Will a food processor save time? Are they worth getting?

ginger_chocolate

Just wondering if anyone has any experience to share:
I am really time-poor at the moment and find that chopping lots of veggies for meals just takes up too much time. I noticed that a lot of 'fast' recipes I find online gain their speed from using a food processor to chop. 
I'm curious about whether this actually saves a meaningful amount of time or whether you just end up spending ages cleaning the thing? Are they worth buying?
If I did get one, would a cheap and cheerful one do the job, or do you need to invest in something fancy?

Sandtree

Depends on the volume you are cutting... chop one onion then any saving on chopping time is going to be outweighed by cleaning time but do large batch cooking then its certainly a benefit. Also depends on your knife skills, chopping something like an onion I am quick with a knife but slicing 2 packs of mushrooms would take much longer than using a slicing disk.

wort

I’ve only ever used mine to grate a block of cheese, and then I found it such a faff to clean I don’t bother. Easier to chop and grate as needed. 

bouicca21

I have a mini one that I use a lot. It’s not fancy but is good for making hummus and pesto and grating carrots/veg.  I also use it to smash up the food waste that goes in my wormery.

comeandgo

How long have you been preping vegetables?  The more experience you have the quicker it gets.  I do have food processor but find before I take it out of the cupboard, fix it up then wash up afterwards and put away, I’m quicker with sharp knife and peelers.

ginger_chocolate

comeandgo said:

How long have you been preping vegetables?  The more experience you have the quicker it gets.  I do have food processor but find before I take it out of the cupboard, fix it up then wash up afterwards and put away, I’m quicker with sharp knife and peelers.

I've been cooking from scratch for over 20 years so I think I'm as fast as I'm gonna get!

ginger_chocolate

bouicca21 said:

I have a mini one that I use a lot. It’s not fancy but is good for making hummus and pesto and grating carrots/veg.  I also use it to smash up the food waste that goes in my wormery.

Do you remember how much it cost and where from? Is it a pain to clean?

Floss

If you're chopping lots of veg then plan what order to chop in - onions, carrots & peppers before mushrooms so you only wash up once.

I have a large food processor and a mini chopper. The FP gets rarely used now I am cooking for one but is good for chopping veg for freezing or when feeding a number of people. The mini chopper is great for very finely chopped stuff, herbs, hummus etc.

ginger_chocolate

you're chopping lots of veg then plan what order to chop in - onions, carrots & peppers before mushrooms so you only wash up once.

I am curious about this. Why would anyone wash up more than once?

Floss

ginger_chocolate said:

you're chopping lots of veg then plan what order to chop in - onions, carrots & peppers before mushrooms so you only wash up once.

I am curious about this. Why would anyone wash up more than once?

Some people might want to wash the FP in-between each veg, but there really isn't any need to. However mushrooms tend to leave a mess so I chop those last.

Brie

ginger_chocolate said:

you're chopping lots of veg then plan what order to chop in - onions, carrots & peppers before mushrooms so you only wash up once.

I am curious about this. Why would anyone wash up more than once?

some may be concerned about spoiling a flavour or allergies.  I'm not too fussed but would probably do things in least to most flavour so mushrooms, peppers, carrots and finally onions.  Things that are really strong or spicy would be def done last - garlic or hot chillis.

At least that's what I do when I chop with a knife to save too much washing/wiping.  I also have all my bags/containers lined up for when I'm doing some for now and some for the freezer.  So I'll get that big cheapo bag of peppers and prep one for the dish I'm making and then take off the top and deseed and chunk the rest either putting them in indivdual use bags or lay them in a single layer in a larger resealable bag to freeze. 

fyi - frozen peppers don't need to be chopped as they will shatter quite nicely which will save time later.  

And I do have a mini chopper which is powered by a braun blender stick.  I think I've used the chopper once and decided it's a bit of a faff.  The blender stick has been used numerous times - mostly when making soup.