Can you recommend your food processor?

[smcdonald2]

I've been on my own for 10 years now and have never needed a food processor, but lately it seems like it would be handy. Especially since I want to make my own baby food!

Is there a difference between a food processor and a blender? Do I need both?

What size? They seem to come in 3,7,9 or 12 cup sizes...what's best if I'm cooking for four?

Is there a particular brand you like? I imagine the Kitchenaid ones are fantastic, but they're pretty pricey. Something under $100 would be great. Thanks!

[boogiemomz]

I've been on my own for 10 years now and have never needed a food processor, but lately it seems like it would be handy. Especially since I want to make my own baby food!

Is there a difference between a food processor and a blender? Do I need both?

What size? They seem to come in 3,7,9 or 12 cup sizes...what's best if I'm cooking for four?

Is there a particular brand you like? I imagine the Kitchenaid ones are fantastic, but they're pretty pricey. Something under $100 would be great. Thanks!

i agree it is pricey, but i LOVE my kitchenaid food processor. it is definitely different than a blender, and if i could only keep one, it would be my FP hands down. (i find blenders really annoying most of the time, but maybe i'm just not very proficient with mine). i'm not sure if i have the 9 or the 12 (or even the 7...?), but it comes with a smaller bowl attachment for smaller jobs. i would say this is an item you don't want to skimp in price on. mine is a total workhorse and it is fabulous. you might be able to use a 20% off at bed bath & beyond, or find a new one on ebay or amazon for less $$$.

we all have those appliances that we think we will love and then NEVER use (belgian waffle maker anyone? wedding gift 4 years ago, has never left the box? yeeaahh...), and it seems like the FP might be one of those, but it definitely isn't, at least not for me. i make pesto, hummus, bread crumbs, pie crust/biscuit dough, bread dough, etc. haven't tried baby food yet but it's coming soon! if you're going to get one, i would say spring for the kitchenaid, but that's JMO. good luck!

[zoestargrove]

I have a 9 (or 10) cup Cuisinart FP. It's a very useful appliance. Besides the obvious uses you would have for a FP like shredding cheese and processing veggies - you will never make pie crust by hand ever again. I think I love my FP most for how quick and easy pie crusts and scones are to make now.

Unless you were going to splurge on a super blender like a vitamix - I think a food processor is a much more powerful and useful item than a blender.

I haven't replaced my blender since it broke 5 years ago - the FP is a fine substitute, though with mine it can get a little messy with very liquidy mixtures.

[hillview]

I used the cuisinart mini prep for babyfood. It worked fine and was cheap. I also have the larger cuisinart which is more $$ but also more flexible.
/hillary

[clc053103]

I have the Cuisinart duet blender/food processor and parts broke repeatedly- however, I love my 10 cup cuisinart!!!!

[elliput]

I have a Kitchen Aid FP and love it! Last week I made a wonderful carrot cake that used the FP exclusively for mixing the wet ingredients. The model I have also has a mini-bowl which is handy for doing small jobs.

There are some things that I really prefer my blender for- smoothies, margaritas, etc.

[Uno-Mom]

We have the big kitchenaid and it's AWESOME!!!! We use it tons. Totally worth the $ for our style of cooking.

**But, we don't actually use it much for making our baby food. The thing we do use is a hand blender. It's much easier to clean, you just pop the wand into the dishwasher. And you can blend the food in any old dish, big or small. At first we thought we'd just use it for single servings (avocado when DD needed super-smooth) but now we're using it for big batches as well.

the big processors are well worth the money if you'll use them for your everday cooking. But if it's just for baby food, the hand-held ones are fine and much cheaper. Make sure it's dishasher safe.

If you're into this kind of thing, American Test Kitchen does very good tests and reviews comparing the different brands and explaining what to look for. For example, their testing indicates that teh Kitchenaid and CUisenart (sorry for spelling) are nearly neck and neck, but the Cuisenart is a bit better if you make a lot of bread and the K is a bit better for chopping veggies.

[m448]

I also have a cuisinart 14 cup and I use it pretty often. I crank out half dozen or more pie crusts, wrap them in discs and keep them in the freezer for when I need a crust or two. I make small batches of bread in there (so if I need just one loaf it's easier than hand kneading and my kids getting into something while I'm up to my elbows in dough). I love the slicing attachment for scalloped potatoes even if it did nothing else. I also whiz up the nonmeat ingredients of my meatloaf in there (and I make huge batches of meatloaf) until it's a paste and I mix that paste into the meat. Biscuits or any kind of short dough are a breeze in the food processor especially when you're wanting to use well chilled butter. Hummus of course, any other dips and sometimes pesto though most times I'll make pesto in the vitamix.

I don't use it for soups, etc. since I have an immersion blender and I prefer to just stick it in the pot since I make double and triple portions.

[Pepper]

I have the 14-cup Cuisinart, too, and I love it. I use it to make bread dough and cookie dough a lot...but for everyday stuff I use my 11-cup Cuisinart. That's also the one that I used to make baby food. I think the 12-cup size would be fine for a family of 4 to puree sweetpotatoes, make meatloaf, shred cheese or zucchini, carrots etc.

Check out the Black and Decker line of applicances - I used to have one of theirs and I really liked it. Their prices are usually very competitive, too.

[fauve01]

I LOVE the 11-cup Cuisinart FP I got Costco. It came with an extra bowl and also a pizza tray. I use it a lot more than I thought i would! And i like having a BIGger size than the mini chopper. i am always making a big batch of something--especially the food puree blends from the sneaky chef cookbook.

I have a blender too, but i use the FP more often (at least these days--sometimes we have a smoothie phase).

Anne