Food Processors
deksgrl
Posts: 7,237 Member
I realized the other day that my life might be incomplete because I don't have a food processor (something about trying to stuff cauliflower in a blender..... ) Tell me, what do you make with yours, what kind do you have, is it a large capacity one, or a smaller one. What do you like or not like about it?
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I know what you mean. I have a very small very old one. So not the best. I do have a 'magic bullet' type item that I use too. But I haven't made any large in bulk items.0
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I have a Vitamix. It's more of a blender but it can do dry and wet stuff. The power of that thing is quite amazing!0
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We have a nutribullet, a blender (and an immersion blender), and a food processor. I use the nutribullet. Hubs does a lot with the food processor. I make pizza crust from zucchini or cauliflower with it but that's about it.
(I also use the coffee bean grinder for things like grinding flax seeds)0 -
We make a lot of things with peppers/onions/mushrooms like stir fry for example, and veggies for tossed salad or omelets, so it would be a big time saver not having to chop them by hand. So many times I didn't put everything I wanted in something, or just made a different meal entirely because I didn't feel like chopping all of the veggies. Sort of stupid when a food processor would solve that problem. I have an old blender that I make smoothies in.0
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I have a food processor or two. I have a lot of kitchen gadgets actually. I don't use 90% of them. One of these days, I will be brave and get rid of all the stuff I don't use anymore.
Honestly, do I really need 5 different ways to make coffee.
OK, that's a yes. But, the waffle-maker can safely go.0 -
I'd rather chop by hand than clean a food processor, I have a good one in the cupboard that I hardly ever use as it's such a hassle to get out, use, clean, dry, put back together and put away. Knife, chopping board, simple. Same reason my dishwasher hasn't been used in 2 years. You have to scrape the plates, it takes an hour to wash the dishes and then you have to remember to unload it (not to mention if you don't the kids put dirty dishes in with the clean ones and you have to wash them all over again). Takes me less than 5 minutes to do the dishes by hand. Technology does not always make life easier.0
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You know what? I have a Vitamix, and a food processor. But I don't always want to clean those out after processing cauliflower, depending on how much I'm cooking. So half the time, I just use an old fashioned box grater to rice my cauli.0
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I have a food processor or two. I have a lot of kitchen gadgets actually. I don't use 90% of them. One of these days, I will be brave and get rid of all the stuff I don't use anymore.
Honestly, do I really need 5 different ways to make coffee.
OK, that's a yes. But, the waffle-maker can safely go.I have a food processor or two. I have a lot of kitchen gadgets actually. I don't use 90% of them. One of these days, I will be brave and get rid of all the stuff I don't use anymore.
Honestly, do I really need 5 different ways to make coffee.
OK, that's a yes. But, the waffle-maker can safely go.I have a food processor or two. I have a lot of kitchen gadgets actually. I don't use 90% of them. One of these days, I will be brave and get rid of all the stuff I don't use anymore.
Honestly, do I really need 5 different ways to make coffee.
OK, that's a yes. But, the waffle-maker can safely go.
Yes to this! I call it the appliance graveyard! I haven't used my pasta maker in at least a decade!
My food processor went into the garage sale pile, but then I pulled it out. I love it for cauli-rice (and frozen banana softserve, homemade hummus and date paste/lara bars which I don't really eat on a LCHF lifestyle but jeez).
All of my blenders have been useless and I much prefer the nutribullet for ice, smoothies etc. The downside to the nutribullet is that it would only do small batches of cauli-rice.
My food processor was a shower gift circa 1991/1992. It is still working great, but for the life of me I can't recall the brand name (I'm not at home), but I found a google image of it!! It also came with a slicing blade and a grater blade which is fantastic for making your own coleslaw! I would likely replace it when it craters, even though its not a daily or sometimes even weekly use....
I was given my mom's "oster kitchen centre" when she got a kitchenaid and it came with a little processor... I found it useless in comparison. If you are going to get one, get a full-size one. Otherwise you are constantly opening it to empty and do another batch (of cauli-rice) and it will get messy. It also did not have the power to do dates....
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I have a KitchenAid food processor, a KitchenAid immersion blender and a Nutribullet. I love all of them and use them for different things.
I recommend KitchenAid products. They're expensive but this food processor has lasted almost 8 years. I make almond butter, cauliflower rice, pork rind breadcrumbs, almond meal/almond flour. I tend to use the Nutribullet for liquid things.0 -
EbonyDahlia wrote: »I'd rather chop by hand than clean a food processor, I have a good one in the cupboard that I hardly ever use as it's such a hassle to get out, use, clean, dry, put back together and put away. Knife, chopping board, simple. Same reason my dishwasher hasn't been used in 2 years. You have to scrape the plates, it takes an hour to wash the dishes and then you have to remember to unload it (not to mention if you don't the kids put dirty dishes in with the clean ones and you have to wash them all over again). Takes me less than 5 minutes to do the dishes by hand. Technology does not always make life easier.
I use the dishwasher. The man and the kids don't want to learn how to use it and they don't touch it unless they are specifically looking for something and I say it is clean in the dishwasher. lol. I think I wouldn't mind washing the food processor. It can't possibly take as long to clean it as it does for me to sit and chop all that stuff.
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I had to give up my KitchenAid food processor when I moved overseas and oh how do I miss it I had 8 or 12 cup and 4 cup bowls for mine, and I used it several times a day. What didn't I make!
I had a meat grinder attachment for sausages, it would shred or slice vegetables, I could make salsa and dips, best of all it grated cheese, so I could buy blocks and always have grated cheese in bulk without the fillers. I could even do dough in it if I needed.
I ran mine through the dishwasher, but hand washing in hot water with a brush makes all the nooks and crannies easy to clean.
I do have an immersion blender that is perfect for coffees or breakfast shakes and definitely hot soups, and it has a tiny food processor attachment that I use for tiny amounts of onion or garlic or herbs.
I have a cheap blender that does the job when I need ice crushed.
I can't wait to get another food processor. It will cut down on time so much.0 -
Over a lot of years I've had Cuisinart and KitchenAid food processors. I definitely prefer KitchenAid. I've had 14 cup size, but prefer my current 12 cup. I also have a mini processor that's fine for nuts and condiments, but worthless for anything else. Back in my baking days, I used the food processor for dough and pastry, but now it's only about veggies, nuts and cheese. If you buy at Bed Bath & Beyond you can use a 20% coupon. And they have easy returns if you hate the machine you buy, or it doesn't work properly.
You can put the components in the dishwasher, but they'll work more smoothly and last a lot longer if you hand wash. The dishwasher is very hard on the plastic and blades.0 -
I have a little Ninja and love it for chopping and mixing things. I have an old blender for shakes.0
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I have a little one, sufficient for my needs but older than me >.<. Mom says she'll buy me a big one when I get married and a stand mixer when my first child is born, as is tradition. I like the one I have, but really only use it to chop onions and other taco type ingredients.0
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I use my vitamix to rice cauliflower- the easiest way I found is to put the cauli in, fill the blender with water, then turn on high for a few seconds. Pour out into a fine mesh strainer to drain the water.
I used to have a small, cheap food processer but tossed it because it was useful. Now I use the blender, or to slice a lot of veggies I'll use a slicer attachment on my mixer. I use these other appliances a lot, so it doesn't make sense for me to get a food processor.0 -
I have had /do have multiple kinds. If money is no object or looking for a good investment, I'd recommend the Bosch Universal. Right now at Costco they have an amazing deal on it - $350. It has many features included: blender, food processor and a mixing bowl that mixes bread as well. The Kitchen Aid is around same basic price for mixer only and would need to buy around $100 more for processor and special blades, with no blender. With the Kitchen Aid, I think there is a design flaw in the steel rod encased in plastic which can crack. Mine did but KA replaced for no cost. On the opposite and very cost effective end, go to a Goodwill or other thrift store- I regularly see expensive and high quality Cuisinart food processors for less than $20.0
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I got a Ninja at Kohls
It has come in handy. Very simple and I can't mess up too much using it!
Life is indeed complete!
If I had only knew this long ago and saved those wasted years!!
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I want to ask for a food processor for a wedding present - any recommendations gratefully received. I have a kitchen aid red blender so I'm not averse to having matching - but function over form!0
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All this is good to know.
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SlimBride2Be wrote: »I want to ask for a food processor for a wedding present - any recommendations gratefully received. I have a kitchen aid red blender so I'm not averse to having matching - but function over form!
Here's the best advice I can give on buying a food processor:
Look for one that comes with a few basic attachments (slicing and grating blades are super handy), but don't go overboard - you probably wont use them that often.
If you want to liquidize something, use a blender; you'll have much better results.
Also, make sure the opening at the top is wide enough for whatever you want to chop/slice/grate etc. My husband and I bought a food processor for Christmas and the opening is so small you can hardly fit half an onion.... meaning we have to chop it into quarters before we even use it.
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I have a Cuisinart Food processor, a Vitamix, an immersion blender, and something else. To be honest, I mostly use the immersion blender and do everything else by hand because I'm too lazy to clean all the components. *sigh*0
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EbonyDahlia wrote: »I'd rather chop by hand than clean a food processor, I have a good one in the cupboard that I hardly ever use as it's such a hassle to get out, use, clean, dry, put back together and put away. Knife, chopping board, simple. Same reason my dishwasher hasn't been used in 2 years. You have to scrape the plates, it takes an hour to wash the dishes and then you have to remember to unload it (not to mention if you don't the kids put dirty dishes in with the clean ones and you have to wash them all over again). Takes me less than 5 minutes to do the dishes by hand. Technology does not always make life easier.
That's me. Not to mention there is something zen about the chopping and slicing motions. Plus I dropped my FP and broke it about 2 years ago and can't find a good one to replace it with.
I do not own a dishwasher but the last time I had one it did not wash very well, so it became a huge drying rack for the hand-washed dishes!0 -
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greenautumn17 wrote: »
Nope lol! It was useless!0 -
I have a food processor or two. I have a lot of kitchen gadgets actually. I don't use 90% of them. One of these days, I will be brave and get rid of all the stuff I don't use anymore.
Honestly, do I really need 5 different ways to make coffee.
OK, that's a yes. But, the waffle-maker can safely go.
If you walked into my kitchen, you would think all we do is drink coffee all day. On our teeny tiny counter tops, we have three different coffee makers. I can't bear to part with (or even put away) any of them.0 -
I don't have a food processor, but I was just thinking of asking this same question, because I need one. 0
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There's so many different types and functions. If I were you, I'd think about what you typically would use it for.
I have had several types and price ranges. In general you pay for the quality on blades and the connecting parts...up to a certain range.
A small immersion type from Braun does most smalljobs. Chopping nuts, grinding flax, making ice cream mix, smoothing soups, etc.
Cheap small blenders can only make smoothies. Anything else burns the plastic. Pricier models can crush ice too. I loved my Hamilton Beach.
Bigger processors. I only use when need to grate lots of vegs for making kimchi. And blending the kimchi sauce.
In every day cooking, just chopping manually often takes shorter time, than assembling the machine, then all the proper cleanup. Good knife skills are always a good thing anyway.
The only thing I can think of that a BIG machine would do for me, is when making big batches of meatballs. A double batch with 2 packets of ground meat is still manageable with muscling it around. And I'm not baking anymore... Oh, forgot...possibly it's the tool needed if I wanna start make nut butters. At the price I'm paying for a jar of almond butter, it's probably worth making my own...soon!
If you have a big family with kids, I think a big processor are more worth it.
Then there's the luxury semi pro tools with heat and whatnot.
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I have a food processor, and I use it often. Most recently, I've started ricing cauliflower with it. Takes two seconds. I also use it to shred cooked meats (cooked chicken for salads, cooked Italian sausage for pizza or lasagna, cooked beef for tacos, etc.- I like the taste better than buying pre-ground meat). Also for chopping onion too, since I'm very sensitive to those. Gets it all done at once.
I'd really like to upgrade to a Ninja, though. Then I can get rid of my two blenders.
I also have an immersion blender that I use as much as the food processor, and a magic bullet that I use for protein smoothies. I guess I'm a gadget girl.0 -
Mom says she'll buy me a big one when I get married and a stand mixer when my first child is born, as is tradition.
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I bought a Hamilton Beach 10 Cup and I love it already. Just sliced up some celery and onion in like 2 seconds that would have taken me 10 minutes before. I love love love it.0
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