Food Processor - What you really use it for?

Pitlanepiglet

I had one in the past that I didn't use so this time around I bought a Kenwood chef (which I use loads) and the high speed slicer attachment. This avoids having yet another gadget to store.

If I was buying a stand along processor I'd probably buy something cheap and cheerful and try not to be seduced by all sorts of extras that I probably wouldn't use.

I've also started forcing myself to wait a couple of weeks before I buy anything, I'm a bit of a gadget freak and I'm prone to thinking that I really NEED whatever it is that I'm looking at. After a couple of weeks if I still really NEED it then I go for it but often I've lost interest!

I've also started using the car boot sale as my first point of call for shopping!

Barneysmom

YUp! I've got a Kenwood Chef too, and it's a workhorse, I do all my own biscuits now, never buy any. And cakes too :cool:
I bought the attatchment to grate and shred so when I buy a big bag of carrots I grate them all in one go, bag 'em up and freeze them.
If it's left in the cupboard it'll never get used so clear a space for it.
Oh, my butternuit squash soup has been greatly improved by the blender attatchment too!

thriftlady_2

jaybee wrote: »

I use mine a lot - BUT I keep it on the work surface. If it was kept in a cupboard I wouldn't bother to get it out half the time (that was the case in the past when I had a smaller kitchen with less worktop space).

Jaybee is absolutely right. I use mine far more now it is on the worktop.

Pitlanepiglet

I do keep mine in a cupboard and I use it a lot. It's only a case of opening the cupbard and lifting it out. I don't think it's vital to have it kept out but it does need to be easy to get out and not buried at the back of a cupboard.

esmf73

I have my mums kenwood chef and keep it on the worktop - mainly because it doesn't fit in the cupboard!!!! But I had another food processor prior to this. If you like to bake your own cakes, biscuits etc and make your own soup then it is definately a fantastic buy!!! I noticed that they have some in Lidl's Andover at the moment cheaply.

If you're going to use it a lot then I'd spend the money and get a good one - make sure you get the attachments that you'd use, rather then a load that just sit in the cupboard.

Rummer

I love using it for baking, saves ages trying to mix things, I know it is cheating but life is too short! It does have lots of other attachments but I have not tried them.

onedayiwill

I was given one four or five years ago. Sold it last year having only used it twice ... Obviously not something I personally use.

hotcookie101

I have had one for 5 or 6 years, reckon I had used it 5 times before last month, when I got a dishwasher, and have used it 4 times since then, thinly slicing spuds, blitzing soups etc Not for the blades but the jugs....
I wont be putting the bits of my 35 year old (heirloom) kenwood chef in there though

foxgloves

If you do a lot of cooking from scratch, you'll probably use it a lot. If you're not that keen on cooking, then you probably won't. We had one for a wedding present and we've used it loads. Use it for soups, curry pastes, grinding things like nuts, seeds, spices, coffee beans, making pastry, some cakes (tho' I still use an eleectric whisk for a lot of the cakes I make), chopping onions & other ingredients when there are loads of them such as for chutneys, etc, chopping veg & leftover meat very finely for making mince/cottage pie, etc. I used to use it for making bread dough too before we got a breadmaker machine. I use the grater discs for making coleslaw. The only attachment I don't use at all is the juicer. The motor on our food pro is starting to sound a bit 'grindey' and I'd have to say that if it conked out tomorrow, I'd definitely want to replace it. I know this sounds a silly suggestion, but what we really need with these bigger gadgets is being able to sort of hire one so we can test it out for a week before deciding!

purpleivy

I have a food processor that I got for a wedding present 23+years ago. I use it a lot. Pastry, scones, grating cheese, chopping veg, making breadcrumbs and lots more.

I'm having a bit of a dilemma at the moment. The food processor is showing big signs of wear, the frame the blades sit on is cracked and the central spindle that the bowl and blade sit on is cracked right down. I'm not sure how long it's going to last. I have an aged chef that I got off freecycle, but don't know how long that wil go on. In reality I would rather have one machine, but I'm not sure there is a machine that will do the jobs I use each for. I've kind of committed to keeping the chef for now, as I've just bought a mincer for it, as I want to make sausages.

I use the chef for cakemaking mainly, meringues, also to make ice cream mixes.