Should I Buy a Food Processor?

ChihiroSen

@goldfinches

As an aside, I noticed you said you don't want to spend much time standing and I've seen these cookbooks that are written for people in your situation that you might find helpful The Healthy Back Cookbook and Crip Up The Kitchen  simply for the discussion of the pros and cons of various bits of kit and how to modify recipes to suit you. I put "perching stools for kitchen disabled" into the big river site and got an enormous array of designs and styles for fairly reasonable prices offered so perhaps you might look there as well.

Thank you so much for recommending these, I will have a look and see what is available in the way of aids.

Rosa_Damascena

DullGreyGuy said:

It's a bit of a jack of all trades device.... it can do kneading and whisking but not as good as a standard mixer. It can slice and grate but not as well as a mandolin. It can blend but not as good as a blender (stick or liquidiser). 

Used to have one, didn't do big batch cooking often enough to justify its shelf space. Occasionally the Mrs morns its absence (she's the one that wanted rid of it) when she has 4kg of mushrooms to finely chop or such but they are very rare occurrences for us. 

Cue line up a podcast / a good radio programme in the background and the time will fly.

MrsStepford

I'm a college-trained ex-chef and certified keto nutritionist.

I gave my Kenwood Chef away because we don't make bread or pastry. There's a blender attachment for the top and it's fairly straightforward, for washing up.

I gave my Magimix away because it was only used to make big batches of houmous. It had one of those core spindles and the locking mechanism could be temperamental. Not washing-up friendly either.

One gadget that I thoroughly recommend, is the Tefal soupmaker. It does smooth or chunky soup in 28 mins and washes itself up. We have found that the chunky is a bit hit and miss, but the smooth soups are really excellent. It can also do smoothies. It saves time, energy and the cost of making soup on the hob. Also good for cutting down on food waste, as bits and bobs of veg can be used up.

I have a full set of Sabatier knives. If you have good knife skills, it's often easier to peel and chop etc using knives and easier to wash up. If you have a chair and table in the kitchen or elsewhere you can sit down to use them. Alternatively, a bar stool so you can sit at a kitchen counter. 

A gadget which husband uses a lot, is a stick blender, which can blend in a saucepan or bowl. 

Another useful gadget is an electric coffee grinder. We have two, one for coffee, one for other things like flaxseeds. 

An electric tin opener is also very useful. No wrestling with corned beef keys or ringpulls on canned fish and easy to open cans generally. A magnet holds the can on while the opener does it stuff, so like the soupmaker it can be left to its own devices, while operating. 

Longwalker

Im a housewife and an ex professional cook ( never trained so I dont give myself airs and graces or titles )

I do have my 1960s Kenwood and it comes out a lot, in a 3 person household, but its stored outside the kitchen and I still have the strength to lift it

My magimix sits on the worktop, worth its weight in gold as far as Im concerned

I also have a cheapo stick blender, I make my soup on the stove, slow cooker or Pressure cooker depending on what Im also cooking that day and the blender takes a few minutes and washes in less time

We can all say this is brilliant that is brilliant, but at the end of the day, its you cooking and you yourself know your limitations

Mum sits in her chair most of the day, but she has her wee table ( like a hospital bed table ) and given a knife and a saucepan with the table covered in news paper , she is fit to prep the veg. She cant stand or move about much but she can sit and peel - I always give her the sprouts, she does them watching her programmes 

If only cooking for one or two, then finding a way to prep using just a knife is the most MSE way. I do a lot of my baking using the kitchen table for instance, much lower then the counters, less stress on my shoulders which is my problem hot spot

I have to be honest and say my most used gadget in the kitchen is my ninja 15 in 1. A huge beast of a machine, but cuts cooking time by between a third or half. But again, buying a gadget all depends on what you cook and how. My 15 in 1 is a life saver at least 4 days a week cos whilst I might get the meat out of the freezer before I go to work, inspiration for what to make from it might not arrive until Im on my way home and the speed of that machine means dinner is on the table on time 

I also have to admit, when Im "cooking" at home, the hour I spend in the kitchen? 30 mins Im sat surfing 

Rosa_Damascena

MrsStepford said:

One gadget that I thoroughly recommend, is the Tefal soupmaker. It does smooth or chunky soup in 28 mins and washes itself up. We have found that the chunky is a bit hit and miss, but the smooth soups are really excellent. It can also do smoothies. It saves time, energy and the cost of making soup on the hob. Also good for cutting down on food waste, as bits and bobs of veg can be used up.

Now this is a real selling point! Is it energy efficient? And does it largely contain the smell of the soup whilst cooking? (I would soup far more often if I could stand the smell of frying onions - I can't).

Eta: I have just P'inned it to my wishlist. I'm not prepared to spend that kind of money on it but if I see it in a chazzer I shall be seriously tempted!

bouicca21

+1 for a soup maker. Wouldn’t be without mine, though sadly it’s not clever enough to wash itself up.

Rosa_Damascena

bouicca21 said:

+1 for a soup maker. Wouldn’t be without mine, though sadly it’s not clever enough to wash itself up.

When @bouicca21 speaks, @VfM4meplse listens. (I have a recollection that you make your own washing powder, or am I thinking of @Jojo_the_Tightfisted ?).

Back to the smell issue, does being a closed system contain it to a degree? I am less bothered by the smell of a finished meal than by the smell created in the prep.

bouicca21

I’ll do a smell test when I get back from my mini holiday!

Rosa_Damascena

bouicca21 said:

I’ll do a smell test when I get back from my mini holiday!

Thank you! I've realised at this ripe old age that if I want to stay healthy I am going to have to start cooking. My hyperosmia does me no favours in this regard, hence my tendency to stick to cold foods and a previous over-reliance on grainy bread, not actually appreciating that it's a poor food choice. 

In an ideal world I would like to set it up, close the door and leave the kitchen well alone for half an hour. If I can return to the smell of cooked food rather than cook-ing food, that will be a step in the right direction.

twopenny

I have a small food processor. Agree, pain to wash up so don't use it. Much easier to do one bowl and spoon or knife and board.
If you like cakes they don't put enough air in for a good one. Ditto the pastry isn't good.
But if it's much easier for you a middling cake/pastry is better than none.

I got a folding chair for the kitchen. Also cook to last 2or 3 days so I'm not struggling every day - or batch and freeze so one 'ouch' day to several just fine.

My most used used to be a Kenwood junior from 1970!
A mixer and a blender. Covers most things. But you need to be able to chop stuff first.