KitchenAid 5 Cup Food Chopper, Empire Red

I loveeee this. I won’t ever use a regular blender again. This processor is so easy to clean and won’t turn on unless you press the top of the hand and hold down. I like that feature so I don’t accidently spray stuff everywhere. The blades are sharp and chop very easy.

The chopper works very nicely, The blade is close to the bottom of the bowl, unlike some blenders.

We had a problem with the assembly instructions. The instructions say that, when putting the lid on the bowl, you have to rotate the lid handle until it clicks into place. When putting the bowl on the base, they just say you should rotate the bowl handle to lock it into place. When the device is new, the bowl does not go onto the base easily — there is a lot of resistance as you rotate it. But the motor won’t turn on unless you overcome the resistance to get a click. We didn’t know that, and neither did any of the customer service representatives we talked to. Without the click, the motor will not turn on.

I owned the 3.5 version of this, but it always seemed a little small. I really like the thumb-trigger to run the blades. Twist-lock base and lid are easy to assemble, and it stores nicely. Another good product.

I recently received this product, so this review represents early impressions. I use a food processor regularly for many cooking tasks, especially making sauces and dips. My full-sized one is occasionally a bit too large. For example, it can’t puree garlic cloves in a small amount of liquid. Initially, my goal with this unit was to be able to make hummus and mayonnaise.

Pros:

I like that it’s a bit larger than most mini food processors. I found it easy to assemble and use. The “whisk” attachment is just a rippled plastic disk, but when rotated at high speeds, it can whip air into ingredients for whipped cream, meringue, etc. The manual recommends using it for mayonnaise, so I tried it. The small batch of mayonnaise came out perfect–thick, creamy in texture, white in color, just like store-bought mayonnaise. The drizzle cup on the lid worked well for building the emulsion slowly. On the higher speed setting, the rotation speed is quite high–more like a blender–which is helpful if you want smooth purees. The motor power seems sufficient. I think this tool will likely get a lot of use in my kitchen.

I also like that the center shaft is taller than on many food processors so more liquids can be added without fear of leakage around the blades.

Cons:

It’s pretty tough to clean. I wash it by hand, and there is no easy way to get into the narrow cavity inside the plastic rotating pillar that the blades rest on. The blades themselves are very sharp and difficult to handle and clean. My full-sized food processor’s blades have a protrusion that can be grasped to hold them while cleaning the blades with a brush. These have only a large hole in the center. The lid consists of two pieces. You push one down onto the other in order to start the unit running. There is a gap between them where gunk can get in, but no way to get into the narrow space and clean it out. They don’t appear to be meant to be separated, and the manual shows no way to do it.

It’s also quite loud. The sound is like the high-pitched whine of an electric drill. This is not much of a hardship if you are just pulsing it to coarsely chop ingredients for a salsa. But when running it continuously for a few minutes to stream oil into mayonnaise, I actually put on hearing protection. I don’t want to give the wrong impression. It’s not excruciatingly loud. It’s just loud enough to be annoying if you have to run it for any length of time. This is true of many food processors and blenders, but my full-sized food processor is very quiet by comparison.

There is no way to lock the motor on, so you have to hold down the lid at the handle constantly to keep it running, which means you can’t start it and then do other tasks while it’s processing. It’s also a bit annoying when making something like mayonnaise, where you have to stream oil in, because it means both your hands will be occupied the whole time.

While the drizzle cup is quite nice, there should be a way to get more of a hole into the container. For example, if you want to blend xanthan gum into a liquid, the best way is to add it with the processor already running so it disperses immediately and evenly. With this unit, there’s no way to add it without stopping and opening the lid.

Oddly, it has two speeds, but the manual only recommends the low speed, which is called “chop,” for whipping eggs and egg whites. The other speed, called “puree,” is recommended for everything else, including chopping ingredients by pulsing.

Unabhängig von einer Steckdose.

I’m sad I didn’t get this earlier! It makes life so much easier! It’s powerful enough to chop up toasted cashews and purée onions. It makes great chimichurri too. It does have issues making a smooth paste tho I haven’t tried making hummus with it yet. However, it’s great for apartment living and is small enough so it doesn’t take up too much room. It also has the ability to wrap the cord around the machine so no cord chaos either. The only problem I would mention is that the cord itself isn’t too long. It’s maybe 2-3 feet long and I wish I had an extra 6 inches.

Update: After using it for several months, I’m still glad I bought this. I made hummus and it was amazing! Also made a cashew “milk” with it and worked! Adding enough water and blending it for longer than you think, it came out pretty damn smooth.