What Should I Look For in A Food Processor?

Bowl Capacity

Bowls for food processors can run anywhere from 1 to 20 cups. Size is the number one thing you need to think about when purchasing a food processor. If it is too big it may not fit in your kitchen well and if it is too small it won’t be big enough to do the job. Your first consideration is to decide what your needs are. The size of a food processor is determined by the bowl capacity.

Keep in mind you will not be able to fill the bowl all the way to the top, especially with liquids. For example, if you plan on making four cups of soup, you will need a processor that is at least an 8 cup model.

Size categories usually run like this:

4 cups or smaller are considered minis. A mini food processor is good for chopping, grinding pureeing, and blending in small amounts. It takes up minimal amount of counter space or can easily fit in a cupboard.

5 – 8 cups are compact models. A compact model is great if you don’t have much room in your kitchen or if maybe there are just two of you. They can do most of what a full size model can, just on a smaller scale.

9 cups and larger are full size models. If you do a lot of cooking and have room in your kitchen, this is definitely the way you want to go. There are a variety of blades available and some can even mix dough.

Feed Tube

Another thing to consider is the size of the feed tube. The larger the feed tube, the less cutting you will have to do before you put your food in the processor.

Accessories

Most food processors come with a few basics. A rule of thumb is the bigger processor you buy the more accessories it is likely to come with. Determine what is important to you. Do you love to bake? Then a processor with a dough blade might be useful to you. If juicing is something you like to do, then purchasing a unit that is compatible with a juicing attachment is probably a good idea. Many times there are extra accessory packages available, however, not all accessories are available for all models so determine which accessories are important to you and make sure they are available for that particular model.

One accessory you can’t hardly do without is extra bowls. A single recipe may require different components. You don’t want to have to spend all your time washing bowls so you may even want more than one extra.

Power and Speeds

Power is very important. If your processor is not powerful enough you are not going to get consistent results. For example, if you do not have enough power, some of your vegetables could end up liquified while others could still be in big chunks. Food you are shredding could end up all different kinds of sizes. Read the reviews and see what people are saying about the power on a unit you are considering. If there is a problem with it not being powerful enough you will surely read about it in the reviews.

There are two motor types; direct driven and belt driven. With a belt driven model the motor and the bowl sit side by side. They are connected by a drive belt and wheels. With a direct driven model, the bowl will sit up on top of the motor. This gives it a more direct transfer of power. If you are comparing two different models that have identical wattage, keep in mind that the direct driven will actually give you more issuable power per watt.

The number of speeds that a food processor has isn’t really all that important. You are actually controlling the speed through pulsing. Therefore, technically you really only need one speed. Don’t don’t get too hung up on the number of speeds a processor has.

I have researched several very good models. I have only included in my list models that have received great reviews overall. All of the models I have chosen have at least a 3.5 out of 5.0 average rating and the majority of them have an average rating of 4.0 and above. To make shopping easier for you I have divided my suggestions into categories by cup size.

Now that you know what to look for – let’s start shopping!

3 and 4 Cup Food Processors

Cuisinart DFP-3 Handy Prep 3-Cup Food ProcessorCuisinart DLC-4CHB Mini-Prep Plus 4-Cup Food Processor, Brushed StainlessHamilton Beach Mini 3-Cup Food ProcessorKitchenAid KFC3516ER 3.5 Cup Food Chopper, Empire Red

 

7 and 8 Cup Food Processors

KitchenAid KFP0711CU Food Processor, 7 Cup, Contour SilverNinja Mega Kitchen System (BL771)Hamilton Beach Compact 8-Cup Food Processor & Vegetable Chopper

 

Nine Cup Food Processors

KitchenAid KFP0922OB 9-Cup Food Processor with Exact Slice System – Onyx BlackBraun K650 Multiquick 600-watt Kitchen Machine Food Processor

 

10 Cup Food Processors

Hamilton Beach 10-Cup Food Processor & Vegetable Chopper with Compact Storage (70760)Black & Decker FP2500B PowerPro Wide-Mouth 10-Cup Food Processor, BlackHamilton Beach 10-Cup Food Processor & Vegetable Chopper with Bowl Scraper, Stainless Steel (70730)Hamilton Beach 70610K Chef Prep Food Processor, Includes Extra Kugel Disc

 

11 to 13 Cup Food Processors

Hamilton Beach Stack and Snap 12 Cup Food ProcessorCuisinart FP-12 Elite Collection FP-12 12-Cup Food Processor (White)Kitchenaid Adjust 13-cup Food Processor Die Cast Metal Metallic Chrome Kfp1344mcCuisinart DLC-8SY Pro Custom 11-Cup Food Processor, White

 

Fourteen Cup Food Processors

Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Deluxe 14-Cup Food ProcessorCuisinart FP-14DC Elite Collection 14-Cup Food ProcessorGourmia Gourmet Grade 14 Cup Food ProcessorCuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor, Brushed Stainless Steel

 

Sixteen Cup Food Processors

Breville Sous Chef Food ProcessorCuisinart Elite Collection Food ProcessorKitchenAid Pro Line Food Processor