Is your food processor worth its space?

Latest Articles

Is your food processor worth its space?
Page 1, 2 Next

Downsizer Forum Index -> Recipes, Preserving, Homebrewing

Author

Message

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 9:35 pm Post subject: Is your food processor worth its space?

Or is it gathering dust? Having created a lot more space in my kitchen, I'm now looking at buying one, as I've always wanted one, but I've done without it for so long, I can't think of many things I would need it for. Mayonaise and pate is so far all I can think of.

I'm happy to make cakes and pastry by hand, I've a breadmaker and a handblender that covers most things, I don't mind chopping and grating.

I'm thinking about a compromise - a saucemaker. I know it sounds like a daft gadget, but it makes lemoncurd and mayonaise (and hollandaise), smoothies, and would make hot chocolate and porridge at the appropriate ends of the day while I'm walking the dogs (I don't have a microwave). I really think it would be more use to me, and take up less space - Any thoughts, anyone?

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 9:42 pm Post subject:
We've not got a proper food processor. We've got a blender, a mixer and a mini processor (which we bought when Ben was little for his food and is still used for stuff like pesto). I could probably do without the mixer, but I guess it depends on what you cook. Unless you can't make something which you really like because you don't have one I'd spend the money on something else.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28243
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 9:57 pm Post subject:
As I have acquired decent knives and practiced more, ours is used a lot less. In fact given our shortage of work surface, your post really makes me ask whether ours deserves its "prime" spot, or even a spot at all.

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 10:16 pm Post subject:
Mine more than deserves its' space. I've had it 15 years and only just started to really appreciate it. It's used for soups, smoothies, pates, houmous, crumble toppings and all sorts. The only problem is it needs to be about 3 times its' current size!

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 10:17 pm Post subject:

My personal experience is that a blender and grinder are better than a food processor. I had a food processor many years ago, and found it a waste of space. I do like my hand crank kitchen machines, and have a fair collection (part of my research for writing a booklet on manual food processors) of grinders, mills, graters, juicers, a flaker and mincer. Unfortunatly I have not yet found one machine that does everything or even most things really well, but get best results from dedicated machines. A machine that comes close (a high effeciency pulper) is in my head, but still trying to find a way to make it affordably.
But as Sean said, it all depends on what you make, and how often you are likely to use it. I suppose the simplest food processor is a knife (if I remember rightly a point raised in that famous Buddhist cook book) and your teeth, but rather limited when you want to make food more interesting and get on with other things.

Gervase

Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 8:21 am Post subject:

Ouch, now I'm feeling guilty at spending all that money on ours!
Interesting, though, that the stand-alone blender probably gets three times the use of the mixer, which I mainly use to knock up batches of pizza dough once a week. Some of that idleness is because we haven't got a decent oven, however - cake-making is on hold until I can cook the things in a proper oven.
I'll readily admit that all the various slicing and juicing attachments get very little use though (after trying to chop a bushel of cider apples with the machine I gave up and resorted to the time-honoured 'whack 'em with a spade' technique and found that it was quicker, less messy and more fun!). The same with the mincer - cranking the handle of the old-fashioned cast-iron Spong mincer is just as easy and there's less to break and to wash up.
On balance, I think the mixer earns its place in the pantry. And, as a gadget freak, I like the design!

bagpuss

Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 10507
Location: cambridge

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 8:41 am Post subject:

For stand mixers I love my kitchenaid to pieces and probably use it at least once a week sometimes more though it is a different proposition to a food proccessor

I keep thnking a food processor would be useful, there are certain cakes which I think would be better made in a food processeor and maybe I would get better with pastry but then again it is surface space I don't have. I do have one fo the braun blenders with a whisk and a hand blender etc which I use but not as frequently

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 8:57 am Post subject:
It would never occur to me to make pastry in a machine, it's very easy by hand. I've often thought about a processor, but never taken the plunge. Our blender gets heavy use, though. Oh, a warning for you, never stick your nose in and smell the horseradish you've just dug out and blended. That would be a mistake. Shan't do that again, my head tingled for a good hour last night.

boff

Joined: 23 Mar 2005
Posts: 354
Location: Still alive and kicking

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 9:45 am Post subject:

I finally convinced mrs boff to remove the kenwood and attachments from the worktop as it spent most of its time under the lovely cream cover (nice).

Her reaction.....

"Havent we got a lot of space now thats gone......."

So, my thoughts,have these things if you want, just dont allow them to clutter your life or become items to just look at,after all,we could manage without them really.

(and when they do go wrong its more plastic for the landfill)

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 9:58 am Post subject:
Our kenwood gets a regular workout, plus we use the blender attachment on it.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 10:08 am Post subject:

That's a bit of a 'no' then! Jonnyboy, what do you use yours for?

Obviously it depends what you cook, but I reckon I'll be better off without one, most of the things people use it for, I don't mind doing by hand, or with one of my existing gadgets (not all that many, mostly due to lack of space)

With the money and the space, I can get the saucemaker, which will be worth it just for proper hot chocolate, and then I'll have bargining power for an icecream machine in the summer!

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 10:38 am Post subject:

If I'm honest I have barely used my mixer since moving here but I haven't done much in the way of big bakes lately.

Mum & Dad bought me a 2nd hand Kenwood off Ebay because I was hogging theirs - used it all the time at the last place but because it is sat on the top of the fridge I haven't used it once

My problem is atm we really don't have enough space to swing a cat in the kitchen and I'm the sort of cook that likes to spread out whilst I'm working - bit difficult in a room 9ft x 7ft

bagpuss

Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 10507
Location: cambridge

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 10:43 am Post subject:
certain appliances I can see the point of if you have the space and will use them, food processers, blenders, stand mixers but aren't sauce makers just an electric hob and a saucepan it is not just as easy to use an hob and saucepan or am I missing something

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 10:45 am Post subject:
Don't they have a stirring mechanism built in? Like a little version of the things that cafes in Italy keep their hot chocolate in.

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 05 11:00 am Post subject:
We've got one handily under the counter but for 2.5 of us the quantites don't generally merit it's use. However for larger meals, batch cooking, breadcrumbs and soup it's very handy. Generally lean towards keeping it.

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Recipes, Preserving, Homebrewing	All times are GMT Page 1, 2 Next
Page 1 of 2

View Latest Posts