Is it a food processor or a blender? What's the difference? The difference is actually important and that's why I chose a food processor over a blender when I was looking for kitchen appliances. A food processor is like a blender on steroids. Blenders have on job-to crush and blend what ever is in the blender glass. No subtly, not many options. A food processor can do that also, you can make a smoothie in a food processor. However, you can also chop, slice, mince, blend, mix, and stir while controlling each function. Again you have a wide variety of options to chose from. Size will vary as will the motor strength. Some food processors will come with a large assortment of attachments, most will have two or three blades and slicer. Color is usually white or stainless steel and many people keep there food processors in a cabinet.
Is The Bowl Big Enough?
Let's start with the bowl. 10 cups is big, large enough for any job. If the bowl is too small you can end up with badly chopped vegetables or poorly mixed batters. If you don't want to end up with a smooth mix, such as a guacamole, you want a bowl large enough that pulsing a few times will mix the ingredients well. If the bowl is too small the items get packed and you end up over-mixing. The other part of the bowl to watch for is the food chute. Make sure it is large enough to handle chunks of fruits or veggies. After all, you are trying to save time and if you have to chop food into small chunks you have defeated your purpose.
A Good Value
I like this Hamilton Beach appliance for a variety of reasons. It has a lot of power, the motor is 450 watts and it allows me to mix and chop just about anything. The control dial is very easy to use and you have 2 speeds plus a pulse setting. That's really all you need with a food processor, more speeds are redundant.
Another great feature that I haven't found on other processors is the bowl scraper attachment. It's a wonderful time saver and I don't know why other manufacturers haven't adopted this. The attachment scrapes the side of the bowls so you don't constantly have to stop and scrape by hand. Brilliant!
I bought this unit for a lot of reasons and one reason is price. I looked at Cuisinart processors at $200 and a few others that were over $150 and shuddered at the price. This unit was on sale for under $50 and has worked well for the 5 years I have had it. It's definitely more than a blender.
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