Need More Time? Read These Tips To Eliminate Food Processor
Application that easily incorporates a number of unique kinds of food processing equipment from juicers to
manual choppers, because they all work to process foods, in one form or another.
However, for the purpose of this Guide, we'll look at typical food processors and note their unique
differences.
Though some may seem similar, not all food processors have the same function, and these differences
Become very important once you're contemplating buying one.
Please note that though I've listed the typical function of each type, not all models include blades or
discs for each function. This is merely to indicate that some tools are more commonly designed for one
function or another, but exceptions do exist.
Blenders - Mixing, Mixing
Though some versions have processing functions or attachments for chopping, most blenders can only
Depending on the blade, some models can crush ice for blended
frozen drinks.
Blender Buying Tips
Hand-Operated Food Choppers - Chopping, Dicing
This is the kind of chopper where you place the onion or vegetable in small portions either in the unit or
Some models have a rotary hand-turn operation.
Choppers can be quite convenient for quick, small chopping/dicing tasks.
More About Hand Choppers
cutting blades for slicing, grating or shredding.
The process is usually done by moving the vegetables back and forth over the cutting blades. It's a quick,
Manual process with a mandoline that's reasonably easy to store and use. The process does not usually
include chopping.
These are mostly manual and come in various styles for grating cheese and most households have more
Than one shape or size. The most common are the box type where the grated cheese accumulates in the
Center of the grater, but the fun rotary style that's used in restaurants for hard cheeses such as
Parmesan has turned into a family dinner favorite. Electric food processors (described below), may have a
Disc that can be used for grating large amounts of cheese.
Coffee Grinders - Grinding Coffee Beans
Due to the shape of the cutter and design of the appliance, coffee grinders should be used only for
grinding fresh coffee beans. They're small, economical and practical appliances for grinding your own
Beans to improve the flavor of your coffee. There are some coffee makers that are designed with a builtin
coffee grinder.
Vegetable or Meat Grinders - Grinding
These come in electric and manual models and though they are very useful kitchen tools, their function
Is mainly to grind with various discs for fine to coarse grinding.
Antique Meat Grinders
Hand-Operated Ricers - Ricing
Once used merely for ricing potatoes, creative cooks have expanded on this decades-old kitchen tool,
using it to push through other soft cooked vegetables or fresh noodles.
Juicers - Separate Juice from Pulp
Though juicers do process fruits and vegetables, they merely remove the juice from the pulp, something
A food processor cannot do. Electric juicers are more popular than manual models since they require
less effort, but are more expensive.
Juicer Buying Tips
How to Buy a Juicer Video
Hand-Held Salad Slicers - Slicing, Shredding, Grating
Presto's SaladShooter™ made these types of small hand-held electric slicers very popular. They're timesavers
And intended to be held while slicing vegetables directly into a salad.
The operation is straightforward and they're easy to store and clean.
Compact or Mini Choppers/Processors - Chopping, Grinding, Mixing
Though they are called processors, their functions are limited. These are 1-4 cup appliances for chopping
onions, nuts, and spices, or for making small batches of dressings, salsa, vegetables or condiments.
They're very convenient for everyday chopping/mixing needs and for making baby food from left-overs.
These small choppers typically do not have any slicing or shredding abilities because they lack a feeding
tube and cutting discs.
Food Processor/Chopper Buying Tips
Convenience of Compact Processors
Compare prices
Large Food Processors - Various Functions From Chopping to Bread Dough
Typically called food processors, these can be found in various capacity sizes, from 5-12 cups with the
smaller range being more of a chopper with limited processing abilities.
A 5-9 cup food processor will often have one disc (circular blade cutter) that enables at least some
slicing, grating, and shredding. Prices of these units are influenced by power performance in Addition to the
number of accessories. A large food processor with several discs, a dough hook plus a smaller work
Bowl, will be priced in the higher range, but you'll have the ability to use it for several applications.
How can you tell what function a particular food processor has? Examine the accessories and the design
of the unit. A processor that only chops, will not have a feeding tube design which is Required for adding
foods to be sliced or shredded. Some food processors may have limited accessories, but optional ones
May be available for purchase to raise its function.
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