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| Slap Chop |
I didn't run right out and get one. See, I'm one of those weirdos who enjoy cutting their veggies and nuts the old fashioned way....with a knife. Go figure.
But Jack spotted a display of "As Seen On T.V." items near the check out line at Fry's Electronics and decided to buy me a present.
As luck would have it, I was in the midst of a baking binge so had been chopping, cutting, clipping and cracking my way through nuts, spices and the like. If it worked, the Slap Chop had the potential to cut the job time in half, pardon the pun.
Once home, I unwrapped my new tool and read the instructions. It looked simple enough; a spring action chopping blade, a plastic extender for using on a cutting board and a black plastic bottom cup for more contained work. And unlike similar products the Slap Chop claimed to be easy to clean, due to its unique "butterfly" casing design. This feature, more than the others, was important to me.
I'd had a similar product years ago in my arsenal of gizmos and suffered a severe injury trying to clean it. Needless to say, the thing ended up in the garbage, wrapped in the towel I used to stem the bleeding.
According to the Sham WOW guy, the Slap Chop people had solved that problem, and I was interested....albeit a little nervous....in checking the facts.
Looking it over, I kept thinking....this thing feels cheaply made. The spring felt firm, but the rest of it felt light weight. The blade itself seemed flimsy, the case was light weight plastic....real light weight. I wondered if it might be too light weight for the job it was supposed to do.
This feeling continued as I washed the components in warm water in preparation for first use. But I pressed on, wanting to put the thing to the test on some nuts that had to be chopped for cookies.
Following the instructions, I first tried the tool with the chopping cup. It seemed to do the job, after a fashion.
The problem was, nuts kept getting stuck in the blade. And not just plain stuck, I mean stuck real bad. I had to use a knife to get those nuts loose.
After the third attempt, I noticed the blade was getting bent.
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| Nut stuck, blade bent....during maiden voyage. |
Needless to say, I set the thing aside and finished the chore with my favorite knives, breezing through the pile of nuts with ease and no injuries.
At clean up time, I tried cleaning the Slap Chop according to the directions. After cutting my finger, I stopped. Hey, I'm a musician, my fingers are important and I need all of them! No hunk of plastic will ever be worth me changing my name to Lefty!
To make a long story short, the Slap Chop did not live up to its advertising. Personally I think it's dangerous and shouldn't be sold in its present state. Perhaps the spring could be sold separately for use in factories somewhere, but as a kitchen tool, I find the Slap Chop to be cheaply made and unsafe. I wouldn't recommend it to my worse enemy.
I believe that every Slap Chop should be recalled, burnt beyond recognition and their ashes sewn with salt before being consigned to the bottom of a very deep pit in a very remote location.
Of course that's just my opinion.
On a scale from one to five mixing bowls, one being yuck...five being yum, I don't think this product deserves even a shard of a mixing bowl. Mixing Bowl Scale - Zero. Zip. Zilch.
This is one of the few times where I find no redeeming qualities whatsoever in a kitchen gadget.
Sad. Very sad.
If you have tried the Slap Chop, please feel free to share your experiences...positive or negative. Hey! I'd love to hear that the thing works right for somebody!
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