Capacity for any food processor is always measured in cups (4-16) - the larger models are great for when you have a lot of guests coming over for dinner but do take up more space. The littler versions store easily, take no time to clean, but limit you on capacity to prepare larger meals. Power on food processors range from 500 to 1200 watts - more power equals more money spent but the extra power tends to get you faster and better results. Moving on to bowl sizes - they go from 4 to 16 cups and are often made of plastic (cheaper) or stainless steel (expensive). The stainless steel bowls will last longer so paying more upfront should not be a factor. Look for a food processor that comes with more than 1 bowl size since you'll need a variety of bowls depending on what you are chopping or slicing. Attachments are what will make or break your machine and most processors come with a set of attachments that will slice, shred, blend, mix dough, grind, whisk, or juice. The pricier food processors generally offer more attachments, but if your model doesn't you can always purchase them later at an additional cost. Think about the uses you plan on for your food processor before you purchase a bunch of attachments that may never get used. Some of the better brands will include a storage case where you can place all the attachments when not using them. Lastly, consider models only with good safety locks. The majority of food processors will not start until the lid is locked on properly. The blades in food processors can slice your fingers or hand really easily and children should always be kept away from these machines. The top brand names for food processors are KitchenAid, Cuisinart, Viking, Hamilton Beach, Braun, Magic Bullet, Black & Decker, Oster, Bosch, and Bravetti. Some of these are marketed on made for TV advertising shows and should be looked into thoroughly before buying. Food processor reviews - There are quite a few excellent resources online to research. Amazon.com is perhaps your best bet when it comes to customer reviews -they literally have 100's of owner postings online with specific feedback and comments on particular models. Also, Consumer Reports does a great job of testing the latest food processors and their independent results should be consulted. CR tests food processors on their ability to chop, slice, shred, knead, puree, and how quiet their operation is. We will go into the most popular models below with details on what they offer. When you are ready to buy a food chopper online, we recommend shopping with Amazon - they carry just about everything, offer great prices and customer service, and are trusted by everyone. View the list of best-selling food processors at Amazon here.
Best Food Processor:
In head to head tests with all the leading brands, the best full size food processor is the KitchenAid KFP750 ($175). The KitchenAid food processor features a spacious 12 cup capacity with a 4-cup mini bowl which instantly turns this machine into a mini chopper. There are dual tall feed tubes which work great on both large and narrow food. Reviewers say the powerful motor performs consistently with great results and it's quiet too. Even on larger preparations the motor holds up well and there was no evidence of leaks. You also get 3 slicing discs and a dough blade- plus it comes in 5 different fun colors. With a slightly larger capacity (14-cups) is the Cuisinart DFP-14BCN Food Processor. Gourmet chefs love the big capacity and the new motor has alternate speeds for "perfect dough mixing, and a rounded housing for easy cleaning and handling". The 3 year warranty is much better than the 1 year offered on the KitchenAid above, but consumer tests show the KitchenAid is slightly better. My wife owns the Cuisinart and says it's a "live saver" for big cooking projects and she loves its durability and stainless steel slicing and shredding discs which are easy to clean. We understand that not every household needs a 12 or 14 cup capacity food processor and in reviews we found that the Cuisinart DLC-10S Pro Classic ($90) is a perfect 7 cup model. Users say making cookies and bread dough is no problem with the powerful motor and the stainless steel chopping blade never seems to dull. Again, Cuisinart supplies a 3 year (entire unit) warranty which can't be beat. The Hamilton Beach 70590 Big Mouth 14-Cup Food Processor ($60) is great for processing whole fruits and vegetables. The Hamilton Beach is a great budget food processor that works great but doesn't come with lots of attachments. Another top food processor manufacturer is Bosch appliances, but we found that their less expensive models performed better overall than the more expensive ones. Oster food processors (what I grew up with) are rated good by consumers on almost all aspects except durability. The motors in cheaper models tend to go out too often.
Mini Food Processor:
We heard lots of news on the Magic Bullet mini food processor that is shown on TV infomercials and we looked into the 2 for 1 offer on their website for less than $100. When compared to more respectable brand name products from Cuisinart or KitchenAid it can't compete. The best mini food processor is between the KitchenAid Chef's Chopper KFC3100 and the Bravetti 2-Cup Quad Blade Mini Chopper. Both retail for around $30-$40 and perform all the basic tasks you would want from a food processor. Users of both machines say they run smooth, slice and shred with no problems, and are easy to clean. Black & Decker has a popular food processor called the Quick and Easy Plus for around $35 and it sells well on the Home Shopping Network but customer feedback was less than enthusiastic on sites like Amazon. You can browse the most popular mini food processors on Amazon.com here.
If you are looking for the best food processor that is available on the market today, then the answer likely depends on you. That’s because not everyone needs a food processor for the same things as you, and that’s why there are so many varieties on the market today. What we’ll do here is help you find out what’s important for you, so that you will be able to look for food processors that will suit your needs.
When you are looking for a food processor, make sure that you have an idea of the features and settings that you will need to have. Sometimes, people spend more money than they have to, and they overbuy, because they don’t know what they need. Prices of food processors vary greatly, because there are so many types, styles, functions and capacities. Taking a few minutes to understand what you need now, so that you will be ready to find the right processor for you.
Make sure that you figure out how large or how small the space is where you expect to place your processor. Measure your counter top where you plan to place the processor to be. Also be aware of the size and type of feed tube as you look around on the market. If you planned on using the processor where there will be issues loading the processor easily, you may have to consider another location for the processor, or changing the feed tube, or both, to make it work for you. Consider its weight as well. The larger the processor and heavier it is, the more study and stable it will be. Lids that seal off the feed tube to reduce any spray, are also a great benefit.
Features To Look For
The food processors vary in capacity greatly. Some can hold 3 cups while other can hold and can process up to 20 cups of dry food. Please note that dry food is important, that’s because if you add liquid, it cuts down that amount by almost half, and unless there is a covered lid, it could get pretty messy. If you are going to use it with liquids, plan on getting some excess capacity so that you will have what you need. The average household requires a food processor that can hold approximately 7 cups of dry food, but this may not apply.
There are many other features that you should consider when looking for the best food processor. One important factor that will be excellent to have in a food processor is removable pieces that you can easily take out to wash.
This feature is time saving because you will not have to wash the whole processor, only the pieces that you have used. If the pieces are safe to use in dishwashers, the better the processor is.
A pulse feature is also another thing that is nice to have on a food processor. This feature gives you more control in processing the food and can make you choose what size you need the food to be chopped. The processor must also have a safety feature which requires the lid to be securely placed before it works. This feature is great for avoiding accidents and is especially great for households that have children who might play around with the device.
What Actual Owners Recommend
Several professional and owner reviews say durability and performance problems can be an issue for some inexpensive food processors, so consumers should keep this in mind. Additionally, people strapped for counter or cupboard space may be interested in compact food processors and combo machines; these use a single base unit with blender and processor accessories.
Cooks partial to petite portions or users who routinely find themselves doing small slicing and dicing tasks should also consider mini choppers. There are several mini choppers on the market that have a 3-cup capacity and are ideal for simpler tasks like mincing garlic. Most units have a 3-cup bowl that snaps into a base that houses the motor.
Other food processor pointers:
* Performance is more important than extra features. All food processors can chop, slice, shred and puree foods. Optional attachments like juicers, egg beaters, cream whippers, dough kneaders, french fry cutters and julienne blades are nice extras, but can be purchased later. It's much easier to buy more blades than it is to buy another machine.
* Don't get caught up in the number of speeds. One speed plus pulse is all you need.
* The shape and size of the feed tube will affect how you have to prepare the food for the processor. For example, a long, narrow tube means slicing potatoes lengthwise, while a wide feed tube allows larger chunks of food to enter.
* A 4- to 7-cup capacity is adequate, but a 9- to 12-cup bowl size is even better. Most of the complaints about 4- to 7-cup models at consumer voting sites like Epinions.com resulted from problems caused by too-small bowls. Professional tests often find bowl capacity to be somewhat less than advertised. Also, keep in mind that advertised food processor capacities measure dry ingredients only, and an open-topped tube limits liquid volume to about half of the advertised capacity.
* Heavy food processors are more difficult to haul out of a cupboard, but they're also more stable. Weightier machines are less likely to shake across the counter during big jobs, and they also tend to be quieter. Reviewers agree that major projects like baking bread, making your own pasta or chopping heavy vegetables require a heavy machine.
For more effective processing, cut food into equal-size pieces, use short pulses, scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary and avoid using blade-damaging frozen or hard foods. Using the feed tube can also maximize efficiency. What else can blenders do?
Processors are not always good for blending small quantities, so if you want a small amount of mayonnaise, hollandaise, breadcrumbs, pesto or anything else that needs some quick, brief blending, you will find a blender does a better job.
What doesn't it do?
It won't grate or chop; it pulverises but doesn't actually chop. So herbs, for instance, just get mashed to a pulp, which is okay for pesto, but not for other things. Incidentally, I think a liquidiser is a more accurate title here than blender because it pulverises ingredients almost to a liquid.
What is the difference between a full-blown blender and the hand-held version?
Briefly, with a hand-held blender you have to do a little more work. In the goblet of a full-blown blender the ingredients are pulverised at the press of a button in seconds; with the hand-held version you have to manipulate it into the corners of bowls and pans to make sure the blades are reaching all the parts they need to. What you use is a matter of personal choice. Some may find the bother of washing a goblet a chore (though they are dishwasher-proof nowadays) and I have friends who say they prefer the hand-held version.
Do I really need a blender?
If you really don't enjoy cooking, particularly making and eating home-made soups, I would say probably not. But I feel a serious cook will always appreciate having both a blender and a processor because the two together provide a wonderful service in so many different areas of day-to-day cooking.
Food processors
This is probably the most expensive kitchen item you will need to invest in. Although a food processor is not an absolutely essential piece of equipment, because you can certainly chop, grate, slice, knead and mix everything by hand, it does do all these things very quickly and efficiently and saves you time and energy. After years of using one myself, I am convinced every serious cook should have a processor – it's a great piece of equipment.
Which processor?
There are dozens of different designs and sizes, but I would say that if you invest in the largest size, with the most powerful motor, you will have the best of everything. Remember, quality never comes cheap, and beware of what looks like a bargain but may have a short life and not do the job really well. A warning: the blade in the processor will wear out in time, so if your processor begins to show signs of not performing as it should, it probably needs a sharp new blade. This can be ordered from kitchen shops or direct from the manufacturer.
Know your processor
When you buy a processor and begin to use it, you will soon get the feel of how it performs. One of the most common misuses of a processor is to overdo it. This was much more of a problem before the pulse button was invented, when something chopped could become something puréed, over-processed nuts could become an oily, claggy mess and puréed meat make hamburgers or rissoles very bouncy! With the pulse button you can see what is happening after each burst, which is important, but care must still be taken not to over-process.
What does a food processor do?
First on the list is chopping, particularly large quantities. It can chop 1lb (450 g) of onions in seconds and will therefore save you masses of time. It can also chop other vegetables, fruits and nuts. I love my processor best when I feed it cubes of bread, which it instantly turns into breadcrumbs (some of you will be far too young to remember the tedious job of grating bread into breadcrumbs on the side of a grater).
Also, if you want to make a stuffing, the onions, breadcrumbs and herbs can all be whizzed together – a brilliant time-saver. It can also evenly chop meat much more efficiently than the old-fashioned mincers that squeezed the meat through the blades.
Slicing
Yes, it's good at that too! With a special attachment you can deal with cucumbers, apples, cabbages, potatoes and whatever needs to be sliced evenly and precisely. You can even choose thick or thin slices.
Mixing and puréeing
There are a million and one things you can mix in a food processor: whole-egg mayonnaise, for example, can be mixed in moments. It can then be made into chunky tartare sauce, with capers, cornichons (baby gherkins) and parsley chopped in at the end – taste it and you'll never want the shop-bought version again!
If you're nervous about making pastry, or if the fat from the fridge is too hard to rub in by hand, the processor will make extremely good pastry, provided, at the end, you add the water a little at a time to get a good consistency. Sometimes, when you are serving vegetables, it's nice to ring the changes and whip them into a purée. With a little crème fraîche and some butter, a processor will make a lovely smooth, velvety parsnip purée. I also like to add steamed swede and carrots to the bowl of the processor while they are still hot, and whizz them, not to a purée, but to the coarsely chopped stage.
Grating
Grating large quantities – not just of breadcrumbs – can be hard work by hand. A good processor will have a grating disc with various different settings so you can grate cheese and vegetables. It makes light work of something really hard, such as fresh coconut, and if you need a large amount of freshly grated Parmesan, it is all speedily and easily done.
Kneading
I have to confess that, although I like the idea of hand-kneading bread dough, it does rather sap your strength. So if you want the easiest home-baked bread in the world, it's absolute bliss to let the processor, fitted with a special dough attachment, do all the hard work for you while you get on with something else. But there's a warning here: in some processors the dough attachment does not operate very effectively and the processor can end up doing a shuddering dance all along the work surface. The most solid ones, therefore, are the best.
What doesn't a processor do?
Number one on this list is mashed potatoes. It seems logical that a processor should do this, I know, but absolutely not. Something happens to them in a processor that makes them gloopy and glue-like – not nice at all.
Although you can make cakes (such as sponge cakes) with a processor, I feel the space inside the bowl is too confined and doesn't let the air in. So I personally wouldn't choose to make a cake in mine.
The same applies to whisking: there is a whisk attachment that allows you to whisk egg whites but, again, I feel I'm not going to get as much air in. However, this is a personal preference – you need to discover for yourself.
As for herbs, I feel a good sharp knife makes a better job of chopping herbs on their own (herbs added to other mixtures are fine). The processor can overdo the job and make them rather wet and soggy.
Soups can be puréed in a processor, and it's good if you want a coarser texture, but it can only be done in very small quantities or it spills over and becomes very messy.