals a regular sized appliance works fine, but for 1/2 a cup of food I've found that the full size appliances often don't even touch half the food.
Although the box claims that the Handy Copper Plus has a 1 1/2 cup bowl it really only holds about 1 cup of food comfortably. That is more than enough to make a meal for my 9 month old son. This mini chopper turns meat, vegetables and fruit into mush in about 30 seconds. I sometimes have to add some water to get the proper consistency but otherwise the machine does all of the rest. By pulsing the motor I can also make semi chunky baby food, which he now seems to prefer to the completely smooth. If the food is every too watery I find that a little baby cereal thickens it right up.
I've also found this mini chopper to be excellent for chopping fresh herbs. That is something I hate to do when cooking. I never seem to be able to get the pieces small enough no matter how carefully I follow the instructions on all of the cooking shows I watch. I can fill the work bowl with leaves and in less than a minute I've pulsed my way to finely chopped fresh herbs.
As expected, the Handy Chopper Plus does not fare as well with common chopping ingredients such as onions or bell peppers. If you want a fine mince this chopped does a good job, much better than my old Cuisinart. But since you have to cut any vegetables to fit them into the bowl you are probably only a few more knife strokes away from having any vegetables cut by hand anyway.
Clean up is easy enough. I rinse everything off and put the bowl, cover and blade on the top rack of the dishwasher and everything comes out clean. I use it at least once a day and I find ti so much easier than trying to mash up food with a fork.
My only complaint is minor. It takes a little practice to set the bowl and cover onto the unit properly so the motor will run. There are tabs on the base of the bowl that must line up with notches in the base. You then have to rotate the bowl to lock it into position. With most larger food processing units you can pretty much put the bowl down on the base in any direction and twist to lock it in place. The Handy Chopper Plus take an extra few second to line up the bowl properly. The cover is a little more lenient in how it needs to be aligned. The dot on the cover must match up with the dot on the unit locking the cover in place.
Do You Need the Black & Decker Handy Chopper?
For $10, this mini food processor is not going to break the bank. If you cook with a lot of fresh herbs, and like me, can't quite get down the technique for chopping them then the Handy Chopper Plus might be worth it. If your plan is to ditch jarred baby food and make your own from the meals you cook anyway then this chopper will pay for itself in about 3 days!
