Most of us here have, at some point, found ourselves painstakingly dicing onions while preparing a meal and thinking: ‘I wish there was an easier way to do this.’
Between making sure all the pieces are evenly sized and keeping fingers away from sharp blades, chopping and dicing is arguably one of the most stressful basic processes in cooking.
But what if there really was an easier way? The Vidalia Chop Wizard was voted the number 1 product for dicing in 2016, and since then, more and more satisfied customers have taken to the internet to recommend this innovative chopping and dicing device.
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The Vidalia Chop Wizard uses a uniquely shaped blade to chop or dice fruit, vegetables, nuts, cheese, and many other ingredients in one motion, so you can leave your dreary dicing days behind you!
Today, we’ll be reviewing the Vidalia Chop Wizard in detail, discussing all of its primary and additional features, and providing a comprehensive overview of the advantages and disadvantages of this product.
Is the Vidalia Chop Wizard really worth the money? Let’s find out!
Stainless Steel Chop Blade
Let’s start with the most important component of the Vidalia Chop Wizard - the chop blade itself. This blade is made of stainless steel and shaped like a grate with uniform holes.
The stainless steel construction of the blade ensures durability, corrosion-resistance, and easy cleaning (more on this later).
The sharpness of the blade, meanwhile, makes chopping a smooth and effortless exercise. Strong and sharp enough to cut through nuts and apples in one quick movement, this is one handy and impressive blade.
In fact, the manufacturers of the Chop Wizard promise that this blade will never need sharpening or shaping, which gives it another advantage over your standard kitchen knife.
The blade is surrounded by a plastic surface so that it can be fitted like a lid over the top of the container. This is great because it means that you never actually have to handle the blade directly, maintaining health and safety at all times.
However, one reported issue with this blade is that there have been instances of parts of it popping out of place or breaking off.
Hinged Top Lid
The top lid of the Vidalia Chop Wizard, which lifts up and comes down over the catch container (see below) on a set hinges, serves 2 very important purposes.
Firstly, the inside of the lid features raised plastic protrusions that push the selected piece of food through the holes in the blade. This is how the chopping and dicing action of the Vidalia Chop Wizard is achieved.
Aside from facilitating the chopping process itself, though, there’s another huge benefit to the way this lid is constructed that will revolutionize the way you chop and dice in the kitchen - particularly when it comes to onions.
Because all you need to do when using this device is place the piece of food you want to chop or dice onto the grate blade and push the lid down over it, you don’t actually need to touch the food or the blade at any point during the actual cutting process.
Not only does this mean that you don’t need to put your fingers in harm’s way of the blade, but it also means that when chopping things like onions, you won’t be exposed to any juices.
No more crying! Given the prevalence of eye irritation, while cutting onions, this truly is an exciting and revolutionary contribution to the food industry.
Unfortunately, there have been a few customer testimonials mentioning that the hinges broke after several uses.
Catch Container
One of the most commonly encountered issues when using a knife and chopping board to cut or dice anything in the kitchen is the mess.
If you’ve ever tried chopping tomatoes on a cutting board and ended up with a watery mess of oddly-sized tomato pieces in a puddle of juice, you’ll know exactly what we mean.
Luckily, the catch container of the Vidalia Chop Wizard minimizes the messy side effects of chopping fruit and vegetables.
Positioned underneath the blade, the catch container, as its name suggests, catches and collects the chopped food as it falls through the grate holes of the blade. This system allows all the potentially messy foodstuff to accumulate neatly in one place.
Any excess juices can be easily drained away using a sieve, keeping your countertops perfectly clean.
The container is made of transparent plastic, which allows the user to see how much chopped food has been collected at all times during the process.
Measurement indicators are even marked on the tray for an accurate estimation of quantities up to 2 cups!
A word of warning, though: too much force exerted on the lid may cause the container underneath to crack, so it’s best never to use more force than you need to when using the device.
Non-Skid Feet
One potential concern we had about this chopping device was how clumsy it might be to use.
Wouldn’t exerting force onto the lid of the device potentially cause it to skid across the countertop? Couldn’t that result in even more mess and stress than the traditional method?
Thankfully, the developers of the Vidalia Chop Wizard foresaw this problem and incorporated non-skid feet into the design.
These non-skid feet help to prevent uneven pressure or excessive force from sending the Chop Wizard skidding across your counter, so you can use it with complete peace of mind knowing that this kitchen utensil is designed for stability.
This is another feature that significantly contributes to the Chop Wizard’s ergonomic design.
Additional Features
Dicer Blade
The free dicer blade included with the purchase of the Vidalia Chop Wizard is quite similar to the chop blade, except that the grid holes are slightly smaller.
The size of dicing permitted by the dicer blade means it can be used for creating finely and evenly-sized pieces of onion, other vegetables, or fruit.
This is very useful when you want to add an ingredient to a dish in a subtle way where each individual piece won’t be so noticeable.
Like the chop blade, the dicer blade is made of durable stainless steel that should, in theory, hold up well against repeated use and wear and tear.
However, as with the chop blade, there have been some customer reports of parts of this blade breaking off.
Cleaning Fork
If you’ve ever used a cheese grater or garlic crusher, you’ll understand the struggle of trying to clean tiny food remnants out of equally tiny holes.
Where these holes also function as blades, as in the case of cheese graters and the Vidalia Chop Wizard, this task is even more difficult because of the danger of touching the sharp edges.
The makers of the Vidalia Chop Wizard have, yet again, anticipated this problem and provided a solution in the form of a cleaning fork.
This cleaning fork looks like a kind of mini spork (and could potentially be used as such) but its actual purpose is to dislodge any pieces of food stuck in the blade. This way, you can keep your fingers safe and effectively remove any remaining debris.
Once you’ve got rid of any stubborn remnants, you can put the blade and all other parts of the Chop Wizard in your dishwasher for a hands-free cleaning, since this product is conveniently dishwasher safe.
Alternatively, because the plastic surroundings mean you never have to touch the blade with your hands, you can also easily clean the Vidalia Chop Wizard manually using hot water, washing liquid, and a non-abrasive cloth or sponge.
Specifications
- Model Number: VOWR-2
- Material: Plastic/stainless steel
- Length: 11.25 inches
- Width: 10.50 inches
- Height: 11.87 inches
- Weight: 1 lb
Overview
Advantages
- Includes chopping and dicing blades
- Durable stainless steel blade construction
- Ergonomic design
- 2-cup capacity
- Dishwasher safe
- Cleaning fork included
Disadvantages
- Some reports of parts breaking
Final Thoughts
The Vidalia Chop Wizard is clearly a highly innovative, practical, and effective device for chopping and dicing all kinds of ingredients. From onions to apples, ginger, nuts, and cheese, this device will make quick, neat work out of just about any food you might want to dice.
The design of the Chop Wizard is user-friendly and ergonomic thanks to the non-skid feet and thoughtful construction that leaves no need to handle any sharp blades. It even solves the issue of onion-related eye irritation!
Our only concern regarding this utensil is durability. Many customer testimonials report breakages, which is not ideal considering the fact that this is a tool designed to make life easier in the kitchen, not more stressful.
However, for every negative review and criticism of this product’s durability, there are many more praising the design, with some customers even going as far as to say that they would definitely replace their Chop Wizard were it to break.
Taking this into consideration, we would recommend this Vidalia Chop Wizard to anyone who’s tired of the monotony and stress of chopping and dicing by hand and is willing to take a chance on durability in the name of convenience.
