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Food Processor Purchasing Tips

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Begin by consider your personal cooking preferences and the numbers of people for whom you regularly prepare food. Those considerations are important because they directly impact the features and capacity that you’ll need. If, for instance, you like to make coleslaw, but don’t have any interest in juicing, there’s no reason to spend extra money on a food processor with a juicer attachment – a shredder-style discs are standard on most food processors, so a basic model would probably work just fine. Additionally, if you regularly cook for mid-sized crowds, you’d probably enjoy a food processor with a large bowl capacity, but if you usually prepare food only for yourself a greater bowl capacity probably isn’t worth the added expense. A final “preference” consideration centers upon the size of the feed tube. If your cooking style involves a lot of sliced or chopped vegetables, you might really enjoy a food processor with a feed tube capable of handling whole potatoes, tomatoes, and other commonly sliced fruits and vegetables. Some other basic tips:

• Review warranties and return policies: Among the many food processor options, kneading dough is among the most difficult on the machine. Small or poorly constructed food processors may struggle with such an intense operation, so if you choose a processor that allows dough kneading, make sure that your warranty provides you with adequate coverage.

• Dishwasher safe: As convenient as food processors are, cleaning them can still be a bit of a chore. However, it’s no longer uncommon for many food processor parts to be dishwasher safe, so try to choose a food processor that affords you that convenience (though the motor housing/base, of course, should never be placed in a dishwasher).

• Space constraints: The smallest of modern food processors are very small, but full-sized food processors can be relatively bulky and weigh 20 lbs. or more. As you choose your food processor, think about its place in your kitchen and the necessary size and weight limitations.

Consumer Reports (CR) recently tested a large number of mini, mid-sized and full-sized food processors. A number of processors performed well but Cuisinart’s DLC-5, priced at $100, received CR’s best buy rating for its combination of features and affordability. The DLC-5 is a midsized processor, but if you have limited space you might also consider the Cuisinart Little Pro Plus, which received high marks from CR and is prices at under $75.

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