Available in a range of funky colors aside from the standard brushed stainless steel, this tiny food processor is perfect for couples or single people who just want to make the process of getting dinner on the table a little simpler. Some of its advantages are its extremely simple operation, a compact form factor and attractive design.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t allow you to add solid food without removing the lid, but two holes in the lid do let you drizzle or drip in liquids when making sauces and salad dressings.
There is also no provision for using a shredding or slicing disc: the single blade can only spin one way to chop or puree and in the other direction to mix or grind. The idea behind this is to give good results with both soft foods (fresh herbs, firm cheeses, raw or cooked vegetables) and harder ingredients (nuts, frozen berries, ice).
Small Is Beautiful
The base is made of plastic and the entire appliance measures only 9¼ by 7 by 5 inches. Pulse is the default mode of operation, so you have to hold one of the two buttons down for as long as it needs to function. The motor is not really designed to run for several minutes at a time, anyway, though this food processor comes with a 18-month warranty.
The bowl design is optimized for very small quantities, with the blade reaching down almost to the bottom. You can process as little as perhaps ¼ cup at a time, making it a kind of spice grinder too if need be. Uncooked meat or dough will be too much for it to handle, though, even if you want to do only a tiny amount.
The bowl is well sealed and this machine goes through its contents very quickly. It will, for instance, work well on cooked garbanzo for hummus, but dry beans will probably wreck it in short order.
Nothing Spectacular, But Gets the Job Done
This nifty little machine makes preparing small batches of mayonnaise, salad trimmings and stirfried vegetables much quicker and easier. However, if you’re expecting it to be a “real” food processor, you’ll be disappointed: it just doesn’t have that wide a repertoire, nor is it powerful enough for hard work.
The motor overheats easily if used for more than a few seconds at a time, which is all you’ll really need in most cases. It’s also loud due to its high speed, and difficult to clean by food processor standards – it’s no accident that you can buy it bundled with either a can of heavy-duty cleaner or a roll of foil. The working parts are, at least, dishwasher safe.
On the other hand, it works just fine within the limitations we’ve mentioned, it’s really cheap, and sometimes you really don’t need much more. It all depends on what kind of tasks you’re planning to throw at it.
- Easy to store
- Economical
- Several color options
- No way to add food while running
- Does not work with slicing or shredding discs
- Hard to clean
