# Chopping Large Amounts of Parsley (Pacojet?)



## daverdown (Jun 3, 2014)

Hi y'all.

This is my first post here. My name is Dave and I live in Texas.

  I'm looking for a machine for chopping parsley for tabouli, which is by far the most time consuming task my staff has to endure on a daily basis. A typical food processor is useless for this because I need the stems to be cut perpendicular  to their length, and the spinning blade merely beats the stems around but does not chop them nicely.  We do it by hand.

  I've found gigantic, industrial, conveyer belt choppers on line, but I'm looking for something in a smaller, counter top version.  We usually do about 40 bunches at a time, but the company is growing fast, as is production.

  I've been told by a friend that a Pacojet would work great for this, but have been unable to find any testimony on line, and although Pacojet has many video demonstrations available, none of them have anything to do with chopping fresh herbs.  It would be awesome to get a Pacojet.  I'm sure I could come up with many convenient, time saving uses for it, even though I don't intend to make any ice-cream.  Their rep/sales person with whom I'v been corresponding assures me that it will be great for parsley, but it costs $5,000!  Our CFO has basically given me the go ahead to buy one, but if it doesn't actually take a significant chunk out of production time, I'm gonna feel like a dummy.

I'd appreciate any insight on bulk parsley prep, and/or Pacojets as they relate to prepping herbs and nut butters.

Thanks...


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

What about a buffalo chopper?


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## noga (Mar 9, 2014)

Chopping parsley can only be done using a good sharp knife .I have been searching for a machine that gives same results  ,with no success.I have met many middle eastern chefs who runs restaurants throughout the levant (where tabouleh is on every table)and to them it's a dream that needs to come into reality.Sorry if my answer won't help .


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Ask that rep for a loaner and check it out for yourself.

The worst that can happen is he says no (or you do get to test drive and prove him untrustworthy).

mimi


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## redbeerd cantu (Aug 7, 2013)

Y'all remember the slap chop? Would that work?


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## daverdown (Jun 3, 2014)

Thanks for the advice you guys.

The slap chop is the best suggestion, but its not a professional tool, and I'd probably have to buy a new one every couple months.  Ive looked for it before, but it's no longer a regular item in the "as seen on t.v." section at walmart.

I doubt the buffalo chopper would work because it essentially has the same blade as the food processor, but the food only passes through the blade once.

The loaner doesn't seem to be an option.

Conventional wisdom seems to agree with Noga.  The way of the knife.

Still though, if anyone has a pacojet, if you get a wild hare, throw some parsley in there with the stems, and let me know what happens.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

A buffalo will work but then parsley has to be dipped in water and squeezed out in cheescloth or muslim. Salesman is full of ----- he is just rying to sell it. Ask hime to bring one in  or take you to a place that uses it for a demo? Or do old fashioned way  2 French knives at a time. Its still the best way


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

chefedb said:


> A buffalo will work but then parsley has to be dipped in water and squeezed out in cheescloth or muslim. Salesman is full of ----- he is just rying to sell it. Ask hime to bring one in or take you to a place that uses it for a demo? Or do old fashioned way 2 French knives at a time. Its still the best way


Yeah, two knives. Or find a cook who can rock the knife with cutting action both ways.


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## chef torrie (Mar 1, 2011)

kuan said:


> Yeah, two knives. Or find a cook who can rock the knife with cutting action both ways.


Seems the best option. Large cutting board. Two french knives or sharp Chinese chefs knives and go to town.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

At work when I make hummus, I have to chop 4 bunches of parsley which I do with my knife. I haven't actually timed it but I can't imagine it takes me any more than 2 minutes, probably more like 1 minute but let's say 2. I will grant you that is not 40 bunches, but even at 2 minutes for 4 that still is only 20 minutes for 40 bunches. Is enough time going to be saved out of a 10-20 minute production time, to justify a $5,000 machine? Or am I way off in my time estimate for the task?


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## redbeerd cantu (Aug 7, 2013)

Literally just watched a vid on the utubes about the pacojet coupe accessories.

Shows it being used for parsley.


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## ljokjel (Jul 1, 2009)

DaverDown said:


> Hi y'all.
> This is my first post here. My name is Dave and I live in Texas.
> I'm looking for a machine for chopping parsley for tabouli, which is by far the most time consuming task my staff has to endure on a daily basis. A typical food processor is useless for this because I need the stems to be cut perpendicular to their length, and the spinning blade merely beats the stems around but does not chop them nicely. We do it by hand.
> I've found gigantic, industrial, conveyer belt choppers on line, but I'm looking for something in a smaller, counter top version. We usually do about 40 bunches at a time, but the company is growing fast, as is production.
> ...


$5k How many containers does that include? Worked at a place where the chef bought 40. Where I'm now we just have seven. The chef ended up paying more for the containers than the machine. 
My guess is that the sales rep will try to sell you a ridiculous amount of containers.

PacoJet is in my eyes a very good machine. If it's worth the money depends on your operation. In some places i couldn't have been without.


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## ljokjel (Jul 1, 2009)

RedBeerd Cantu said:


> Literally just watched a vid on the utubes about the pacojet coupe accessories.
> 
> Shows it being used for parsley.


"Just add simple syrup, and Pacotize."


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## pirate-chef (Jan 25, 2012)

or slight amount of water and paco then you can keep the parsley in piping bags in the freezer to free up buckets thaw in water bath and use. love my paco!


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## pirate-chef (Jan 25, 2012)

on another thought.... for the money how about running them through a juicer the way the blade spins it should break down everything to somewhere around the size you want. if you are doing it in a paco you will more or less have a pure since you are freezing it and the blade is shaving a frozen mass at 3000 rpm. with a juicer you should have a similar result and could control the liquid level a little better? just another thought that popped into my mind.


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## daverdown (Jun 3, 2014)

Hey, you guys.

Sorry I haven't checked in in a while.  I talked to a chef friend of mine who convinced me that the machine will do the trick.  I've been having my staff log how long it takes them to do the parsley by hand.  Our CFO wants to figure out exactly how long it will take for the thing to pay for itself before we talk to the owner of the company and make the purchase.  My employees can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to chop 40 bunches.  I don't expect to need a ridiculous number of containers.  Different packages come with different combinations of blades and containers.  

In order for the dish to right, the parsley has to be as dry as possible, and juicing it would remove a lot of the flavor and nutrients.

Thanks so much for all the advice.

RedBeerd, I will look for that video.


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## foodslut (Jun 27, 2011)

Using a Paco jet would just destroy parsley unless you intend to make a sorbet or ice cream out of it, Paco main purpose is to cut ice crystals so fine that sorbet and icecream is super smooth, even super freezing and making snow is cool, chopping parsley by knife is the best way man, or even getting one of those three bladed chopping knives would cut time, (I use for mince shallots)... in addition, your CFO should worry about other items other then parsley


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## redbeerd cantu (Aug 7, 2013)

No pacojet experience, but learned something yesterday.

I work in a Mediterranean grill. Lots of tabouleh and lots of parsley in our lamb and beef kebabs.

We got a new cook, who's a lazy-arse. I trained him personally.

We process our parsley by cutting the stems off of the bunch and separating the stems and the leaves into different containers. We rough chop the leaves for tabouleh, as needed, and fine-chop the stems for the kebabs, as needed.

I'm off on Friday the chef had already left for the evening. One of the items on his prep list this past Friday was to process two lbs of parsley.

This guy throws the parsley into the damn FOOD PROCESSOR!!

I open on Saturday and pull out the parsley so I can start making kebabs and I find a wet, stringy, clumpy mass of green that smells like fermenting fresh grass clippings from the yard, the day after the rain! It didn't even smell like parsley. It literally smelled like cut grass from the lawn.

I can't imagine that the Paco would be better.

DaverDown:






^^Please forgive me for this link format. I'm not familiar with the link policy here. Also, the vid, upon seeing it again, shows the finished parsley, not the actual processing. Kinda suspect at second glance.

I really think that the hand-held blade is the only way...


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I really have never found any machine that works as well as 2 good knives in your hands

 Buffalo and other machines break down the cells of the parsley and therefore all the juice and liquid runs out and turns the whole thing into one big mess.  There has never been a machine made that can replace Gods,  giving us hands> They can do multiple things where a machine in most cases can do 1 or maybe 2and they can last for 70 to 90 years


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

chefedb said:


> I really have never found any machine that works as well as 2 good knives in your hands
> 
> Buffalo and other machines break down the cells of the parsley and therefore all the juice and liquid runs out and turns the whole thing into one big mess. There has never been a machine made that can replace Gods, giving us hands> They can do multiple things where a machine in most cases can do 1 or maybe 2and they can last for 70 to 90 years


90 years Ed? You have proof of that I see?


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## daverdown (Jun 3, 2014)

Yo, Red!

Thanks for the link.  Actually, the parsley in the video looks just right.

The way we process the curly leaf parsley for tabouli, as of now, is that we pull the twist tie or rubber band on the parsley bunch as far back towards the base of the stems as possible and tighten it.  Then we dunk the bunch in shallow water at the bottom of a 22 quart cambro to clean it, and vigorously shake the parsley against the sides of the cambro above the water line to dry it.  Then, keeping the bunch intact with the twist tie, and with the stems remaining parallel to each other, we chop two or three bunches at a time with a knife as fine as possible from top to bottom, starting almost with a chiffonade for the leaves, and finishing by coming straight down on the stems, leaving them in segments of about 1/8 of an inch.  We then go over it a couple times on the cutting board to chop it further making sure there are no neglected longer stem segments, and then run it all through a food processor to break down the cell structure, eliminating the fluffiness and making it wetter and easier to chew on.  

Without the knife work, the food processor alone merely beats up the parsley.  It gets chopped to a certain extent, but there is little to no probability that the stems will be repeatedly chopped perpendicular to their length before they become wilted and are pushed around by the blade rather than taking a nice clean slice.  This results in the lawnmower-effect you describe above.

As you may well know, the difference between a pacojet and a food processor is that the pacojet blade passes down throughout it's contents, tossing it around with the assistance of added air, while the food processor's blade is stationary, and relies on gravity for its victim to return, with a considerable amount of product sticking to the sides causing inconsistency and lack of uniformity in texture.

I respect the traditional view that a good sharp chef knife is the only way to properly chop parsley, but I am not fully convinced, and I hope to find myself agreeing to disagree.  If given the resources, I intend to find out for myself if this newfangled technology can forever change the way we think about parsley chopping, and bring on a new age of pain-in-the-asslessness for the next generation of middle eastern food producers.  

I will certainly keep you all up to date with any progress I make in regards to this issue.

Again, I really appreciate all of the input...

Dave.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I am 72 and they have not worn out yet and another retired chef I know is 86 and still is pretty spry.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

We do not use stems, they are to  bitter. We save  them for stocks.


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## chef mud (Oct 20, 2014)

Would you guys say the PacoJet could work really well for parsley as long as the parsley is firmly packed? My thinking (I have used the PacoJet, but only with desserts) is that if it is loose, it will get beat up. But, the blade only runs through once. Not constantly like a Robo Coupe. I am wondering if the PacoJet could replace my Vitamix machine.


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## tweakz (May 10, 2014)

What about a Mezzaluna (not that poc Giada pimps)? Maybe a dual bladed one and a concave board?


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## dobzre (Mar 3, 2011)

Is freezing it out of the question?


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## redbeerd cantu (Aug 7, 2013)

Dobzre said:


> Is freezing it out of the question?


Freezing veggies that you've purchased fresh isn't advised at all.

The companies that freeze veggies and sell in stores have highly specialized techniques and equipment to do so.

For one to try that on one's own could lead to destruction of the veg, I would think.

It's about freezing without destroying cell wall, I think.


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## dobzre (Mar 3, 2011)

Guess I suck at making pesto that way...


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## blackumami (Oct 23, 2014)

How about a klenex for their tears...


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

2  French knives in each hand works pretty good.


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## uncle woody (Dec 24, 2015)

Train young energetic prep folks to play "wipe-out" or other drum solos using the sharp twin french knives suggested earlier. Other option, twin Sharp chinese cleavers. (not giant heavy ones).

Note: Large prep table; large, thick wooden or other) cutting board; damp kitchen towel underneath for non-slip: & obviously fresh parsley that is NOT WET.


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## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

Daverdown,

The pacojet will NOT work at all for the application you require for parsley. The pacojet completely homoginizes the food into a 100% smooth puree or mousse. Your chopped texture required for tabouli will not benefit from a parsley puree, the sales rep was ill informing you. It's a fantastic device but its a one trick pony essentially.

As for you situation call me old fashioned but I am another vote for hand chopping the parsley. 40 bunches really isnt that much honestly, I recall being able to finely mince 6 or so bunhes of parsley at my very first kitchen job in about 3 minutes. Focusing on making the prep cook more efficient at doing so is where I would expend my energy into. Bunching the picked leaves tightly is essential and your very first set of cuts should be as fine as possible, this is most important. I taught myself using Jacque Pepin's old black and white book on cooking techniques and fundamentals and the way he shows how to mince parsley is timeless, it's perhaps the most efficient method described in any text.


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## michoutim (Dec 25, 2015)

Hello,

New here, I just joined! Merry christmas to all people on the forum.

I agree that a good knife is the best for chopping parsley. And it is not that time consuming, all in all!

I just want to mention a trick given to me by a pro. After chopping parsley, you may notice that when you want to sprinkle it on a dish, it annoyingly sticks to your fingers.

Well, all you have to do is squeeze its juice real hard with a clean towel (of course, you will keep that precious green juice as a colouring for a sauce or a dressing). 

Have a great Christmas!


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## lagom (Sep 5, 2012)

I have to confirm, a pack jet is not your friend here[emoji]128546[/emoji] a couple of knives is what you need.


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## uncle woody (Dec 24, 2015)

michoutim said:


> Hello,
> 
> New here, I just joined! Merry christmas to all people on the forum.
> 
> ...


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## welldonechef (Sep 28, 2008)

You can fit three knives in one hand if you place them between your knuckles. A good rocking motion and you will find that you can cut through a bunch quickly. 
Failing that, there is also a herb chopping knife that has two or three blades on a curve. Costs 10$ or so and allows you to work through that bunch quickly. 

Paco jet or a buffalo chopper? It depends what they are being used for. If it's garnish, no way. If you are not worried about bruising the herbs, then that's all good. If you want a subtle flavor, it will not work out for you.


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