I’m in the process of moving out of my parents’ house into an apartment, and I’m trying to stock my kitchen. My encyclopedic cookbook (How To Cook Everything, if you’re curious) tells me that food processors are an essential appliance, but I’ve never used one, so I’m really not sure what’s out there.
I’m a pretty fair cook, and I’m probably going to cook about every night. I think the intended uses will be making bread, grinding meat, and maybe smoothies(though I’ll probably get a blender for that). I’m not entirely sure.
My first priority is probably ease of cleaning-I used to be a dishwasher, and I have a finely cultured hatred for cleaning finicky gadgets. After that, I’d prefer something smallish. I live alone, and my apartment has a pretty tiny kitchen. I’ve got a bit of money stashed away for moving-in stuff, so cost isn’t too much of an issue. Maybe around 200 dollars?
So, anyway. What’s your favorite brand? Any bad experiences? Is a food processer even the right tool for me?
A food processor is a very handy kitchen gadget, but you don’t NEED one. I use mine for fine-chopping mushrooms for a particular sauce, and for making a tapenade that requires finely chopped EVERYTHING. Sometimes for chopping onions/peppers/celery, but only if I have a lot of onions/peppers/celery.
If you decide you can’t live without one, you can honestly get a small (single serving, single speed) processor like this for less than $20, or a decent “mid-range” processor with most of the bells and whistles like this for around $50.
Unless you’re planning to do a lot of cooking and fancy stuff like making your own pasta, you don’t need to get a Cuisinart or DeLonghi.
I buy the cheapo’s. I’m on my second one in about a dozen years. Current one has the slicer/shredder blade just like the $50 model referenced by LifeOnWry, but I payed under $30 for it. I probably use it once or twice a month. I’d recommend buying a cheapo and going from there. No sense spending a hundred, or more, until you determine how useful it is. I’ve also got one of the small ones, about 2 cup capacity, that I use more often, I think it was under $10.
Kitchenaid. For the way it’s made. It will last you longer than ten $50 jobs. And will perform better the whole time. Loads of accessories. I love mine.
Despite what your book says, a food processor is hardly an essential kitchen tool. Sure, it’s nice to have one, but it’s pretty far down the list of ‘essentials.’ I cook a lot, I have a really nice food processor, and the thing only comes out of the cupboard once every couple months.
For your stated uses, there’s always a better tool. Baking bread? Even in the largest food processors you can only do one loaf at a time, and it’s not ideal for the task. Grinding meat? Food processors don’t grind meat. They can pulverize it, but if you’re looking to make sausage you need a meat grinder, not a food processor. Smoothies? Food processors don’t make smoothies. Blenders do.
The first essential tool you need to stock your kitchen with is a good 8" chef’s knife. That’s the only thing I’d say that every single kitchen needs. Figure on spending $70-$80 for a good one.
After that, for the things you listed you want to do, I’m with Happy Wanderer. Get a KitchenAid mixer and the meat grinder attachment. It’ll run you more than $200, but I guarantee you’ll use it about a gazillion times more than a food processor.
For the smoothies, get a blender. Nothing else makes smoothies right.
I have a food processor and almost never use it. When cooking a small amount of food the clean up time vs how long it takes to do the task at hand, has me reaching for a knife every time.
When I use the food processor ( and when it excels) is when I am doing a dinner party for a lot of people, and I need several pounds of something sliced or shredded.
I second (third) the idea of getting a Kitchenaid mixer first. You will use it more.
On the mixers, the 4.5 quart has a tilt head, that allows you to remove the bowl without detaching the beater. The five and six quart models have a lift mechanism for the bowl, that forces you to remove the beater before removing the bowl. The five and six quart models have more power, but this is only an issue in my experience if you are doing pasta. YMMV.
You can often find refurbished KA mixers at kitchen shops in outlet malls for under $200. (I paid $165 for mine 4.5Q)
Lexan food processor bowls do not like dishwashers. It turns them milky colored.
Agreed - a food processor is far from the most used item in my kitchen. I think that I have two (one came with a blender as a second attachment, and a second was a smallish type wedding gift), but I barely use them. Even when I need to grate cheese I pull out my box mixer. I’d say spend the money somewhere else.
Well, despite everyone else’s advice, I love my Cuisinart food processor. I use it frequently, it’s easy to clean and takes very little space on my counter. I’ve made bread, ground meat, and chopped, sliced and pureed all sorts of stuff. It cuts prep time down to about 30 seconds.
I use my stand mixer (not a KitchenAid, but close) about twice a year, which is a shame. I just don’t have room for it on my counter, so it’s buried in the back of a cabinet.
I own almost every kitchen gadget ever imagined, but my Cuisinart and Kapoosh knife block are my favorites. Fun and efficient.
Hmm. Sounds like what I really want is a good quality mixer, a nice blender, a tiny food chopper(for garlic or other small things) and better knife skills. I do make pasta occasionally, but I kinda like doing it by hand.
I think that’s good news. A knife takes up a lot less counter space than an appliance, and it just feels more satisfying than pushing a button. Thanks!
Edit because I just saw MissGypsy’s response: You just had to ruin my nice warm feeling of certainty, didn’t you?
What flavor of Cuisinart do you use?
We don’t have one nearly as nice or versatile as the linked Hamilton Beach, instead we have a 30 year old blender and a little universal food processor attachment that we picked up seperately for a few bucks several years ago. Also, the processor is pretty small, and has limited capacity, but it does just fine for making salsa, chopping nuts, mincing veggies, making breadcrumbs, etc. I just do several small batches for large volumes.
The blender/processor combo also fits into Alton Brown’s philosophy of never buying one purpose specialized kitchen appliances (which I happen to share.). Multitaskers are the best practical values.
I agree that a lot of it depends on how you cook. I’ve had a small Cuisinart for years, and I’ve always used it quite a bit. But we eat a lot of tacos, which means I use it to shred the cheese, and I make a lot of soup, which makes it indespensible for cutting up vegetables. We also love hummus, which I make at least once a week, and the small Cuisinart purees one can of chickpeas and the ingredients nicely.
However, three years ago I married a man with a large, full-size food processor, which has mostly sat unused. But, as our love for hummus has grown, I graduated to TWO cans of chickpeas, which is too much for the little Cuisinart, so I pulled out the big one. I would never BUY one for this purpose (I could always make it in two batches), but since he had it, I use it. There you go.
Also, I chop a lot of nuts, and Husband also came equipped with a little Zyco (I think that’s the brand) chopper that I use several times a week to add walnuts to our fruit salads and oatmeal. If he hadn’t had it, I probably would have used the little food processor – but the little chopper is quicker and easier clean-up.
So, as I say, it all depends on what and how you cook.
Here’s an even better Cuisinart Duet Blender/Food processor for under $90. This one is also actually available as compared to the hamilton beach that is not.
