The Gluten-Free Homemaker

How I Came to Buy a Food Processor

For many years I did not own a food processor and had no desire to. Probably because my mom never had one, I didn’t think they were necessary or even very useful. I did know they took up a lot of space.

My interest in this small appliance grew with time, and eventually I decided to borrow one from a friend. I came to the conclusion that a food processor is indeed useful, but I still didn’t have the space for it.

I started looking at them in stores and found a KitchenAid model, similar to this, that was smaller than most, but not tiny. (7-cup versus 12-cup) It was just what I wanted. 

How I Use My Food Processor

Grating – When I was a kid, my mom would give me the job of grating food. I hated it. It was slow, unpleasant work. Using a food processor it just the opposite. It is so fast, it’s fun to watch!  I grate carrots for salads and cakes, zucchini for bread and muffins, and hard cheeses.

Chopping – I use it to chop nuts for baking (or any other reason), vegetables (sometimes), and cooked meat.

Milling – I don’t know what else to call it. I turn oatmeal into coarse flour for smoothies. I have even used it when I was out of powdered sugar by processing white granulated sugar until powdery.

Pureeing – Just about anything that needs to be pureed. If it’s very runny, though, the blender is better.

How I Clean My Food Processor

The parts are dishwasher safe, but sometimes I wash it by hand. One of the advantages to the smaller model is that it not only takes up less space on your counter or in your cabinet, it also takes up less space in the dishwasher. If there is room for it, I put it in.

I would like to hear from you. I’m sure I left out many uses for a food processor. How do you use yours? For people who are considering buying one, what brand and model do you have and how do you like it?

Labels: tools of the trade

# posted by Linda @ 6/04/2009