Need a food processor

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pacanis

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OK, gonna pull the trigger on a FP.
At a member's suggestion, a mini is too small and I believe him. So I'm looking for comments on what might be the perfect size for me to get. I see there are 7's, 9's, 11's, 14's... it seems all kinds of sizes. Very confusing.
Is there such a thing as getting too big a one? I typically only cook for myself, so let's discount chopping an onion, but what about "capucchino cupcakes" (for instance)....
Can a FP really shred? Will it do something like a head of cabbage (cut into wedges maybe?).
Are multiple blades really that useful? Or do you find you leave the same blade in all the time?

Looking for any and all advice :)
And any considerations I may have missed.
 
pacanis... I just did the cappucchino cupcakes with a hand mixer. It worked out just fine.
 
Thanks, but I don't have a hand mixer.
A food processor might multi-task better for me.
 
I've got one and I occasionally use it, mostly for pureeing cuz the blender doesn't do it as well. Also for small batches of pizza dough (shame on me). Tried the discs that came with it and wasn't impressed. I'd rather do most tasks by hand, if the truth be known. Better control on the results. A FP doesn't really take the place of a mixer - apples and oranges so to speak.
 
I find I use the FP when I have to work with larger quantities than for a dinner recipe. For example, three cups of shredded carrots for a carrot cake takes no time at all in a FP. A large quantity of cabbage for a slaw - same thing.

I have also used the FP to make a quick pie crust and it does a fine job.

As far as using it to slice an onion or cucumber, I reach for a knife.

Also, I have found a regular blender is much better at pureeing liquids like soups. A FP can only handle smaller amounts of a liquid because it will leak out under the blade.
 
I pretty well agree with everything Andy M. says. I use my blender for blending, and my food processor for grating (though my grater blade bit the dust a few months ago). I use it for pastry and, obviously for those of you who have tuned into the thread, cappuccino cupcakes! I also do use it for some dips in my catering that are thicker as my FP has a bigger capacity than my blender. Mine has a french fry blade that makes great curly fries and so do those for fun sometimes, but do most of my fries and other slicing by hand.

It is great for large quantities of grated cheese, carrots, slaw, etc. but for a small amount I use a hand grater...less clean-up.

If you get one, I would suggest going larger than small and getting one with full metal blade units - mine had plastic centres and there are some with pieces that are interchangeable. These, as I found out, tend to break after heavy use.
 
If you're going to grow all those tomatoes for canning next year, may as well plant a bunch of basil too, and make pesto w/ your new food processor.

I use it for large amounts of shredding also.... cheaper to buy block cheese and shred it yourself, then seal in smaller packages. ..... then you have another use for the vaccum sealer too!
 
I was given a 9 cup KitchenAid FP and I am very happy with it. I make my own sofrito to bag and freeze. It is the foundation for most of my savory sauces, soups, and stews. It's great for grating carrots for cake and muffins, too.

I use my stand mixer for cakes and heavy cookie doughs. I have good knives that I used for slicing onions. I love using my knives. I use the hand mixer for box cakes and cupcakes.

I wouldn't give up my stand mixer, hand mixer, or food processor for anything.
 
Hi Pacanis - I just got a 12 cup Kitchen Aid. It has a 4 cup mini bowl. Knd of best fo both worlds. I "just" got it and have not played yest. It does seem capable of all the things that you are asking for.

Family dinner comming up this weekend, I'll tell you then.

AC
 
Wow.. this is perfect.. I've been thinking about getting a FP again. I've been lookin at getting a 9. I want to make pesto and hummis, breadcrumbs, etc.
 
Nine seems like a good size. Seven seems too close to four, which is a mini size.

I didn't know they can shred cheese, Suzi. I thought maybe cheese would be too soft. I buy blocks anyway and use a cheese grater, but that could be handy doing the whole block at once.
 
I'm in the office now and can say more (Y'all can groan now! ). This is all from my reading the manual and studying, but, here goes.

Discs - these things can make slices of whatever you put down the feed tube. Cool idea once you have sliced a Cucumber of Zucchini, stack all the slices up and drop them rotated 90 degrees - Julianne happens. Discs come in three thicknesses 2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 MM. Want be English measure? 2 mm is "roughly 1/16", so we go about 1/16, 1/8, and about 1/4, unless I messed up the math. The same thicknesses are offered in shredding. There is also an ice shaver disc.

Dough blade - I have seen quite a few bread recopies that use a food processor in the making of the dough. I'll stay with my mixer on this one, because the Food processor only has on, off and pulse.

Chopper blade - this one sits a bit off the floor of the bowl and does just what it says it does. I agree with everyone that has said that a blender liquefies better. The point is, if you want chunky instead of liquid, this is the tool for you.

The mini bowl is a great idea, in that it handles the small quantity nicely. With this feature, you get the 12 cup for the big stuff and slicing and shredding, plus the choice of a large or small bowl for chopping.

I hope this isn't dumb. If you have a FP this is old hat, If you don't it may be helpful. Hope it's the latter.

AC
 
I received a KitchenAid 12 cup for my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I love it. So far I used it to slice roma tomatoes, used the 2 mm blade and I was impressed, also tried some celery and it came out good. I used it to make a herb rub for a pork loin roast, using garlic cloves, fresh basil, and fresh flat parsley. The rub was nicely mixed and very finely minced. The roast was grilled and came out wonderfully. I made some shortcakes a couple of evenings ago and used the FP to mix the dry ingredients and then to incorporate the cubed butter into the mix, it made a well mixed base that came out in the proper sand and gravel texture and paved the way for great strawberry shortcake.

These are probably things that any quality FP can do, but the things I really like about the KitchenAid, in no particular order, it's very easy to clean, comes with a boatload of extra stuff, 2 slicing blades, a 4 cup minichopper, 1 grating blade, a dough blade, a spatula designed to fit the bowl, a case for the extra stuff, the pusher is a neat design with a two piece design that allows a small hole for things like carrots and round stuff the pusher also is a measuring cup and it has a small hole for drizzling oil for mayonnaise and pesto, it's quiet, did I mention that it's really easy to clean.
 
I think you'd have to cut them into french fries then feed taht into the slicer to get the dice.
 
I would love to find something that could dice potatoes..... it's so tedious cutting a potato into 1/8" slices, then 1/8" strips, then across all the uneven strips again the other way....
 
A robot coupe will dice potatos, It costs uber-dollars. Just give you an idea

The make french fries and then feed them back in is viable. forgot to mention that there is a french fry cutter disk available for Kitchen Aid.

AC

Oh, Adillo, what I would do to have a Robot Coupe! We used them at school and at the catering company (the one I apprenticed at, not my own). They are wonderful AND expensive. At the caterers we would have tons of bread ends so if I had time at the end of the week I would use it to make the best bread crumbs!

I had been looking at restaurant auctions for one for awhile and may still go that route someday.

As for french fry disks, mine (not a Kitchenaid) has one and it actually produces short curly fries, not long straight ones. I don't know how the Kitchenaid would fair on that.
 
I would love to find something that could dice potatoes..... it's so tedious cutting a potato into 1/8" slices, then 1/8" strips, then across all the uneven strips again the other way....

It's good knife skill practice. I could dice those potatoes up before you can say "pulse". :chef:

I thought the FP would be good for grating cheese, then I broke the disk on the first try. Now, only the DW uses it mostly for baking. I hate cleaning the darn thing too.
 
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