Food processors make it easy to chop and grind vegetables while mixing them. There are a variety of attachments that allow you to do different things, and prices range from about 3,000 yen to over 10,000 yen. Let's do a thorough research to buy the right product for your home!
Difference from mixer/hand blender
Depending on the manufacturer, food processors have a variety of shaped attachments that can greatly increase the number of recipes that can be made. Specifically, there are grating, slicing, julienne, and even bread dough kneading attachments.
Similar cooking appliances include mixers and hand blenders. Food processors are mainly used for chopping ingredients. A blender or hand blender, on the other hand, is mainly used for mashing and blending ingredients to make smoothies, baby food, etc. (Hand blenders can also be used for chopping with a chopper attachment.).
How to Choose a Food Processor
capacity
Most food processors have a capacity of about 500 g. Some may think 500 g is a lot, but considering that it is used for making minced hamburger meat, it is a reasonable size. Since about 100 g of minced meat is used per hamburger, a simple calculation shows that 500 g capacity can be used to make up to 5 hamburgers at once.
Even though the capacity is 500 g, the size of the body is about 20 cm × 20 cm and the weight is about 3 kg. Also, the more the motor turns, the more heat is generated, and some nutrients, such as vitamin C, are easily destroyed by heat.
To avoid raising the temperature of the container, a 500 g food processor that does not contain a large amount of food at one time may be popular.
Container Material
Glass, plastic, and stainless steel are available, but this blog recommends glass.
While plastic is light, clear, and easy to use, it is also prone to scratches and odors. In particular, more scratches increase the likelihood that food will remain on the surface even after washing, and bacteria will increase from there. Recently, food processors made of copolyester resin (commonly known as Tritan) are available, but I cannot find any papers on its durability.
Stainless steel is scratch-resistant, but most importantly, you cannot see what is inside. Transparency is especially important because mixers and hand blenders often blend until thick, while food processors often chop coarsely.
On the other hand, glass is resistant to scratches and odors, and its transparency makes it easy to adjust the degree of chopping. Of course, glass has the disadvantage of being vulnerable to impact, but many containers are equipped with handles, so you don't have to worry.
Other
- As explained in detail in the mobile battery article, we do not recommend cordless (rechargeable) batteries because lithium-ion batteries degrade.
Product Comparison Chart
Based on the above, the following table compares the following food processors whose maximum capacity is 500 g, calculated as minced hamburger.
- Container is made of glass
- corded
| Manufacturer | Panasonic | TESCOM |
|---|---|---|
| model number | MK-K82 | TK441 |
| size | 23.4 × 15.8 × 20.9cm | 26.0 × 17.0 × 21.5cm |
| weight | 2.7kg | 2.7kg |
| chop up | ○ | ○ |
| mash | ○ | × |
| grate | ○ | ○ |
| slice | ○ | × |
| shredded vegetables | ○ | × |
| whisk | × | ○ |
| Price*1 | 15,944 yen | - |
*1...Price on Amazon as of August 31, 2023.
Although there are only a few manufacturers that originally made food processors, we have narrowed it down to two companies just by narrowing it down by material and capacity. There are things that both can and cannot do, but our blog recommends the Panasonic MK-K82, which is versatile.
I hope the above is helpful.
