A food processor is a versatile kitchen equipment that you can use to chop, puree, slice, grind, or shred just about any kind of food, fast and easy. A number of models also help you beat eggs, knead dough, beat cake batter, grind meat, etc.
Why get a food processor
A food processor is ideal for you if you;
- shred or chop large amounts ingredients like cheese and nuts
- like to make homemade dips and sauces
- are gluten-free or like unique nut butters but would rather not pay the high prices
Types of Food Processors
There are various types of food processors, all designed to help you ease various kitchen tasks. Some of them are manual and others electric. These include;
- Blenders
- Food choppers
- Coffee grinders,
- Hand-held salad slicers,
- Hand-operated ricers,
- Meat or vegetable grinders
- Mandolins
- Cheese graters,
- Juicers
Here is a great post on top rated food processors.
Blenders
These are best for mixing and blending ingredients. Though most blenders only work with soft foods and liquids, a number of them come with attachments for chopping and can even crush ice.
Hand-operated food choppers
These are ideal for small chopping tasks. You only need to place your food in a unit or on a chopping board and then using your hand slap the top of the tool to start chopping. You can also use these for dicing. Hand-operated hand choppers can only handle small amounts of food at a go.
Coffee Grinders
These small kitchen appliances are designed to grind your own beans to improve the quality and taste of your coffee. Some coffee grinders are built-in certain coffee makers.
Hand-held Salad Slicers
These handy little tools in your hands quickly slice veggies directly into your salad or other food. They are easy to operate, clean and store.
Hand-operated Ricers
This kitchen tool has been around for a long time and was originally used to rice potatoes. Now you can use it to rice soft veggies and noodles.
Meat or Vegetable Grinders
These use various discs for fine to coarse grinding of your veggies and meats. Some larger mixers come with them as attachments.
Mandolins
These are simple slicing, shredding or grating tools. The process involves manually moving the vegetable back and forth over the cutting blades. We have some mandolins made from stainless steel and others from plastic. Different mandolins have different size blades.
Juicers
Juicers process fruits and vegetables by removing the juice from the pulp. We have electric ones and manual ones.
Cheese Graters
Their main purpose is grating, either cheese or other foods like vegetables. Most of them are manual. The box type where the grated cheese accumulates in the center of the grater is more common in homes and the rotary style ones are used more in restaurants for hard cheeses. Some electric food processors may have a disc that can be used for grating large quantities of cheese.
Food processors are quick and efficient. They save you time and energy. They are also easy to clean and store. Regardless of your needs, there is a food processor for you.