Food Processors

[Ban Bot]

I have been thinking of getting one for the wife. There are a bazillion models and it seems even from decent brands there are a lot of models with a wide variety of reviews regarding quality and performance.

We are a big family (7) and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Something that can shred large blocks of cheese would be an important factor.

In my perfect work one that could slice cheese like cheddar relatively thin as well as lunch meat would be great. Also the thought of buying a brisket and making my own burger sounds appealing. I did say this was for my wife, right?

I have seen a couple Cuisinarts with solid reviews (could shred cheese but probably not slice meat or cheese). Breville has an adjustable blade model for slicing but I don't know strong it is. $200 range would be reasonable for our budget.

Any suggestions?

 

[NutBucket]

I doubt you could effectively slice meat or cheese in a food processor. You really need a meat slicer for that. Shredding works reasonably well but unless I have a lot to do I'll defer to the old knuckle buster since it isn't much slower and cleanup time is much less.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

KitchenAid is decent although, the older models are built much better than the newer ones. Cuisinart is a decent brand as well. Breville is rock bottom in quality. Regarding slicing cheese, I would go low tech and get a decent cheese slicer that uses a stainless steel wire rather than a food processor as they're not really built for that. If you have a decent mixer with a power take off, you could just get attachments for that instead.

 

[BUTCH1]

I've got an old '80's model that's built like a tank, makes great coleslaw and I put leftover London broil in it and chop it fine, then add BBQ sauce and it makes an excellent sandwich spread. To slice meats and cheese deli-style you would need a meat slicer, food processors can't do this, problem is it's kinda pricy for anything decent and it takes up a lot of counter space..

 

[spidey07]

Use our Cuisninart all the time. Powerful and gets the job done. Get the size larger than you think you'll need.

It "can" slice smaller cheeses but not really the right tool for the job. Does great shredding cheese though so you can save and shred your own instead of the crazy over priced bags of shredded cheese.

 

[bbhaag]

My wife uses a Cuisinart and it has held up really well. It's an older model though. Shes had it around 12 years if I remember right. She doesn't use it on a daily basis though but I do see it come out of the cupboard several times a month.

 

[Harrod]

You may want to check the reviews on the Kitchen-aid ones, we were about to get one and then read the reviews.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

You may want to check the reviews on the Kitchen-aid ones, we were about to get one and then read the reviews.

Like I said, the older ones were built better. Mine is 20 years old and works great. You don't HAVE to buy new. There are used appliance shops, pawn shops, swap meets and, craigslist. Robot Coupe builds bullet proof processors but, are obscenely expensive. You can check out restaurant liquidations as well.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Like I said, the older ones were built better. Mine is I'd20 years old and works great. You don't HAVE to buy new. There are used appliance shops, pawn shops, swap meets and, craigslist. Robot Coupe builds bullet proof processors but, are obscenely expensive. You can check out restaurant liquidations as well.

That's the truth. I have a 14 cup Cuisinart about that vintage. I hope it never dies. I'd never slice meat or cheese though.

 

[spidey07]

That's the truth. I have a 14 cup Cuisinart about that vintage. I hope it never dies. I'd never slice meat or cheese though.

I've got the "classic" size cuisinart and there are plenty of times I wish I had the larger one. Growing up my mom would use here's for just about every meal to do something. It was her goto appliance.

 

[Excelsior]

Use our Cuisninart all the time. Powerful and gets the job done. Get the size larger than you think you'll need.

It "can" slice smaller cheeses but not really the right tool for the job. Does great shredding cheese though so you can save and shred your own instead of the crazy over priced bags of shredded cheese.

My Cusinart kicks ass. Its the black/silver heavy one. Really powerful.

 

[spidey07]

My Cusinart kicks ass. Its the black/silver heavy one. Really powerful.

I have no doubts that thing could turn my hand to mush in mere seconds. The torque is insane. Very heavy for it's size. 15-16 pounds.

 

[Excelsior]

I have no doubts that thing could turn my hand to mush in mere seconds. The torque is insane. Very heavy for it's size. 15-16 pounds.

Yeah, its heavier than one would believe just looking at it. I've learned to pulse, and pulse for a short amount of time so as to not obliterate whatever I was processing.

 

[spidey07]

The food processor and our stand mixer get all the work by far. Two essentials to have IMHO.

I had a thread on here long ago about being out of butter and needing some right now. But we had cream and a food processor. Made some seriously yummy butter with it.

I know we're not using it to its full potential but it is a powerful tool. Looking at prices it's cheap for what it can do.

 

[BoomerD]

My wife has 3...all KitchenAid.

One small one she uses mostly for chopping nuts when she's baking, one 9 cup that she's had for about 10 years, and one 13 cup that I bought for Christmas. That one has a shit-ton of different blades and shredding attachements.

http://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/countertop-appliances-1/countertop-appliances-2/food-processors-3/-[KFP1333ER]-401261/KFP1333ER/

She uses them pretty frequently, mostly for chopping/shredding/slicing vegetables, not for meats and cheeses. (although the two larger ones will do a good job of shredding cheese.)

 

[RossMAN]

http://www.costco.com/Cuisinart-Pre...ssor-With-Blade-Storage.product.11761886.html

 

[EliteRetard]

I was gonna say get one of those pro meat slicers...but not for $200.
In fact trying to find one like I have seems impossible, it's adjustable and has interchangeable blades and can shred and even make those weird criss-cross potatoes.

Apparently they don't make them like that anymore...hope this one doesn't break then.

 

[bbhaag]

http://www.costco.com/Cuisinart-Pre...ssor-With-Blade-Storage.product.11761886.html

Wow they look a lot fancier now. The one we have looks more like this one.

 

[Rakehellion]

In my perfect work one that could slice cheese like cheddar relatively thin as well as lunch meat would be great.

You'll want a slicer for that, not a food processor.

Also the thought of buying a brisket and making my own burger sounds appealing. I did say this was for my wife, right?

You want a grinder. A meat grinder is what you're looking for.

 

[Kaido]

We are a big family (7) and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Something that can shred large blocks of cheese would be an important factor.

Sizing is really important. I initially purchased a really nice 9-cup KitchenAid; the problem was that it was too big for most of the recipes I used, so I would have to double or triple everything to get it to work. I ended up getting a smaller (and much older) Black & Decker Power Pro unit from a yard sale for five bucks & use that all the time now. Here's a couple of my go-to recipes:

Cookie Dough Bites

Cashew Butter

Check locally & used for good deals on them (unless you find used food equipment too weird) - these things are like exercise machines, everybody buys them & nobody uses them, so you can sometimes snag amazing deals because people just want to offload them.

 

[Kaido]

You want a grinder. A meat grinder is what you're looking for.

There are exceptions - Alton Brown's "Burger of the Gods" chuck & sirloin burger recipe from Good Eats uses a food processor:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/burger-of-the-gods-recipe.html

 

[Kaido]

Something that can shred large blocks of cheese would be an important factor.

If you do a lot of cheese, you may want to look into a salad shooter. They're like $30 online. Just stick a block of cheese in it & out comes shredded cheese, super easy!

 

[xanis]

I bought this Black & Decker food processor a while back. I don't use it often and it sounds like a jet engine when it's on, but it works well.

 

[Kaido]

I doubt you could effectively slice meat or cheese in a food processor. You really need a meat slicer for that. Shredding works reasonably well but unless I have a lot to do I'll defer to the old knuckle buster since it isn't much slower and cleanup time is much less.

I inherited a metal deli slicer from a friend; I don't use it often, but when I do, it's amazing - meat, cheese, bread, whatever. It's a monster & takes up WAY too much room, but if you're cooking for a family of 7, it could be a real money-saver. The 7"-blade model I have runs $130 on Amazon: (not sure how this compares to other models, but hey, it was free!)

http://www.amazon.com/Choice-610-Pre...dp/B0002AKCOC/

I've been using mine for about 5 years now, along with a Foodsaver vacuum-bag sealer. I have an old thread on the combo here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=279462

I picked up a pellet grill this year, which doubles as a smoker, so it's really easy to make smoked turkey & chicken. I'll be putting that slicer to good use this summer :thumbsup:

 

[NetWareHead]

There are exceptions - Alton Brown's "Burger of the Gods" chuck & sirloin burger recipe from Good Eats uses a food processor:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/burger-of-the-gods-recipe.html

Here my interpretation and feel free to disagree if you wish to. Most people don't have meat grinders. Food processors are way more common. You sure can use a food processor to grind meat. Note the directions say to pulse to meat. If you are careful, you can achieve a ground like quality. Too much pulsing and you end up with meat puree. My intuition says that you would get better results in an actual grinder vs a processor. Can you "grind" meat in a food processor. Sure if you know what you are doing. I have a meat grinder and food processor and know which tool I would choose when making hamburgers.