Tool Test: For Lots of Garlic, the Cuisinart's Got the Chops

For each of the six methods of processing multiple cloves of garlic, we used batches of eight to 10 peeled cloves of various sizes. The results, in order of preference:

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CUISINART MINI-PREP PLUS PROCESSOR

$39.95 (plastic housing), purchased at Williams-Sonoma

Ups: Easy to load and rinse; biggest capacity; a multi-tasking wiz.

Downs: Three parts to clean; a little difficult to retrieve all the minced garlic. It's another electrical appliance to store.

Performance: After 10 pulses (about 20 seconds), the cloves were mostly in 1/4 -inch pieces, with a few slivers and 3/4 -inch chunks. There was not much juice or moisture. We needed to scrape down the sides/redistribute for further processing. After another four pulses (seven seconds), the garlic was uniformly minced in discrete pieces. We liked the look of this minced garlic the best.

10-INCH WUSTHOF COOK'S KNIFE

$56 to $170, at http://www.cooking.com

Ups: Multi-tasker, you bet. Easiest cleanup.

Downs: Somewhat messy; we needed to stop several times and regather garlic for finer chopping. Calls for some knife expertise; requires a sharp blade. Garlic gets on your hands.

Performance: It took about two minutes to smash the cloves and then rock-chop through to create a neat pile of evenly minced garlic. The texture was only slightly coarser than that of the mini-prep processor garlic.

GARLIC PRO E-ZEE-DICE

$14.95; purchased at Sur La Table

Ups: No great hand strength needed; can chop more cloves at a time than advertised; easy motion once it gets going; rinses clean easily.

Downs: Hard to get started; user must keep checking the garlic's progress; must bang out, then scrape out, the minced garlic, being careful around the two rows of sharp blades.