Food Processors - Buying Guide
July 19, 2007
When you buy a food processor, you are likely thinking of a bladed machine that will grate, chop, and puree. However you will notice as you browse that you will run into three categories: Mixers (mix, knead, and liquidise), Liquidisers (simple blending, liquidising or pureeing) or the traditional food processor with blades (grate, chop, puree).
Mixers
Generally, food processors have no blades. Instead they have alternative food manipulating attachments such as whisks, dough hooks, and paddles. They have wide round bowls, usually metal, sometimes with lids that the attachment fits through. They are used for mixing, whisking or kneading. The bowls can be made from plastic, glass or stainless steel. Most often they are made of stainless steel.
Liquidisers
The device has a fixed blade at the bottom of a tall narrow container. Material is placed prior to the operation. Material requires at least some liquid and is usually used for smoothing, pureeing, liquefying, or blending a solid into a liquid. They can be made from plastic, glass or stainless steel. Usually they are made of glass.
Traditional Food Processors
These food processors have short cylindrical bowls with blades at the bottom and a chute at the top. The blades can be swapped. The food, solid or semi-solid can be placed in prior to processing or pushed through a chute while the blades are spinning. They are usually used for slicing, chopping, grinding, shredding, grating and sometimes mixing or kneading dough and batter. Usually, no liquid is required or desired. The bowls can be made from plastic or stainless steel. Most often they are made of plastic.
Some will come as a food processor/liquidiser combo in which both are separately present on one base.
Power, Capacity, Speed
Next, you have to consider power, container capacity and speed. These will be based on how often you cook, and how much you tend to cook. The higher the power, the heavier the base will tend to be. If you do light preparation, don’t cook often, or require portability then look for something with a smaller bowl, lower power and with simple attachments and buttons. The more you cook you will need a larger bowl with a higher power. Power ranges from less than 500W, 500 - 800W and more than 800.Container capacities come in the following range:
• Less than 1 litre
• 1 - 2 litres
• 3 - 4 litres
• 4 - 5 litres
• More than 5 litres
Capacity of the food processor depends on the number of containers coming with the unit, so the container capacity should be that of the largest container. Better look for the units that come with at least one medium bowl and one mini bowl.
Speed options are usually 1, 2, 5, 7, and variable. Those with 1 speed are simple with an off and on button and sometimes a pulse. Pulse is counted as a second speed sometimes. Controls can be buttons (raised or integrated into the surface), levers or dials. Speeds 5 or above including variable are often graded knobs.
Pulse is used to control speed and consistency, especially when grating or chopping, so that the food is not overdone. Analyze why you are purchasing a food processor. If it is for mostly homogenize food into finely chopped bits, or have no idea what it is for, you may not need a pulse setting. It is usually wise to go with a pulse feature, as you may find that it is difficult to achieve the desired result without it.
Colour
Food processors typically come in black, grey, silver or white, though sometimes they come in retro colours such as cream or pink.
Blades/Attachments
The food processor should come with at least two removable blades. A mixer should come with at least two removable mixing sticks. Available blades include grater (carrots and cheese), slicer, shredder, regular chopper, or mini chopper, food specific blade (nuts, vegetables) and reversible blade. A reversible blade is one that can be flipped over to create a different type of slice. A reversible slicer/shredder is an example.
Some also come with a citrus press attachment for fresh orange or lemon juice.
Consider ease of cleaning and the types of food preparation you will be doing. If you only plan to chop nuts, 12 blades may be a storage hassle. If you are a prolific chef, two blades may not meet your needs.
Mixers will have a mixing stick and may come with a dough hook, whisk, or whipping tool.
Accessories
Some food processors come with accessories such as a hand mixer for whipping or special care, a blender jar for combos, bowls of varying size including a mini-bowl, spatula, and varying chute pushers.
Other features you might look for are non-slip rubber feet, easy cord storage and dishwasher safe bowls, lids and blades.
Be sure to select the one that is easy to clean and has a safety lock on the lid to save curious fingers or noses.
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