“Alligator” Vegetable Dicer
I’ve been using the Alligator vegetable dicer for a few months now, since my mother and I both bought one at Williams-Sonoma. We had the chance to try it in the store, which convinced us to buy it, but I really wanted to give it some work before coming to any firm conclusions.
The premise is simple. Open the device, place an appropriately-sized vegetable chunk (usually a half or quarter of an onion) on the plastic base, and very firmly press the Alligator closed, causing the metal grid to forcefully extrude your vegetable into a perfect 1/4-inch dice.
By and large, the Alligator delivers as expected. Onions are a snap — I never use a knife to chop them anymore, but I’m careful to hold my hand over the onion as it emerges so the pieces don’t fly all over the kitchen. Fresh peppers work reasonably well, but some extra force is needed to get through the tough skin. I’ve also had success with slices of potato, slices of carrot, chunks of celery, and seeded cucumbers.
Clean-up is pretty easy; on occasion, onion gets stuck in the metal grid and requires scrubbing.
While I highly recommend the Alligator, improvements are possible. It could be heavier overall, employing a metal frame, rather than plastic, and the cutting grid could be sharper. A collection bin over the grid would also be a nice touch. I’d also enjoy one with a larger size for a 1/2-inch dice.
any luck with tomatoes? i need a good tomato dicer to make israeli salad easily
Hi. We have an onion chopper on koshergourmetmart.com that has a collection base so all onion pieces go into it and not all over your counter and your kitchen. There is also a cup measurement on this collection base. It is also less expensive than the alligator. it also comes with a comb to help you clean out the grid.
Hi, Alyssa– I actually saw a chopper in the Crate & Barrel catalog this afternoon like you describe, and was just sitting down to write about it :)
R– I’ve assumed that this kind of chopper would be too blunt to work on something as soft as tomato, but I notice that the Nicer Dicer website purports to handle them. The next I buy some tomatoes, I’ll try it out.
That’s the one we sell! I have used it woth tomatoes and cucumbers. If the tomatoes are not too ripe it cuts them into rectangles.
I reviewed the Alligator here:
http://precision-blogging.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_precision-blogging_archive.html#113700321864706797
I like it a lot, but I think it’s not quite so easy to use on the harder veggies. I haven’t tried tomato, but I bet it would work.
Bear these in mind:
+ Put a piece of food nearer the top of the Alligator when you need a more powerful stroke.
+ “roll-cut” veggies, since a flat piece of hard veggie like carrot is harder to cut than irregular sizes of carrot (irregular in all 3 dimensions).
+ be careful not to close the alligator on your pinky at the edge.
- The Precision Blogger
http://precision-blogging.blogspot.com
Strong enough to handle horseradish root?
We bought the onion chopper for Alyssa, and loved it initially, but it broke in less than 3 months. This might have been our fault - we were chopping some sprouted onions at the time.
We have bought another one (the triumph of faith over experience) and will report if it also breaks. Alyssa said she will try and see if the company will replace our broken one.
I have been using the alligator for several months. It is a snap to use and works well on most veggies. I believe it needs a much stronger frame as I have already developed cracks in the slicer at the corners from using on tougher skinned items like peppers. But I think it is a great tool and a heavy duty model would be worth a premium.
we now have a fruit/vegetable chopper. It comes with 3 insert blades that are interchangeable-one is a slicer and the others are like the onion chopper and can dice vegetables and fruits. William Sonoma will private label it with only 2 blades. It costs $32+shipping. A photo will appear soon. http://www.koshergourmetmart.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1944&osCsid=2830ad4b17e593bd37f76f16f7228ad5
I purchased the Crate & Barrel chopper primarily to chop onions. It collapsed with the first half-onion. The metal blades came out of the frame, a dangerous mess. In addition, the sharp metal blades cut off a piece of the cleaning comb. Needless to say, I returned it promptly. Sur la Table sells the same item; I have yet to try the one at Williams-Sonoma, which is actually less expensive than that at koshergourmetmart.com ($29.95 vs. $32.00 before tax and/or shipping, see comment #2) although the latter offers 3 blades.
The item at koshergourmetmart.com is a fruit and vegetable chopper mewant for chopping potatoes, apples, peppers, tomatoes and others not an onion chopper. We also sell a plain onion chopper.
Dear Jabbet,
Just wanted to answer your requests, the NEW Stainless Steel Alligator with 2 grids/knives, and a storage hopper is now available here at Bridge Kitchenware in NYC, or online at http://www.bridgekitchenware.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=2691
Sincerely,
Steven Bridge
Bridge Kitchenware.
I have been using the Alligator for one year and feel that it is one of the best kitchen tools I have ever used. I use it to do onions, peppers, celery,cucumbers and FIRM tomatoes. I have learned to put my hand over the top so that the veggies do not fly all over the place. The only problem I had was in removing the cleaning grid. I pulled too hard and put a crack in it. It is still usable. I purchased 8 of these this past Christmas and gave them as gifts. Everyone has told me how much they love using it. Practice makes it much easier. I have yet to try carrots or any other veggie/fruit. If you use firm tomatoes this will make a good salsa.
I purchased the stainless steel Alligator Dicer from http://www.bridgekitchenware.com (see post #12 above) and it is *incredible:* Sturdy, powerful, balanced and quick. Have had it for nearly two years now and it works flawlessly. The only problem I’ve had is that the little plastic tabs that keep the plastic collection box affixed to the base chipped off and I now have to hold the box in place over the unit as I chop. Bridge is trying to get it replaced for me by the manufacturer.
So many people who have seen this item were amazed that they asked me to email them Bridge Kitchenware’s URL and promptly purchased the item.