I am back again with a kitchen gadget opinion. As you might have noticed I’m a gadget freak, I can’t resist pseudo-technical tools to make just about anything, buying one of those is like buying a new toy. Well, I think you got the idea.

Anyways, this is my latest acquirement to speed up dinner preparation when I arrive home quite late and hungry like a dozen wolves (at least 4 days a week), as I was a bit tired of eating junk. Well, I had seen the gadget some time ago, but then I read all the negative reviews from people having problems even with the easiest items, so I thought that maybe it was not worth the price, even if it’s not really expensive. But the thing intrigued me and there were also many rave reviews and some doubtful, so I decided I wanted to see for myself, considering I had found one at a decent price.

But now, let’s get down to business. How does the Nicer Dicer work? Well, you have seen the picture, it looks like an oversized egg cutter and it works in exactly the same way, the only difference being the fact that this has a grid instead of parallel blades. It also has a really convenient transparent container that screws on the top part so that it catches anything you like to cut. The tool is all made of plastic (which looks quite sturdy), a part from the blades, of course, which are stainless steel, and has rubber feet to keep it steady.

The manufacturer claims that it can chop onions with no tears and can julienne celery, carrots, zucchini, potatoes and even sausage and cheese in SECONDS, but does it really do that? Well, as far as I am concerned, it does. I chopped onions in no time, I julienned carrots and zucchini to sauté with rice with perfect results, I cut up turnip, pumpkin and sweet potatoes to roast in the oven in less time than it takes to say it. I was a bit wary of the sweet potatoes as I read a review saying that the blades bent and one even came away when they tried to cut them, but my Nicer Dicer has worked beautifully on those, I didn’t even have to press down too hard.

The only thing that gave mixed results were tomatoes. The manufacturer claims that the gadget can chop tomatoes, and since I really like them, this was one of the triggers to push me towards it. The first trial was not impressive at all, I had very finely diced tomatoes, but sometimes they stuck to the skin that was caught in the blades and I had to chop the tiny cubes away with a knife. But the second time was a real surprise! I used the Nicer Dicer upside down so that the tomato juice wouldn’t run all over the worktop, I cut the tomatoes in half, positioned them on the blades and just pressed down. Result: perfectly cut tiny tomato cubes, right what I needed for the salad dressing I was making, really impressive. I will suspend judgement until I make further experiments.

I think the real trick is to read the instructions, even if the operation seems really straightforward (and it is), there are some tricks that, when followed, can make things easier. You are supposed to wet the blades before starting to chop as wet blades glide more easily. Then you are supposed to put your strong hand – that is your right hand if you are right-handed or your left if you are left-handed – on the transparent container and the other hand on the “handle” so you will need less strength. If you cut items that have the skin on, such as tomatoes, bell peppers, apples…, you are supposed to put the skin downwards, not towards the blades, as this makes cutting easier.

And now the boring part: cleaning. Well, they thought it out really well at Genius, and clean up is really easy. You can easily pull the top part away and the base where you lay the veggies or fruit to be chopped is virtually self cleaning, as it can be separated from the bottom part, just unlocking the two stops that keep it in place and pressing down, while all the rests stay on the bottom of the tool. It’s more easily done than said. If something really sticks to the blades you can always use a brush, even if most of the time just a rinse will get rid of everything. Even better, the tool is dishwasher safe. It also has a handy hole to hang it for storing, though this works only for the assembled tool and you still have to store the separate tops and containers; I hung my other tops inside a cupboard as well and I find it really comfortable.

The Nicer Dicer is available with three different top parts - a small one with 24 blades for 5mm (1/5 inch) dice, a medium one with 14 blades for 12mm (1/2 inch) dice and a large one with ten blades for 18mm (3/4 inch) cubes – and with containers of different capacities - 400ml or 600ml – and sometimes with airtight lids for the containers.
It is produced in three colours, a classic white, a bright blue (which is the one I chose) and red. But I think I have seen it in orange and green as well.

Nicer Dicer is produced by the German brand Genius and every original item must have the Genius brand clearly visible on the top parts. I bought mine on eBay from a German seller as Zwiebel- und Gemueseschneider, but I suggest you to beware, as I have seen huge price variations, which made me suspect there might be some cheap imitations around. If you want to visit their site www.genius-germany.de in German or English.

Final thoughts. I think the Nicer Dicer really does speed up food preparation a lot, it works swiftly with just about anything, even if I would not try to chop really hard veggies (I read about several people destroying the gadget with rutabagas). I hope it does perform as well as it did last time on tomatoes, that way bruschetta and salsa will be ready in minutes!
Of course you still have to peel and cut at least in half everything that needs it, such as onions, potatoes, turnips and so on, but you would anyways…
Just read instructions, try a couple of times and you will be as happy as I am with this tool!

UPDATE

Well, after experimenting a bit more with the gadget I can say it does a good job with tomatoes; I tried several times and i think it really works, most of the time I get perfectly cut tiny dice and no stuck bits or skins or anything, you just need to press down quite sharply.
On the contrary it did not impress with cheese. I tried Gruyere and it worked fairy well, but then I tried with Tilsit which is slightly softer and the result was a bit messy, so I'll just stick to knife or grater for those.


Recommended: Yes